Here’s how Wichita State basketball has kept sharp in 9-day layoff ahead of UCF game

For just the second time in 17 days, the Wichita State men’s basketball team will take to the court for a 3 p.m. Saturday game against Central Florida at Koch Arena broadcast on ESPNU.

It’s been nine days since WSU suffered its worst loss of the season, a 72-52 setback at Memphis, thanks to two straight postponements due to COVID-19 issues on other teams.

The Shockers (8-4, 4-2 AAC) have been anxious to rid themselves of that poor performance, as they look to remain in second place in the American Athletic Conference and begin a new winning streak with their next three games at home. UCF (4-6, 2-5 AAC) snapped a five-game losing streak on Wednesday with a win over East Carolina.

“We all felt bad after that game,” WSU interim coach Isaac Brown said. “The next day in film, we were all mad. But no one pointed fingers. The coaches have to do a better job and they’ve got to do a better job. Everybody accepted their role in the loss and we went out and had some good practices and put it behind us. They know what we have to do in order to win. We’ve got to keep getting better and I think we’re doing that.”

Every coach wishes for more practice time during the season, but a nine-day lay-off in the middle of conference season is a bit extreme. Brown and his coaching staff have had to get creative with the practice plan to spice things up without a game for so long.

Brown said in the absence of two games during that stretch, he tried to create practices that were “like a game.” WSU scrimmaged against one another and worked on special situations. Brown was pleased with how the team responded to the loss and extended time between games.

“I think we got better in practice,” Brown said. “Our team has gotten better. The guys have really been focused. They’re energetic. They’re ready to get back out there on the basketball court and play another game. They’re excited about this challenge on Saturday and they’re just ready to play again.”

Brown has made sure to drill home to WSU’s players that UCF’s 4-6 record is deceiving. The Golden Knights have played the fifth-toughest schedule in the country, per KenPom, and showed their potency with wins over Auburn and Florida State to begin the season.

UCF is guard-oriented and has four that average double-digits, most notably the tandem of 6-foot-5 senior Brandon Mahan (14.4 points) and 6-4 sophomore Darin Green (12.9 points).

“You can throw their record out the window,” Brown said. “We’re not overlooking a team like this because they are a really good basketball team. We’re going to have to defend at a high level and we’re going to have to make sure we do a good job defending Green and Mahan because those guys can really score it. And then on offense, we’re going to have to share the basketball, execute and step up and make wide open shots.”

WSU will certainly be looking for a better offensive performance after missing 21 of 23 three-pointers at Memphis. Leading scorer Tyson Etienne scored a season-low three points on 1-of-12 shooting and Brown talked earlier in the week about the Shockers doing a better job in the half-court of running sets for Etienne and finding him in transition.

Browns suspects a return to Koch Arena in front of Shocker fans will be just what the offense needs to get back on track. But he also wants the team to learn from its loss at Memphis.

“The No. 1 thing for us is that when we’re struggling to score, our defense drops off,” Brown said. “I told our guys that we can win on the road when we’re not making shots, as long as we defend at a high level, rebound at a high level and play with toughness. I think that’s the one thing we can learn from that game.”

Central Florida at Wichita State

Records: UCF 4-6, 2-5 AAC; WSU 8-4, 4-2 AAC

When: 3:05 p.m. Saturday

Where: Koch Arena (20% capacity, 2,100)

Radio: KEYN, 103.7-FM

TV: ESPNU

Series: WSU leads 5-0 (3-0 in Wichita)

Projected starting lineups

Coach: Johnny Dawkins, fifth season, 87-54.

Coach: Isaac Brown, first season, 8-4.

This story was originally published January 30, 2021 at 8:03 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.