Ballard leads Wichita State to 84-79 OT win over No. 14 Memphis

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Bijan Cortes nails clutch triple for Wichita State

Bijan Cortes hits a deep 3-pointer to give Wichita State the lead in OT.

Feb 16, 2026, 08:14 pm

WICHITA, Kan. -- — Quincy Ballard scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half and overtime to help Wichita State beat No. 14 Memphis 84-79 on Sunday.

Bijan Cortes hit a 3 to give the Shockers a 78-77 lead with 1:10 remaining in OT. Wichita State never relinquished the lead from that point.

Wichita State (15-10, 5-7 AAC) won its fourth-straight game and first over a ranked opponent in the regular season since 2021. The Shockers had five players in double figures. Corey Washington had a double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds.

The Tigers (21-5, 11-2) saw their eight-game winning-streak end. Tyrese Hunter led the Tigers with 24 points. Moussa Cisse had a double-double for Memphis with 12 points and 14 rebounds.

Wichita State took a 32-28 lead into halftime highlighted by an 11-3 run in the final 5:28 of the opening 20 minutes.

Ronnie DeGray III hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 71-71 with 18 seconds left for the Shockers to force overtime. The Tigers scored the first four points in OT before the Shockers took over.

Takeaways

Wichita State: The Shockers limited Memphis’ leading scorer PJ Haggerty to just two points in the first half and 14 in total. Wichita State controlled the rebound battle outrebounding the Tigers 54-45.

Memphis: The Tigers struggled shooting going 27-for-75 from the floor.

Key moment

Cortes hit the key 3-pointer to give the Shockers the lead with just 1:10 left in overtime. He had missed his first two 3-point attempts in the game.

Key stat

Wichita State shot just 19% as a team from three-point range, but made the key ones to spark the win.

Up next

Wichita State goes to Florida Atlantic on Thursday. Memphis will get a week off before hosting Florida Atlantic next Sunday.

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