Wichita State basketball still in search of answers for its late-game offense
For the third time in February, Wichita State was dealt a wrenching loss in the final minute following Sunday’s 67-64 defeat at Cincinnati.
The Shockers know a different outcome on one or two plays are the difference between wins and losses like the one at Tulsa, 54-51, and both against Cincinnati, the first an 80-79 loss at Koch Arena.
The common thread in all three losses? WSU came up empty on its final possession and the other team had a player deliver in the clutch. For Tulsa, it was Elijah Joiner dribbling down the court is 3.2 seconds for a buzzer-beating, walk-off three-pointer. For Cincinnati, it was Jarron Cumberland scoring a go-ahead, three-point play to beat the Shockers at Koch Arena and then a game-high 24 points on Sunday to seal the win.
That final-minute execution has been the difference in keeping the Shockers (20-7, 8-6 AAC) out of the conference title race. Instead, they are left to battle for their NCAA Tournament lives and a top-four seed in the AAC tournament starting with a 7 p.m. game Thursday against Temple (14-13, 6-8 AAC) at Koch Arena.
“I can’t right now put it in someone’s hands and say this guy is going to go downhill and we’re either going to score or get fouled,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “I wish I could, but I don’t feel that.”
The numbers back up Marshall’s gut feeling. According to Synergy, WSU has made just 29.2% (21 for 72) of its shots on “isolation” plays and ranks No. 291 in the country at 0.64 points per possession on such plays.
In the game’s final minutes when the score is tight, defenses ratchet up their intensity level and more physical play is typically allowed. That means the screens, cuts and passes that are so vital to the execution of halfcourt set plays are all more difficult.
That’s why so many coaches hand the ball over to their chief playmaker and space the floor for them to attack in those late-game situations. The truly elite playmakers almost always create either a good look for themselves or a teammate or draw a foul.
WSU attempted this on Sunday when it was trailing 63-61 in the final minute. Erik Stevenson had told Marshall that he thought Cumberland was injured and could be vulnerable on defense. So as the clock ticked under 30 seconds, Stevenson caught the ball up top, WSU cleared out for him and he went to work against Cumberland.
Stevenson took two hard dribbles toward Cumberland, then pulled the trigger on a go-ahead three-pointer with 13 seconds left on the shot clock. Was it a shot Stevenson has made this season? Yes. Was it maybe a little too ambitious? Probably.
But Marshall had no qualms with the shot selection on Tuesday.
“It was a pretty good look for Erik Stevenson,” Marshall said. “He likes to shoot off the dribble. Cumberland isn’t the greatest defender in the world. He gets an average contest, but that’s a better look than Elijah Joiner had against us at the end of the game.”
It’s also important to keep in mind that the Stevenson isolation play was just a single possession in a game that saw the Shockers have nine possessions in the final four minutes with the chance to either take the lead or tie the game.
For the bulk of those possessions, WSU was able to produce good, clean, open looks from its offense that simply missed. WSU wasn’t getting a better look than the three Dexter Dennis took in transition that could have broken a 58-58 tie that missed. Jamarius Burton probably did enough to earn a trip to the foul line by baiting a Cincinnati defender in the air and jumping into him, but that went uncalled. And Stevenson did well to create space for a step-back jumper that could have broken a 60-60 tie, while Burton had a point-blank put-back that he likely makes nine times out of 10 that somehow missed.
If WSU finishes on any one of those plays, then it would have taken a lead on Cincinnati. To Marshall, finishing open looks is the more pressing issue rather than shot selection down the stretch of games for the Shockers.
“We could run more sets, but I just don’t know if we’re going to get better shots than we’re getting,” Marshall said. “That’s my point. You’re getting pretty good looks in those last three minutes.”
But perhaps the most confusing play for WSU fans in the closing minutes didn’t involve a shot at all. It came with 3.2 seconds left with WSU trailing 66-64, as the Shockers inbounded under their own basket and attempted a full-court pass that was easily intercepted by Cincinnati.
Marshall had called a timeout to draw up the full-court play just before Cincinnati made a free throw to push its lead to two points. Stevenson, with the best arm on the team, was instructed to attempt to throw a 90-foot pass over the top of the defense. Meanwhile, Wade would stand at halfcourt and try to slip behind the defense courtesy of a Burton back screen. The hope was that Cincinnati’s defense would be anticipating a pass to half-court and WSU would be able to beat them over the top with the long pass.
That is not how it played out, as Cincinnati did not guard the inbounds pass and had Cumberland playing rover at the opposite free-throw line. He immediately sniffed out the back screen for Wade and when Stevenson bombed the pass, he was able to easily intercept it at the free-throw line.
“Erik has been really good at throwing that pass in the past,” Marshall said. “He’s got a really good arm, but he did not throw it well. Trey Wade was behind everyone, I think. If (Stevenson) could have gotten it over the top to the net, we had a chance. If it just gets over (Cumberland’s) head, I think Trey had a chance to catch it and lay it in or dunk it. But the pass was short.”
This story was originally published February 25, 2020 at 5:45 PM.
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