Taylor’s takeaways from WSU’s exhibition win: ‘20 minutes to not be a national story’

Gregg Marshall thought Wichita State’s exhibition game wasn’t going to be pretty, but even he was a little surprised by how much the Shockers struggled in their 75-64 victory over Division II Catawba on Tuesday night at Koch Arena.

Here are five takeaways from WSU’s men’s basketball performance:

1. The seniors save the day

Speaking to his team in the locker room following a first half where WSU struggled to create any separation from Catawba, Marshall had a simple motivational message to his team.

“You’ve got 20 minutes to not be a national story,” Marshall told them.

It took longer than anyone would have hoped, but WSU finally pulled away from Catawba down the stretch to prevail thanks to clutch plays from the team’s two seniors, Markis McDuffie and Samajae Haynes-Jones.

With the game tied at 51, Haynes-Jones delivered a step-back three to break the tie. Not long after, McDuffie drilled a three of his own and capped a 9-0 spurt with a smooth step-back jumper from the free-throw line to give WSU a 60-51 lead with five minutes left.

The two seniors combined for 33 points to lead the Shockers.

“I’m glad we got this first game out of the way and I’m glad it didn’t count,” McDuffie said. “We’re going to continue to get better. This is just one game. I’m telling you, we’ve got a week off before our first game and I promise you we will be much better.”

On a forgettable night for many Shockers, Haynes-Jones thrived with an increased workload from last season. His explosive moves routinely created space for Haynes-Jones to fire off shots and he made them count, pouring in a game-high 19 points on 8 of 15 shooting.

When WSU’s offense stalled out, Haynes-Jones was consistently there to provide the spark.

“That’s me being a leader, me being a senior,” Haynes-Jones said. “I’ve been doing this since June. I knew coming into this season I had to put that into my game.”

Teammates noticed the child-like joy had returned to Haynes-Jones during the game. He was flashing that contagious smile, skipping around and back to playing like the player who has scored buckets around Wichita for years.

“Just seeing him having fun out there, playing confident,” WSU freshman Jamarius Burton said. “It was a sight to see.”

2. Jamarius Burton impresses in debut

WSU desperately needed someone else to step up besides its two seniors and Burton, a 6-4 freshman answered the call.

Burton came off the bench to score 16 points on 6 of 7 shooting to go along with five rebounds, three assists and a steal. The speed of the game seemed to overwhelm many of WSU’s newcomers, but not Burton.

“”He’s really, really mature and Jamarius is an old soul,” Marshall said. “He doesn’t get sped up and handles situations well. He’s one of the few.”

After a slow start, Marshall inserted Burton in and he immediately responded with WSU’s first six points. Another highlight came when Burton recovered after turning the ball over by positioning himself for a charge call to get the ball back.

When others were being sped up, Burton stayed in control and used his large frame for a guard to win position close to the basket for easy shots.

“My biggest focus coming out was to not even focus on the crowd,” Burton said. “That was my whole thing. I didn’t even look at the crowd because I knew that would make me nervous. I just tried to stay locked in and pay attention to my leaders and Coach Marshall.”

3. An offensive struggle for everyone else

McDuffie delivered timely shots down the stretch, but overall had a poor offensive game with 14 points on 13 shots and four turnovers.

“In the first half, he played like another freshman,” Marshall said. “He got caught up in the same things that caused him to have a poor year last year. He’s been practicing so well for us, so I was really surprised by that. I thought Markis was back to being mature, really smart, but (Tuesday) he reverted back to the way he played last year when he struggled.

“He’s got to slow down and let the game come to him. He’s so talented and such a great kid, but for whatever reason, he’s in a big-time hurry.”

McDuffie admitted afterward that he was pressing in the first half. He felt obligated to be the team’s go-to player, the one who should handle the scoring burden. Instead, it led to McDuffie rushing into several contested jump shots that were well off the mark.

