Wichita State Shockers basketball grind out road SEC win at Missouri for 5-1 start
Scoring points against the defense of the Wichita State men’s basketball team is hard.
Hard enough to allow the Shockers to mask their worst qualities of late — hello, fast breaks and free-throw shooting — and continue to churn out victories.
There was no better example than the slog-fest on Friday night that ended with a Wichita State 61-55 win over the Missouri Tigers to even the four-year series score at one game apiece. It also marked WSU’s first-ever win over Missouri (in five tries) in its first trip to Columbia since 1951.
For as painful as it might have been to watch the Shockers throw the ball around for a season-high 18 turnovers (eight of them coming in transition) and shoot 45% at the foul line, they still improved to 5-1 and earned a road win over a SEC opponent because they know how to defend better than anything.
“In my eight years at Wichita State, we were one of the best teams in the country winning on the road and it wasn’t about our offense,” WSU coach Isaac Brown said. “In order to be a team that can go win on the road, you’ve got to defend, rebound and play with toughness and we executed that.”
It’s the ethos WSU has used to win 75% of its road games in the past decade, trailing only Gonzaga for the best road winning percentage of any program in the country since the start of the 2010-11 season. WSU is now 6-2 in true road games under Brown.
The Shockers limited Missouri to a season-low in both points per possession (0.80) and field goal shooting (34.8%). That’s because WSU executed the game plan prepared by assistant Billy Kennedy and the defense was constantly in the gaps, forcing Missouri to settle for undesirable shots and shoot over crowds near the rim.
“It was the perfect scout,” said WSU center Morris Udeze. “We just tried to contain their dribble drives and then dig. Try to stay in the gaps and help the helper.”
The evidence was Missouri taking more than double its season average in mid-range jumpers (4 for 17) and shooting a poor percentage, per Synergy. WSU also did an effective job on Mizzou leading scorer Kobe Brown, who entered averaging 16 points on 63% shooting but left Friday with a season-low eight points on 3 of 14 shooting and four turnovers.
“That was a tough one,” Mizzou coach Cuonzo Martin said. “All credit to Wichita State. I thought we got a lot of shots at the rim, but we’ve got to improve on those shots at the rim. You put so much pressure on yourself when you don’t make those shots.”
WSU’s defensive efficiency climbed to No. 45 nationally by the end of Friday night’s games.
“It was one of our better games (defensively), for sure,” WSU junior wing Dexter Dennis said. “We’re starting to drill it more in practice and the more you practice it and the more (the coaches) emphasize it, the better we’re going to get at it. We’re getting into that mindset of helping the helper and starting to bring it to the court.”
If not for the 11 missed free throws and multiple bungled fast breaks, WSU very well could have netted a double-digit road win in a game the Shockers will pray remains in Quadrant 1 come March.
Once WSU reeled off an 8-0 run midway through the second half to establish an 11-point lead, neither team could string together enough offense to push the margin one way or the other. WSU’s lead never dipped below eight points again until the final seconds.
“I’m super excited about the win, but there’s some stuff we’ve got to clean up,” Brown said. “We’ve got to become a better free-throw shooting team. We’ve got to be able to start scoring more in transition and get those easy baskets.”
WSU’s troubles in transition are mind-boggling. For a team with so many high-caliber athletes, the Shockers should be a dangerous team in the open court — not one turning the ball over eight times and botching 4-on-1 fast breaks.
After their worst showing yet in transition, WSU plummeted to No. 355 (out of 358 Division I teams) in the country in transition offense efficiency at 0.62 points per possession, per Synergy.
“We’ve got some young guys out there and they’re not going to be perfect,” WSU star Tyson Etienne said. “There’s going to be times where we make mistakes. That’s part of basketball. Those guys have to come in the game and have that real experience, instead of just watching. They have to be on the court. It’s part of growing. It’s part of the process. They’re going to mess up, I know I did a ton when I was a freshman. It’s all part of the journey.”
Even with its transition and foul shooting woes, WSU’s offense found its stride in the second half against Missouri to pull away. The Shockers made 56% of their shots (14 of 25) in the second half with their ball-screen offense finally finding the roller in Udeze (season-high 15 points) or Kenny Pohto (10 points, seven rebounds) for the first time all season.
Against a defense that was limiting opponents to just 46% near the rim, WSU gashed Mizzou for 30 points on 62.5% shooting near the rim with Udeze and Pohto combining for 10-of-13 shooting in that range.
Etienne supplied his typical steady scoring with 18 points on 17 shots, while Craig Porter (seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks) affected the game so much with his play that he earned the post-game radio interview despite being the only starter not to score. The junior point guard was also key in WSU’s revival of finding the roller in ball-screen actions.
“I felt like us guards were just being more aggressive coming off those ball screens and making their (center) help,” Porter said. “We know people are going to deny Tyson the rest of the year. That’s just how it is for the preseason Player of the Year. So we’ve got to make sure we find other people open looks.”
In a game with not much offense and not much drama, the most exciting moment of the night might have come early in the second half when Brown, usually mild-mannered on the sidelines, was whistled for the first technical foul of his career with 17:55 remaining after what he believed was a missed call against WSU.
In a rare sign of emotion, Brown threw his hands up and stomped toward the baseline, which was enough to earn the first technical in 28 games as a head coach. It seemed to light a fire under WSU, which would respond with a 5-0 spurt following the call after Mizzou briefly tied the game.
“I didn’t understand why I got it, to be honest with you,” Brown admitted. “I just put my hands up. After that happened, I told them I was going to keep quiet and I told coach Kennedy to talk to the refs for me. I wasn’t going to talk to them no more.”
