Box Score WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita State shot 54 percent in the second half and took advantage of 39 fouls to hand Charleston Southern an 88-63 loss at Koch Arena in Friday night's season opener.
CSU (0-1) held the tenth-ranked Shockers to 34.5 percent shooting in the first half, but Wichita (1-0) converted 20-of-22 free throws to build a 42-30 halftime lead. The Bucs stayed in striking distance until about the seven minute mark of the second half before Wichita pulled away with a 13-4 run to forge a 77-55 advantage.
Fouls – 66 of them – bogged down much of the game. Preseason All-American guard Ron Baker led five Wichita players in double figures scoring with 15 points. Wichita freshmen Landry Shamet and Eric Hamilton each added 13. Hamilton grabbed a team-high seven rebounds as Wichita out-rebounded CSU, 48-29, and tallied a 21-7 edge in second chance points.
Demetrius Pollard posted 15 of his game-high 20 points in the second half to pace CSU. Aaron Wheeler notched 11, and Armel Potter and Patrick Wallace each chipped in 10 in their CSU debuts. The Bucs struggled for much of the night, though, shooting just 37.5 overall percent overall while connecting on 8-of-25 three-point tries.
Javis Howard made his first career start and knocked down a three to give CSU a 7-6 lead four minutes into play. Freshman Melvin Brooks punctuated a solid start for the Bucs with an offensive rebound and three-point play, pushing CSU in front 13-11 at the 13:56 mark. Baker then netted three free throws and drained a three, however, to spark a 9-0 run and give Wichita the lead for good.
Wallace and Pollard buried their first threes in a CSU uniform to help the Bucs hang around, with the latter coming from deep on the left wing to close the gap to 26-21 with 7:46 left. Wallace tacked on a corner trey for CSU's final points of the stanza, before Ty Taylor hit a mid-range jumper to account for Wichita's 12-point halftime cushion.
Potter made two long threes to help CSU keep the game manageable early in the second half. The first came from almost 35 feet out with the shot clock dwindling. The second came as Potter fell to the floor in front of the Bucs bench, and made the score 60-45 with 9:22 remaining.
CSU whittled its deficit to 64-51 on three Pollard free throws, but that's when Wichita ran off a 13-4 run to cement its 33rd straight home victory. Baker and Evan Wessel sailed home threes during the surge.
CSU continues a rigorous opening stretch on Sunday at Stanford. The contest is the first of four CSU games part of the 2015 NIT Season Tip-Off. Tipoff at Maples Pavilion is slated for 8 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast on the PAC-12 Network.
