‘What a difference a year makes’: WSU avenges 32-point loss to Oklahoma to start 9-1
Erik Stevenson struggled finding the difference in points in the paint Saturday night.
“I don’t even know; I’m tired,” Stevenson joked.
But he knew exactly how many points the Shockers lost by last season in Oklahoma City.
As Wichita State wrapped up its scouting report ahead of its non-conference game against Oklahoma, coach Gregg Marshall made sure to finish with a stat he wanted his players to remember.
Thirty-two points was the difference in 2018 as WSU lost to the Sooners in Oklahoma City. Final score: 80-48.
Saturday, WSU was 37 points better as it sealed its second straight win over a Big 12 opponent away from Koch Arena with an 80-75 victory.
“What a difference a year makes,” Marshall said. “There was some talent there (last year), obviously, but we didn’t have the resolve and the toughness to compete with Oklahoma, and they took us to the wood shed.
“Probably a handful of times since I’ve been the coach here — maybe in my life — have I ever felt that way how I felt on that sideline.”
The victory on Saturday pushes the Shockers to 9-1 for the first time since 2014-15 when they finished 30-5 and beat Kansas in the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament. Last season, it took WSU 47 more days to reach nine wins.
Stevenson was part of last year’s Shocker team that started 6-4 through 10 games. He was there in OKC when WSU lost by 32. He said that game rubbed him the wrong way, even after it was over.
“I don’t really like OU,” Stevenson said. “They kind of left a bad taste in my mouth last year. They walked around like they were better than everybody, so it was good to beat them here. That’s all I can say.”
WSU was on the brink of losing again to the Sooners. Down 8 points with 10:11 to go, true freshman Grant Sherfield stepped in.
He led the Shockers on a 12-0 run with a couple of assists and half the points. Sherfield went on to finish with 14 points, including a dozen in the second half.
Marshall said it was Sherfield’s best game as a collegiate.
“This is just something you dream about,” Sherfield said. “Being able to play in a great atmosphere like that at Wichita State is something great, so I’m just thankful for it.”
Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said this year’s WSU group is a “different club,” from last year, but four of the Shockers’ top five scorers from last year’s game were there in Oklahoma City. Stevenson said this year’s team is just better.
Last year’s OU team featured players like Christian James, Khadeem Lattin, Chris Giles and Matt Freeman, all who hit double-digits in 2018 and none who are on the 2019 roster.
In 2018, OU went on a 29-6 run early in the second quarter. The Shockers didn’t hit back-to-back field goals at any point in the final 20 minutes.
There were a lot of negative stats for Wichita State that came out of last year’s game, and all of them seemed to carry into Saturday night.
Stevenson didn’t hold back on how he thought the Soooners played. Last year, OU manhandled the Shockers, but not in 2019. WSU out-rebounded OU 48-31. The Shockers were 10 better on the defensive glass and had more than double the offensive boards.
The Shockers had 34 points in the paint to OU’s 12.
“It was a 180,” Stevenson said. “... They weren’t really that physical. I felt like we were more physical than them in the second half. That experience from last year, figuring out how college basketball works, how physical it is, when to shoot, when not to shoot, those all came into play today.”
Over the past two games, WSU has out-rebounded its Big 12 opponents from Oklahoma by 25. This comes 17 days after Marshall challenged his team to be more physical. He questioned whether the Shockers had what it takes in the paint after getting out-rebounded 48-31 against West Virginia in Cancun.
Marshall said he has been pleasantly surprised.
“Maybe we get West Virginia in a regional somewhere, that would be nice,” Marshall said. “Hopefully we can get that opportunity. I don’t think that would happen today. We’ve grown up a little bit since then.”
This story was originally published December 14, 2019 at 8:52 PM.