WSU basketball senior Jaime Echenique thriving by playing like ‘there is no tomorrow’
The first conference road swing of the season was every bit of difficult as Wichita State men’s basketball coach Gregg Marshall predicted it would be.
The Shockers learned first-hand how hard winning on the road can be, surviving a double-overtime war at Connecticut, then having their nine-game winning streak snapped in an ugly loss at Temple Wednesday.
The biggest bright spot for WSU has been the stellar play of 6-foot-11 senior center Jaime Echenique, who delivered the best two-game stretch of his career through those games. Echenique tied his career-highs with 19 points on eight field goals with eight rebounds against UConn, then broke his career highs in points (20) and rebounds (13) against Temple.
As the season progresses in his final year in Wichita, Echenique’s mindset is also progressing as the 16th-ranked Shockers (15-2, 3-1 American) host Houston (13-4, 3-1 American) at 3 p.m. Saturday in a crucial American Athletic Conference showdown between two title contenders. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
“This is my last year, so there is no tomorrow,” Echenique said. “I have go every day pushing myself, pushing myself through adversity and trying to give my best every time I’m on the court. That’s why I’m so confident because that’s what I worked on through the summer.”
After Echenique went through three games to start the new year rather quietly, Marshall decided to start working WSU’s offense through Echenique more in the post starting with the game at Connecticut.
Echenique responded with a clutch performance, dominating his one-on-one battle with UConn center Josh Carlton and delivering important baskets throughout the game for the Shockers. With an array of post moves, Echenique has become one of the most effective post players in the conference.
According to Synergy, Echenique has scored 0.87 points per possession on post-ups, which ranks third in the American behind ECU’s Jayden Gardner (1.19) and Cincinnati’s Chris Vogt (1.01) among volume post-up players.
“We know that when we pass the ball down there, he can get a bucket or create for others and make something good happen,” WSU’s Jamarius Burton said. “We have confidence in him down there and we’re just glad he’s producing.”
In the past two games, Echenique has made 15 of 21 shots in the paint for 71.4% accuracy. Echenique is now averaging 11.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 20.5 minutes per game.
He’s becoming the go-to option for the Shockers that he spent all summer preparing for before a hand injury in the fall forced him to miss the first four games of his senior season. Fellow post Morris Udeze said he’s noticed an increase in Echenique’s intensity this season compared to last.
“I feel like he wants it a lot more now,” Udeze said. “He knows this is his last year, so he’s going super hard. I can see it. He’s pushing us to another level, too. I think he’s just realized this is his senior year and he’s making the most of it right now.”
After WSU’s first loss in seven weeks Wednesday, Echenique wasn’t satisfied with his career-best performance against Temple.
“It’s good, but I don’t really care about my numbers,” Echenique said. “It’s about how many games we can win. I had 20 today, but we lost, so that doesn’t matter nothing to me.”
Echenique and the Shockers will try to get back on track at home against a Houston team that was picked ahead of them in the preseason AAC poll.
Houston at No. 16 Wichita State
Records: Houston 13-4, 3-1 AAC; WSU 15-2, 3-1 AAC
When: 3 p.m. Saturday
Where: Koch Arena, Wichita (10,506)
TV: ESPN2
Streaming: WatchESPN
Radio: KEYN, 103.7 FM
Series: WSU leads 17-12 (WSU leads 12-2 in Wichita)
Projected starters
| No. | Houston | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Gr. | Pts. | Reb. | Ast. |
| 3 | Dejon Jarreau | G | 6-5 | 185 | Jr. | 9.1 | 3.6 | 3.3 |
| 0 | Marcus Sasser | G | 6-1 | 200 | Fr. | 6.6 | 2.1 | 1.7 |
| 11 | Nate Hinton | G | 6-5 | 210 | So. | 12.0 | 9.9 | 2.0 |
| 35 | Fabian White Jr. | F | 6-7 | 230 | Jr. | 10.7 | 5.7 | 0.9 |
| 1 | Chris Harris | C | 6-10 | 245 | Sr. | 4.1 | 5.0 | 0.4 |
Coach: Kelvin Sampson, sixth season, 129-56
| No. | Wichita State | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Gr. | Pts. | Reb. | Ast. |
| 2 | Jamarius Burton | G | 6-4 | 200 | So. | 11.4 | 3.8 | 3.7 |
| 1 | Tyson Etienne | G | 6-1 | 192 | Fr. | 9.8 | 2.1 | 1.5 |
| 10 | Erik Stevenson | G | 6-3 | 198 | So. | 13.2 | 5.1 | 2.5 |
| 5 | Trey Wade | F | 6-6 | 219 | Jr. | 8.2 | 6.2 | 1.8 |
| 21 | Jaime Echenique | C | 6-11 | 258 | Sr. | 11.0 | 5.8 | 0.4 |
Coach: Gregg Marshall, 13th season, 323-115
This story was originally published January 17, 2020 at 12:20 PM.
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