PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The American Athletic Conference had its final two games before the madness of March on Thursday and rung in tournament time in impressive fashion. UConn-Wichita State came down to the final horn with Samajae Haynes-Jones netting his second conference buzzer-beater of the year to give head coach Gregg Marshall his 300
th victory with the Shockers. In the nightcap, Tulsa rebounded from a 16-point first half deficit to get past Tulane, 72-64.
Thursday, February 28
Wichita State 65, UConn 63
Samajae Haynes-Jones' jumper as time expired helped lift the Wichita State to a 65-63 win over the UConn Huskies Thursday, Feb. 28, inside Charles Koch Arena. The victory was the 300th at WSU for 12th season head coach Gregg Marshall.
After UConn's Alterique Gilbert converted back-to-back 3-pointers in the final 45 seconds of regulation to tie the game at 63, Haynes-Jones took the ball the length of the floor and swished home a running fadeaway jump shot just as the final horn sounded.
It was his second game-winner of the season after he beat the horn to give WSU an 85-83 victory over SMU Jan. 30.
Haynes-Jones netted a game-high 20 points on 7-for-16 shooting, leading the Shockers (14-13, 7-8), while Markis McDuffie added 19 and Jamarius Burton had 11.
Wichita State sprinted out of the gates to a 5-0 lead in the opening minute of the game after a Haynes-Jones three-pointer and a Burton jumper, and led 12-5 when McDuffie converted a jump shot with just over 10 minutes to go in the first half.
UConn (13-15, 4-11) responded though, and scored 10 straight points to take its first lead of the game at the 6:36 mark after a Tyler Polley three.
The Huskies continued their offensive surge, netting 11 of the next 14 points to extend their advantage to 24-15 on a Christian Vital jumper with 2:48 remaining in the stanza.
Wichita State went into halftime trailing, 27-22, after McDuffie made a jumper with just over 30 seconds to go in the period.
Burton and Haynes-Jones each scored eight points, leading WSU at the intermission.
The Shockers struggled shooting the basketball in the opening 20 minutes, going just 7-of-29 from the floor for 24 percent.
In comparison, the Huskies shot 41 percent from the field, making 11 out of 27 shot attempts.
Haynes-Jones splashed home a three to open the second half, trimming the Husky advantage to 27-25 with 32 seconds elapsed.
UConn answered with five consecutive points, building its lead back to seven, 32-25, after a Sidney Wilson shot from downtown.
The Shockers responded, and caught fire from the floor, going on an 8-0 run, cutting the deficit to one when Haynes-Jones drilled a trey at the 11:24 mark of the half.
A McDuffie three with 10 minutes remaining gave Wichita State its first lead since the first half at 45-44, however, a pair of UConn free throws put the visitors back in front.
That's when Asbjørn Midgaard ignited the Shockers, converting a layup, then blocking a shot on the other end, before slamming home a dunk to give WSU a 49-46 edge with just over eight minutes to go in the frame.
The Huskies didn't go away though, and tied the contest, 54-54, via two Vital free-throws with 4:39 remaining, but an 8-3 Wichita State spurt over the next 1:54 built the Shockers' lead to 63-57 after McDuffie buried a shot from long range with just over a minute to go.
Gilbert netted 18 points to pace the Huskies.
After shooting just 24 percent in the first half, Wichita State made 42 percent of its shots in the second stanza, ending the game at 34 percent (21-for-62).
The Shockers outrebounded the Huskies, 40-31, and turned the ball over just eight times in the contest. WSU also tied its season-high with seven blocked shots.
UConn shot 40 percent from the field in the game, making 22 of 55 shot attempts.
Tulsa 72, Tulane 64
Martins Igbanu and Curran Scott scored 19 points apiece and Tulsa shot 58.3-percent in the second half to defeat visiting Tulane, 72-64, on Thursday night at the Reynolds Center.
Igbanu went 5-of-6 from the floor and hit nine of his 11 free-throw attempts for the Golden Hurricane (17-12, 7-9), while Scott hit a season-high four 3-pointers en route to his 19 points.
Tulsa scored 28 points in the paint and limited the Green Wave (4-23, 0-15) to 41.9-percent shooting for the night. Tulane was led by Caleb Daniels' double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Tulane jumped out to a 19-3 lead in the first eight minutes as the Green Wave started the contest shooting 7-of-14 from the field, including a perfect 5-for-5 from behind the arc.
Scott and Igbanu led the comeback charge for the Hurricane and the pair combined to score 23 of the team's 34 points in the first half. Scott hit three 3-pointers during a stretch and Igbanu imposed his will inside, scoring or getting to the free throw line.
Tulsa went on a 9-2 spurt, which was capped by a trey from Jeriah Horne, to take its first lead of the night, 34-33, before Samir Sehic's layup gave Tulane a 35-34 edge at halftime.
After another Sehic basket to start the second half, the Hurricane went on a 10-2 run to take the lead for good.
DaQuan Jeffries, who returned after missing last Saturday's game at Temple, started the run with a layup before Sterling Taplin scored twice in the paint. Igbanu then finished off the spurt with another bucket inside and a pair of free throws for a 44-39 lead.
Tulsa stayed hot from the floor and extended the advantage to 64-52 with 4:09 on the clock following treys by Horne and Scott. Igbanu then went back to work inside with an old-fashioned three-point play down the stretch along with another basket to stop any hopes of a Tulane rally.
Elijah Joiner, who finished with nine points and four assists, and Scott closed the game at the free throw line to give the Hurricane a 72-64 win.
UPCOMING GAMES