Five takeaways from WSU’s 95-57 win over South Florida

No. 9 Wichita State improved to 13-2 on the season and 3-0 in the American Athletic Conference with a 95-57 victory over South Florida at Koch Arena on Sunday afternoon.

Here are five takeaways from the performance:

1. WSU flirts with record shooting day

If not for missing eight of nine shots in the final three minutes, WSU would have set a program record for field goal percentage in a game.

The Shockers were holding steady above 70 percent shooting for the first 37 minutes, only to watch the late cold spell drop their final number to 62.7 percent. WSU set a season-high with 28 assists on 37 baskets.

“Watch college basketball tonight and go through the box scores on ESPN and I bet you don’t find five other teams with 28 assists,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said.

USF provided little resistance in the first half, as the Shockers made 75 percent of their shots and six of nine three-pointers. According to the shot chart, WSU made 13 of 16 shots around the rim and made five corner three-pointers.

“Coach always preaches to us to get open looks for your teammates,” said Austin Reaves, who had seven assists. “Don’t take a good shot, take a great shot. I felt like that’s what we did throughout the game. You always want to find the open shot.”

When told WSU’s style of play resembled that of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, Marshall beamed with pride.

“I love the Spurs,” Marshall said. “If I could be any NBA program with the way they run their program, I very well would like to emulate them. The get the right type of guys in there and they run a first-class organization, so I appreciate that analogy and comparison.”

2. Shamet does a lot with a little

Landry Shamet, who entered averaging a team-best 17.1 points, finished with a season-low three points on a season-low two shots.

But both coaches singled out his performance after the game, as Shamet dished out seven assists and WSU was plus-33 when he was on the court — the best mark on the team.

“Two shots the whole game,” USF coach Brian Gregory said. “He don’t care. I mean, All-American, NBA first-round pick, and he doesn’t care about any of that. That’s because of the type of high-level program they’ve built.”

“He doesn’t have to score tonight,” Marshall said. “He’s distributing, getting everybody else involved and playing as unselfish as you can possibly play.”

WSU sped up a team that played at the 342nd-slowest pace in the country. The 95 points were the most allowed by USF this season and Shamet scored only three of them.

“That shows you that he’s a great leader and a great teammate,” Reaves said. “He doesn’t care about his numbers, he just wants to win. That’s his best quality. He’s a winner and he’s always been a winner.”

3. Hot shooting builds confidence

The hot shooting benefited no one more than McDuffie, who missed all four three-pointers in his first two games and has since made six three-pointers in his last two.

On Sunday, McDuffie made three straight three-pointers after checking into the game in the first half and finished making four of five to score 12 points.

“I’m getting more and more poised and more in control every day,” McDuffie said. “They’re telling me to slow down and let it come to me. Being out for so long, mentally I was so eager to go out there and do what I used to do. I had to realize to stay in control of myself and that’s what I’ve been doing lately. I hope I continue to do that.”

The game was also beneficial to someone like Zach Brown, who entered shooting a career-low 26.5 percent on three-pointers. On Sunday, Brown made all five shots, including three three-pointers.

“10 toes, 10 fingers, that’s my mindset,” Brown said. “It should just be a natural thing now, stepping into your shots and being on balance to get a rhythm. Most of the time it’s a bucket.”

“Between (McDuffie and Brown), they go 7 of 8 on three’s and that will win a lot of games for us,” Marshall said.

Marshall was also impressed by senior Rauno Nurger, who had six points, three blocks, and two steals in 14 minutes. It was the most minutes the center had played since the Oklahoma game.

“Rauno played one of his better games of late and showed what we need him to be,” Marshall said. “He was great at the rim protecting the rim for us and he had a beautiful post move. He got a steal when we frenzied a ball screen and got a steal and he looked good in the full court.”

Marshall was also complimentary of sophomore guard C.J. Keyser, who played a season-high 15 minutes and scored eight points and had three assists without a turnover.

“C.J. Keyser was tremendous,” Marshall said. “I thought he played his best game for us, in my opinion. Now he was out there with four veterans and that makes a big difference, but he was in control. He played very good defense. He was moving his feet, staying in front, he was handsy in the gaps. He was very, very good tonight.”

4. Frankamp misses game

Conner Frankamp, who has started 13 games, missed his second game of the season on Sunday due to a stomach bug. He was in uniform and available to play, but did not see action.

“Just the fact he showed up today with what they told me, he was going to go into an emergency situation,” Marshall said. “But he dressed out just for the team. He feels like he should be home in bed.”

Sophomore guard Austin Reaves registered his third start of the season and delivered eight points, five rebounds, and seven assists in 20 minutes.

“We hope Conner gets better soon because you always hate to see a teammate not be able to play because of a sickness,” Reaves said. “I just tried to be aggressive and let the game come to me.”

5. Everyone loves Asbjorn

The loudest screams inside Koch Arena in the second half were reserved for Asbjorn Midtgaard, the 7-foot freshman from Denmark who played the game’s final eight minutes.

“He’s a great young man,” Marshall said. “I love him too. I’m just trying to get him better and trying to get him some minutes and get him some reps. He’s easy to like and easy to pull for.”

His teammates get a kick out of the crowd’s reaction whenever Midtgaard touches — or even comes close to touching — the ball. He finished with two points and two rebounds.

“I know the fans love giving him a roar every time he gets in there,” McDuffie said. “He’s coming along. He’s new to America, so he still has to learn that American toughness. He’s learning. I think he had fun today. He had a good time and I like to see that.”

Midtgaard brought the crowd to its feet twice, the first time turning to the student section and riling the crowd up to try to energize them following a missed shot and the second time after setting a screen at half-court that sent a USF defender to the ground.

“He’s going to get out there one day and really produce and be a big factor to helping this team win, I believe that,” Brown said. “I believe everybody one through 15 has the ability to help us win. I’m just happy to see people out there enjoying themselves. It’s a blessing.”

This story was originally published January 7, 2018 at 7:34 PM with the headline "Five takeaways from WSU’s 95-57 win over South Florida."