RECAP: Wichita State shocks No. 14 Memphis in overtime

Memphis basketball’s hopes for a top-4 NCAA Tournament seed came crashing down Sunday.

The No. 14 Tigers (21-5, 11-2 AAC) lost to Wichita State 84-79 in overtime at Charles Koch Arena. This is Memphis’ first regular-season defeat against the Shockers since 2019-20. Penny Hardaway’s club returns to FedExForum for its second meeting with Florida Atlantic next Sunday (1 p.m., ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU).

Memphis shot 36% overall and 38% on 3-pointers. It also notched 22 assists, 16 offensive rebounds, 8 forced turnovers, 8 blocks and 5 steals. Moussa Cisse put up a double-double with 12 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks. Tyrese Hunter scored a game-high 24 points, while PJ Haggerty had 15 (13 in the second half) and Nick Jourdain had 12. Haggerty tallied 8 rebounds and 6 assists too.

Paul Mills’ team (15-10, 5-7 AAC) shot 40% on field goals and 19% from the perimeter. The Shockers also outrebounded Memphis 54-45 while logging 19 offensive boards, 14 assists, 10 forced turnovers, 9 blocks and 3 steals. Corey Washington had a double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds (6 offensive). Quincy Ballard (19), Bijan Cortes (13), Xavier Bell (12) and Harlond Beverly (11) scored double-figure points for the Shockers too.

Here are some takeaways from Memphis’ loss that broke an eight-game winning streak.

Early physicality favors Wichita State

Memphis and Wichita State shot 32% and 31% respectively in the first half, but the home team performed much better on the glass.

WSU outrebounded Memphis 33-22 in the opening period, and secured 11 offensive boards compared to the Tigers’ 4 in that span. The Tigers recorded 9 assists in the first 12 minutes, but didn’t get another before halftime. They also hit just one of their last 10 field goals of the half.

The Shockers, meanwhile, finished the first half with an 11-3 run—it was 11-0 before Hunter broke Memphis’ five-minute scoring drought with five seconds left. Wichita State took a 32-28 lead to the locker room.

Shockers shut down Colby Rogers again

The 6-foot-3 guard scored just 3 points on 1-for-10 shooting in Memphis’ first meeting with Wichita State last month. His former team gave him trouble again Sunday.

Rogers (10.8 points per game) totaled 6 points on while shooting 2-of-8 from the field. He also compiled 3 assists, a rebound and a steal in 21 minutes.

Rogers is now averaging 7.2 points on 21.4% shooting over his last five games.

Tigers falter in overtime

The two teams kept going back and forth to the start the second half, exchanging the lead nine times in the first seven minutes of the period, before Memphis seemingly gained control.

Three consecutive 3-pointers—one from Haggerty and two from PJ Carter—gave the Tigers a 53-45 lead with 12 minutes to play. But Wichita State quickly tied the game with an 8-0 run, and Memphis never led by more than 4 points for the rest of regulation.

The Tigers eventually had both possession and a 71-69 advantage with 34 seconds left, but Dante Harris dropped an inbounds pass from Hunter and let the ball roll out of bounds. Hunter then fouled Wichita State forward Ronnie DeGray III, who sank two free throws to re-knot the score at the 18-second mark. Rogers then missed a contested 3-pointer at the buzzer that would’ve been the game-winner.

Memphis completely faltered in overtime, shooting 1-of-8 from the field and 0-of-3 at the 3-point line. Hunter, Cisse and Jourdain scored the Tigers’ 8 points during the period.

A left-wing 3-pointer from Cortes moved WSU ahead by a point with 90 seconds to play, and Washington’s layup extended that edge to 3 on the following possession. Hunter missed two different 3-pointers that would’ve tied the game, and Wichita sealed the deal with four consecutive free throws.