Box Score
MONTREAL -- The Wichita State men's basketball team used shock therapy to rally from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter and defeat McGill University 77-71 in a hotly-contested preseason game before a crowd of 396 at Love Competition Hall, Tuesday.

With about seven minutes remaining and his side trailing 60-56, Shocker coach Gregg Marshall was ejected for receiving his second technical foul and his angry tirade seemed to energize his troops, which went on a 21-11 run to close out a game in which McGill appeared to have control.

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"I knew that I was going to get (a second technical for disputing a call with the officials). I didn't like the call and reacted," said Marshall, in his 10th season at Whichita State. "Once I reacted, I said that I may as well get my money's worth... At some point, your players have to know that you're going to stand up for them, that you've got some fight in you and they responded very well to my actions. So I appreciate them having my back as well... I wasn't going to do anything physical but I wanted to make sure that (the officials) understood what I felt was happening was incorrect and wrong."

The ejection clearly ignited a spark for the visitors and McGill was unable to respond.

"I thought that our guys played extremely well and hard for pretty much the whole game but could have done a better job when Wichita picked up some momentum after their coach was ejected," said McGill assistant coach Madhav Trivedi, filling in for bench boss David DeAveiro, who is at an NBA Americas Team Camp in Mexico until Sunday. "I didn't think that we matched their intensity at that point and that's where the game was on the line."

The contest featured seven lead changes. Wichita State led 18-15 after the opening quarter but McGill rallied to go ahead 32-29 at halftime. The Redmen poured it on after the break, outscoring the Shockers 26-19 in the third quarter to take a 58-48 lead into the final stanza and opened up a 12-point margin early in the fourth.

McGill's Francois Bourque, a 6-foot-6, 197-pound senior from Terrebonne, Que., led all players with 23 points to go along with a team-high six rebounds. He was a red-hot 10-for-11 from the field and made three of his five free-throws.

Teammates Noah Daoust of Dorval, Que., and Dele Ogundokun of Hamilton, Ont., added 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Five players reached double figures for Wichita State, which was led by 14-point effort off the bench from Zach Brown, a six-foot, 216-pound sophomore from Houston, Texas. He was supported by 13 points apiece from 6-foot-8 rookie Markis McDuffie of Paterson, N.J., Conner Frankamp of Wichita and Darral Willis, Jr., of Madison, Wisc. Freshman guard Landry Shamet of Kansas City added 11.

The Shockers shot 48.2 per cent from the field (27/56), went 3-for-15 from three-point range and sank 20 of 28 from the line. McGill replied with 45 per cent from the floor (27/60), went 7-for-28 from beyond the arc and was 10-for-18 from the charity stripe (10/18). The visitors had a 14-11 advantage in turnovers, a 28-25 difference in rebounds, a 3-0 margin in blocked shots and a 3-2 edge in steals,

Wichita State, which improved to 2-1 on their Canadian tour of CIS teams, opened the excursion in Montreal with a 107-58 victory at UQAM on Aug. 6, followed by a 100-75 loss in Ottawa to the Canadian champion Carleton Ravens. They will close out the trip with a game on Aug. 10 against Brookwood Elite, a local squad of NCAA selects and professional players. Wichita St. last played on Canadian soil back in 2006, scoring 3-0 record with wins over Trinity Western University 92-63, Simon Fraser 87-62 and UBC 72-68.

"I knew that there was a tremendous quality of basketball up here and good coaching," noted Marshall. "But the level of play and talent (was impressive). Both of these teams (McGill and Carleton) have players that can play in a lot of places. So what these coaches are doing is finding guys... and doing a good job with what they have. They're competitive, tough and skilled. We've had some Canadians on our team and we do very well with those guys. There are a number of them in the NBA, so I'm not at all surprised but seeing it first hand, is impressive. I'm more impressed with your players than your refereeing." 

McGill, now 0-2 in preseason play against NCAA teams, will host the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff on Aug. 14 at 1 p.m. Other NCAA teams on the Redmen home schedule this month include Florida A & M (Aug. 16) and Farleigh Dickinson University (Aug. 20).



SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
514-398-7012
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca