Paul Mills wants Wichita State basketball to battle complacency in Saturday’s return home

Making it to Thanksgiving with a 5-1 record is a good start to the season for the Wichita State men’s basketball team.

The Shockers have won all five games they have been favored in, while their lone loss has come to one of the best mid-major teams in the country.

WSU will be expected to continue its good start Saturday when it returns to Koch Arena for a 6 p.m. showdown against Norfolk State, a 4-2 team from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference that will be a heavy underdog.

The goal for first-year head coach Paul Mills is to not allow his players to be satisfied with a merely good start.

“I try to remind our players all the time, ‘Good is the enemy of great,’” Mills said. “We get good at whatever it is and we get complacent and we don’t put in the work. Sometimes holidays can do that. You don’t have that same drive.”

For example, WSU is winning the rebounding battle as a whole this season, which is good, but the Shockers rank just middle-of-the-pack in offensive rebounding and above-average in defensive rebounding.

For a team playing two centers in 6-foot-10 junior Kenny Pohto and 6-foot-11 junior Quincy Ballard, the Shockers expected to be great in the rebounding department this season.

Saturday offers a chance for WSU to be a great rebounding team, as it will be equipped with a size advantage to dominate the glass. Norfolk State ranks No. 274 in the country when it comes to defensive rebounding, which means there should be plenty of opportunities for WSU’s most energetic players, like Dalen Ridgnal and Isaac Abidde, to grab offensive rebounds.

Another area that has been lacking in comparison to internal expectations has been 3-point shooting. The Shockers have been a below-average outside shooting team for the past five seasons, so a cold start beyond the arc isn’t a surprise to the fan base, but this coaching staff expects WSU will shoot much better than its current mark of 29.5% accuracy on 3-pointers.

“I think we’re a better shooting team than what we’ve shown, but we have to take the right shots,” Mills said. “We need to be way more mindful of getting our big guys touches. We want to make sure we punish the switches when we have the advantage, but at the same time, take advantage of perimeter mismatches. We just need to be a little more savvy about our IQ on what to do offensively because whether we want to think it or not, it does impact us defensively.”

After the 17-point loss to Liberty where the offense bogged down, Mills was pleased with how the players responded to their first real adversity of the season by making the proper adjustments that led to a 19-point thumping of Saint Louis.

Even in the immediate aftermath of the victory to wrap up the Myrtle Beach Invitational, it was clear that Mills’ constant chirping about fighting off complacency had translated to the players.

“We responded well and now it’s going to be about how we respond to this win,” WSU leading scorer Colby Rogers said following the Saint Louis win. “Are we going to get complacent or continue to get better? Mills always tells us discipline is about doing the next right thing, even when it’s tough. And that’s what we’ve got to do in our next game.”

WSU’s biggest challenge against Norfolk State will be to limit its turnovers, which has been an issue at times this season. Norfolk State is forcing 19 turnovers per game and a rate that ranks No. 13 in the country.

In injury-related news, starting guard Harlond Beverly (sprained ankle) is expected to return to WSU’s lineup for Saturday’s game after missing the final game in the Myrtle Beach Invitational.

Norfolk State at Wichita State basketball preview

When: 6 p.m. Saturday

Where: Koch Arena (10,506), Wichita

Streaming: ESPN+ (Shane Dennis and Bob Hull)

Radio: KEYN, 103.7-FM (Mike Kennedy and Dave Dahl)

KenPom says: WSU 79, NSU 64

Projected starting lineups

Wichita State Shockers (5-1)

Coach: Paul Mills, first season, 5-1

Norfolk State Spartans (4-2)

Coach: Robert Jones, 11th season, 192-139

This story was originally published November 24, 2023 at 2:02 PM.

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.