Wichita State looks to avenge lone MVC loss against Northern Iowa

Wichita State senior Darius Carter’s performance proves he didn’t overlook Wednesday’s game at Indiana State in anticipation of Saturday’s showdown with No. 10 Northern Iowa. He did, however, execute every move on the court with the Panthers in mind and it worked for 20 points and 11 rebounds.

“A lot of it was my mind-set going into this Northern Iowa game,” he said. I wanted to have a really aggressive opportunity to prepare myself. This helped a lot.”

Looking back provided the motivation for Carter to use Wednesday’s game as the proper way to look ahead to Saturday. He struggled in WSU’s first meeting with Northern Iowa, still not fully right after back spasms limited his playing time in two previous games. He played 17 minutes in WSU’s 70-54 loss on Jan. 31 and couldn’t guard Panthers center Seth Tuttle, who scored a career-high 29 points.

UNI should see a different Carter on Saturday.

“I’m 100 percent now and I’m ready to go out there and play,” he said. “Coming back from the back injury, my mind wasn’t really all the way focused into being aggressive. I still had some pain, but it was mostly how aggressive I was on offense and defense. That really determines how good a night I’m going to have and how much I’m going to help my team.”

No. 11 WSU (26-3, 16-1 Missouri Valley Conference) meets UNI (27-2, 16-1) on Saturday at Koch Arena with history at stake — an MVC title, tournament seeding, a 31-game home-court win streak. Bragging rights for the biggest game in modern MVC history are included. Saturday’s winner takes the regular-season title, the top seed in the MVC Tournament and strengthens its NCAA Tournament resume.

The MVC hasn’t had a game like this since March 3, 1951, when No. 2 Oklahoma A&M defeated No. 10 Saint Louis 50-29 on the final day of the regular-season to win the MVC title and relegate the Billikens to a second-place tie with Bradley.

“This is what you dream about growing up, the opportunity to play for a championship,” WSU guard Fred VanVleet said. “They kicked our butts up there. Things didn’t go our way that day. They’ve got to come back to us and we’ll see what happens.”

The Shockers need many things to happen differently than that miserable day in Cedar Falls. They missed 19 of 24 three-pointers. Tuttle and guard Wes Washpun ran WSU’s defense ragged with the pick and roll. Tuttle made 9 of 13 shots. Washpun scored 16 points and the Panthers made 24 of 40 shots (60 percent).

“Up there, we lost sight of the way we play,” WSU forward Evan Wessel said. “Not really effort, just positioning.”

The Panthers present defenses an almost impossible choice — as do the Shockers most games. Guard the shooters and risk giving up points in the lane. Help off shooters and risk giving up open three-pointers. At UNI, the Shockers didn’t help often enough or quickly enough off the three-point line and Tuttle and Washpun took advantage of openings in the lane.

“It’s kind of like guarding us,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “It is a pick-your-poison. You’ve got to figure out who you’re going to emphasize. Or you can play everybody straight up. They can surround the court with five good players.”

The Panthers scored 36 points in the lane, 16 more than WSU and the most of any Shockers opponent this season.

“We’ve got to have great help from the weak-side guards, weak-side forwards when they roll and pop,” Carter said. “We’ve got to be there for each other, at the end of the day, when the screens are set and help each other out.”

The Panthers aren’t an ordinary pick-and-roll team. Tuttle is more mobile than most big men and can make three-pointers. Coach Ben Jacobson can put three excellent outside shooters behind the arc and Tuttle is a willing passer who can find them, if the Shockers try to congest the lane. Washpun and Deon Mitchell are quick and aggressive guards who can score in the lane.

The first step to defending ball screens, ESPN’s Jay Bilas said, is pressuring the ball and making the ball-handlers uncomfortable.

“It gives (WSU) problems because you’ve got a pick-and-pop big guy in Tuttle and then you’ve got a spread floor, so you have to make decisions,” he said. “You’ve got to defend the ball screen with all five guys and it’s got to be all five guys that move and react and rotate together.”

Carter will play his final game at Koch Arena on Saturday, capping a two-season Shockers career in the national spotlight. WSU will hold senior-day ceremonies until after the game, which makes sense to Carter. He will save his sentimental feelings for the arena and the fans until after the game.

“I’m not going to pay attention to what’s going around me, what’s going on outside of basketball,” he said. “I’m focused and ready to play. Once I walk out here, it’s game time. That’s all I’m worried about.”

This story was originally published February 27, 2015 at 6:33 PM with the headline "Wichita State looks to avenge lone MVC loss against Northern Iowa."