Wichita State battles hangover effect from Notre Dame loss

What was supposed to be a Thanksgiving celebration on the beach for Wichita State turned somber after the Shockers allowed a 14-point lead to slip away in a 67-66 loss to Notre Dame last Wednesday in the Maui Invitational championship game.

It created a hangover effect, contributing to a lackluster first practice back home Sunday.

It’s difficult to move on from a defeat like that, which is why Tuesday’s 7 p.m. game against Savannah State (2-5) at Koch Arena is so important to No. 8 Wichita State (4-1).

“I just want to play again,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “We’re ready to play again. We need to get another win.”

According to Ken Pomeroy’s win probability chart, Wichita State had a 97.3-percent chance of winning with a 66-63 lead and the ball with 19 seconds remaining. Several things had to go in Notre Dame’s way to execute the come-from-behind victory.

It was painful video study for Marshall and his coaching staff.

“We had an opportunity to win and we didn’t do it,” Marshall said. “We’ve got to figure out why.”

Marshall said he focused on the defensive end with the players.

Wichita State held Notre Dame to 23 points on 30 first-half possessions — its lowest output in more than a year. On the same number of possessions in the second half, Notre Dame scored 44 points.

“In the end, I don’t think our problem was (offense),” Marshall said. “I thought we just gave up too many points to Notre Dame in the second half.”

But Wichita State’s offense had its own issues, scoring four points in the final seven minutes against Notre Dame’s zone. In their final 11 possessions, the Shockers didn’t score nine times. WSU was 2 for 9, including 0 for 5 beyond the arc, a missed front-end of a one-and-one, and three turnovers.

Marshall said he was comfortable with the shots WSU took against Notre Dame’s zone.

“I thought we had some pretty good looks,” Marshall said. “We turned it over once or twice, some uncharacteristic mistakes by certain guys. But in the end, I don’t think it was that end, I thought we just gave up too many points to Notre Dame in the second half.”

Would he change anything WSU did tactically down the stretch now that there’s some distance from the game?

“I might have changed one thing, maybe a play call here or there down the stretch,” Marshall said. “It’s easy to second guess.”

Improving the zone offense will be crucial, especially with another stiff test Saturday when the Shockers travel to No. 16 Baylor (5-0) and will go up against Scott Drew’s 1-3-1 matchup zone.

The good news is that it will have a chance to work on its zone offense on Tuesday against Savannah State, a team that primarily plays zone defense. The Tigers are ranked 330th out of 351 Division I teams in Pomeroy’s rankings, including the 340th defense.

“It’s going to be an entertaining game,” Marshall said. “They play a very loose and aggressive and active style. They don’t pass it much. They attack. They’re in attack mode all the time. You’re going to see two passes maybe from them on the offensive end and they’re going to press any time they can.”

This story was originally published November 27, 2017 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Wichita State battles hangover effect from Notre Dame loss."