Wichita State's Grady carried off on stretcher; 'Bama upsets Shockers
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — A scary injury overshadowed a second consecutive loss for No. 20 Wichita State.
Wichita State forward Anton Grady was hurt during Alabama's 64-60 victory over the Shockers in the consolation round of the AdvoCare Invitational on Friday.
The game was delayed with 3:07 left in the second half when Grady fell face-first on the court. He was put on a backboard, taken off on a stretcher and transported to a hospital.
The school said a CT scan came back negative, and Grady is scheduled to undergo an MRI exam. Grady is alert and responsive, has feeling in his extremities and is in overall good spirits, according to the school. Maggie Marshall, the daughter of coach Gregg Marshall, tweeted that Grady has a spinal concussion and will be sidelined several days.
Grady was injured when he turned and started to run from the offensive zone to play defense, and his chin made contact an Alabama player. The impact caused his head to rotate to one side.
"Seeing your brother on the court like that, it's more than a game at that point," teammate Ron Baker said. "It's life."
"Our prayers are with him," Alabama's Riley Norris said.
Coach Marshall and Grady's teammates were planning to visit him at the hospital later Friday.
Shannon Hale scored 20 points and Norris had 12 for Alabama (3-2), which beat a Top-25 team on a neutral court for the first time since Nov. 29, 2009, a 68-66 victory over then-No. 15 Michigan.
"This was a team victory," Alabama coach Avery Johnson said.
Wichita State (2-3) lost its second straight invitational game without senior guard Fred VanVleet, who missed his third consecutive game overall due to ankle and hamstring injuries. He twisted an ankle in the season opener Nov. 13 against Charleston Southern and then was limited by hamstring soreness four days later in a game with Tulsa.
"Disappointing," Marshall said. "I thought we had a chance again, a lead midway through the second half and didn't finish. It's been the same story in all three of our losses."
Hale made one of two free throws to make it 62-60 with 36 seconds left. After Wichita State failed to score on its next possession, Norris secured the win with two from the foul line.
Alabama went ahead 58-55 with five minutes left on 3-pointers by Hale and Norris in the back-and forth game.
After Norris hit a 3 during a 9-1 Alabama surge, Markis McDuffie tied it with a trey and another long-range jumper from Baker gave Wichita State a 55-52 advantage with eight minutes remaining.
Baker had 15 points.
Baker had a 3-pointer during a 7-2 run that put Wichita State up 48-43 with 12 minutes to play.
TIP-INS
Wichita State: The Shockers have never gone 0-3 in a tourney. ... Wichita State dropped into the consolation round after losing 72-69 to Southern California on Thursday.
Alabama: The Crimson Tide played a ranked opponent in consecutive nonconference games for the first time since November 2001 when they took on fifth-ranked Missouri and No. 12 Memphis. ... Alabama lost 64-45 to No. 23 Xavier on Thursday.
NUMBERS GAME
Alabama made 25 of 33 free throws, compared to 12 of 18 for Wichita State. ... There were 42 fouls and just two fast-break points.
UP NEXT
Alabama: Faces No. 17 Notre Dame in Sunday's fifth-place game.
Wichita State: Closes out the tourney against Iowa in Sunday's seventh-place game.
