Graduate Center Josh Carlton had 23 points and 11 rebounds in No. 14 Houston’s double overtime win over Wichita State, he scored 13 of his 23 in the two overtime periods. | Sean Thomas/ The Cougar.
No. 14 Houston avoided another upset against Wichita State Sunday afternoon on the road inside the Charles Koch Arena, defeating the Shockers 76-74 in a double overtime thriller thanks to a game-winning dunk from sophomore forward J’Wann Roberts.
Both sides got off to a slow start offensively in the contest, each team making just one of their first five shots and combining for five turnovers within the first four minutes alone.
It wasn’t until the first timeout that things got going. A made layup plus the foul by the Shockers freshman forward Kenny Pohto and a pair of 3’s from sophomore guard Tyson Etienne got Wichita State some momentum to grab an early 13-10 lead halfway through the first half.
The Cougars were shooting just 20 percent from the field through the first ten minutes of the game.
Wichita State led 16-10 with about eight minutes left in the half before a layup by sophomore guard Jamal Shead and a 3-pointer from freshman guard Ramon Walker Jr. got UH back within a point, getting some momentum going and forcing a timeout from the Shockers.
After the Shockers got the lead back up to two scores, the Cougars went on an 8-0 run behind a pair of 3’s from both graduate guard Taze Moore and graduate forward Fabian White Jr. to take a 23-20 lead at the 4:05 mark in the first half.
A back-and-forth battle made up the remainder of the half and UH went into the locker rooms up 28-24.
Shead packed the stat sheet early, he had five points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals in the first half alone.
Shockers freshman guard Ricky Council IV led all scorers in the half with eight points to go with his five rebounds.
The Cougars opened the half up with a two-handed jam from graduate center Josh Carlton, but it was all Wichita State from there, the Shockers immediately answered with a 10-0 run to retake the lead five minutes into the second half.
UH made just one of their first seven shots of the half during the run.
Shead knocked down a 3 to make it a one-point game again, but Wichita State wouldn’t back down and the two teams began to trade buckets for the better part of seven minutes.
The Cougars got the lead back with just over nine minutes to play after White knocked down a mid-range jumper and both teams continued to go back-and-forth.
Pohto knocked down a 3 for the Shockers to tie the game yet again at 47 apiece with 5:08 to play, making it the fourth different time the game had been tied with three lead changes in the second half alone.
A 7-1 run led by senior guard Kyler Edwards put the Cougars up six with 3:51 left in the game, making it the largest lead for not only the Cougars but in the game entirely.
With just under a minute and a half left in the game, Wichita State junior guard Craig Porter Jr. took over and led a 6-0 run to tie the game up for the eighth time on the afternoon.
Shead took it to the rim and converted to give UH the lead back with just 51 seconds left, but a failed attempt at taking a charge from Walker cost the Cougars big and gave the Shockers a pair of free throws to tie the game for the ninth time with just 29.4 to play.
The Cougars inbounded it for the final possession, a missed 3 from Shead was rebounded by Carlton to give UH one more shot to win it but Shead came up short again and the game went into overtime.
Walker got the Cougars on the board first with a big 3 in overtime. After a pair of free throws from the Shockers UH took a commanding lead off of five straight points from Carlton.
Wichita State refused to let a run develop after Etienne knocked down a 3 after the timeout to cut the lead in half with 2:39 to play.
Carlton continued to dominate, but the Shockers continued to answer and they were able to cut the lead to just one with under a minute to play and a messy possession for the Cougars gave the Shockers the ball with 27.5 to play and a chance to win it.
Porter Jr drove to the rim and was fouled with 18 seconds to play and had a chance to give the Shockers the lead, but he split the free throws to keep the game tied at 66 apiece.
The Cougars had another chance to win it but Walker missed the shot at the buzzer and the game went to another overtime period.
Carlton opened up the second overtime period with his first-ever collegiate 3-point make, giving him 10 points in both overtime periods combined but the Shockers came right back with five straight points from Porter Jr to take the lead 71-69 with just under two minutes to play in the second overtime.
A contested jumper from Edwards tied the game again for the Cougars, and a stop later the Cougars had another wild possession that ended in a made layup for Carlton plus the foul to give UH the lead at 74-71 with just 13 seconds to play.
But with time still left on the clock, Porter Jr went down the court and made a step-back 3 to tie the game again at 74.
The Cougars inbounded it fast and Shead was able to find Roberts for a 2-handed slam with just over a second left to help UH escape the upset.
Shead finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and nine assists and Carlton finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
13 of Carlton’s 23 points came in both overtime periods.
