By Ben Everett | Sports Writer
No. 16 Baylor men’s basketball fell to No. 8 Wichita State 69-62 Saturday afternoon at the Ferrell Center.
The Bears (5-2) could not contain the Shockers’ (6-1) outside shooters, surrendering 10 3-pointers in the loss.
Baylor head coach Scott Drew said the 3-point shooting was the main difference in the game.
“They made 10 for 16 from three we were five for 21,” Drew said. “Defensively we could have done some things better getting out to shooters. That was the big difference.”
Shocker’s senior guard Conner Frankamp scored 17 points, including 5-for-8 from 3-point range.
Baylor senior point guard Manu Lecomte scored a team-high 15 points for the Bears including 6-for-13 shooting from the field.
Baylor had won 46 straight non-conference home games prior to the loss.
The Bears jumped out to a 6-2 lead as junior guard King McClure scored four early points by aggressively attacking the basket. Wichita State senior center Shaquille Morris led the Shockers on a 7-0 run, scoring on a reverse layup and knocking down a 3-pointer as Wichita State took a 9-8 lead at the 15:06 mark of the first half.
An 8-0 run by the Bears was halted by a 3-pointer from Wichita State sophomore guard Austin Reaves, but Baylor senior guard Manu Lecomte responded with a 3-pointer of his own as the Bears took a 17-12 lead into the under-12 media timeout.
Frankamp helped Wichita State climb back, knocking down back-to-back deep 3-pointers to tie the game at 19-19 with 7:49 remaining in the first half.
Baylor freshman forward Mark Vital attacked the rim on a fast break and converted to give the Bears a two point lead, but Wichita State sophomore guard Landry Shamet scored his first points of the day on a 3-pointer to give the Shockers a 30-29 lead with three minutes left in the half.
The Bears went scoreless in then last four minutes of the half, but Shamet knocked down his second 3-pointer of the day with under a minute left as Wichita State took a 33-29 lead into the break.
The Shockers extended their lead in the second half, with senior forward Rashard Kelly converting on a reverse dunk and Shamet hitting his third 3-pointer as Wichita State took its largest lead of the game 40-33 at the 15:59 mark.
Vital helped engineer a Baylor comeback, scoring six points on three offensive rebounds to make it a two point game, but Morris and senior center Rauno Nurger scored eight straight points inside for the Shockers as Wichita State took a 53-46 lead with 11:15 remaining in the game.
McClure pulled up and converted on a deep 3-pointer and followed it up with an and-one layup at the rim as the Bears inched their way back into the game, trailing 58-54 with 7:42 left.
After the Shockers extended their lead to six again, Lecomte pulled up for a 3-pointer and knocked it down to make it a 62-59 game with less than four minutes remaining in the game.
An and-one layup by junior guard Jake Lindsey tied the game, but Frankamp drained a 3-pointer to silence the crowd as the Shockers never looked back, winning 69-62.
Wichita State is 42-6 on the road in the last five seasons, the best record in the nation.
Shocker’s head coach Gregg Marshall said Baylor is a great team and his team just came out on top in the end.
“Two great teams going at it,” Marshall said. “We just happened to make a couple of stops at the end. That’s a heck of a basketball team. This team will be really good at the end of the year.”
The Bears look to regroup as they face Sam Houston State at 7 p.m. Monday at the Ferrell Center.
