‘That won’t be tolerated’: Wichita State basketball demands effort for Richmond road game

The Monday morning film session for the Wichita State men’s basketball team offered some hard truths about the effort level in a 66-57 loss to Alcorn State at Koch Arena over the weekend.

No matter how much the players may have wanted to erase the loss from memory, head coach Isaac Brown believes the path forward for the Shockers is to learn from their mistakes.

There was no skipping over the bad plays, no protecting the egos of starters. The players had to sit there and watch their mistakes and their lack of effort at times over and over and over again.

Before this group of 12 newcomers set off for their first road trip together, when the Shockers (1-1) play Richmond (2-1) at 6 p.m. Central time Thursday with the game streaming on ESPN+, Brown wanted to send a clear message to the players.

“That won’t be tolerated,” Brown said of WSU’s effort from its second game. “It’s unacceptable to play that way in order to win at this level. You’ve got to play hard. Any team in college basketball can beat you that one night when you don’t go out there and give 110%. There’s going to be nights where you don’t make shots. There’s going to be nights where you defend people and you contest the shot and they make it, but the energy and effort you’ve got to play with is what can will you to win basketball games.”

Brown was of course bothered by the 17% three-point shooting, the 12 turnovers (many of them careless mistakes) and losing the rebounding battle despite having a significant size advantage, but the thing that bothered him the most was the lackadaisical nature the Shockers played the majority of the 40 minutes against Alcorn State.

After the game, senior leader Craig Porter and starting center Kenny Pohto said WSU had practiced poorly the three days leading up to the game and failed to “respect our opponent.”

According to Brown, the Shockers responded the way he was looking for in Monday’s practice — the team’s first since Saturday’s loss.

“Everybody in practice had more energy, they were talking more, giving more effort,” Brown said. “That’s what we’ve got to do in a game. We’ve got to play harder, we’ve got to rebound and somebody has got to step up and make an open shot.”

Wichita State is far from the only high-major program to suffer a substantial home-court loss in the opening week of the college basketball season.

After losing as 17.5-point favorites at Koch Arena, the Shockers have since been joined by teams like Oregon, Oklahoma, TCU, USC, Colorado, Florida State and Vanderbilt to lose home games with a win probability higher than 90% entering the game, per KenPom.com.

But none of those other losses make the disappointment from Saturday sting any less for WSU.

Ahead of a trip featuring three games away from Koch Arena in a six-day span, Brown said he was considering shaking up the starting lineup of Porter, Xavier Bell, Jaykwon Walton, Gus Okafor and Pohto. He also said he wants WSU to start playing more inside-out and focus on making sure post players like Okafor, Pohto and James Rojas are receiving a steady dose of post touches.

“We may make some changes, it just depends on who practices well (Tuesday and Wednesday),” Brown said. “We’ve got to play more inside-out, but if we don’t make outside shots, then (defenses) are just going to pack the paint on us. We’ve got to make open looks.”

Richmond is coming off a surprising loss of its own, a 92-90 overtime setback at Charleston, but the Spiders figure to be one of WSU’s toughest nonconference opponents. Although Richmond lost most of its production from last season’s NCAA Tournament team, the Spiders are coached by veteran Chris Mooney and currently start four seniors. Richmond’s star player is 6-foot-7 senior wing Tyler Burton, who is averaging 20.3 points this season and coming off a career-high 38-point outing at Charleston.

While it may seem like a road game against a top-100 opponent isn’t the most ideal setting for a bounce-back performance, the Shockers hope their group will respond to the raised stakes and added importance of the game after last weekend’s loss.

“You have two teams coming off of a loss and we’re going on the road for the first time,” Brown said. “I think the team that competes at the highest level, gives the most effort, defends, that will be the team that wins the game.”

Wichita State at Richmond basketball preview

Records: WSU 1-1, Richmond 2-1

When: 6 p.m. Central time Thursday

Where: Robins Center, Richmond, Va. (9,071)

Streaming: ESPN+

Radio: KEYN, 103.7-FM

Projected starting lineups

Wichita State Shockers

Coach: Isaac Brown, third season, 32-20

Richmond Spiders

Coach: Chris Mooney, 18th season, 313-244

This story was originally published November 16, 2022 at 6:00 AM.

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.