‘We need these three’: WSU basketball looks to move up AAC standings in tough stretch
Despite an 0-4 start to American Athletic Conference play, the Wichita State men’s basketball team has worked its way back in position to challenge for a top-five finish and first-round bye in Fort Worth.
The Shockers have won four straight games at Koch Arena and while there is still plenty of work to do, their 4-6 conference record is within striking distance of Cincinnati (6-5), Temple (6-5) and UCF (7-6) — the teams currently ahead of them for the fifth spot in the AAC standings.
In order to move up, however, Wichita State will need to start banking wins against some of the top teams in the conference. The next three games on the schedule make up one of the most brutal stretches for WSU: at Cincinnati on Thursday, vs. No. 14 Houston at home on Sunday, then a road trip to white-hot Memphis next Sunday.
WSU is 0-3 in conference away games and has not won on the road since a 60-51 victory at Oklahoma State on Dec. 1.
“It’s a great opportunity for us,” WSU coach Isaac Brown said. “Those are three teams ahead of us in the standings. It’s a tough schedule, but as an athlete that’s what you want. If we can win these games one at a time, then that will help put us in a position to move higher up in the standings. We need these three games.”
There have been flashes during WSU’s 4-2 stretch since the slow start to believe a turnaround is coming.
Leading scorer Tyson Etienne has begun to score more efficiently and shoot better from the outside, as has Dexter Dennis. Ricky Council IV has been a go-to scorer for the Shockers down the stretch, while point guard Craig Porter has continue to stuff the stat sheet and upped his scoring as well. At its best, the two-man rotation at center between Morris Udeze and Kenny Pohto has been difficult for opponents to stop.
While all of those things have been true, it’s also true they have rarely happened at the same time during games. The potential is there, but the Shockers will have to play their most consistent, high-level basketball of the season to come away victorious in any of the next three games.
“We’ve got to play for 40 minutes,” Brown said. “Down at UCF, we got off to a bad start and then I thought we outplayed them in the second half. But the game was lost in the first half with turnovers. We’ve got to value the basketball, take good shots, not turn it over and rebound. If we can do that, then we’re going to have a chance to win any of these games.”
Those are simple concepts, but they have been easier said than done this season for the Shockers, as shot selection and decision-making have been two areas for concern in losses.
But when WSU executes, it showed its potential last week in a 72-57 victory at home over SMU, which is now tied for first place in the conference. The Shockers led SMU by double-digits for the final 30 minutes of the game and led by as many as 21 points in the second half.
“We feel like everybody is starting to play their best ball,” said Porter, who was named to the AAC honor roll following his stat-stuffing last week. “We’ve got a side of us that we still haven’t shown. I think we’re going to do everything possible to get it turned around here and make a run.”
The most promising sign has been the team’s resurgence beyond the arc. After flirting with the 30-percent mark for most of the season, among the worst in the country, WSU is averaging 9.8 three-pointers made per game and shooting 37.3% on three-pointers during its 4-2 mark in the last six games.
The last time WSU played Cincinnati, the Shockers made just 3 of 10 shots from deep. Since then, WSU has shot like a different team.
“The biggest difference now is we’re starting to make shots,” Brown said. “And we’re not turning it over as much and our defense is still at a high level, so that’s helped our offense out.”
This story was originally published February 15, 2022 at 2:31 PM.
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