‘Seize the opportunity’: Wichita State basketball kicks off crucial stretch at Tulsa

There’s no doubt Tulsa has been the surprise of the American Athletic Conference through the first month of the league basketball season.

The Golden Hurricane, picked 10th in the preseason coaches poll, entered AAC play on a three-game losing skid but have played like legitimate conference title contenders since the new year. Tulsa (14-6, 6-1 American) sits a half-game out of first place entering Saturday’s 5 p.m. showdown with No. 23 Wichita State (17-3, 5-2 American). The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and streamed on WatchESPN.

So how did Tulsa go from an expected bottom-half team to title contender? Defense.

Through seven games, Tulsa has the conference’s top defense, a claim backed up by being ranked first in conference play in scoring defense (56.9 points), field goal percentage defense (36.1%), three-point percentage defense (23.4%) and steals (7.7).

Tulsa coach Frank Haith has found success alternating between man-to-man defense and a shape-shifting 3-2 zone that has man-to-man principles. WSU coach Gregg Marshall said the Shockers have spent the entire week off preparing to handle the zone.

“Just like attacking most zones, you have to not just have windshield-wiper passing around the perimeter out front,” Marshall said. “You have to attack it. You have to get inside of it, you have to get behind it, you have to get to the baseline and get the ball to the middle and play inside-out.”

As Marshall said, there are several different ways to do it but the key for WSU will be to find the inner cracks of the zone. Whether that be dribble penetration or quick passing, WSU will need the ball to spend quality time inside the arc if it is to be successful against Tulsa.

Dribble penetration from the guards is important even if it doesn’t lead directly to a shot for the player with the ball. In fact, it likely won’t. But when that player drives past a defender, then that forces the rest of Tulsa’s zone to contract, which leaves open lanes to pick out shooters on the three-point line for kick-out passes.

An even better avenue to success against Tulsa’s zone is to find ways to slot passes in the heart of the defense, right at the free throw line. Tulsa can be very good at protecting this area because it knows this is the one spot where a pass could crumble its defense the fastest. But savvy guards can always find the little pockets of space and if WSU can consistently funnel the ball to Trey Wade or Dexter Dennis in this area, then it will be playing opportunity basketball.

Even a simple post touch is sometimes enough to distract Tulsa’s perimeter defenders to open up quality looks from the outside.

What WSU doesn’t want to happen is to allow the zone to make the Shockers settle for outside shots. Open shots should be available with good ball movement and WSU has the ability to make Tulsa pay, like it did last season when it tied the school record with 15 three-pointers in an 81-60 win at Tulsa, but it wouldn’t be wise for a team shooting 31.5% on threes in conference play to rely on them again.

That means WSU will need to start finishing more of its inside looks. The Shockers are still struggling mightily to score inside. They are finishing on 51.2% on shots within five feet of the basket for the season, but in seven conference games that number plummets to 44.7%.

Marshall said the game plan once again will be to funnel the ball inside to 6-foot-11 senior center Jaime Echenique, who is averaging 14.0 points and 7.8 rebounds in his last five games.

“Even though they’re playing a zone, we still think we can throw it down there to Jaime and some of the bigs,” Marshall said. “And then we’re going to have to rebound well against it. And then you do have to make some outside shots.”

That means plenty of opportunities for WSU’s top shooters in Tyson Etienne, Dexter Dennis and Erik Stevenson, especially if the Shockers can whip the ball around the perimeter with purpose. Etienne has drilled 41.3% of his three-point looks this season, while Stevenson has upped his accuracy to 35.1%.

But it sets up nicely for Dennis to continue his scoring outburst in what has become the best stretch of his sophomore season. He was chosen to the AAC weekly honor roll after scoring a combined 30 points in WSU’s wins over Central Florida and South Florida. He made eight triples combined in those games and is now shooting 40% beyond the arc in conference play.

“It’s still day-to-day with me and I think it’s still day-to-day with us as a team,” Dennis said. “If each one of us just focuses on doing our part, then we’re going to get that much better as a team every day. So I’m just focused on doing my part so we can try to be at our best.”

Tulsa’s core is still many of the same names from last season’s 18-14 club, but stretch forward Jeriah Horne (12.1 points), post Martins Igbanu (11.0 points) and defensive stopper Darien Jackson (9.0 points) have all made jumps with their offensive games. And then Tulsa’s best player this season has been junior-college transfer and former LSU player Brandon Rachal, a 6-foot-5 wing who is averaging a team-high 14.8 points and 6.3 rebounds.

The Tulsa game kicks off a critical three-game stretch for WSU in its pursuit of a conference championship, as the Shockers play the AAC’s top three teams their next three games with a home date against Cincinnati coming up next Thursday and then a road trip to Houston next Sunday.

Marshall views it as a potential crossroads for the season.

“There’s enough talent in this room to make a little run in the NCAA Tournament,” Marshall said. “But you have to decide, do you want to wait until next year? As we know, there’s no guarantees in life. You don’t know next year if we’re going to be better than we are this year. Who knows what could happen? So take advantage of today. Seize the opportunity we have Saturday at Tulsa. That’s going to be a real sign.”

No. 23 Wichita State at Tulsa

Records: WSU 17-3, 5-2 AAC; Tulsa 14-6, 6-1 AAC

When: 5 p.m. Saturday

Where: Reynolds Center (8,355), Tulsa, Okla.

TV: ESPNU

Streaming: WatchESPN

Radio: KEYN, 103.7 FM

Series: WSU leads 69-61 (Tulsa leads 35-29 in Tulsa)

Projected starters

Coach: Frank Haith, sixth season, 109-72

Coach: Gregg Marshall, 13th season, 325-116

This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 3:50 PM.

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.