The unlikely origin of Wichita State’s pressure defense that sparked OT win over UCF
For the first 36 minutes of Saturday’s men’s basketball game, Central Florida moved where it wanted, passed where it wanted and scored where it wanted against Wichita State’s defense.
In their first game action in nine days, the Shockers had put up very little resistance and their sloppy defensive effort had put them in peril: staring down an eight-point deficit, with absolutely no momentum, and playing defense coming out of the final media timeout with 3:40 remaining.
“We weren’t doing a great job at making them feel our pressure,” WSU interim coach Isaac Brown said.
Brown had WSU prepared for the moment.
In the nine days since their last game, a 20-point loss at Memphis, the Shockers had been practicing a new defense they could use to ratchet up the pressure. WSU would line up full court in a 1-2-2 formation with Dexter Dennis spearheading the attack, steering ball handlers to the sidelines, taking away the middle of the floor and trapping near half-court.
It’s actually the same style of defense that Memphis used to make WSU so uncomfortable nine days ago. After watching film, WSU’s coaches saw how effective it was for Memphis and decided to adopt it. With the Shockers trailing UCF by eight and time dwindling, Brown decided it was ready to debut WSU’s new “65” defense.
“I just wanted to change it up,” Brown said. “I felt like we didn’t bother them at all in the half-court. We just couldn’t stop them, so we had to make a change. It’s something we’ve been working on in practice.”
It was the biggest in a series of game-altering decisions made by Brown down the stretch to help Wichita State rally for an improbable 93-88 overtime victory over Central Florida to remain in second place in the American Athletic Conference.
When WSU switched to its new trapping defense with UCF up 74-66, five of UCF’s final six possessions in regulation ended in a turnover. Only one of those turnovers was a direct result of the trap (Morris Udeze came up with two crucial charges taken in the half-court), but the switch to the more aggressive style made a noticeable difference in WSU’s defensive demeanor down the stretch.
“I think it was because they hadn’t seen it,” guard Tyson Etienne said. “We haven’t used that at all this year. We gave them a different look and we were able to speed them up, and they didn’t really know where to go with the ball.”
Another coaching call that paid off was Brown’s decision to turn to sophomore Clarence Jackson in crunch time.
A back injury had hampered Jackson recently, although the nine-day break helped him heal, and he had only averaged 8.4 minutes in WSU’s last five games. But in Brown’s mind, Jackson gave WSU something else no one else could — manic energy.
And with WSU completely devoid of any kind of energy, down eight with just 3:40 remaining, Brown trusted Jackson to make something happen.
“You know why I turned to Monzy is sometimes I feel like we don’t have energy on the floor,” Brown said. “He might make some mistakes, but he’s out there clapping his hands and he’s going to the offensive glass and he just brings energy. He don’t always execute, but he always plays hard and that’s what I’m starting to love about that kid.
“We just didn’t have any energy. We needed our energizer in there.”
The switch to the “65” defense perfectly suited Jackson’s strengths — using his length and athleticism to fly all over the court and wreak havoc. It’s not a coincidence that WSU reeled off an 11-1 run with Jackson on the floor down the stretch. He even made the two free throws in the final minute to give WSU a lead.
And when WSU once again needed a spark in overtime, trailing 84-79 with 2:25 remaining, Jackson was there to deliver in the most “Monzy” way possible. UCF looked assured a rebound with four potential rebounders underneath the goal when Alterique Gilbert missed a driving layup. Only one Shocker on the floor even thought to pursue the offensive rebound and it’s likely Jackson is the only player on the team who would have chased a rebound in such dire circumstances.
But that’s what sets Jackson apart — no matter the odds, he crashes the glass every single time to give himself at the very least an opportunity. And when the ball hung on the rim for a split-second longer than UCF anticipated, Jackson was in position to snatch the rebound, go back up and score a basket with a foul to breath life back into the Shockers. The three-point play was the beginning of the 14-4 run WSU closed the game on.
“We wanted to win that game so bad,” said Jackson, who finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and two steals in 19 minutes off the bench. “We just lost to Memphis last week, so we knew we couldn’t go out like that again. We had to fight and push through and get a W.”
Not only did Jackson’s heroics lead to a three-point swing, but it also allowed WSU to set up its “65” defense for the first time in overtime. On the very first possession facing it, UCF threw an errant pass that Gilbert picked off to further cut into the lead.
“We just have to play with more composure down the stretch,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. “That was a really good basketball game and they showed more composure down the stretch of the ball game. They made more plays. We have to do a better job of taking care of the basketball. We had 23 turnovers and that’s way too many.”
And when WSU absolutely needed a basket in crunch time, Brown dialed up the right play call from the sidelines to put his best player in a situation to succeed. That’s all Etienne, who tied his career-high of 29 points, needed.
WSU typically has freed Etienne on the perimeter by having him screen someone away from the ball, then dart to the perimeter and come off a screen himself. But with WSU trailing 74-69 in regulation, Brown came up with a new wrinkle to get Etienne a wide-open three-pointer.
This time Etienne set a ball screen and flared to the right wing, where Udeze was there to bury Etienne’s defender with a screen. It was particularly effective because Udeze’s defender (6-foot-11 UCF freshman Jamille Reynolds) is uncomfortable guarding on the perimeter and inexperience when it comes to playing help defense that far away from the basket. Sure enough, WSU picked just the right time to exploit this flaw in UCF’s defense: Etienne came off the screen, Reynolds was nowhere in sight, and WSU’s star was free to rise up and swish a three.
“I’m always looking to screen for him because I know he’s clutch,” said Udeze, who delivered his fourth straight double-digit scoring game with 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting. “When he hit that big three, I’m just like, ‘Savior.’”
In overtime, with WSU trailing 84-83 approaching the final minute, Brown once again went back to exploiting UCF’s defense with Reynolds on the floor. This time Brown tapped a play where Etienne moved vertically instead of horizontally. It was a simple pin-down screen by Udeze and he caught just enough of Etienne’s defender on the screen to slow him down. Without any help defense from Reynolds, the UCF defender was a step late. That gave Etienne just enough of a head start to sprint to the top of the key, plant his feet just beyond the arc and rise up over the trailing defender and drain the go-ahead three.
With that three-pointer, Etienne etched his name into WSU’s record books by becoming the fastest Shocker (in 44 career games) to hit 100 career three-pointers.
“It’s good company to be in the conversation with those guys in a statistic like that,” Etienne said. “I’m thankful to be here, and I’m thankful to play with guys who get me the ball. It’s a testament to working hard and just listening. It’s a blessing, but I don’t play basketball for accolades.”
Rather Etienne is hoping the Shockers can do something special as a team this season.
Saturday’s 45 minutes were far from a crisp performance from WSU, but the win should be noted as one of Brown’s best coaching games in a season where the interim coach is starting to garner national attention for keeping the Shockers in second place in the American.
“Perseverance,” Udeze said. “There’s no quit in this team. That’s what I love about them. We never quit.”
This story was originally published January 31, 2021 at 3:16 PM.
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