Wichita State basketball ready to earn first conference win following COVID-19 layoff
A 10-day break following a heart-wrenching loss to drop the team to 0-4 in conference play wasn’t exactly what the Wichita State men’s basketball program wanted.
But the Shockers have tried to make the most of their time away after most of the program was in and out of COVID-19 health and safety protocols the past week, which forced WSU to postpone two American Athletic Conference games on the schedule.
Now Wichita State is nearing full health and feeling confident in its return to the court for Wednesday’s 7 p.m. game against UCF at Koch Arena with the game streaming on ESPN+.
“We got to go over all of our offense, go over all of our breakdowns, go back to our defensive concepts and make sure we got better at rebounding,” WSU coach Isaac Brown told reporters on Tuesday. “We got up a lot of shots, did a lot of ball handling. Overall, I felt like we got better during this break.”
It remains to be seen if the break away from games will ultimately help the Shockers (9-7, 0-4 AAC) end their slump that is nearing on two months now. WSU has lost five games at home, the earliest that’s happened in nearly three decades, and hasn’t defeated a top-200 in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings since a 60-51 win at Oklahoma State on Dec. 1.
During the time off, Brown said the coaching staff studied film from last season’s championship run and even certain sets and actions that worked in games against Arizona, Missouri and Oklahoma State.
“I think what’s best for us is where certain guys get the ball in their hands and everybody plays (their) roles,” Brown said.
“You can practice, practice, practice and look good in practice, but eventually you’ve got to do it in a game. We watched a lot of film over break. These guys have seen their mistakes. Now it’s time to go out there and play Shocker basketball and get back to the winning side.”
In four of five WSU’s losses at home, the team has held a double-digit lead at some point in the game. Brown knows WSU isn’t far away from winning games, but he also knows that’s not reflected in an 0-4 start.
The Shockers will have to play well to top a UCF team that entered conference play with an NCAA Tournament-quality resume, including wins at Miami and a 14-point drubbing of Michigan. The Knights (12-5) have been somewhat underwhelming in a 4-3 start to conference play, but still are one of the most talented teams in the conference.
Darin Green (13.5 points), Darius Perry (11.1 points, 4.6 assists) and Brandon Mahan (10.2 points) might be the best guard trio in the conference and will be a handful for the Shockers to cover on the perimeter. UCF coach Johnny Dawkins has also switched to a full-court press this season, which has made the Knights one of the best turnover-forcing defenses in the country.
“We’ve been putting six guys on the floor at times and running and jumping a lot,” Brown said. “The harder you make it in practice, the easier it will be in a game.”
WSU is off to its worst start in conference play since the Shockers were 0-6 in the Missouri Valley during the 2008-09 season, Gregg Marshall’s first in Wichita. That team turned its season around at home, winning three straight and ultimately finishing with an 8-10 record in conference play.
The Shockers know the talent is there to make an even better push than that, but they first have to work through their issues and prove to themselves they can close out a win.
“I feel like our guys are still all together,” Brown said. “They haven’t made any excuses. We’ve had a good couple of practices. They’re just excited to be back in the gym and they’re ready to go.”
SMU road game rescheduled
Wichita State and SMU came to an agreement on Tuesday afternoon to reschedule the AAC game scheduled in Dallas, originally scheduled for this past weekend, has been rescheduled to Thursday, February 3 for a 6 p.m. tipoff at Moody Coliseum with the game being streamed on ESPN+.
That means the WSU-SMU series will be played twice in a span of three days, as the two teams will square off in Wichita at Koch Arena on Saturday, February 5.
The WSU road games at East Carolina and Temple, both postponed due to COVID-19 protocol, have yet to be rescheduled.
This story was originally published January 25, 2022 at 2:47 PM.
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