It never occurred to Markis McDuffie that Friday night could have been his final time in a Wichita State uniform.
To think about that would be to think about failure, so he shut out all negativity before he played in the biggest game of his senior season, a rematch against Temple in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament at the FedExForum.
The night before he would play his finest game as a Shocker, McDuffie sat in his hotel room talking late into the night to his father. McDuffie had grown frustrated with his shooting the past month, but found comfort in his father’s calming words.