Walker rallies No. 3 Houston past Wichita State, 70-61

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Jarace Walker had 15points, including the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 4:27 left, and No.3 Houston rallied to beat Wichita State 70-61 on Thursdaynight.

Marcus Sasser also scored 15 for the Cougars (21-2, 9-1 AmericanAthletic Conference), who trailed by six midway through the secondhalf. Jamal Shead added 13 points and seven assists.

“We are showing signs of maturity, not getting too high or toolow,” Shead said. “We are following our leader, Marcus. When hecame in and started to do his thing, we rallied behind him.”

All five starters scored in double digits to help Houston winits third straight since a one-point loss to Temple.

Jaykwon Walton equaled his career high with 24 points for theShockers (11-11, 4-6), who went 3 for 20 from 3-point range andshot 39% from the field overall.

“I thought the difference in the game was the 3-point line,”Wichita State coach Isaac Brown said. “We went 3 for 20 and, downthe stretch, their big man, Walker, was 3 for 6 from the 3-pointline and I thought that was the difference in the game.”

James Rojas added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Shockers.Kenny Pohto pulled down 12 boards to go with eight points.

Coming off a career-best 25 points against Cincinnati, Walkershot just 3 for 9 in the first half. But he drained a 3-pointer totrim Houston’s deficit to 50-47 with 10:17 remaining, then tied it54-all with another 3 at the 6:15 mark.

Walker followed with his 3 from the corner that put the Cougarsahead 57-54, and they opened a seven-point cushion with under threeminutes left after a layup by Shead and a 3 from Tramon Mark.

“We made some bad mistakes, but when it came winning time, Ithink our DNA kicked in,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “Weknow how to win and there is a lot to be said about that.”

In a matchup between the top two scoring defenses in the AAC,the Cougars held a 30-29 lead at halftime.

Wichita State built a seven-point advantage early in the secondhalf as foul trouble began to pile up for Houston.

BIG PICTURE

Houston: Improved to 9-2 against the Shockers in the AAC era.Houston evened the all-time series at 18 apiece dating to 1949.

Wichita State: Fell to 1-4 in conference home games thisseason.

UP NEXT

Houston visits Temple on Sunday looking to avenge its onlyconference loss.

Wichita State plays at Tulsa on Sunday.