Down the stretch, McDuffie took more shots in rhythm and made three in a row to help the Shockers pull out the win.

“In the first half I tried to do too much in terms of trying to carry the load when I really didn’t have to,” McDuffie said. “That’s all learning. I’m still learning how to be a great leader. I couldn’t wait for this first game. You’re playing with these guys every single day and once you get to play another game you get anxious. That’s what happened to me and I’m learning.”

McDuffie wasn’t the only Shocker who struggled offensively. Dexter Dennis and Ricky Torres figured to be two of WSU’s better players, but both were held scoreless on a combined 0-for-9 shooting night. Neither Asbjorn Midtgaard (four points, two rebounds) or Jaime Echenique (zero points, one rebound) capitalized on their height advantage.

The other freshmen — Chance Moore, Morris Udeze, Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler and Erik Stevenson — had a play or two that stood out, but no consistent stretches. Rod Brown had four points and four rebounds in 13 minutes.

“We had some guys that were kind of frozen in the moment, not playing with their hair on fire,” Marshall said. “I’ve got a lot of coaching to do. We’ve got to get guys to speed up on defense and rebounding and then slow down on offense.

“It’s going to be up-and-down, I’ve been saying that for several months now and I hope now people can see what I’m talking about.”

4. The #FreeTeddy movement

Some fans voiced their opinion before the game. Others made signs. A few even wore t-shirts reading #FreeTeddy.

Despite the protests of Shocker fans, West Virginia transfer Teddy Allen still has no update from the NCAA on his waiver request to play immediately. Allen was held out of Tuesday’s exhibition, as the waiting game continued with just one week before WSU starts its season on Nov. 6 against Louisiana Tech at Koch Arena.

Frustration has piqued amongst the fan base as news has surfaced in the last week of the NCAA granting waivers for players to play immediately for Missouri, Virginia and South Florida. But Allen’s case is unique and could be taking longer due to the NCAA requesting additional information.

Earlier this month, senior Markis McDuffie offered his support to his teammate.

“I’ve seen a lot of guys getting cleared on the Internet, so if he doesn’t get cleared I don’t think that’s fair,” McDuffie said. “Hopefully he does because he’s going to help us a lot.”

Allen said he is prepared either way for the decision.

“Either way, I’m going to be working,” Allen said earlier this month. “It’s tough, but it’s not as hard because I’m with my teammates and we’re just grinding. I’m doing everything I can to help make my teammates better every day in practice and make myself better, too.”

5. ‘A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’

Catawba is a Division II college located in Salisbury, N.C., a hour outside of Charlotte. It typically has no overnight travel because it plays in the South Atlantic Conference, where all teams are within drivable distance in North Carolina, South Carolina or Tennessee.

So traveling to Wichita on Monday, spending the night and playing the Shockers at Koch Arena on Tuesday was a rare experience that wasn’t lost on coach Rob Perron.

“The chance that we got to travel to a place like Wichita State that has a deep basketball tradition and being a recent participant in the Final Four, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity scheduling-wise,” Perron said. “We’ve played D-1’s before, but this was a really unique opportunity for our guys.”

So how did Catawba make the connection with WSU?

It turns out Marshall is doing a favor to Derrick Wall, the former AAU coach of WSU freshman Jamarius Burton who was “very helpful” in landing Burton to the Shockers. Wall was hired by Catawba this spring and ran the idea of playing an exhibition past Marshall.

“Generally those games are just for people I know or to help those programs out,” Marshall said. “I remember when I was at (Division II) Randolph-Macon, if we could play a Division I team, even if it was an exhibition, it was a big deal for us. So I said, ‘Sure, here’s what we pay, so if you’re willing to come out here for that then we’re willing to play Catawba.’”

It also made the close game even more nerve-wracking for Burton.

“I just thought, ‘We can’t lose to him because he’s not going to let me live (it down),” Burton said. “He’ll keep bringing it up.”

This story was originally published October 31, 2018 at 10:41 AM.