Shocker report: WSU 82, Colorado St. 67
Saturday’s box
WSU 82, COLORADO ST. 67
WSU | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | A | F | Pt |
McDuffie | 33 | 3-9 | 4-4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 12 |
Willis | 16 | 2-5 | 2-2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
Nurger | 19 | 0-4 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
Shamet | 34 | 4-11 | 0-0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
Smith | 22 | 2-3 | 3-4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
Brown | 23 | 5-9 | 4-6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 16 |
Morris | 21 | 6-9 | 0-1 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 13 |
Frankamp | 15 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
Reaves | 10 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
Kelly | 7 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Totals | 200 | 28-60 | 13-17 | 29 | 15 | 23 | 82 |
Percentages: FG .467, FT .765. 3-Point Goals: 13-27, .481 (Shamet 3-6, McDuffie 2-3, Smith 2-3, Brown 2-4, Frankamp 2-5, Reaves 1-1, Morris 1-2, Kelly 0-1, Nurger 0-2). Team Rebounds: 4. Team Turnovers: 13 (25 PTS). Blocked Shots: 2 (Morris, Willis). Turnovers: 13 (Willis 4, Smith 3, Shamet 2, Brown, Frankamp, Morris, Nurger). Steals: 8 (Smith 4, Brown 2, McDuffie 2). Technical Fouls: None.
Colo. St. | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | A | F | Pt |
Jackson | 19 | 2-3 | 1-2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
Omogbo | 34 | 3-9 | 3-5 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
Carvacho | 24 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
Nixon | 30 | 5-9 | 5-6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 20 |
Paige | 32 | 5-11 | 7-8 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 17 |
Butler | 25 | 2-5 | 6-6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
Koelliker | 13 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Bonner | 12 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Bob | 11 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 200 | 18-44 | 24-29 | 30 | 12 | 20 | 67 |
Percentages: FG .409, FT .828. 3-Point Goals: 7-18, .389 (Nixon 5-6, Butler 2-3, Bob 0-1, Carvacho 0-1, Jackson 0-1, Koelliker 0-1, Omogbo 0-2, Paige 0-3). Team Rebounds: 1. Team Turnovers: 19 (12 PTS). Blocked Shots: 3 (Bob, Nixon, Omogbo). Turnovers: 19 (Paige 4, Omogbo 3, Bob 2, Carvacho 2, Jackson 2, Koelliker 2, Nixon 2, Bonner , Butler). Steals: 7 (Carvacho 2, Nixon 2, Butler, Koelliker, Omogbo). Technical Fouls: None.
Wichita St. | 34 | 48 | — | 82 |
Colorado St. | 31 | 36 | — | 67 |
A—6,918 (8,745).
Quite a challenge
Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy handed the Mountain West Conference crown to the Shockers after the game.
“That team could go 15-1 in our league,” he said. “They’re that good. We played hard. We just met our match.”
While Eustachy lacks the power to add Wichita State to his conference, he would like to play regularly and said he talked about it after the game with WSU coach Gregg Marshall.
“That’s the best team that will come in here, by far, this year,” Eustachy said.
The Shockers improved to 5-1 in the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge Series.
NBA state, NBA rules
Colorado State entered the game with more made free throws (150) than its first seven opponents attempted (129).
That won’t change after Saturday’s game. WSU had to battle back from a significant disadvantage in the first half at the line. The Rams went 13 of 15 in the first half. WSU shot its lone foul shot with 3:24 to play in the half and Zach Brown missed.
“We weathered a tremendous disparity on fouls in the first half,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “We didn’t score a point. They scored a bunch.”
The Shockers made that stat competitive in the second half by making 13 of 16. For the game, the Rams outscored them 24-13 at the line.
WSU knew the Rams relied heavily on dribble drives and pick-and-roll plays. The Shockers defended those drives more effectively in the second half.
“We talked about, ‘Stop fouling them,’ ” Marshall said. “They like to get to the bonus and then they’re really aggressive. Even if they initiate contact, sometimes they get the call. You’ve got to push back and show your hands and stop reaching and make them run over you. Or stay straight up and make them finish over you.”
Marshall made his feelings known to the officiating crew throughout the game, most notably in the second half. Official Paul Janssen whistled Darral Willis for a foul near the three-point line. CSU’s Emmanuel Omogbo kept dribbling and laid the ball in the basket. Janssen signaled the basket good and gave Omogbo a foul shot, inspiring Marshall to yell, “Is this an NBA game?”
Bench rules again
Wichita State’s bench players totaled 44 points, it second-lowest output this season.
Eustachy remains impressed.
“They got players, and they keep coming with more players, and more players,” he said. “A lot of teams would like to have the guys that didn’t get in the game off their team.”
WSU’s bench has outscored all nine of it opponents. It has produced the three top bench-scoring performances since 1975 at WSU with 64 points against Maryland Eastern Shore, 61 against NCAA Division II Southern Nazarene and 57 against Michigan State.
Before this season, WSU had seven 50-plus point games from it reserves. This team has five.
Worth noting
WSU made 13 of 27 three-pointers, coming within two made threes of tying the school record. The Shockers made 15 of 24 in a win over Maryland Eastern Shore. … WSU improved to 58-13 in road games since 2010-11. … The Shockers extended their series lead to 8-1 in the team’s first meeting since 1983. The Shockers are 2-0 at Moby Arena. … The Rockford (Ill.) Area Convention and Visitors Bureau named former Shocker Fred VanVleet its sports ambassador on Friday. The organization uses VanVleet in advertisements and a video promoting Rockford as a place for sports events.
Paul Suellentrop
This story was originally published December 3, 2016 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Shocker report: WSU 82, Colorado St. 67."