‘We’ve gotten away from executing’: WSU basketball looks to end offensive woes at USF

It shouldn’t come much as a surprise that the Wichita State men’s basketball team’s lack of energy last week translated to its two worst offensive performances of the season.

WSU recorded a season-worst 0.72 points per possession in its 65-53 loss at Temple, then followed by scoring 0.81 points per possession in a 65-54 loss to Houston at home on Saturday.

After starting 15-1 and rising to No. 16 in last week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll, the Shockers crashed with two ugly performances. It’s no secret that WSU coach Gregg Marshall will be expecting a return to form from WSU (15-3, 3-2 American) when it plays South Florida (8-10, 1-4 American) at 6 p.m. Central time Tuesday at the Yuengling Center in Tampa.

“It’s like we don’t recognize what got us to the point we were,” Marshall said after the Houston loss. “Now we don’t have to worry about rankings any more and streaks. We just have to worry about being a good basketball team.”

The Shockers never hit elite levels on the offensive end, but they were scoring at a good enough rate to become a formidable team because of stellar defense. But in both games last week, the crisp play on offense was nowhere to be found. WSU hoped the loss at Temple was a one-off performance but the Shockers repeated the low-energy performance three days later in Wichita.

The meaningful passes, cuts, dribbles and screens were replaced by a lot of standing around, dribbling in place and forced shots at the end of the shot clock. The end result was a 30% shooting performance from the field in both losses.

“It’s like we’ve gotten away from executing and now it’s, ‘I’ve got to make a play’ and that’s just not who we are,” Marshall said.

“We’re taking bad shots. We’re making bad decisions. We’re not making (the shots) we need to make when we’re open. We’re trying to do it ourselves, opposed to trying to get someone else a shot. That’s just not going to work. We’ve got to execute and be better at dribbling into the paint, drawing the defense and kicking.”

WSU has installed motion and ball-screen offenses, but neither have worked lately for the Shockers. That’s especially true for the ball-screen offense, which kickstarted WSU last season during its 14-4 close to the season. But the effectiveness of the high ball screens have disappeared lately.

WSU point guard Jamarius Burton thinks it all stems back from a lack of movement, both from the players and the ball.

“I just feel like there’s more standing around,” Burton said. “We’ve got to keep the ball moving, players moving even if they don’t have the ball. If there’s a ball screen action going on this side of the floor, then we need to have movement on the other side so the defense isn’t just looking at the ball. It’s harder to score on a team when they’re all locked in versus getting some movement and then they’re not paying attention and we can get some slips or get a good shot. I feel like right now we’re stagnant.”

Leading scorer Erik Stevenson, who had been averaging better than 14 points, didn’t make a field goal or score a point against Temple, then finished 3-for-10 from the field against Houston.

But it’s not just Stevenson. When the Shockers aren’t hoisting contested jumpers to beat the shot clock, they are struggling to finish inside when they do find dribble penetration that sends their guards toward the rim. WSU made just 38.1% of its two-pointers against Temple, then just 32.3% of its two-pointers against Houston as the Cougars blocked nine shots.

“We were in there and there’s collisions and we’re just aren’t very smart or we’re not big enough or athletic enough or whatever to finish those plays,” Marshall said. “Maybe we should have got a call sometimes. Maybe we were ill-advised to go in there. Maybe we’re not explosive enough or big enough against their athletes. It looked like they were spiking the ball a couple of times and then it looked like it could have been assault and battery.”

The good news is that South Florida has one of the worst defenses when it comes to giving up good looks. The Bulls gamble heavily and force the seventh-most turnovers per possession in the country, but rank No. 305 in the country in defensive effective field goal percentage.

There will be chances for the Shockers to get back on track against the conference’s last-place team. But Tampa was also the site where WSU had one of its worst games of last season in 54-41 loss.

“I think it just comes down to focus and toughness on our end, mentally and physically,” Stevenson said. “We’ve just got to bring our toughness every night we play.”

Wichita State at South Florida

Records: WSU 15-3, 3-2 AAC; USF 8-10, 1-4 AAC

When: 6 p.m. Central time Tuesday

Where: Yuenging Center (10,411), Tampa, Florida

TV: ESPNews

Streaming: WatchESPN

Radio: KEYN, 103.7 FM

Series: Tied 1-1 (USF leads 1-0 in Tampa)

Projected starters

Coach: Brian Gregory, third season, 42-46

Coach: Gregg Marshall, 13th season, 323-116

This story was originally published January 20, 2020 at 11:02 AM.

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.