Wichita State basketball looks to end its curse against Cincinnati at Koch Arena

So far this season, the best moments for the Wichita State men’s basketball team have come away from Koch Arena.

The Shockers have been underdogs in all four of their road games this season, yet emerged with a 3-1 record. That’s given WSU a leg up to start American Athletic Conference play, but it won’t matter much if the Shockers (6-3, 2-1 AAC) can’t defend home court.

Those are the stakes when WSU hosts Cincinnati (3-6, 1-3 AAC) in a 3:30 p.m. Sunday game at Koch Arena with a national television audience on ESPN2. A win would further legitimize WSU as an AAC contender, while a loss would be the team’s second straight setback this week.

“In order to be one of the better teams in the conference, you’ve got to be able to take care of your home court,” WSU interim coach Isaac Brown said. “Cincinnati has dominated this league with Houston since we’ve been in it. You can never count those guys out, so you can throw out their record. They’re going to be a well-coached team. We just have to play well at home.”

A win over Cincinnati would be particularly noteworthy for the Shockers because they have been on the wrong end of so many heartbreakers against the Bearcats. In fact, WSU has lost all three times to Cincinnati at Koch Arena since joining the American and lost six straight in the series — often in agonizing fashion in the final minute.

Just last season, Jarron Cumberland snatched a victory from WSU with a game-winning, three-point play with 3.5 seconds left in an 80-79 win for Cincinnati. Three years ago, Cincinnati won 62-61 on WSU’s home court to prevent the Shockers from winning a share of the conference title in their first year in the American.

Cincinnati’s three-game winning streak over the Shockers at Koch Arena is tied with Southern Illinois (2007-09) for second-longest by an opponent since the building was renovated in 2003. A win by Cincinnati on Sunday would match Northern Iowa (2005-08) for the longest streak.

The good news for Shocker fans is that Cumberland, the two-time AAC Player of the Year and noted Shocker killer, has graduated.

“They’re still a good team, much better than their record,” Brown stressed. “Most of our guys didn’t even play against Cumberland, so it really doesn’t matter to them. We’re more concerned about defending the team that they have now.”

In Cumberland’s absence, senior wing Keith Williams (15.1 points) has become the focal point of Cincinnati’s offense. The Bearcats were reeling entering the week, losers of five straight games, but showed their potential in a 76-69 road victory over an SMU team that many believed was the second-best team in the conference.

After allowing a 10-point lead at Houston slip away due to a seven-minute scoring drought, WSU isn’t looking for any tweaks with its offense. After watching film, Brown is confident in the shots that WSU took. The one thing that did bother him more on the re-watch was the amount of turnovers committed by the Shockers.

WSU finished with just 11 turnovers, but eight of them came in the second half and many were unforced errors. That’s the part of the game that Brown wants WSU to clean up against Cincinnati.

“You don’t want to make too many changes after losing to a top-10 team on the road,” Brown said. “We had too many turnovers and that was huge. That was uncharacteristic for us. They ended up with more possessions than we did in the second half, so we’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the basketball and making sure we get good shots.”

Brown said on Friday evening that WSU should have all players available for Sunday’s game and noted that redshirt freshman Josaphat Bilau “seems to be moving a lot better” after battling knee problems recently.

The one player Brown hopes to get going again is senior point guard Alterique Gilbert, who finished with four points on 2 of 12 shooting against Houston. It was the first time this season against Division I competition that Gilbert hadn’t been in double-digit scoring for the Shockers.

“I just told Alterique that when he draws two people to kick it out to the open guy,” Brown said. “There’s going to be some games where you can’t get double-figure points, but you can get double-figure assists. Anytime you see a double team, let’s find those open guys a little bit quicker and not hold onto the ball so much. Let’s try to move it and get better spacing and cut more.”

Cincinnati at Wichita State

Records: UC 3-6, 1-3 AAC; WSU 6-2, 2-1 AAC

When: 3:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: Koch Arena (15% capacity, 1,575)

TV: ESPN2 (Kevin Brown, Jon Crispin)

Radio: KEYN, 103.7-FM

Series: UC leads 24-12 (10-8 in Wichita)

Projected starting lineups

Coach: John Brannen, second season, 23-16

Coach: Isaac Brown, first season, 6-3

Taylor Eldridge

The Wichita Eagle

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Wichita State athletics beat reporter. Bringing you closer to the Shockers you love and inside the sports you love to watch.