Where Wichita State’s 5% 3-point shooting ranks among worst this college basketball season
When asked if he needed to see a box score before discussing the Shockers’ 59-49 loss to Oklahoma State at the podium, Wichita State men’s basketball coach Isaac Brown shook his head and declined.
There was no need to crunch the numbers when one column so plainly explained why the Cowboys (7-4) escaped with their fourth straight victory in Wichita and why the Shockers (6-5) lost at Intrust Bank Arena for the second year in a row on Saturday night.
Under three-point shooting, where Wichita State’s totals read: 1 for 21, 4.8%.
“We just couldn’t make a shot,” Brown said, recounting clank after clank from deep in his head.
For a program that’s ranked among the worst three-point shooting teams in the country for two of the last four seasons (and appear to be well on its way to a third), Wichita State is no stranger to poor outside shooting games. But Saturday nearly reached a historic level.
If not for Jaron Pierre Jr.’s corner three-pointer with 13:26 left in the first half, the Shockers would have set a school record for most missed three-pointers without a single make in a game and snapped their consecutive games with a three-pointer streak at 276 games, which began after WSU went 0-for-11 in a season-opening 71-54 win over New Mexico State at Koch Arena on Nov. 14, 2014.
According to Sports Reference, Wichita State tied Columbia for the worst three-point shooting display (with at least 20 attempts) in the country this college basketball season with its 1-for-21 performance.
It was a jaw-dropping, 180-degree turnaround from the previous two games where the Shockers made 26 three-pointers, the most in a two-game stretch in program history.
“When you shoot 1 for 21 from three, there’s no chance you have of winning, no matter how good your defense is,” said WSU point guard Craig Porter, who contributed two of those misses. “We have been improving, but they just weren’t falling tonight. There’s no excuse.”
With their backs against the wall, trailing 50-36 halfway through the second half, the Shockers played spirited defense and held Oklahoma State to one field goal and 11 misses in the final 10 minutes of the game.
Even with the Cowboys scoring just three points during a crucial 9-minute stretch, WSU never came closer than five points because it misfired on all seven of its three-pointers during the rally.
“I thought our defense was sensational,” OSU coach Mike Boynton said. “I thought our length bothered them to a certain degree.”
While about half of the 20 misses from beyond the arc were in-rhythm, quality looks, the problem was the majority of them were taken by Kenny Pohto, James Rojas and Xavier Bell, a trio shooting a combined 13% on 67 three-point attempts this season after a combined 0-for-7 performance against Oklahoma State, a defense that wasn’t particularly stressed to see any of them hoist a shot up from deep.
“You’ve got to be able to step up and make those,” Brown said. “We’re just not making shots at a high-enough clip.”
The difference in the game was that Oklahoma State, also a poor outside shooting team, had shooters who did step up. Bryce Thompson, a career 27% three-point shooter, drilled a career-high five triples to score a game-high 19 points, while John-Michael Wright, who was shooting 24% in his previous seven games, connected on a season-high four threes to add 16 points.
The failure from outside was even more devastating because WSU squandered such a sterling performance in the paint, as the Shockers essentially had their way (70% shooting on 16 of 23 attempts) against one of the premier rim protectors in the country in OSU’s 7-foot-1 junior Moussa Cisse, the anchor of a defense that was allowing just 44% shooting at the rim this season.
Even with a handful of regrettable mid-range jumpers, WSU still made 18 two-pointers and shot 58% inside the arc — both the season-high allowed by a Cowboys’ defense ranked 12th nationally in two-point defense.
“Offensively, we’re just not clicking like we need to,” Brown said. “We’ve got to have better screening, better ball movement. They denied a lot, so that stopped us from moving the ball like we wanted to. We have to make harder basket cuts and be able to drive and get somebody else a shot. And then we’ve got to step up and make some tough shots. Teams that win at a high level, they make tough shots and when that’s not happening, you’ve got to get on the glass.”
Theoretically, 20 misses beyond the arc should have created plenty of long rebounds and chances for WSU to earn second chances. Instead, the Shockers pulled down a paltry 15.2% of available offensive rebounds (five total), which ranks as the 10th-lowest output in a game by WSU in the last two decades, per KenPom.com.
After the Shockers fell in a 10-0 hole in the first four minutes, the lack of offensive rebounds made for an even steeper uphill battle the rest of the game.
“We got punched a couple of different times and we fought back and cut the lead to five, six, seven and we were right there,” Porter said. “And then we wouldn’t be in the right spot or not paying attention, something little, and it can end it like that and then we would go back down 10, 12, 15. We just need to be able to lock in the whole game, like I’ve been saying all year. I feel like we’re right there, though. It’s only a matter of time.”
Not much has separated WSU from victory in its last four losses, all to quality teams in San Francisco, Missouri, Kansas State and Oklahoma State, but frustration is mounting since the Shockers have come up short all four times.
“Anytime you have 12 new players, it seems like one person is not on the same page,” Brown said. “And that comes when you’ve got a new basketball team, trying to get everybody on the same page.”
Transitioning that many newcomers to a roster takes time, but the Shockers’ hourglass before American Athletic Conference play starts is nearly up — Thursday’s tilt against Texas Southern is the final tune-up before WSU goes on the road to UCF on Dec. 28.
“It’s frustrating, but it’s nothing we haven’t been through,” Pierre said. “There’s nothing wrong with shooting bad one night. We’ve got more games up. We’ll get in the gym and get back to work.”
Oklahoma State 59, Wichita State 49 basketball box score
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