WICHITA (TNS) — Another improbable one-handed shot rolled around the rim and dropped, and SMU guard Shake Milton’s scream was the only thing heard inside Koch Arena.
It was like that for most of Wednesday evening: Milton making tough shot after tough shot, leaving Wichita State fans and defenders in dismay.
Milton scored a career-high 33 points, and SMU defeated No. 7 Wichita State 83-78, ending the Shockers’ 27-game winning streak at Koch Arena. WSU had won 67 of its last 68 games at Koch Arena before Wednesday’s loss.
Landry Shamet led WSU with his second career double-double with 20 points and 10 assists. Three others joined him in double-digit scoring with Shaquille Morris (17), Darral Willis (12), and Conner Frankamp (11).
SMU (13-6, 3-3 American) snapped its three-game losing skid in conference play, while WSU (15-3, 5-1) suffered its first loss in AAC play and fell out of a first-place tie with Cincinnati.
It was an astounding performance by SMU’s offense, which shredded WSU’s defense for 1.38 points per possession. The Mustangs made 63.8 percent of their shots, 11 three-pointers on 50-percent accuracy, and 75 percent from the foul line.
All of this coming against a defense that ranked among the nation’s best in efficiency.
The Shockers had an efficient offensive outing of their own, making 53.6 percent of their shots and 11 three-pointers for 1.32 points per possession.
But it wasn’t enough — because of Milton.
Wichita State rallied from 11 points down with 2:03 remaining to trim SMU’s lead to 79-76 with 39 seconds left, as Austin Reaves and Landry Shamet connected on three three-pointers.
But again, it was Milton who answered back. He made a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left to push the lead back to 81-76. Darral Willis followed with a basket at the other end, but WSU ran out of time after Jimmy Whitt made a free throw to make it a two-possession game.
Earlier in the half, WSU trimmed SMU’s lead to a single point on two occasions. When it was 38-37 with 18:34 remaining, it was Ben Emelogu who pushed the lead out for SMU with a three-pointer. Then when WSU trimmed it to 48-47, Milton was there to deliver a three-point play.
WSU appeared to shed its penchant for slow starts, taking an 8-2 lead in the first three minutes on a pair of Conner Frankamp three-pointers and a Shaquille Morris dunk.
But then the Shockers went nearly seven minutes without a made field goal, as SMU reeled off an 18-3 run to stun the home crowd and put WSU in a 20-11 deficit.
SMU had played zone only eight percent of the time before Wednesday, but the Mustangs played a match-up zone exclusively against WSU in the first half. That left WSU mostly passing around the arc and settling for three-point shots.
The result was WSU taking three-pointers on 12 of its first 19 shots. That percentage eventually fell, as Morris (11 first-half points) became more of a threat in the middle of the zone.
But WSU would be playing catch-up for nearly the entire game after losing its lead with 13:40 to play in the first half.
Shamet made back-to-back three-pointers to trim SMU’s lead to 24-22 with 4:57 to play in the first half, as WSU would cut SMU’s lead to a single possession four separate times down the stretch but still trail SMU 35-32 at halftime.