WICHITA—Tyson Etienne’s second-half energy pushed the Wichita State men’s basketball team to a, 85-80, victory against Oral Roberts to open the 2020-21 season in Charles Koch Arena on Wednesday night.

Etienne, the sophomore guard, scored a career-high 26 points on four 3-point makes for the Shockers, including 21 in the second half. He added 4 rebounds and 3 assists to his stat line.

Etienne had a four-minute stretch that brought the Shockers from six points down to holding a five-point advantage. From the 10:42 mark to the 6:57 mark, Etienne scored 13 points. Trey Wade got in on the action, scoring six points in the same span.

Alterique Gilbert made his Shocker debut and scored 18 points. He was limited in the second half due to foul trouble, but Wichita State was four points better than Oral Roberts when Gilbert was on the floor.

Morris Udeze made a dunk with 32 seconds left in the game to put the Shockers up three points. Gilbert sank a pair of free throws down the stretch to seal the Shocker victory.

The victory marks the first tally in the win column for interim coach Isaac Brown as the leading man for the Shockers.

The Shockers next contest is slated for a 1 p.m. tipoff on Sunday against Missouri inside of Charles Koch Arena.