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We've mentioned before about some teams being more excited about these matchups than others. This may have been one of those games.
I needed both hands to count the number of times Wichita State was given clear paths to the lane and/or an easy transition bucket by the Titans' miserable efforts at getting back on defense.
Things eventually settled down and turned around for Detroit, and they wound up where the needed to be offensively - Ray McCallum and Nick Minnerath combined for 50 points, and Doug Anderson got his usual 11 points.
Unfortunately, the team outside of those three shot 5-for-20 from the field, and they allowed the Shockers to consistently shoot 55% from the field, plus another nearly two dozen free throws. Demetric Williams finished fourth for the Shockers with 14 points, a clear sign that Detroit's defense had no answers.
The referees called this game fairly loose in terms of physical low-post play, and Detroit never adjusted to that as well as Wichita State did. Because of that, the Titans drew the lead down to two with twelve and a half minutes to play, but immediately allowed an 11-5 run by WSU, followed by a three minute span where they didn't make a single shot.
The Shockers will now look to extend their winning streak to six games against Evansville in a tune-up game for the season finale against Creighton. Detroit, on the other hand, will hopefully recover in time to not get caught with their pants down against Loyola.