| Dec. 21, 2004
Contact: Rick Nixon, 210-269-7110 Undefeated Wichita State edges UTSA, 84-79 Box Score WICHITA, Kan. - The undefeated Wichita State Shockers survived a solid 40-minute effort by the UTSA Roadrunners to score an 84-79 vicory before a sellout crowd of 10, 482 at Charles Koch Arena.
Wichita State, which improved to 7-0 with the win, placed five players in double figures as Randy Burns led the way with 15 points, while Jamar Howard and Sean Ogirri added 13 apiece.
UTSA, which fell to 4-4 with the loss, was led by Justin Harbert with 20 points, while center Anthony Fuqua added a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Roadrunners.
"To play this well on the road against a team like Wichita State certainly gives us hope for the future," said UTSA coach Tim Carter. "We challenged Anthony (Fuqua) to be more offensive-minded in this game and he certainly responded and was able to keep us in this game."
The Roadrunners jumped out early on the Shockers, scoring on five straight possessions to take a 10-6 lead on a layup basket by Andre Owens.
UTSA led by as many as nine points in the first half before settling for a 33-26 halftime lead as Fuqua had seven points and eight rebounds.
Wichita State opened the second half on a 12-3 run and took its first lead 38-36 on a Burns 3-point field goal with 17:15 remaining.
The Shockers built the lead to as many as 11 points, 70-59 with 5:52 to play, before UTSA rallied behind Harbert to cut the Wichita State lead to 74-71 on two Owens free throws with 2:45 remaining.
After a 3-point basket by Rob Kampman gave Wichita State a 77-71 lead, Harbert brought UTSA back with a 3-point field with 3.6 seconds to play that made it 82-79.
Unable to get a foul, Wichita State's Kyle Wilson scored a layup at the buzzer for the final margin for the Shockers.
Wichita State, after struggling with its shooting in the first half, connected on 17 of 25 second half shots and was 50.9 percent for the game from the field. UTSA shot 45.8% from the field and out-rebounded the Shockers 39-32.
After the Christmas break, UTSA will return to action on Dec. 29 with a 7 p.m. game in Austin against the nationally ranked Texas Longhorns.
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