Wichita State Shockers basketball hope to establish Mo Udeze inside in Missouri game

The curious case of Morris Udeze has lasted through five games this season for the Wichita State men’s basketball team.

After ending last season as a burgeoning star in the low post for the Shockers, Udeze has been turnover-prone and struggled out of the gate in November. As a result, WSU’s offense has somewhat sputtered without an inside-out balance.

The Shockers hope to correct that on Friday when they play their first true road game of the season at Missouri (3-2) in an 8 p.m. showdown at Mizzou Arena. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.

“We’ve got to start getting him some easy baskets,” WSU coach Isaac Brown said about Udeze. “We’ve got to be able to penetrate and kick it to him for a dunk or an easy layup, maybe a 15-foot jump shot. He’s starting to go up against some really big, physical guys inside, so we have to do a better job of trying to create wide-open opportunities for him.”

Udeze averaged 10.3 points and made 61% of his two-pointers last season, but through five games this season, Udeze is averaging 7.0 points on 50% two-point shooting. Even more troubling, Udeze has committed a team-high 17 turnovers (3.4 per game) with many coming trying to dribble or pass out of the post.

In the UNLV game, Brown tried to establish an inside presence early by calling for three straight post-up attempts to start the game, two of them going to Udeze. The Shockers came up empty all three times.

Against Missouri, Udeze will be matched up against someone with a similar build — Kobe Brown, who is 6 foot 8 and 250 pounds. Right now it’s more mental than physical for Udeze and the Shockers plan to go to him again in the low post early in Friday’s game.

“We definitely need to get the ball to Morris this game,” Brown said. “They’re not as big as Arizona and UNLV, so we have to do a good job of trying to go inside and we just need to get Morris going. He’s a guy that can really score on the block. I think it’s up to the guards to try to drive and create help situations and get him a couple dunks to get his confidence going again.”

Missouri is off to a somewhat rocky 3-2 start, which included a 14-point loss at home to Kansas City and 23-point blowout loss to Florida State earlier this week. The Tigers did beat one of the better American Athletic Conference teams in SMU in an overtime game, but it appears as if they are in a rebuilding season under Cuonzo Martin.

Kobe Brown has been Mizzou’s top scoring threat this season, averaging 16.0 points and 7.2 rebounds, making Udeze even more important because he’ll have his hands full on the defensive end.

If Udeze winds up in foul trouble, like he did in Las Vegas, true freshman Kenny Pohto showed some positive flashes of being able to handle the workload at center. After starting the season cold behind the arc, Pohto made his first three triples of the season against UNLV to open up the offense and give WSU a different look when he’s on the floor.

“It makes it really hard to guard because any time you put him at the top of the key and you bring their guard off the ball screen, that usually draws a help defender and when you throw it back to him, that stretches their defense because he can make those shots,” Brown said.

After scoring a key SEC road win last season, at Mississippi, the Shockers know how important a win on Friday could be for them come March. To do so, they’ll have to beat the Tigers for the first time in program history after coming up short the first four times, including last year’s 72-62 loss at Koch Arena.

“I think that game at Ole Miss was the deciding factor in getting us into the NCAA Tournament, so it’s definitely a huge game,” Brown said. “I’ll let these guys know what these road games mean against these Power 5 schools and how good it would be to go on the road and get a win.”

Missouri at Wichita State basketball preview

When: 8:05 p.m. Friday

Where: Mizzou Arena, Columbia (15,061)

Streaming: SEC Network (Tom Hart and Mark Wise)

Radio: 103.7 FM (Mike Kennedy and Bob Hull)

Series: MU leads 4-0

Last meeting: MU won 72-62 at WSU on Dec. 6, 2020

KenPom says: WSU 68, MU 67

Projected starting lineups

Wichita State Shockers (4-1)

Coach: Isaac Brown, second season, 20-7

Missouri Tigers (3-2)

Coach: Cuonzo Martin, fifth season, 69-58

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.