Wichita State offense sputters in loss to Liberty at Myrtle Beach basketball tournament
What looked like a resilient effort by the Wichita State men’s basketball team quickly turned sour in the semifinals of the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
The Shockers were dealt their first defeat of the Paul Mills era in an 83-66 loss to Liberty at HTC Center on Friday evening.
Liberty, the preseason favorites in Conference USA, improved to 4-0 and will face fellow unbeaten Vermont in Sunday’s championship game, which leaves the Shockers (4-1) and Saint Louis (4-1) to decide third place at 7 p.m. Central time Sunday.
“This will be a valuable lesson for us,” Mills said. “We’ll get a ton out of this film.”
What the film will show is an offense that desperately needed more ball movement and player movement. WSU entered with a size advantage at the guard positions, but settled for far too many possessions that ended in 1-on-1 solo missions — sometimes with no passes at all.
As a result, the Shockers finished the game with just three assists — despite 24 made field goals. That mark ties the school record (since 1980) for fewest assists in a game, which was previously set in a 67-47 loss to Bradley on Jan. 11, 1998.
Throw in 16 turnovers, including 11 from its trio of starting guards, and WSU’s offense bogged down too many times to keep up with Liberty’s potent attack.
“The ball definitely has to move more,” Mills said. “We’ve got to find a way to get (Kenny Pohto) more touches. We went to him on the opening look and he scored, but we kind of got away from that. We started playing in a position where we played really frustrated basketball. We’ll learn from it, but we have to do a better job of making sure we get (the big men) the basketball.”
Given the final score, it’s hard to believe WSU was within 54-52 approaching the 9-minute mark in the second half.
The next four minutes saw the opposing offense go in separate directions, as WSU stagnated and Liberty came to life. The Flames torched WSU with a 19-2 run in a span that featured eight possessions for both offense, turning a close game into a blowout.
Liberty finished with 14 3-pointers and out-scored the Shockers, who finished 2-of-14 on triples, by 36 points beyond the arc.
“We just play basketball the right way and we believe when you stick to that process, the results will come,” said Liberty star Kyle Rode, who scored a season-high 31 points with seven 3-pointers.
Wichita native Xavier Bell continued his strong play in the tournament, increasing his WSU career-high to 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field and 8-of-10 accuracy at the free-throw line to go along with a career-high nine rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. But turnovers once again were a problem for the junior filling in at point guard, as he has nine combined turnovers in two games in South Carolina.
The Shockers played in front for the first 13 minutes of the game, which included a sizzling 13-5 start, but WSU never could find a solution on defense for Rode. The 6-foot-7 stretch forward gave WSU’s defense fits in the first half, draining four triples to help engineer an 18-2 run to put Liberty in front.
Colby Rogers (16 points on 6-of-18 shooting) reeled off eight straight points at the end of the first half to keep WSU in it, then provided another burst of scoring during a 10-0 run early in the second half to trim the deficit to 54-52 with less than 11 minutes remaining.
After losing to Mills in an 84-70 loss at Oral Roberts last season, Liberty coach Ritchie McKay was ready with compliments for the Shockers’ new coach following the game.
“I’ve known coach Mills for a long time and I think he’s a fabulous coach,” McKay said. “He’s got a really good team already. Most of the time, it takes a while to build a program. But they are such a tough out already. I’m really proud of my group because I think Wichita State will win a ton of games this season.”
Making matters worse at the end of the blowout, starting guard Harlond Beverly exited the game with 6:16 remaining after rolling his left ankle. He was helped to the locker room without putting any weight on the injured leg and later returned to WSU’s bench on crutches.
WSU did not have an injury update immediately following Friday’s result, but his status for Sunday’s finale in the Myrtle Beach Invitational seems doubtful.
For a team only playing seven in its rotation, WSU’s depth will be a question mark entering its third game in four days.
This story was originally published November 17, 2023 at 10:11 PM.
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