WICHITA, Kan. (GoShockers.com) – Wichita State saw its six-game win streak come to a halt Thursday night in an 80-72 loss to the second-place UAB Blazers in Charles Koch Arena.
UAB came into the game ranked near the very bottom in the nation forcing turnovers, but its trapping defense had the Shockers uncomfortable most of the night. Twelve of Wichita State’s (17-11, 7-8) 17 turnovers came in the second half when UAB stretched its lead to as many as 14. UAB scored 26 points off those 16 Shocker miscues.
Corey Washington recorded his eighth double-double behind a season-high 24 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Xavier Bell added 17 but was just 5-for-17 from the floor.
Quincy Ballard recorded his team-leading ninth double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Bijan Cortes rounded out the double figure scorers with 10 points and six assists.
Sixty-nine of Wichita State’s 72 points came from its five starters, as the bench was a relative non-factor. UAB outscored Wichita State 42-3 in bench scoring.
UAB’s Alejandro Vasquez had the hot hand all game, pouring in a game-high 29 points.
Bell scored the first five points of the game to get the Shockers a quick start and would up that lead to 13-6 just over five minutes in.
Wichita State forced UAB into some tough shots, but the Blazers’ offense started to click over the final 10 minutes. UAB finished the half shooting 54.8 percent from the field and an efficient 4-of-6 from three-point range to take a 39-34 lead into halftime.
Washington led all scorers with 13 first half points.
UAB’s defense had the Shockers sped up to start the second half. Behind six turnovers, Wichita State fell in a 13-point hole thanks to a 12-1 UAB run. Wichita State went more than 5:00 minutes without a field goal.
That cold spell proved costly, as Wichita State was never able to recover. The Shockers were only able to cut the deficit to single digits once until the 1:16 mark when a Ballard putback dunk made it 73-65.
Up Next
Wichita State heads to the Lone Star State for a two-game road swing, starting with a rematch at North Texas on Monday at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.
