This is why Morris Udeze is Wichita State’s most important player vs. Oral Roberts

ORAL ROBERTS (1-1) AT WICHITA STATE (0-0)

When: 6 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Koch Arena (no fans)

TV: ESPN+ (How to sign up)

Radio: KEYN, 103.7 FM

Vegas line: Wichita State -11

KenPom says: Wichita State 81, Oral Roberts 70

WSU’s win probability: 84%

PROJECTED STARTERS

Head coach: Isaac Brown, 0-0

Head coach: Paul Mills, 40-57

THE KEY TO VICTORY FOR WICHITA STATE

Morris Udeze was always going to play a critical role for Wichita State this season. He doesn’t have much experience — five career starts and 495 minutes over two seasons — but the 6-foot-8 junior is WSU’s most experienced option at center.

Udeze already figured to play an integral role, but his importance has grown because he will be just one of two centers and one of eight players available for the Shockers this week because of COVID-19 restrictions. To top it off, Oral Roberts runs its offense through center Kevin Obanor (17.5 points, 10 rebounds), which makes Udeze perhaps the most important Shocker for Wednesday’s season opener.

WSU needs Udeze to win on Wednesday with only fellow junior Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler as a backup. In order for him to provide the impact his team needs, Udeze will have to avoid bad habits and show a new level of discipline to remain on the floor and avoid foul trouble.

Fouling has been Udeze’s biggest roadblock to playing time as a Shocker. Last season he only played 10.5 minutes per game, in part because he averaged a comically-bad 9.1 fouls per 40 minutes — the worst rate of any player in the American Athletic Conference.

It’s typical for centers to lead the team in fouls, but Udeze has several clear paths to cut back on silly fouls. For starters, he can start by cutting back on needless reach-ins on post-entry passes. He was almost good for one foul per game on his fruitless gambles to poke the ball loose from behind. Too many times it ended with a foul.

Udeze can do himself a favor by simply resisting the temptation of chasing after the steal. This way he won’t be off-balanced so many times and can stay in a good guarding position.

Another bad habit of Udeze is that he reaches too much. Instead of using his length vertically, Udeze puts his hands on his mark too often. It was a common sight last season for Udeze to be whistled for a foul because he would be too handsy trying to guard a drive to the basket or he would lose discipline at the last second and slap downward at the ball instead of going straight up. Again, this comes down to discipline and resisting the urge to put your hands out instead of up.

Udeze can make tremendous strides as a defender by making those two simple fixes. But in order to truly level up as a defender, Udeze will have to show a new level of maturity by staying more disciplined than he ever has before. His growth in that regard very well could determine if he has the breakout junior campaign he believes is coming.

For a casual viewer of a basketball game, it’s easy to not pay attention to a defender until his man has the ball. But for basketball coaches, they’re paying attention to almost everything but the ball. The work that’s being done off-ball is usually the detail that separates good defenses from bad ones and it’s no different for individual defenders.

Often times, the most important stretch for a defender is in the seconds leading up to his man catching the ball — not the seconds after. Here’s a play from last season that ultimately ends with a Udeze foul that illustrates that point and shows why constantly remaining locked in is so crucial to the defensive end.

If you were watching the game on television, your eyes probably didn’t find Udeze until the post entry pass. But look at him at the start of the play: he was late to react to his player going out to the perimeter to set a screen and being a full second behind put him behind on the entire play.

Udeze was late to help on the screen, which made him late to cover his man slipping to the basket, which made him give up inside position when the ball was quickly reversed. Because he was out of position, Udeze was called for the foul on the post entry — all because of that one-second lapse at the start of the play.

I asked WSU interim coach Isaac Brown about Udeze’s propensity for fouling earlier this offseason and here’s what he had to say about the work being done for improvement.

“We showed him film to show him the things and techniques and positions he needs to be in,” Brown said. “We got referees in practice and we’re blowing the whistle every time a guy picks up a cheap foul. We haven’t had a scrimmage game yet, but we’ve been trying to blow the whistle a lot more in practice just to let him know you can’t foul and pick up silly fouls like that.

“You have to have the right technique and wall up and make sure guys are scoring over you. He’s doing a better job of that and learning the proper technique of how to guard in the low post.”

Those lessons will be put to the test on Wednesday against the caliber of player of Obanor. Udeze (6-8, 235) has the bulk to hold his own against a crafty Obanor (6-8, 225) in the post, but where Obanor has the advantage is on the perimeter.

If WSU continues to hedge ball screens with its centers under Isaac Brown like it did with Gregg Marshall, then Obanor (a career 37.6% three-point shooter) could give Udeze fits by popping out to the three-point line to shoot. Obanor is also skilled enough to take bigger defenders, like Udeze, off the dribble and has been drawing a high number of fouls at the rim this season on plays like these.

Udeze certainly has the potential to effectively guard a player like Obanor. There were times last season when he delivered superb defense where he would use his big frame to wall off the driver, avoid the temptation to reach and keep his hands straight up to make his man try to finish over his length.

WSU will be looking for more plays like that from Udeze this season. On Wednesday, with the Shockers’ lack of depth, that level of discipline from Udeze might be absolute necessary for WSU to win.

This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 6:13 AM.

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.