WSU takeaways: Shockers remain a must-see show on the road

The Wichita State effect is already in full swing in the American Athletic Conference.

WSU’s first conference road trip resulted in Connecticut selling out the 15,000-seat XL Center for the first time this season. On Thursday, the Shockers once again helped draw a season-high crowd at East Carolina.

The crowd of 5,539 at Menges Coliseum was nearly double the season average for ECU, as the crowd was intrigued by the newest and highest-ranked member in the AAC with WSU’s 95-60 victory broadcast nationally on ESPN2.

“There is a huge difference in the crowd tonight,” said Shelley Binegar, the associate athletic director for external operations at ECU. “Our students have been talking about this game for weeks. We had over 1,000 students and our whole lower bowl was sold out, so it was really awesome to see.”

On top of all the hoopla, ECU brought back its black uniforms for the first time in more than a decade.

According to WSU coach Gregg Marshall, ECU officials asked him if WSU could wear its white uniforms since ECU was attempting to “black-out” the arena.

Instead, WSU played in its yellow uniforms.

“If they’re going to have a black-out, we might as well be yellow so we can have a Shocker theme,” Marshall said.

ECU received an initial lift from the rowdy crowd – the Pirates led WSU 14-9 after eight minutes. But that lead was short-lived, as WSU outscored ECU 36-9 the rest of the half.

“The crowd was tremendous for us and it really jumpstarted us from a defensive standpoint,” ECU interim coach Michael Perry said. “I thought our defense was excellent to start the game off and our guys were really engaged. They fed off that energy from the crowd.”

Sharing Shockers

Wichita State finished with a program-best 32 assists on 38 baskets against ECU and has been credited with assists on 80 percent of its baskets (60 assists on 75 baskets) the last two games.

“Maybe it means we’re not very good 1-on-1 players,” Marshall joked after the game. “But I think more importantly we’re very, very unselfish. When you can have 32 assists and 11 turnovers, that’s pretty special. That’s what we strive to do. It’s all about the team, it’s all about we. I know it’s a cliché, but there’s very little individual play for us.

“We like to share the basketball and turn a good shot into a great shot.”

Landry Shamet notched his first career double-double with a career-high 11 assists to go with 11 points. Austin Reaves continued his strong play with six more assists against ECU.

The players said that Marshall was unhappy with the team’s movement in the middle of the season and has since switched to a motion offense that forces WSU to share the ball to score.

“There were back-to-back practices there where if we didn’t move without the ball, then we had to stop and run,” Reaves said. “That helped us a lot because at one point this season we were stagnant, kind of waiting for somebody to do something 1-on-1. But now we’re moving and sharing the ball and getting open looks and knocking them down.”

ECU interim coach Michael Perry noticed it after playing the Shockers.

“You saw why they’re the No. 5 team in the country,” Perry said. “They’ve got a lot of strengths, not a lot of weaknesses. They play well together. They play hard. We’re a better basketball team right now because of having played against them, so there’s a lot to take away from it.”

Barney’s big day

Talk to any scholarship player at Wichita State and they will rave about walk-on sophomore Brett Barney and the job he does on the scout team in practices.

On Thursday, a national audience (those who were left watching the end of a 35-point blowout) witnessed Barney’s scoring prowess. He scored a career-high six points, including the first time he touched the ball and then two straight times in the final two minutes – the final being the right-hand hook shot he has perfected.

“Barney’s right hook is the most confident shot on our team that when it releases, I’m like, ‘It’s a bucket,’ ” senior Shaquille Morris said. “Even a Conner (Frankamp) three, a Landry (Shamet) three … Barney’s right hook is automatic.”

For Barney, scoring six points was a fun experience but he wasn’t interested in taking any of the credit.

“I’ve got to give it all to my teammates,” Barney said. “If they don’t have a good game and blow them out, then I don’t get a chance. I’m glad we played well tonight.”

His teammates were ecstatic to see Barney rewarded for his hard work on the scout team.

“He does a lot of the little things that nobody really knows,” Morris said.

“We see it in practice, so we’re not surprised,” Reaves added. “He has days where he kills us on scout team. He’s really talented and his right-handed hook shot is unbelievable. Nine times out of 10 it’s going in.”

Doing the little things has never been a problem for Barney, who still considers it a dream to be playing for WSU.

“I just love playing the game,” Barney said. “It’s so cool because I grew up watching Shaq and Rauno (Nurger), so now it’s crazy to be going up against those guys and playing them every day in practice. They make me a lot better.”

This story was originally published January 12, 2018 at 6:25 AM with the headline "WSU takeaways: Shockers remain a must-see show on the road."