WSU takeaways: SMU was in the zone while beating the Shockers

Wichita State saw its 27-game winning streak at Koch Arena come to an end on Wednesday night, as SMU defeated the No. 7 Shockers 83-78.

Shake Milton scored a career-high 33 points to help snap a three-game losing streak for the Mustangs (13-6, 4-3 American), while WSU (15-3, 5-1) lost its first game in conference play and fell a half-game behind Cincinnati in the standings.

WSU’s Landry Shamet, who registered his second double-double with 20 points and 10 assists, summarized the night in his post-game interview.

“There’s not really a lot I have to say or can say, just knowing we’re so much better than what we showed tonight,” Shamet said. “In this new league, if you don’t bring it and play well you’re going to get exposed and you can get beat.”

Here are three takeaways from the game:

Late rally fizzles out for Shockers

Down 76-65 with 2:03 remaining, Wichita State’s odds of even making the game competitive again seemed remote.

But Austin Reaves made a three-pointer, SMU split its free throws, Darral Willis scored a lay-up, WSU’s press forced a turnover, and Landry Shamet connected on a three-pointer to trim SMU’s lead to 77-73 in exactly 50 seconds.

“We showed some toughness,” WSU senior Conner Frankamp said. “But we can’t wait until two minutes in the game to start pressing and giving it all we have. They just made some great plays down the stretch to get the win.”

Another Reaves three-pointer cut SMU’s lead to 79-76 with 39 seconds left, but Shake Milton made two free throws to push the lead back out to 81-76. Willis scored again and could have cut the deficit to two, but missed a free throw with 14 seconds left.

WSU fouled the right player – SMU’s Jimmy Whitt, who is a 50-percent foul shooter – and Whitt created some suspense by missing the first free throw. But he made the second to create a two-possession game and all but secure the victory for the Mustangs.

“We’ve shown it before multiple times this season, just not giving up,” Shamet said. “Not quitting or folding, regardless of the circumstance. That’s just something that this team has. We don’t have guys that will just lay down and quit.”

WSU trailed for the final 34 minutes, but trimmed SMU’s lead to a single possession on multiple occasions. However, the Mustangs had the answer every time and never allowed WSU a possession with the opportunity to take the lead in the second half.

“We were just a day late and a dollar short,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “We just didn’t have quite enough time.”

SMU’s zone surprises Shockers

According to Synergy Sports, SMU’s defense had played zone eight percent of the time this season.

But riding a three-game losing streak into Koch Arena and with a full week to prepare a game plan, SMU coach Tim Jankovich threw WSU for a loop by playing a match-up zone exclusively in the first half.

“They had a better game plan, seemingly had better plays, definitely better coaches tonight,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “Their game plan was awesome. They tried to score initially, then if it wasn’t there they worked the clock and at the end they had some really good playmakers that made tremendous plays.”

Wichita State finished the game with an efficient performance, making nearly 54 percent of its shots, but shot just 11 of 30 (36.7 percent) on three-pointers. On shots inside the arc, the Shockers made 19 of 26 (73 percent).

The Shockers fell in a nine-point hole early in the first half because they missed nine of their first 12 three-pointers and too often failed to make the penetrating passes to the middle to find better looks. Instead, WSU passed mostly around the perimeter and settled for deep looks.

Shamet said most of the preparation was for SMU to play man, but said he wasn’t surprised SMU did something unexpected after so long to prepare.

“When you have a whole week off and you’re coming off three losses, I think any good coach is going to switch some things up and that’s exactly what he did,” Shamet said. “(Jankovich) is a heck of a coach.”

SMU’s slow pace frustrates WSU

SMU entered the game playing at one of the slowest paces in the country.

That didn’t change on Wednesday, as WSU finished with a season-low 60 possessions against SMU.

“They wanted to shorten the game,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “We would score, then they would let the ball bounce and bounce and bounce. They were certainly in no hurry. I bet we lost two minutes of game clock just on that.”

WSU slapped on its full-court press to try to speed up the tempo, but SMU committed just eight turnovers and handled the pressure well. Instead of rushing into shots, SMU would break the pressure and then pass the ball back out to half-court.

Once the shot clock had dwindled, SMU time and time again made contested shots late in the shot clock. The Mustangs made 30 of 47 shots for 63.8 percent accuracy and 11 of 22 three-pointers. It was the worst performance by WSU’s defense this season, as SMU scored at 1.38 points per possession.

“Sometimes matchups and styles of play has as much to do with who wins and who loses,” SMU coach Tim Jankovich said. “Maybe the matchups and the styles of play favored us. And maybe we just shot great.”

This story was originally published January 17, 2018 at 10:17 PM with the headline "WSU takeaways: SMU was in the zone while beating the Shockers."