Why the double-block against Marquette epitomizes Rashard Kelly’s play at WSU

The play was what Wichita State coaches call an “atomic bomb,” meaning a turnover that leads directly to an easy basket for the opponent.

When Marquette’s Sacar Anim stole Austin Reaves’ pass and glided past half-court, no one was in front of him. It was a sure two points in everyone’s mind … except Rashard Kelly.

Kelly was a full stride behind when Anim planted to go up for the lay-in, but Kelly took one giant leap and pinned the ball against the backboard. He wasn’t done. Anim came back to get the offensive rebound, but Kelly was there again on the put-back, swatting Anim’s second shot backward to single-handedly blow up Marquette’s fast break in the first half.

Wichita State would go on to win 80-66 in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational on Tuesday at the Lahaina Civic Center. The No. 6-ranked Shockers (4-0) will play the Notre Dame-LSU winner in Wednesday night’s championship game.

“That was my favorite play of the year so far,” Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. “That was a tremendous play and it epitomizes Rashard Kelly and hopefully our program.”

So why did Kelly decide to hustle on a play where Wichita State’s four other white uniforms stood still? He doesn’t know any other way.

“You’ve got to come to one of our film sessions one day,” Kelly said, referencing Marshall’s constant pleas to his players to never give up.

“Someone’s got to fall in love with doing the dirty work. I don’t want to be the superstar or the highlight-type of player, I just want to get the job done.”

Kelly’s final stat line echoes that sentiment. He contributed less than 10 percent of Wichita State’s scoring with his six points, but there was no doubt he was the team’s most valuable player. He finished with a team-high 10 rebounds and doled out a career-high eight assists to go along with three blocks and two charges taken.

Those types of winning plays don’t go unnoticed by his teammates.

“He’s unbelievably valuable to us,” senior Conner Frankamp said. “He’s everything coach wants. He is a team guy and does everything coach wants him to do.”

“He does all of the extra stuff and little stuff that teams need to do to win games,” guard Landry Shamet added. “He’s easily the MVP for us in the tournament.”

When told his stat line following the game, Kelly was not excited to hear 10 rebounds or eight assists or three blocks. He doesn’t view basketball as a game of statistics. He’ll go back on tape and count how many winning plays he made for his team.

Those plays are beginning to stack up and Marshall has taken notice, promoting Kelly to the starting lineup for the first time this season on Tuesday.

“It doesn’t really make a difference to me, I’m just glad we won and I contributed,” Kelly said. “The numbers don’t really matter to me how high they go. We have a plus-minus system and the more pluses I have, the more satisfaction I’ll have.”

This story was originally published November 21, 2017 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Why the double-block against Marquette epitomizes Rashard Kelly’s play at WSU."