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Wichita State's Clevin Hannah looks more like a point guard, because he doesn't need to worry about his points. Toure Murry is a better shooting guard, because he doesn't need to worry about shooting.
The early returns on offense are uniformly good for the Shockers entering tonight's game against South Carolina-Upstate at Koch Arena. WSU ranked in the bottom half of four key Missouri Valley Conference offensive categories last season. After seven games, the Shockers are in the top half of the rankings for points (74.0), shooting percentage (47.0), three-point accuracy (37.8) and free throws (72.7).
"We're being more patient as a team," Hannah said. "We're looking for the open shots. Being unselfish."
A season ago, the Shockers needed to chug and wheeze to get past 60 points, something they failed to do 14 times. Hannah and Murry, especially early, carried too much of the scoring burden.
"My focus is not on scoring, unless we need a basket," Hannah said. "My focus is on getting the other guys going so down the stretch everybody is comfortable."
Hannah averages 5.3 assists, which would tie for the MVC lead if he played in enough games to qualify. Last season he averaged 4.3. Even after a five-turnover night against Texas Southern, his average is down from 2.5 to 2.0. He is shooting a much higher percentage (52.2 percent, up from 45.8) while averaging one less point than last season, 10.0.
Hannah missed three games due to an NCAA suspension. He didn't waste his time watching from the bench.
"He got to look at it from a coach's perspective for three games," WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. "He knows our system and he knows what we're after."
Hannah's ability to get the Shockers into their plays and run them effectively benefits everyone. Murry's shooting percentage is also up because he is turning down bad shots. The big men regularly get the ball, especially early in the game. Sophomore center Garrett Stutz is averaging 13.7 points and shooting 62.8 percent since Hannah's return.
"We understand what kind of shot we can get for Clevin and Toure and Aaron Ellis," center J.T. Durley said. "We can get them in a rhythm for a shot they're more comfortable with."
Murry is off to a superb all-around start to his sophomore season. He spent the off-season working on his jumper, adding arch to a sometimes flat trajectory. Combine the improved form with better choices and the results are encouraging. He is averaging 14.7 points while shooting 40 percent from three-point range and 47.4 percent overall. As a freshman, he averaged 11.0 points and shot 37.1 percent overall and 32.1 percent from outside the three-point arc.
"I'm moving without the ball a lot better and getting easy shots," Murry said. "I'm not taking as many threes, but I'm taking smarter threes."
Balanced scoring and bench scoring are the two biggest differences from last season. In six games this season, five Shockers led the team in scoring. Twice, five Shockers reached double figures in game. That happened once last season.
"One team can't focus on me and Clevin this year," Murry said. "They have to focus on the other shooters we have. That also helps me, because I can get easy baskets because those guys are shooting well."
