Tulane upset bid falls short at No. 13 Wichita State, 93-86

WICHITA, Kan. – Playing its first game in the state of Kansas in 42 years, the Tulane men’s basketball team scored 55 second half points and shot 62 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes, but its upset bid fell short at No. 13/12 Wichita State on Wednesday night at Charles Koch Arena.

Melvin Frazier led five Green Wave scorers in double-figures with his fourth double-double of the season comprising 22 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 10-for-19 from the field. He scored all of his points in the second half.

Samir Sehic added 16 points and six rebounds off the bench, while Cameron Reynolds chipped in 14 points. Ray Ona Embo scored 12 points and handed out a team-high five assists, as Caleb Daniels contributed 11 points off the bench.

Shaquille Morris led all players with 25 points and nine rebounds, as Conner Frankamp tallied 18 points, four assists and three steals while starting for Landry Shamet who missed the game with an illness. Markis McDuffie had 15 points and made three 3-pointers off the bench for the Shockers.

Despite surrendering a pair of offensive rebounds and a 3-point basket on the first possession of the game, Tulane (13-14, 4-11 AAC) got into its offense and buried a pair of treys of its own off the hands of Reynolds and Cornish to take a 6-5 lead into the first media timeout with 15:32 remaining.

Wichita State (22-5, 12-3 AAC) made just one of its first seven shots, and despite the Green Wave keeping relatively even with the Shockers in terms of shooting percentage, the home team opened a stretch in which it made five of six shots, forcing Tulane to burn its first timeout trailing 19-13 with 10:52 left.

Leading 22-19, Wichita scored six points in a row over a span of 1:31 until a Daniels 3-pointer ended the run to bring the deficit back to six with 6:21 remaining. The Shockers scored four straight points from that moment to create their first double digit advantage of the night, 32-22, on a layup by Frankamp.

Tulane endured foul trouble down the stretch in the first half with five players picking up two each, as Wichita closed the half on a 15-9 run to take a 47-31 lead into halftime.

The Green Wave shot 10-for-28 (.357) from the field, 5-for-10 (.500) beyond the 3-point arc and 6-for-7 (.857) at the free throw line in the first half, while the Shockers went 17-for-35 (.486) on the floor, 5-for-11 (.455) from deep and 8-for-9 (.889) at the foul stripe.

Tulane scored on five consecutive possessions early in the second half, attacking the paint and earning easy lay-ins to cut the deficit to just nine, 51-42, in the first three and a half minutes of action. The streak continued to seven straight buckets, including a trey by Ona Embo that cut the margin to just seven, 52-45, with 15:35 left.

Despite the Shockers pulling ahead by double digits on a pair of occasions, the Green Wave kept answering by making 10 of their first 13 shots and kept the game close, 60-55, after a jumper by Frazier with 10:42 to go.

Wichita continued to have answers, pushing its lead back to 11 with the score 70-59, but the Wave came right back with a pair of 3s by Ona Embo and Reynolds to move within six, 73-67, with just under seven minutes remaining in the game.

Tulane drew within four, 75-71, after a layup by Reynolds, but the Shockers were able to push the advantage back to nine, 85-76, after a Morris free throw with 2:15 left, but the Green Wave continued to fight back, pulling within five, 88-83, after a three by Frazier with 50 seconds remaining.

After a pair of free throws by the Shockers, Frazier rattled home another trey with 39 seconds to go to make it 90-86, but would draw no closer as Wichita held on for the seven-point win.

The Green Wave finished the night shooting 31-for-62 (.500) overall, 11-for-19 (.579) from 3-point land and 13-for-16 (.813) at the free throw line, while the Shockers went 31-for-63 (.492) from the field, 9-for-20 (.450) beyond the arc and 22-for-31 (.710) at the charity stripe.

Wichita owned a 13-7 scoring advantage off turnovers and a 22-14 edge on second chances.

Tulane remains on the road with a trip to Tampa, Fla., on Saturday, February 24 to take on USF. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. (CT) at the Sun Dome and the game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.