‘They’ve owned us’: No. 11 Houston offers biggest test yet for Wichita State basketball

Wichita State men’s basketball interim coach Isaac Brown was asked the other day if he could watch any other college basketball team who would he watch practice for a day?

His answer was simple.

“I said, ‘University of Houston,’” Brown said. “They said, ‘Not Duke, not Kentucky?’ I said, ‘No, I would watch the University of Houston.’

“Those guys play hard on another level. They play aggressive. They defend at a high level. They’re relentless on the offensive glass.”

Wichita State has been very familiar with the formula to Houston’s success since joining the American Athletic Conference. No other team has been able to consistently handle the Shockers quite like the Cougars, who have won their last five games against WSU with an average margin of 14 points, including the program’s worst defeat since 2003 in last season’s 33-point thrashing in Houston.

WSU (6-2, 2-0 AAC) has won five straight games, including three straight on the road as an underdog, and enters this one in sole possession of first place in the conference. But the Shockers, 11.5-point underdogs, face their biggest challenge yet at 7 p.m. Wednesday against the No. 11-ranked Cougars (8-1, 3-1 AAC) at the Fertitta Center with the game streaming on ESPN+.

“They’ve owned us the last couple of years,” Brown said. “So this game is going to come down to toughness and competing at a high level. It’s not going to come down to making or missing shots. They’re going to miss some, we’re going to miss some. It’s going to come down to competing, toughness and rebounding.”

Defensive rebounding in particular has been a sore spot this season, which ranks No. 325 in the country in defensive rebounding percentage. That’s not good news going up against an elite offensive rebounding team in Houston, which pulls down more than 40% of its own misses for the fourth-best offensive rebounding rate in the country.

Improvement for WSU must begin at the center position, especially after the team’s triumvirate of centers — Morris Udeze, Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler and Josaphat Bilau — managed to log a single defensive rebound between them in a combined 40 minutes. After Brown noticed that stat in the box score, he assembled his big men and point-blank told them, “This won’t cut it.”

There won’t be a bigger challenge this season for WSU’s centers than Houston’s 6-foot-7 senior Justin Gorham, who is one of the most tenacious rebounders in the country. He ranks third in the country at 4.8 offensive rebounds per game and is coming off a 19-rebound game, including nine offensive boards, in Houston’s 14-point road win at SMU this past weekend.

“There’s no way we can play a game where our bigs only get one rebound. That’s just not good enough.,’” Brown said. “For us to go down to Houston, between our bigs we’re going to need 10 to 12 rebounds in that game. We haven’t done that this year.

“We keep trying to emphasize that in practice, working on check-outs 24-7, working on techniques. If you miss a check-out in practice, you’re being held accountable and we can put you on the sideline and run you. Our bigs have to get better at rebounding. We’re not rebounding at a high level like we need to.”

Houston’s aggressive and physical style on defense has always matched up well against WSU’s offense, but the Shockers are playing slightly different this season under Brown and now have a point guard in senior Alterique Gilbert who is capable of breaking down the defense and creating help situations — something it’s missed sorely in recent season.

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson has noticed the change, saying that WSU’s pieces on offense “all fit now,” before offering up some more high praise for the Shockers ahead of Wednesday’s game.

“I think this team plays more similar to us than any other team we’ve played this year,” Sampson told the Houston media. “This is a tough team and Isaac’s done a great job, he really has. It’s not easy sliding in being an assistant and then all of a sudden becoming a head coach. But they play hard for him, which tells me all that I need to know about their relationship with Isaac Brown.”

Houston will be without preseason AAC Player of the Year in Caleb Mills (9.8 points), who announced on Tuesday he is transferring after just four games in his sophomore season. The Cougars still have an abundance of talent at guard with Quentin Grimes (17.7 points, 7.0 rebounds), Marcus Sasser (15.3 points) and Dejon Jarreau (9.2 points).

The Cougars are shooting just 40.8% from the field, the 292nd-best mark in the country, but their offense hums along because they’re so good at rebounding their misses and scoring on second chances. It’s also not a surprise that Houston is once again a top-10 defensive unit under Sampson, as the Cougars make life difficult on opponents by holding them to an average of 56.3 points (fifth-best nationally) on 37.8% shooting (18th-best).

While unanimous picks as the conference favorite, Houston has already been proven to be mortal this season by Tulsa when the Golden Hurricane won 65-64 on Dec. 29. But the Shockers have not had a pleasant experience yet playing in Houston.

Brown knows WSU will have to play its best game yet to pull off another shocker on the road.

“We’re going to have to play the hardest game we’ve played this year,” Brown said. “You’ve got to play at an elite level on the glass. You’ve got to have toughness. You’ve got to make sure you’re not turning the ball over. We’ve got to space the floor. Our guys know this is the biggest challenge of the year. We’re going to need all 16 guys to go down there and get the win.”

Wichita State at No. 11 Houston

Records: WSU 6-2, 2-0 AAC; UH 8-1, 3-1 AAC

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Fertitta Center, Houston (25% capacity, 1,859)

Streaming: ESPN+

Radio: KEYN, 103.7-FM

Series: WSU leads 17-14 (3-10 at Houston)

Coach: Isaac Brown, first season, 6-2

Coach: Kelvin Sampson, seventh season, 147-61

This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 3:19 PM.

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.