Shaq Morris, Darral Willis lead Shockers to exhibition win

Wichita State’s offense made its first nine shots in the first half and its defense held Henderson State without a field goal for more than 13 minutes to start the second half, as the Shockers shredded their Division II foe in an 90-53 victory in an exhibition on Saturday at Koch Arena.

The Shockers made 35 of 60 shots, including 30 of 46 inside the arc, and held Henderson State to 29 percent shooting.

It was a crisp performance in the team’s first of two public tune-ups before opening the season on Friday against Missouri-Kansas City. Wichita State will play Newman in a hurricane relief exhibition game Monday at Koch Arena.

Up against a team that allowed almost 80 points per game in Division II last season, Wichita State found little resistance in the first half.

Shaquille Morris canned a 17-foot jumper to begin the game, delivered an entry pass that led Darral Willis to the rim for an easy lay-in, then stroked in a three-pointer – all in the game’s opening two minutes. The senior center finished with a game-high 16 points with six rebounds.

By the first media timeout, Wichita State led 17-3.

Gregg Marshall had praised Conner Frankamp’s aggressiveness in practices and that translated to Saturday’s exhibition. Frankamp scored 10 points, all in the first half, on 5 of 7 shooting, including two drives that ended in lay-ups.

Frankamp, who rarely made his way into the lane last season, delighted the crowd in the first half by using a hesitation move to freeze a defender then switch the ball between hands mid-air for the lay-in. Showing the confidence to attack a defense with his drives will only make Frankamp more dangerous with his ability to shoot from beyond the arc.

Hutchinson Community College transfer Samajae Haynes-Jones earned the start for Wichita State and came through with mixed results. The East High graduate scored 11 points and dished four assists, but he also brought Marshall to his knees in frustration in the second half when he over-dribbled and was called for a five-second violation.

The Shockers built a 31-point lead, 58-27, by halftime.

Austin Reaves (foot, illness) and Asbjorn Midtgaard (illness) were both questionable to play, but both played. Reaves played 24 minutes off the bench and had four points, two rebounds, and three assists. Midtgaard played 14 minutes and scored two points and grabbed four rebounds.

Landry Shamet (foot) did not suit up for the game. Marshall said earlier in the week there was a possibly Shamet could play following offseason surgery to repair a stress fracture in his foot. The coach stated on Monday that “the goal” was for Shamet to play between five and 10 minutes in one of WSU’s two exhibitions, but not both.

“The goal is to have him play some minutes, then have him increase those minutes so that ultimately when we open up against UMKC, if he hasn’t had any setbacks, then he’ll be good to go,” Marshall said on Monday.

Sophomore guard C.J. Keyser joined Shamet in street clothes. Wichita State released a statement before the game, stating that Keyser “has personal issues that need to be resolved before he can participate.”

WSU women win – Rangie Bessard scored 26 points, Angiee Tompkins scored 15, and Keke Thompson added 10 points and six assists as the WSU women beat Southwest Baptist 82-64 on Saturday afternoon in their second exhibition game. The WSU women open their regular season at 11:30 a.m. Friday against Creighton in Omaha.

This story was originally published November 4, 2017 at 7:17 PM with the headline "Shaq Morris, Darral Willis lead Shockers to exhibition win."