Morris Udeze scores career high as Wichita State basketball cruises past Emporia State
The circumstances of Friday’s game against Emporia State at Koch Arena did not allow for many meaningful takeaways from the Wichita State men’s basketball team’s fifth game of the season.
Perhaps the most meaningful one was the budding confidence from WSU’s two centers, Morris Udeze and Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler, who combined for 24 points on perfect 10-for-10 shooting in WSU’s 73-57 victory over Emporia State.
The Shockers improved to 3-2 this season and avoided their first three-game losing streak at Koch Arena since January 2007 behind a career-high 18 points from Udeze, who made all seven of his shots — the most makes without a miss by a Shocker since P.J. Cousinard made all eight of his attempts against Maryland Eastern Shore on Dec. 17, 2006.
“They can definitely be X-Factors,” WSU interim coach Isaac Brown said. “They’re veteran guys that have played at this level before. They know what they’re doing and they add to our team.
“We got what we wanted out of both of the (centers).”
While the game counted as a regular-season game for WSU, it was a mere exhibition for Emporia State, which was in the middle of a three-games-in-three-days stretch with a conference game scheduled less than 24 hours away on Saturday afternoon.
That made Friday’s game feel more like a scrimmage, which is why Brown’s main priority was carving out minutes for WSU’s three freshmen and specifically for 6-foot-4 guard Chaunce Jenkins and 6-9 forward Jaden Seymour, who both missed the first two games of the season due to COVID-19 protocol and had yet to play in a game before Friday.
Consider that mission a success, as Ricky Council (13 points, team-high eight rebounds) continued his strong play and Jenkins (0 for 3 shooting and one rebound in 14 minutes) and Seymour (1-4 shooting, three points and two rebounds in 13 minutes) each made their Shocker debut with extended playing time.
“I thought we played a good 28 minutes tonight,” Brown said. “I thought the first half we got out of it what we wanted to get out of it. We wanted to work on our press, trapping the ball, getting matched up. And we wanted to get some young guys in the game and see what we had, and we were able to do that.”
There wasn’t much else to take away from WSU’s tune-up performance for its return to American Athletic Conference play for a 6 p.m. Tuesday game at South Florida.
Brown was disappointed with WSU’s final shooting numbers — 37% from the field (27 of 73), 27.6% on three-pointers (8 of 29) and 57.9% on free throws (11 of 19) — but those were cratered by sloppy play and poor shot selection for much of the second half when the outcome had already been decided. WSU made 44.7% of its shots, including five threes, in the first half to build a 45-26 halftime lead.
The highlight was Udeze and Poor Bear-Chandler, who entered averaging a combined 10.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in 32.6 minutes per game. The duo combined for 24 points and eight rebounds in 26 minutes on Friday.
“If I stay out of foul trouble, I feel like I can affect the game (more), and that’s what I’ve been working on,” said Udeze, who nearly matched his previous career-high of 15 points in the first half. “I’m just trying not to foul, keep my hands up so I can have games like this all the time.”
While Udeze impressed with his scoring, bullying his way close to the basket and finishing over length, Poor Bear-Chandler was impressive for the second straight game in chasing down offensive rebounds. After grabbing three offensive boards against Tulsa, Poor Bear-Chandler came up with four more in 12 minutes of action on Friday.
WSU finished with 25 offensive rebounds — the most in more than two decades — and outrebounded Emporia State by 16, 52-36.
“I just try to be quick on my feet and really practice it during practice and try to apply it to games,” Poor Bear-Chandler said. “I’m just following what coach is telling me to do and believing in it 100%.”
“I’m happy for him because he’s a kid who always has done it in practice, and now he’s taking it into the game,” Brown said of Poor Bear-Chandler.
For the second straight game, Poor Bear-Chandler exited the game early in the second half and did not return after aggravating a left thumb injury. After the game, Brown said it was a nagging injury but one that the 6-foot-9 junior can play through for Tuesday’s game at South Florida.
Brown said that WSU’s third center, Josaphat Bilau, was held out of Friday’s game against Emporia State as a precautionary measure after the 6-10 redshirt freshman had a swollen knee following Thursday’s practice. Bilau, who had offseason surgery on the knee, will be available for Tuesday’s game at South Florida, Brown said.
This story was originally published December 18, 2020 at 7:50 PM.
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