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Three takeaways from Wichita State’s win over Saint Louis in Hall of Fame game

taylor eldridge
·4 min read
Wichita State center Quincy Ballard attacks the basket against Saint Louis on Friday in the Hall of Fame Classic at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo.

A dominant second half propelled the Wichita State men’s basketball team to an 88-63 win over Saint Louis on Friday at the Hall of Fame Classic at T-Mobile Center.

WSU senior point guard Justin Hill led the way with 17 points and four assists, while A.J. McGinnis came off the bench to supply a season-high 12 points. Bijan Cortes added a season-high 10 points and three assists and Corey Washington chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds, while Saint Louis (2-2) was led by 15 points from Kalu Anya.

Here are three takeaways from the win that improved WSU’s season record to 5-0:

1. Dominant second half turns close game into blowout WSU win

Neither team found much separation in the first 20 minutes, but Wichita State blew the game open after halftime.

The Shockers held SLU without a field goal for nearly six minutes to start the second half, as sophomore spark plug Joy Ighovodja scored four straight points to cap a 12-2 run to open up a 52-39 lead by the first media timeout.

SLU never recovered from the early punch, as WSU’s relentless offense kept applying pressure on the rim and the outside shots eventually started to fall. A.J. McGinnis drilled a 3 and then Justin Hill scored a circus layup to cap another 9-0 spurt from the Shockers that increased their lead to 63-44 by the second media timeout.

A late rally by the Billikens trimmed the deficit to 71-58 with 5:49 to play, but WSU immediately responded with nine straight points to ice a victory that could end up a Quad 2 victory by the end of the season.

WSU won the second half 48-26.

2. Wichita State cashes in on mistakes by Billikens

The Shockers don’t employ the most aggressive defense, as they ranked a modest No. 242 in the country in turnover percentage.

But WSU forced 14 turnovers on Friday and cashed in on a season-high 24 points off turnovers. The Shockers came in averaging 15.5 points off turnovers.

Saint Louis committed six turnovers in the opening eight minutes of the second half, which helped spark several fast-break opportunities for WSU during its dominant second half.

3. Shockers bottle up SLU leading scorers

Saint Louis star guard Gibson Jimerson entered Friday’s game averaging 22.3 points per game with nearly 1,900 career points to his name and the active leader in college basketball in career 3-pointers.

Isaiah Swope, who followed head coach Josh Schertz to SLU from Indiana State, made for a dynamic duo with Jimerson in the backcourt with a 18.3 scoring average.

Neither ever got going on Friday against the Shockers.

Jimerson and Swope combined to shoot just 4 for 23 from the field and 14 points. The low point came during the second half when Jimerson missed a wide open 3-pointer, grabbed his own rebound and then missed a wide open layup.

It was that kind of night for the Billikens.

Up next: Shockers vs. Minnesota, 11 a.m. Thursday, November 28

Wichita State heads to Orlando for the ESPN Events Invitational with the opening-round game on Thanksgiving against Minnesota. The Shockers will then play either Wake Forest or Florida the following day at either noon or 2:30 p.m. Central time.

Other info on Wichita State-Saint Louis basketball game

  • Instead of a tournament format, the Hall of Fame Classic switched to a doubleheader this season. WSU-Saint Louis was the nightcap following a 77-69 victory by Utah State over Iowa in a battle of unbeatens.

  • WSU played its first game without senior forward Ronnie DeGray III, who suffered a fractured left wrist in Monday’s game against Monmouth and is expected to miss at least one month of action.

  • Friday’s game featured two of the most experienced teams in college basketball, as WSU ranked 10th nationally in Division I experience and Saint Louis ranked 14th nationally, per KenPom.

  • WSU entered Friday’s game ranked 12th nationally in free throws made per game (21.8) and 18th in free throws attempted per game (29.3).

  • Saint Louis leads the all-time series, 41-25, but the Shockers have won the last seven meetings between the regional rivals. The Billikens haven’t beaten the Shockers since 1975.

  • The Shockers improved to 5-0 for the 17th time in program history, while picking up their first win on a neutral court this season.

  • Saint Louis has its own major injury as star center Robbie Avila, who averaged 17.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists last season at Indiana State under head coach Josh Schertz, missed his third straight game due to an ankle injury suffered in the season-opener on Nov. 4.

  • WSU starter Harlond Beverly and Saint Louis leading scorer Gibson Jimerson both attended Montverde Academy during the 2018-19 season. They were not teammates, however, as Beverly was on the high school select team and Jimerson was on the post-grad team.