WICHITA, Kan. – Behind Quincy Ballard’s double-double, Wichita State bounced back to defeat Alcorn State, 78-54, Wednesday night in Charles Koch Arena.
Wichita State’s first shot defense was stout all night, holding Alcorn State to 26.0 percent shooting (19-for-73), but the downside of all those misses was allowing the Braves to grab 21 offensive rebounds. Sixteen of their points came on second and sometimes third chances.
Ballard logged his first double-double of the season behind a season-high 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. He also swatted three shots, becoming just the eighth Shocker in program history with 100 career blocks. Ballard is tied with Garrett Stutz on the all-time blocks list with 101.
AJ McGinnis poured in 14 points off the bench on 5-of-9 shooting and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Corey Washington added 10 points and Harlond Beverly tied a career high with eight assists.
As a team Wichita State dished out a season-high 19 assists.
Ballard scored the team’s first seven points on a pair of uncontested dunks and a three-point play to give the Shockers an early cushion.
McGinnis’ second three-pointer of the first half pushed Wichita State’s lead to double digits for the first time at the 9:35 mark, only to see Alcorn State answer back with five in a row to cut the lead in half.
Five straight points from Justin Hill and a Bijan Cortes triple put Wichita State up 35-21 with 3:55 left in the half. The lead would not shrink below 11 the rest of the way.
Midway through the second half Wichita State used a 15-3 surge to put the game away. Five different Shockers contributed during the spurt, which was capped by another McGinnis transition triple.
Wichita State led by as many as 27 in the second half, improving to 7-1 on the season and 3-1 all time vs. Alcorn State. The Shockers avenged a loss to Alcorn State in the Roundhouse just two years ago.
Up Next
Wichita State is right back in the Roundhouse on Saturday when the Shockers host East Tennessee State at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
