Bob Lutz: Is another long unbeaten run in the cards for Wichita State?

You really have to stretch your memory to remember Wichita State losing basketball games. Which, obviously, is a pretty good sign for the Shockers and their tremendous success, especially in the past three seasons.

Let’s see, there was the two-point loss to Kentucky in the third round of the NCAA Tournament last season in St. Louis, after which the Wildcats made it all the way to the championship game before losing to Connecticut.

There was a four-point loss to Louisville in the 2013 national semifinals in a game the Shockers had in hand midway through the second half. Louisville then beat Michigan for the national championship.

And there was a three-point loss to Creighton in the championship game of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament in March, 2013.

The losses stick out in an avalanche of wins, 42 in all during that span including a 35-0 run to the showdown with Kentucky last season.

The Shockers weren’t going to lose Sunday to Newman. The bigger, stronger, faster, quicker, better team won, 105-57, at Koch Arena. It was a tune-up game against a team that beat Emporia State and Washburn to start its season. But Wichita State ain’t the MIAA, people.

WSU now has won 34 consecutive regular-season games, 19 in a row at home, 12 in a row on the road and 18 in a row in November.

There will come a time, presumably, when the Shockers start to slow down. But that time looks to be on down the road.

WSU has opened 3-0 this season and now gets to chow down on turkey and all the fixin’s before a game Saturday against Tulsa at Koch Arena.

The Shockers are trying to sprinkle in a group of newcomers to a veteran core and Sunday’s game was good for experimentation, if little else.

Fifteen guys saw action for WSU and 14 scored. The Shockers were without senior guard Tekele Cotton — the only break Newman caught — who is nursing a sore finger on his right hand but should be ready for Tulsa, WSU coach Gregg Marshall said.

Cotton is a part of that core, along with veteran teammates Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet. Darius Carter and Evan Wessel also have experience, but everybody else is new. And it’s those guys that are most interesting to watch.

Redshirt freshman Shaq Morris started in place of Cotton and continues to impress, although he did pick up four fouls. Freshmen Rashard Kelly, Corey Henderson and Rauno Nurger are promising and fellow freshmen Zach Brown, getting his first significant playing time Sunday, answered with nine points and six rebounds in 15 minutes.

Makes you think he might be a factor.

Junior-college transfer Bush Wamukota had eight points and six rebounds in 12 minutes. Another former juco player, Tevin Glass, had nine points and four rebounds in 10 minutes.

Marshall isn’t ready to anoint any of these new guys as ready for the grind of what’s ahead, but he does like the progress being made.

And it’s not like these new guys have to become All-Missouri Valley Conference players immediately. The Shockers already have plenty of those guys already.

Baker, VanVleet and Cotton are playing at a really high level early. So high, in fact, that it’s hard to point out flaws. They have played a lot of college basketball and it shows.

Wessel, a stout defender, knocked down a couple of three-point shots against Newman, a welcome sign. And Carter continues to be the Shockers’ best in the paint. He had 15 points in 13 minutes against the Jets.

It was early last season when this crazy feeling swept over me that the Shockers were good enough to go unbeaten for a long time. And they did, for four-and-a-half months.

WSU has a more difficult road in 2014-15, thanks mostly to a tougher non-conference schedule. But the Shockers have already handled New Mexico State and Memphis by an average of 16 points. Those are two teams I expected to provide more resistance.

So, who knows when the Shockers will lose another game. Utah should provide a stern test on Dec. 3 in a game that will be played in Salt Lake City. Wichita State could have some challenges in next month’s Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii with potential games against Nebraska, Hawaii, George Washington and Colorado.

And perhaps the teams in the Missouri Valley Conference have improved enough to give the Shockers some tests, although early returns — except for Northern Iowa and maybe Evansville — aren’t promising.

This is going to be another successful, special season for Wichita State. Whether the Shockers are unbeaten in mid-March is to be determined. The likelihood is they won’t be. But would it really shock anyone?

That’s how crazy good this team and this program have become.

This story was originally published November 23, 2014 at 6:51 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Is another long unbeaten run in the cards for Wichita State?."