Erik Stevenson has been Wichita State’s most improved player and it starts on defense

It’s hard to argue against the notion that Erik Stevenson has been Wichita State’s best player during its 8-1 start and heading into a 5 p.m. Saturday showdown against Oklahoma (7-1) at Intrust Bank Arena.

Stevenson, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard, has doubled his scoring average from last season and leads WSU at 13.4 points per game. In fact, Stevenson’s numbers are up across the board: his shooting (42%), three-point shooting (31%), rebounding (5.2), assists (3.0) and steals (1.3) are all higher this season.

Offense is not the only area where he’s improved. Perhaps his biggest jump has been on the defensive end.

KenPom.com ranks WSU’s defense No. 11 in the country, a significant jump from No. 44 last season. When asked if WSU had improved its defense at the point of attack, coach Gregg Marshall singled out Stevenson’s improvement.

“Think of the difference at how average, at best, Erik Stevenson was defending the ball last year compared to this year,” Marshall said. “He’s improved so much that he’s to the point where he’s beating people to the angle where they’re trying to turn the corner, and taking charges, and moving his feet, and not giving up those easy layups he would give up last year, or even and-ones where he would fall into someone when they beat him on the fly.”

Last season Stevenson put up minimal resistance for opponents who wanted to take him off the dribble. He would often get caught up on screens, which put WSU’s defense out of shape. He often was caught ball-watching and his man would cut to the basket for a score or spot up on the three-point line for an open shot.

Stevenson was aware of his deficiencies and spent this summer cutting weight (he lost 15 pounds from the end of last season) and improving his foot speed. Through the first month of the season, Stevenson’s offseason work has already paid dividends.

“It’s crazy to see the difference a year can make,” Stevenson said. “It makes me feel like the summer wasn’t just for fun. It actually meant something and I’m implementing that into my game on both ends of the court.

“It’s cool to see that improvement because last year in film we knew when something bad was about to come up in the film room. This year we know what’s going to happen. Early on it was almost like a shock. It’s like ‘Hey, I didn’t get beat on this like I did last year.’”

A perfect example came last Sunday in WSU’s road 80-61 win at Oklahoma State. Stevenson was guarding OSU senior Thomas Dziagwa in the first three minutes of the game when Dziagwa caught the ball on the wing. Dziagwa tried to beat Stevenson to the baseline, but couldn’t, paused, then tried again only for Stevenson to once again slide his feet to beat Dziagwa to the spot and draw a charge.

A year ago, Dziagwa likely would have beat Stevenson to the baseline and scored.

“Now I have that experience from last year to know which angles to take,” Stevenson said. “Instead of running straight to him and getting blown by, I kind of knew what he was going to do.

“We do close-out drills every day in practice, so if you do that every day and you don’t get better at it, then something is going on. I think it’s just the reps from this summer and getting down to that comfortable playing weight. I feel quicker and faster on my feet.”

Stevenson isn’t quite a shut-down defender, yet but he’s gone from a liability on the defensive end to arguably an above-average defender. He’s rarely being beat off the dribble these days because his quicker feet are allowing him to wall off drives this year. And his improved vertical is allowing him to challenge jump shots better, as Synergy’s logs show the opposition is shooting just 33.3% when Stevenson is the primary defender.

By improving his defense, in turn, Stevenson has helped elevate WSU’s team defense, as the Shockers can now put five above-average defenders on the floor.

Oklahoma (7-1) at Wichita State (8-1)

When: 5:05 p.m. Saturday

Where: Intrust Bank Arena (15,004), Wichita

TV: ESPN2 (Ch. 2033 on Cox, Ch. 1606 on AT&T, Ch. 209 on DirecTV, Ch. 143 on Dish)

Streaming: Watch ESPN

Radio: KEYN, 103.7 FM

Series: Oklahoma leads 6-2 (3-1 in Wichita)

Projected starters

Coach: Lon Kruger, ninth season, 167-106

Coach: Gregg Marshall, 13th season, 316-114

About Oklahoma: The Sooners are led in scoring by a former Shocker. Austin Reaves, who transferred from WSU after the 2017-18 season, is averaging 17.6 points per game this season for OU. Reaves will play against the Shockers twice in his career: Saturday in Wichita and next year in Oklahoma City... OU is one of just two teams who have beaten the Shockers in the downtown arena in the past nine years. OU beat No. 3 WSU, 91-83 on Dec. 16, 2017 with Trae Young scoring 29 and 10 assists... This is the fourth straight year the two teams have met, as OU has taken the last two and leads the all-time series 6-2... Senior Kristian Doolittle is coming off one of his best games of his career, carrying OU to an 82-80 win at North Texas with 28 points... OU beat the Shockers last season, 80-48, at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City... The Sooners are off to their six start with a 7-1 record during the Lon Kruger era... OU has won four straight road non-conference games... The Sooners are turning the ball over just 10.4 times per game, which ranks first in the Big 12 and ninth among all Division I teams.

About Wichita State: This is the 10th straight year WSU has played a game at the downtown Intrust Bank Arena. The Shockers are 7-2 at Intrust, but both two losses have come in the last three years. The Shockers beat Southern miss, 63-60, last December... WSU has an eight-game home winning streak dating back to last February. The Shockers are 6-0 in Wichita this year and have won 92% of their games in Wichita since the 2011-12 season... The Shockers boast the nation’s 11th-ranked defense, per KenPom’s efficiency ratings... WSU is coming off an 80-61 win on Sunday at Oklahoma State. Tyson Etienne, which was named to AAC Freshman of the Week, scored a game-high 19 points with five threes, while Jamarius Burton (AAC weekly honor roll) doled out a career-high 11 assists with one turnover to go along with seven points, eight rebounds and three steals... WSU ranks among the national leaders in turnover margin (15th, plus-5.7) assist-to-turnover ration (19th, 1.38) and scoring margin (plus-16.4)... Sophomore Erik Stevenson has reached double-figures seven times and has two 20-point games. He’s shooting 39.3% on three-pointers in his last four games.

Taylor Eldridge

The Wichita Eagle

316-268-6270

Wichita State athletics beat reporter. Bringing you closer to the Shockers you love and inside the sports you love to watch.