Shockers equal last season’s regular-season win total, but it’s time to ‘decide’
Last season, Wichita State didn’t hit 17 wins until March 9, the final day of the regular season.
The Shockers hit win No. 17 with a week left in January in the 2019-20 season with a 87-79 victory over Central Florida on Saturday night in Koch Arena.
WSU coach Gregg Marshall said equaling last season’s regular-season win total was something the team talked about, and it brought back memories of how the Shockers finished the regular season last year.
“(Dexter Dennis) had to make an incredible shot in the corner at Tulane to get to 17 wins,” Marshall said. “If we didn’t make that shot, we don’t even make the NIT.”
Marshall said this year’s team is “better,” but wouldn’t go further than calling it, “pretty good.” Of teams that have played 20 games, only seven others in all of Division-I men’s basketball have 17 wins. Not even teams like No. 12 Oregon, No. 13 Butler or No. 21 Illinois can boast that figure.
Although ranked No. 22 in the coaches poll, Wichita State isn’t in the top 25 in The AP.
Still, with all that the Shockers have become in a year, Marshall said his team needs to pick a path.
“Last year this time, we didn’t know what we were,” Marshall said. “We weren’t pretty good at this point last year. We’re pretty good, and we have to decide if that’s good enough. Are we satisfied with, ‘pretty good?’
“I’ve got to do a better job coaching. We’ve got to do a better job of absorbing coaching and making it a priority to improve.”
Earlier in the season during sophomore Dennis’ struggles, Marshall said Dennis would return to his NBA-caliber form, and when he did, the Shockers would become an even more dangerous team. Saturday, Dennis stated his return to NBA-caliber form.
Dennis finished with a game-high 18 points — one away from tying a career-high — and 11 rebounds. He hit his third double-double of his WSU career, first this season and first at home. Dennis was happy with his performance and said it came down to “effort,” but he said things similar to Marshall about where the Shockers are headed.
“It feels great, but at the same time, we know we can grow a lot more,” Dennis said. “That’s what I think coach is grateful for, and that’s what we’re thankful for, too. We just have to keep getting better, but what a difference a year can make.”
“What a difference a year makes,” has become a bit of a calling card for the Shockers this season. Marshall said it following a five-point win over Oklahoma after losing by 32 last season.
He said it again in his opening statement after WSU beat VCU by double digits. The Shockers lost 70-54 last season. And though the Shockers still have never lost to UCF, equaling last year’s regular-season win total had the Shockers saying it again.
Though the Shockers won by eight, they clung onto a four-point lead with 31 seconds left. They led by 10 with 89 seconds left after an emphatic Dennis dunk. UCF hit 6 of its final 12 shots, including four three-pointers.
The Shockers missed one shot in the final two minutes and were 8 of 10 from the free-throw line in the final 37 seconds, a sign of at least a “pretty good” team.
WSU was also pretty good on the glass Saturday night. The Shockers grabbed 36 of 39 defensive rebound opportunities and snared nine more on the offensive end that resulted in 19 second-chance points compared with UCF’s three.
UCF’s posts got into foul trouble, and 6-foot-11 center Collin Smith fouled out after playing just 15 minutes. But after out-rebounding the Knights 45-28, the Shockers’ 4.4 average margin of victory has rocketed to 6.0, which would move them from 71st in the country into a tie for 28th, according to NCAA stats as of Saturday night.
Last season, WSU was out-rebounded in nine games. This year, it has happened five times. One was against West Virginia, another was against Houston — arguably the best rebounding team in the country, and WSU won two of the other three games.
An ugly loss at Temple and another to follow at home against now-ranked Houston has WSU out of the AP’s top 25. Its win over UCF might push the Shockers up from the No. 26 spot, but a ranking won’t change how Marshall feels, yet.
“We’re pretty good,” Marshall said. “That’s kind of where we’ve maintained. We’ve maintained, ‘pretty good.’ We’re 17-3, pretty good. We’ll see where it goes. I don’t know how we are going to continue to evolve and get better.
“We’ve been in neutral for a while.”