WICHITA, Kan. – Jaime Echenique’s layup with 40.7 seconds remaining in the second-half lifted the Wichita State University men’s basketball team to a 63-60 win over Southern Miss Saturday, Dec. 15, at INTRUST Bank Arena.

Wichita State (6-4) is scheduled to return to Charles Koch Arena to host Oral Roberts Wednesday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m.

After the Golden Eagles (7-3) took a 60-59 lead with exactly one minute to go in the second stanza, Ricky Torres found Echenique under the basket, who converted a layup in traffic to put WSU in front, 61-60. Morris Udeze and Markis McDuffie each hit one of two free-throws to increase the advantage to 63-60, and Southern Miss missed three free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining in regulation, sealing the victory for Wichita State.

Echenique tallied his second career double-double with a career-best 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Shockers. McDuffie added 17 points, while Samajae Haynes-Jones also reached double figures, netting 11 points, respectively.

After falling behind 2-0 in the opening minute of the game, Wichita State responded with seven consecutive points, jumping out to a 7-2 lead after a Torres layup, Echenique dunk and McDuffie three-pointer with 17:29 to go in the first-half.

The Golden Eagles answered, however, and gained an 11-10 advantage after a jumper from Cortez Edwards at the 11:40 mark of the stanza. The lead was short-lived though, as WSU edged back in front, 16-12, on an Echenique layup and Haynes-Jones trey with just over 9:30 remaining on the clock.

Wichita State would stretch its advantage to 33-25 going into halftime after ending the frame on a 7-4 run, capped-off by a McDuffie slam with just over a minute to go in the half.

Haynes-Jones led all scorers at the intermission with 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting, including a perfect 2-of-2 performance from beyond-the-arc.

Neither team could score a field-goal in the opening minutes of the second-half until Echenique converted back-to-back layups with 16:26 to go, increasing the WSU lead to 38-27 and sparking an 11-3 Shocker run that ballooned the advantage to 44-29 after a McDuffie three with 14:38 remaining.

Southern Miss answered in a big way, however, and went on a 20-5 run over an eight-minute span, cutting the Shocker lead to 57-56 with 2:22 remaining in the frame.

Cortez Edwards netted 15 points and seven rebounds, pacing the Golden Eagles.

Wichita State shot just 38 percent from the field (23-of-60) and 52 percent at the foul line (12-for-23) for the game, but dominated Southern Miss on the glass, outrebounding the Golden Eagles, 48-31, including a 15-4 advantage in offensive rebounds. In addition, the Shockers outscored Southern Miss in the paint, 34-14, and on second chance points, 19-3.

The Golden Eagles went 19-for-52 from the floor for 37 percent and 54 percent at the free-throw line, making 14 of 26 attempts.