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Bradley, Wilson help Wichita State shock LSU

Nov 25, 2006 - 11:54 PM BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Ticker) -- Karon Bradley and Wichita State are proving to be more than just one-year wonders.

Bradley scored 11 points, including the go-ahead basket with less than two minutes remaining, as the Shockers claimed a 57-53 upset victory over No. 6 Louisiana State.

After reaching the NCAA regional semifinals for the first time in 25 years last season, Wichita State (4-0) continued the stellar play that could earn itself a spot in the upcoming USA Today/ESPN coaches poll by beating a second straight Final Four squad.

With five players in double figures, the Shockers followed up on a 72-66 victory at George Mason last Saturday with a late rally against the Tigers (2-1), who have Glen Davis back from the inside duo that earned them a trip to Indianapolis last spring.

Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon was very low key about those consecutive wins afterward.

"The key two words there is last year," he said. "It is a different year. We've done it on the road, too. You see a lot of upsets happening out there but not many of them are on the road."

Playing just its third game of the season, LSU had a 29-23 advantage at the half behind eight points by Davis, and led, 34-25, following a layup by Davis with 17:27 left in the second half.

However, Wichita State came back behind Kyle Wilson, who was held without a point on 0-of-6 shooting in the first 20 minutes. The 6-8 senior forward, who finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, had four points on a 9-3 run that closed the score to 37-34 with 12:41 remaining.

The Shockers remained in striking distance, but could not tie the game until a layup by P.J. Couisnard with 4:18 left. Couisnard had 11 points, Ryan Martin scored 12 and Phillip Thomasson added 10.

The Tigers went back ahead on two free throws by Darnell Lazare, but Wilson answered with a pair at the line and Wichita State finally pulled ahead for the first time in the game when Bradley hit a jumper with 1:51 to play.

The Shockers then denied the ball to Davis on the defensive end, forcing Tasmin Mitchell to throw up a 3-pointer. Bradley grabbed the rebound and was fouled.

The 5-11 senior, who has made his first 11 free throws of the season, sank two with 23.5 seconds left for a 54-50 lead.

Overall, Wichita State made 7-of-8 free throws in the second half to seal the upset.

"It was a team effort," Martin said about defending Davis. "He's a wide body. I was just trying to limit his touches. Coach was saying after the game that we practice on defense enough, we should play it well enough. That is the truth."

Davis finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds for LSU, which was outscored in the paint by a 36-28 margin.

"That's just what we do," Turgeon said about getting the ball inside offensively. "We have a system and we run it. We don't care who we are playing. We are not going to change. Our guys did a good job of looking in."

Lazare scored 11 points and Dameon Mason added seven and six rebounds for the Tigers, who shot just 33 percent (8-of-24) in the second half.

"We did not do anything consistently well on offense," LSU coach John Brady said. "We had some opportunities, but we just didn't execute as well as they did. They were tougher than we were for the most part, I thought."