WICHITA, Kan. – The UCF men's basketball team was not able to hold off Wichita State Saturday afternoon in an American Athletic Conference contest, falling to the home Shockers 93-88 in overtime at Charles Koch Arena.
The Knights (4-7, 2-6) led 74-66 with 3:55 to play in regulation when Brandon Mahan followed up a Dre Fuller Jr. floater with a banked 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to complete a 6-0 run for UCF.
But after the ensuing media timeout, the Shockers (9-4, 5-2) scored eight consecutive points, including five from leading scorer Tyson Etienne, to tie the game at 74-74 with 1:17 to go in the second half. The Knights didn't attempt a field goal during the stretch, committing turnovers on four straight possessions.
"I thought it was a really good basketball game, but we need to play with more composure down the stretch," UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins said after the game. "They showed more composure down the stretch of the ball game. They made more plays."
Dexter Dennis' free throw with 15 seconds to play put Wichita State up two, but Fuller made his way into the paint on the next play, got fouled, and hit both free throws to send the game into overtime.
The Knights, who shot a season-best 57.4 percent from the floor, had a five-point lead just over halfway through the overtime session thanks to a 3-pointer from Fuller and four straight points from Darin Green Jr that made it 84-79.
A 7-0 run from the Shockers put Wichita back in front, 86-84, capitalized by Etienne's fifth 3-pointer of the afternoon. Fuller again hit two from the line to tie the game, but the Shockers connected on seven free throws down the stretch to hold on for the home victory.
UCF, as mentioned shot the ball well on Saturday, but turned it over a season worst 23 times, which led to 33 points off turnovers for Wichita State.
"We have to do a better job taking care of the basketball," Dawkins said. "We had 23 turnovers. That's way too many. That contributed to what happened out there."
Etienne finished with a game-high 29 points to lead the Shockers, while Morris Udeze added 18, and Dennis and Alterique Gilbet chipped in with 12 each.
Senior Brandon Mahan and freshman Jamille Reynolds led the way offensively for UCF, both scoring 17 points in the game. It was a career high for Reynolds, who started 7-for-7 from the field before missing his final two attempts in the game. He added a career and team-high eight rebounds but turned the ball over five times.
Fuller finished with 13, while freshman Isaiah Adams had 12, seven rebounds and four assists in the defeat.
The Knights will continue their road trip with a pair of games at Memphis, starting Monday at 8 p.m.
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