A breakdown of how Tyson Etienne delivered for Wichita State when it needed a spark
The first game of his sophomore season was not off to the start that Tyson Etienne planned.
He wasn’t feeling well on Wednesday night or particularly playing well against Oral Roberts. Foul trouble had disrupted his rhythm in the first half and 30 minutes into the game the undermanned Shockers were in danger of losing their season opener at Koch Arena, trailing Oral Roberts by nine points.
“I was like, ‘We worked too hard. All eight of us worked too hard every single day.’” Etienne said. “We’re limited. Just because I’m not feeling the best, I can’t quit on my team. None of us could quit on each other. I felt like I had to do my job and lead my guys and step it up and put the ball through the rim.”
If Etienne’s job is to be to WSU’s sharpshooter, then the sophomore lived up to his role better than he ever has before. Etienne poured in a career-high 26 points with 21 coming in the second half of WSU’s 85-80 victory over Oral Roberts.
While Alterique Gilbert and Clarence Jackson delivered the biggest plays for WSU down the stretch, it was Etienne who saved the Shockers halfway through the second half after Oral Roberts took its largest lead of the game, 61-52, with 10:47 remaining.
On the brink of falling behind by double-digits, Wichita State scored on its next nine possessions to rip off a 24-8 run over the next five minutes. Etienne was the engine behind the run that turned a nine-point deficit into a 76-69 lead, as he scored 15 of WSU’s 24 points during the rally on a flurry of jumpers.
“Tyson got it going and once he got it going, we rode it,” WSU interim head coach Isaac Brown said. “He’s a tremendous shooter. He stepped up and made some big shots and he drove the ball well and got to the foul line. He played a big-time game. We need that from him.”
After only playing 10 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, Etienne got more involved in WSU’s offense early in the second half — but nothing indicated he was about to go on the biggest heater of his career (his previous career-high was 21 points against UT Martin last November).
Etienne streak began with a shot that typically breaks slumps: catching the ball in rhythm with his feet set. That was exactly the case when Gilbert pushed in transition and found Etienne camped out on the left wing for a three-pointer he drilled.
Two possessions later, Etienne bombed away from three feet beyond the three-point line for another triple. The difference was that Etienne cut with purpose from the left corner to use a screen that freed him for a deep three from straight on. He set his feet on the catch and fired without hesitation, which gave him an open window after his defender was a second slow on the contest.
For a shooter like Etienne, that sliver of space is all that he needs on those catch-and-shoot attempts that he excelled on last season when he made 38.8% of his threes and finished fourth in the American Athletic Conference. This triple cut ORU’s lead to 64-61.
“It was a good feeling, but my confidence doesn’t waver,” Etienne said. “If that shot goes in or doesn’t go in, it doesn’t matter. But knowing that we needed to have points on the board, that was a good feeling for sure.”
Give Brown credit. The long-time assistant who finally got his first shot at being a head coach on Wednesday recognized Etienne was feeling it and began dialing up plays for the sophomore sharpshooter to capitalize.
Brown used a simple baseline out of bounds play that his former boss loved to run for WSU’s best scorer, as Etienne was lobbed the ball near the top of the key and given the green light to attack in isolation. Etienne caught a foot inside the three-point line, squared up and immediately elevated for the jumper and swish. It was reminiscent of how the Shockers used to funnel the ball to another sharpshooter in Conner Frankamp.
The next time down, Brown had Etienne bring the ball up so he could run a halfcourt set for him. After passing the ball to Trey Wade from the left wing, Etienne cut off a flare screen by Morris Udeze and received the ball back from Wade with a lob pass that set him up for a 12-foot, fadeaway jumper that hit nothing but net.
Etienne deserves credit for selling the play, as he began slowly walking after passing the ball to Wade. His defender relaxed for one second and that’s when Etienne sprang into action, running his defender straight into Udeze’s screen and Wade anticipated the play and delivered a pass with the perfect timing that allowed Etienne to catch and shoot in a fluid motion.
“I love Tyson, man,” Gilbert said. “He’s a tremendous shooter. As you can see from tonight, he can really shoot the ball.”
Etienne had found his shooting rhythm. And even when it was interrupted, it didn’t matter.
That was the case two possessions later when Etienne caught a pass in the left corner and looked trapped. Etienne used a ball fake — he never intended to pass — to force the defender to react and sure enough, the defender lowered his hands for just a split-second and Etienne exploited the momentary lapse to rise up and splash in a corner three-pointer that seemed impossible.
Other WSU players stepped up down the stretch to make the winning plays, but there’s no doubt those opportunities would not have been available without Etienne’s game-saving, five-minute stretch of excellence.
With the Shockers’ backs against the wall, Etienne delivered his best — 5 of 6 shooting, including three three-pointers, and two free throws — to rescue the team. He needed some hot shooting, but he also needed an attention to detail that was established over countless hours honing his craft in the offseason.
Etienne came up clutch when his team needed him — just like how he envisioned his sophomore season would go.
“We’re low-manned right now and we don’t have all of our guns, but we’re going to fight,” Etienne said. “We’re a talented basketball club. At the end of the day, all of us have individual skill when it all comes together makes for a great team product. So you’re going to get what Shocker fans expect to get from their teams, despite everything that’s going on. We’re ready to produce.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
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