Qua Grant has an opportunity in Wichita State basketball game vs. Prairie View A&M

In the face of adversity, an opportunity has presented itself to Wichita State junior Qua Grant.

The Wichita State men’s basketball team is reeling following a 10-point home loss to North Texas, where the offense went nearly 13 straight minutes in the second half without scoring. Starting point guard Craig Porter, who badly sprained his right ankle during that game, will likely miss Wednesday’s 6 p.m. game against Prairie View A&M at Koch Arena streaming on ESPN+.

Now the Shockers (8-3) will turn to Grant, the former two-time Division II All-American, to help re-calibrate the offense as the team’s point guard and avoid another embarrassment at home against winless Prairie View A&M (0-9).

“This is (his) opportunity,” WSU coach Isaac Brown said. “All the kids on the basketball team talk about getting more minutes and now if you get the opportunity, you’ve got to step up. If you want more minutes, step up now and play well and you’ll get those minutes.”

Grant, in his first year with the Shockers, had a strong start to the season, averaging 9 points with a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in his first four games. He’s the quickest player on the team with the ball in his hands and when things are going right, Grant is breaking down the defense and either finishing at the rim or finding an open shooter or dumping it off for an easy dunk for a big man.

But like many players trying to make the transition from Division II to Division I play, Grant has hit somewhat of a wall lately. His floaters aren’t falling as often, his outside shot has deserted him and his decision-making has been just a touch off. In his last seven games, Grant is averaging 3.3 points on 37.5% shooting (0 for 7 on three-pointers) with more turnovers (13) than assists (10).

More prominently, WSU has struggled mightily in its last two losses when Porter missed long stretches due to injury. WSU outscored K-State, in a six-point loss, by 12 with Porter on the floor and outscored North Texas, in a 10-point loss, by three with Porter on the floor. It coincides with Porter’s best play of the season, including a career-high 12 points against North Texas, where the junior point guard has posted 16 assists and only one turnover the last three games.

“It’s a huge challenge,” said Brown, who said Porter was likely to miss his second straight day of practice on Tuesday. “(Porter) is the head of the snake on our basketball team, so somebody has got to step up. He’s out, so it’s an opportunity for you guys to have the ball in your hands and you’ve got to get us in our sets and get the ball to the right person at the right time and you cannot turn it over.”

Brown was still upset at the lack of intensity and carelessness his team showed in the second half of the North Texas loss, as 12 second-half turnovers helped contribute to the nearly 13-minute scoring drought that cost the Shockers a 10-point lead.

The coach said the players responded well in practice on Monday, but he wants to see how they handle the challenge of Wednesday’s game before believing they turned a corner. Prairie View A&M plays a unique style of defense where they gamble for steals on almost every play, which has led to 16.9 forced turnovers per game, but allows 49.8% shooting and 13.4 offensive rebounds per game — near the worst in the country.

It seems to be the perfect challenge for the Shockers, an opponent that will test their decision-making and reward them for good passes, good cuts and good decisions with easy baskets.

“I want to see how they’re going to respond in a game,” Brown said. “Guys responded in practice, yeah, rah-rah-rah, we got hype and we made shots and we didn’t turn it over, but I need to see it in a game. Yeah, the practice was good and I’m excited about that. Now let’s go make some shots in the game, let’s go not turn it over in the game. That’s when I’ll be able to decide how good that (practice) really was.”

After 15 turnovers against North Texas, the Shockers are now turning the ball over on 20% of their possessions, meaning a fifth of all possessions are being wiped out without even a shot attempt. It’s a troubling mark, especially after WSU finished No. 29 in the country in turnover rate last season — a big reason for its success.

Brown sounded determined on Tuesday to cut down on turnovers, starting with increased penalties featuring more running during practice for careless mistakes.

“If you’re making mistakes, you’ve got to come out the game now,” Brown said. “I can’t sit there and continue to lose games with guys making the same mistakes that we’ve been talking about from the first part of the year. We’ve got to take care of the basketball, drive to create a help situation and kick it to an open teammate. We’ve got to start playing the right way and that’s what we’ve been emphasizing in practice.”

Prairie View A&M at Wichita State basketball preview

When: 6:02 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Koch Arena (10,506)

Streaming: ESPN+ (Shane Dennis and Bob Hull)

Radio: 103.7 FM (Mike Kennedy and Dave Dahl)

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

Last meeting: WSU won 93-69 on Nov. 27, 1999

KenPom says: WSU 79, PVAM 64

Projected starting lineups

Prairie View A&M (0-9)

Coach: Byron Smith, seventh season, 92-84

Wichita State Shockers (8-3)

Coach: Isaac Brown, second season, 24-9

This story was originally published December 21, 2021 at 2:53 PM.

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.