Shockers look to continue improved drive-and-kick ways Sunday against Tulane

One game after finishing with the fewest assists and the worst loss of the Gregg Marshall era, Wichita State looked revitalized in a 17-point win at Central Florida on Thursday as the offense produced 19 assists.

It was just one 40-minute sample, but the game felt more significant for the Shockers after they had hit rock bottom just four days earlier following a 33-point loss at Houston where the offense shot 26.4% and finished with four assists.

Now WSU has to prove it wasn’t a one-off experience, rather the start of a winning streak as the Shockers (18-6, 6-5 American) host last-place Tulane (10-14, 2-10 American) in a 1 p.m. game Sunday at Koch Arena. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

“We were moving the ball side to side and getting it inside and penetrating to pitch as opposed to penetrating to take bad shots,” WSU coach Marshall said. “I thought it looked more like what we try to do as a team.”

Although Erik Stevenson scored 27 points, breaking out of a personal slump that had coincided with WSU’s 2-5 slide, the biggest individual breakthrough from Thursday’s road trip may have been from fellow sophomore Dexter Dennis.

The biggest hole in Dennis’ game has been his ability to create for himself and teammates off the dribble. He entered Thursday with 18 assists in 20 games, but finished with a career-high five assists in the win over UCF.

On top of seven points, nine rebounds (five offensive), two steals and his usual stellar play on the defensive end, Dennis impacted winning in just about every way in what could have been his most well-rounded performance of his Shocker career.

“It’s funny because I came out in warm-ups and I just didn’t feel like I had it,” Dennis said. “There are certain days where you feel like you can’t hit shots and (Thursday) was one of them. So I knew that meant that I was going to have to do a lot more if I wasn’t going to score much. I was going to have to rebound and set my teammates up and do everything else I can to help my team win.”

On four of his five assists, Dennis penetrated off the dribble to draw a second defender and created open shots that his teammates made.

The most encouraging sign of growth came early in the second half when Dennis caught the ball on the left wing and took his man off the dribble toward the middle of the lane, which collapsed UCF’s defense. Instead of forcing up a contested shot, Dennis kept his head up and kicked to an open Stevenson for an in-rhythm three-pointer.

On another play earlier in the game, Noah Fernandes whipped the ball to Dennis on the left wing for what could have been a good look. But Dennis pump-faked to send one defender flying by, then took a dribble toward the basket to draw the help defender before kicking it right back to Fernandes for an even more open shot that the freshman drilled.

“When I passed it to him he was open, so I was surprised he didn’t shoot it,” Fernandes said. “But then he drove and kicked to me and he got me an even better look. That’s team chemistry right there. He gave up a good look to get me an easy one.”

It was the type of play, upgrading a good shot into a great one for a teammate, that Marshall has been pleading for his team to make for the past month.

Whether it was the result of Monday’s emotional team meeting or Marshall switching up his playing rotation, WSU’s offense reset and looked reminiscent of how it did during the team’s 15-1 start to the season. Freshman point guard Grant Sherfield (six), Dennis (five) and Stevenson (five) combined for 17 of WSU’s 19 assists.

Continuing the improved drive-and-kick play is crucial in Marshall’s mind for Sunday’s game against Tulane.

“Earlier in the year there were a number of times we would work the ball around and not get a look, then (late) in the shot clock we would penetrate and instead of hoisting up a bad shot we would kick it one more time and score,” Marshall said. “We had gone a handful of games where that never happened. (Thursday) we were able to do that multiple times. It just reminded me back to when we were doing it earlier in the year and how we did it every game back to start the season.”

Tulane at Wichita State

Records: Tulane 10-14, 2-10 AAC; WSU 18-6, 6-5 AAC

When: 1 p.m. Sunday

Where: Koch Arena (10,506), Wichita

TV: CBS Sports Network

Radio: KEYN, 103.7 FM

Series: WSU leads 3-0 (2-0 in Wichita)

Projected starters

Coach: Ron Hunter, first season, 10-14

Coach: Gregg Marshall, 13th season, 326-119

This story was originally published February 15, 2020 at 3:36 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.