Ricky Council rises above to lead Wichita State basketball to close win for 2-0 start
The Wichita State men’s basketball team is pretty good when it comes to winning ugly.
An average shooting performance would feel like a luxury at this point for the Shockers, who defied the shooting percentages for the second straight time at Koch Arena to open the season 2-0 thanks to a 64-58 win over South Alabama on Saturday afternoon.
It has become somewhat of a specialty for WSU, as only Houston can claim more victories when shooting under 40% than the Shockers since the 2018-19 season. WSU added its 21st such win on Saturday, as it finished shooting 37.3% from the field compared to the 44.4% shooting from South Alabama.
“You’d rather figure out your problems when you’re winning than losing,” WSU junior Dexter Dennis said. “Winning solves a lot of problems. I’d rather win and figure out the problems any day.”
On a day where offense was at a premium, the scoring brilliance of freshman wing Ricky Council IV, who made just his second career start, was even more valuable. Council scored a game-high 19 points, repeatedly knocking down difficult shots on his way to 7-of-11 shooting, and helped WSU win the rebounding battle with eight boards.
After Council drained a heavily-contested corner three with 4:19 remaining to put WSU in front, 57-56, the Shockers never trailed again.
“That happens all the time in practice with my teammates,” Council said. “They’ll be like, ‘How did you hit that?’ I just shoot it. It feels normal to me. To see it go in, it’s great. I’m just happy right now. I’m taking it all in.”
WSU needed all of the scoring punch it could muster without the typical firepower from sophomore star Tyson Etienne, who was so sick that he didn’t practice on Friday and was clearly affected by the illness during Saturday’s game.
Etienne never looked like himself and struggled, scoring four points on 1-of-10 shooting. WSU was outscored by three points in Etienne’s team-high 32 minutes on the floor.
“I don’t think the Golden State Warriors would take Steph Curry out if he was feeling a little sick,” WSU coach Isaac Brown said. “I’m going to ride with my best players. I want the ball in their hands late in the game. I trust those guys and they’ll always be in at the end of the game because they’re so used to winning close basketball games. They usually make a big play at the end.”
Sure enough, Brown’s faith in Etienne was rewarded when the preseason American Athletic Conference Player of the Year tracked down an offensive rebound with WSU ahead just three points and made two free throws to help secure the win with 16 seconds left.
The Shockers managed to win without good shooting performances from their three trusted veterans: Etienne, Dennis and Morris Udeze, a trio that combined to miss 21 of its 26 field-goal attempts.
“Of course we want to come out and perform well, but it’s not really about us,” said Dennis, who had seven points, eight rebounds, three steals and three blocks. “That’s why we’ve got other teammates. That’s why we’ve got other players who can step up when we’re not playing well. We definitely needed them tonight and we’re going to need them the whole season. We’re going to have to start making shots, start making plays. We’ve got some work to do, but we are thankful for the teammates that did play well when their number was called.”
Two such teammates on Saturday were junior guard Qua Grant and sophomore forward Monzy Jackson, both of whom came off the bench to provide sparks to WSU at different points in the game.
Grant hit back-to-back three-pointers in the first half and finished with 13 points, while Jackson grabbed two momentum-swinging offensive rebounds and brought a different energy to his team and to the crowd of more than 8,500.
“When I sit on the bench, I’m itching to get in,” Jackson said. “I’m ready. When it’s my time, I hurry up and run to the scorer’s table. I be that excited.”
“It’s something he was born with,” Brown said of Jackson’s energy. “He goes 100 mph to help you on every play. He came up with two 50-50 balls that no one else could get their hands on. Both of those led to baskets. That’s just the type of guy he is. We need an energy guy like that on our team.”
With its slew of high-major Division I transfers, South Alabama gave WSU’s defense fits throughout the game with its drives to the rim. South Alabama shot 55.2% on two-pointers, while Javon Franklin in particular was a matchup nightmare for WSU, as the Auburn transfer scored 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting and added 12 rebounds.
Halfway through the second half with WSU trailing, Brown finally surrendered trying to guard South Alabama man-to-man and switched to a zone defense. The decision swung the game, as South Alabama’s offense was largely silenced when the clogged driving lanes forced the Jaguars to chuck up jumpers (they finished 3 for 16 on threes).
“We couldn’t guard them off the bounce,” Brown said. “We couldn’t keep them in front, so I wanted to force them to make jump shots.”
With two notable transfers missing — Greg Parham (VMI) and Lance Thomas (Memphis) — South Alabama hopes Saturday’s gutty performance on the road at WSU is a sign of things to come. The Jaguars are expected to be a contender in the Sun Belt Conference.
“It was an incredible atmosphere out here,” South Alabama coach Richie Riley said. “The fan base is incredible. They’re so passionate. I remember when we went up by six early in the second half and they got as loud as they did all game. It’s a really, really special environment. As a basketball guy from Kentucky, to be able to see an environment like this and play in it was really cool.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2021 at 5:00 PM.
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