The fun is back: Shockers deliver electric performance in home rout of Tulane
After a month of struggles, Shocker basketball is fun again.
Wichita State transformed Koch Arena into a highlight factory on Sunday afternoon during an 82-57 victory over Tulane. The Shockers scored 50 first-half points, built a 30-point halftime lead and had more crowd-pleasing plays in one half than they’ve had in the last month combined.
“I huddled the guys up before the game and said, ‘We’ve only got three more games left here, so let’s give the fans everything they pay to see,’” WSU freshman Tyson Etienne said. “We had a little dip there and they still supported us, so we had to get them on their feet and give the fans something to cheer for.”
It was exactly the type of rousing performance at home WSU was looking for against the last-place team in the American Athletic Conference, as the Shockers improved to 19-6 overall. The win kept WSU (7-5) one game back of SMU (8-4) for fourth place in the AAC and a first-round bye in the conference tournament.
Dexter Dennis scored a career-high 21 points on 8 of 9 shooting and added nine rebounds and three assists, while Etienne made a career-best six three-pointers and was one away from his career-high in points with 20. The duo combined for 10 of WSU’s 13 three-pointers, as the Shockers scorched the nets for 48.3% shooting overall and 54.2% (13 of 24) beyond the three-point arc.
WSU outrebounded Tulane (10-15, 2-11) by 17, 48-31, and held the Green Wave to 34.5% shooting and just 2 of 18 on three-pointers.
“That’s a team trying to get into the NCAA Tournament,” Tulane coach Ron Hunter said. “They played desperate. They were struggling and they played extremely desperate. If they play like this the rest of the year, there’s no question they could make a run and make it to the second weekend.”
The first half featured some of the most electrifying plays of the season from the Shockers. A sample:
- Jaime Echenique gained position deep in the paint, caught the entry pass, drop stepped and dunked over Tulane’s Kevin Zhang while being fouled. The three-point play put the Shockers up 27-12.
- Asbjorn Midtgaard swatted a shot off the backboard, creating a run out. Grant Sherfield and Dennis sped off for a fast break with Sherfield waiting until the last moment to loft a high lob that Dennis finished with a thundering jam. Tulane called timeout to stop the momentum swing.
- Noah Fernandes, recently promoted to the starting lineup after hardly playing for the past two months, delivered the defining “Play Angry” moment of the game with his defense and effort midway through the first half. It started with him fighting through a hard screen that the 5-foot-11, 172-pound freshman bounced off and kept fighting, then he poked the ball away from Tulane and dived to the floor. After Tulane recovered, Fernandes fought over another screen, poked the ball away yet again and dived on the ball for a steal. From his backside, Fernandes passed the ball ahead to Jamarius Burton, who flipped it to Dennis for an easy layup. “That’s who we are, that’s who this program is,” Etienne said. WSU coach Gregg Marshall added “that’s why he’s in there for his energy and for his positive outlook on things. He’s a winner and I’m glad he’s on our team.”
- Dennis capped off a dominant first-half performance, where he scored 16 points, with another display of his rapidly improving passing. He tracked down an offensive rebound in the final minute and then drove to the basket, elevated to draw two defenders and then dished a no-look pass to an open Erik Stevenson for an easy layup. Dennis ran down the court with his hands around his eyes to celebrate.
Dennis was so good that it led Hunter to wonder afterward how the Baker, Louisiana native made it out of Tulane’s home state.
“I have no idea,” Hunter said. “The kid can really play. I told my staff if there’s any more guys in the state like him and they get out, I’m going to need a whole new staff.”
When it was all over, WSU went to halftime with a 50-20 lead. The Shockers made 58.6% of their shots, including 8 of 15 beyond the arc, outrebounded Tulane by 13, 25-12, and finished with 14 assists on 17 baskets.
“We were doing a good job of getting in there and finding each other and staying in the window, moving, sliding,” Marshall said. “Having all of those guards in there that can penetrate and pitch it and get in the heart of the defense and either score with a floater or a pull-up. If not, then they have the ability to see and get it to a wide-open shooter because you’ve (penetrated) the defense.”
Following Monday’s emotional meeting after a 33-point loss at Houston, Marshall has gone back to a deeper bench in the last two games. After tightening the rotation to seven, sometimes eight players at the start of conference play, Marshall played 10 Shockers at least eight minutes in the UCF win and all 12 available scholarship players saw playing time in the first half against Tulane.
A 30-point halftime lead allowed Marshall to go deeper into his bench for the second half, although it did lead to some face palms from the coach after the inexperienced players committed avoidable mistakes. But it was experience nonetheless and the Shockers shot well enough that their sizable lead never dwindled to fewer than 20 points in the second half.
“We just need to keep getting better,” Marshall said. “That’s the emphasis for this team from this point forward. Just find a way to get better each day, individually and collectively and if we do that, then everything else will take care of itself.”
This story was originally published February 16, 2020 at 3:07 PM.
.jpg)