Ron Baker, Tekele Cotton end struggles at right time for Wichita State

OMAHA – Wichita State’s freshmen became accustomed, over the season’s first 32 games, to steadiness from veterans Tekele Cotton and Ron Baker. Thirty-two minutes weren’t going to change their minds.

Cotton and Baker endured mostly negative moments during the first half and much of the second on Friday against Indiana in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Those moments became more favorable, starting with a steal by Cotton with eight minutes to go. Zach Brown scored on the Shockers’ ensuing possession, then almost nobody but Cotton and Baker scored for WSU again.

Cotton finished with nine points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals after sitting for lengthy stretches with foul trouble. Baker scored 15 points and made 9 of 10 free throws, reaching his scoring average despite missing 10 of 13 shots and all five three-point attempts.

Together, Cotton and Baker scored WSU’s final 14 points, affirming the confidence of their younger teammates as the Shockers (29-4) held off the Hoosiers 81-76.

“I put my trust in Tekele and Ron and Fred (VanVleet) and all the veterans anytime, any day versus anybody at the end of the game,” WSU freshman Rashard Kelly said. “They’ve been here before and they know how to handle situations.”

Baker missed 7 of 9 shots in the first half, a statistic that didn’t rank highly on his list of concerns. He became frustrated on a foul call under Indiana’s basket, when Hoosiers guard James Blackmon had no clear line of sight at the rim with Baker hounding him following a blocked shot.

There were potential momentum builders for Baker, such as steals and rebounds, that turned sour with turnovers and missed shots. He was falling shorts in areas that can’t be quantified, too.

“I was getting down on myself because I was doing some things on the defensive end that was hurting our team,” Baker said. “Missed check-outs, things like that. I just need to do a better job of helping our team win.”

Baker became WSU’s second-leading scorer Friday even though he didn’t have a basket for the final 19-plus minutes. He made seven straight free throws in the final two minutes, after Indiana cut the Shockers’ lead to 72-71, before missing the eighth.

“I trust Ron 110 percent, every time he touches the ball,” said WSU redshirt freshman Shaq Morris, who had WSU’s only non-Cotton/Baker basket in the final 7:52. “He knows what to do with it. He does what he does – score the ball.

“I was talking to Rashard Kelly next to me, saying, ‘He’s a clutch free-throw shooter, so we should be fine.’”

Cotton’s night was equally frustrating for 32 minutes. He struggled to keep up with speedy Indiana point guard Yogi Ferrell and was on the bench for the final 4:37 after drawing his second foul.

Cotton scored following a Baker steal in the first 65 seconds of the second half, but like Baker, Cotton couldn’t make his good moments last. He picked up foul No. 3 on WSU’s next possession and was back to the bench, albeit temporarily.

By then, Cotton wasn’t still guarding Ferrell, switched off by WSU coach Gregg Marshall, who put Fred VanVleet on Indiana’s leading scorer. Cotton changed defensive assignments for the second time this season, according to Marshall – the first was at Northern Iowa on Jan. 31, when Cotton was switched from Wes Washpun.

“We knew we had 20 minutes to pick it up,” Cotton said.

Cotton and Baker didn’t afford themselves the entire 20, but they got plenty done in eight. In that stretch, they combined for 14 points, two steals, an assist and a rebound to fill their stat columns.

Baker had a game-high five steals with five rebounds, two assists and a block. He helped his team win without doing what he usually does best, and he and Cotton ended up doing a little bit of everything – especially when it mattered.

“Everybody struggles,” Kelly said. “This is basketball, you’re not going to make 100 percent of your shots. We’ve got another game to play, and they get to prove what they really know how to do.”

This story was originally published March 20, 2015 at 7:12 PM with the headline "Ron Baker, Tekele Cotton end struggles at right time for Wichita State."