WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita State escaped with a 69-68 win over Southern Illinois behind a game-saving block as time expired Saturday night in Charles Koch Arena.
Wichita State (8-3) snapped a two-game losing streak and won its 10th straight over the Salukis.
SIU had the ball on the final possession with 5 seconds left and the ball in Xavier Johnson's hands. The nation's leading scorer entering the game drove down the lane with the clock winding down and had his shot erased by Quincy Ballard and Ronnie DeGray III.
After sitting out the first 10 games due to NCAA transfer rules, DeGray made his Wichita State debut, and found himself in the right position at the end of the game to help secure the win.
Xavier Bell and Colby Rogers led the way, scoring 20 points apiece. The duo has scored 10 or more in all but one game this season. Rogers upped his streak of consecutive games with multiple three-pointers to seven.
Bell scored 14 of his 20 after halftime and Rogers scored 18 of his 20 in the second half.
Kenny Pohto grabbed 12 rebounds, his fifth game with 10 or more this season.
Xavier Johnson came in averaging 25.0 points per game and finished with a game-high 23 on 8-of-15 shooting and dished out nine assists.Wichita State committed only six turnovers on the night and grabbed 15 offensive rebounds. They scored 22 points off those second chance opportunities.
Wichita State shot out to a 19-4 lead in the game's first 8:23 behind efficient offense and SIU misfiring on 13 of its first 16 field goal attempts.
SIU chipped away, cutting it to 19-11 behind a 7-0 run with five of those points coming from Xavier Johnson.
With 4:30 left in the half, Wichita State pushed the margin back to 12 on an Isaac Abidde putback.
SIU had another first half spurt in them, pulling within five at the 1:30 mark thanks to a 10-3 run. A DeGray offensive rebound and layup with 21 seconds sent the Shockers into the locker room with a 34-27 lead.
A balanced scoring attack saw seven of the eight Shockers that played, score in the half. Both teams shot just under 40 percent over the first 20 minutes after Wichita State came out on fire and SIU couldn't find the basket in the first 10 minutes.
Just over six minutes into the second half, the game tightened up the rest of the way. SIU cut it to a one-point game and then took the lead on its next possession with 12:41 remaining.
The two teams traded the lead before Rogers went into takeover mode. Trailing 56-54, Rogers hit three straight triples sandwiched around a Xavier Johnson three-pointer to put Wichita State back in front, 63-59, and 5:56 left on the clock.
Rogers made it 66-61 on a pull-up jumper with the shot clock about to expire with 4:09 left. Neither team would score for more than 2:00 minutes until a Trent Brown corner three-pointer pulled the Salukis within two, 66-64.Bell came right back and completed an acrobatic three-point play to increase the margin back to five.
Four straight points from Johnson again had the Salukis back within a point and a chance to leave the Roundhouse with a win. After an SIU timeout with 5 seconds to go, Johnson received the inbounds pass near half-court and immediately turned up court to the basket. He was able to get by Harlond Beverly, but waiting at the rim were Ballard and DeGray to turn the game-winner away.
Up Next
Wichita State heads up the turnpike for the first of two straight games at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. The Shockers face Kansas State on Dec. 21 at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+.