Wichita St. Shockers vs Connecticut Huskies Box Score on Dec 30, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 30, 2017

HARTFORD, Conn. -- No. 8 Wichita State celebrated its official arrival in the American Athletic Conference with a hard-fought 72-62 victory against Connecticut before a sellout crowd at the XL Center on Saturday.

After 72 years in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Shockers (11-2) came east for their AAC debut and had to turn aside a determined effort by the Huskies, who came in as 10-point underdogs.

Shaquille Morris hit his only four baskets of the game and Landry Shamet fired home a pair of 3-pointers as Wichita finished the game, which was tied at 49 with 9:24 left, on a 23-13 run. The Shockers built their lead as high as 11.

Shamet led the Shockers with 16 points and added six assists, including a late alley-oop for a Morris slam. Rashard Kelly and Conner Frankamp each scored 11. Kelly had a game-high 12 rebounds. Morris finished with nine points and five rebounds.

Terry Larrier and Jalen Adams led the Huskies (7-6) with 18 points apiece and Christian Vital had 17. Adams had six assists.

Wichita, which went 12 of 25 from 3-point range, won the game despite going 4 of 12 from the foul line, but UConn made only three of its 16 3-pointers.

The Shockers, whose first AAC points were registered by Kelly, jumped to a 7-2 lead in a rock fight of a first half. But the Huskies ran off 10 straight points, keyed by back-to-back 3s by Vital and Eric Cobb.

Wichita came right back with a 9-2 spurt and didn't trail again in the half. UConn made just one basket over the final 7:45 of the half.

But the Huskies, down four at the break grabbed the lead with 13:12 remaining. A 7-0 run by the visitors was promptly answered by six straight by the Huskies.

NOTES: Local media was trying to remember the last time UConn entered a home game as double-digit underdog, a guess being it was against Kansas in 1997 after the Huskies had two players, Kirk King and Ricky Moore, suspended. Moore is a current UConn assistant. ... Wichita came in leading its new league in scoring (85.8), free-throw percentage (.760), field goal percentage (.488), rebound margin (plus-11.5) and defensive rebound percentage (.775). ... The Shockers are 44-6 in true road games since the start of the 2013-14 season. ... UConn recorded its first sellout (at either of its locations) since Feb. 18, 2016. ... Wichita State opens a two-game homestand against Houston on Thursday night, while UConn is at Tulsa on Wednesday. ... Former UConn coach Jim Calhoun was courtside.