How Wichita State basketball exploited the same play three times late to beat SMU
With one simple play, the Wichita State men’s basketball team was able to engineer a comeback win over SMU on Sunday.
Trailing late in the game, the Shockers dialed up the same play three straight times with the same result — three straight baskets by Ronnie DeGray III.
When examining WSU’s 16-5 run in the final five minutes to close out a 77-72 win over the Mustangs at Koch Arena, it was the buckets by DeGray, including the go-ahead layup with 34 seconds left, that felt most significant.
“Coach had us run the same play, and I think he knew they were getting confused on the switch on the back side,” said DeGray, who finished with 11 points and five rebounds off the bench to help WSU snap its eight-game losing streak and pick up its first American Athletic Conference win in the process.
“I just kind of split in between them and ended up wide open every time.”
The play in question was a simple high ball-screen between Kenny Pohto and Xavier Bell. The first option was for Bell, a lefty, to attack the left side and if he was bottled up, then swing to Pohto, who slipped the screen and popped to the top of the key.
From there, the top player on WSU’s two-player stack in the other corner was to cut through and it was up to Pohto to make the read to either pass to the cutter or dribble to the corner for a hand-off and another pick-and-roll.
SMU’s defensive strategy was to have its two weak-side defenders exchange marks when Bell passed back to Pohto. The top defender was tasked with aggressively stunting at Pohto to discourage a shot and then recover to the corner, while the bottom defender was asked to switch off his man in the corner and pick up the cutter.
The problem was SMU’s bottom defender never picked up the cutter and WSU exploited the same defensive breakdown three straight times without SMU correcting it.
It was particularly frustrating to SMU head coach Rob Lanier, who said he game-planned specifically to defend that play in the lead up to the game.
“We gave up layups on the very same play that we practiced probably 20 times the last two days,” Lanier said in his post-game radio interview. “So the disappointment in our locker room reflects that. They didn’t do something we haven’t seen. We knew they were going to pop the big, dive the top guard and we needed to keep our bottom guard in a hole to absorb that.”
The first time WSU ran it, trailing 70-67, Bell passed back to Pohto, DeGray cut and SMU’s bottom defender initially took away the pass. But when Pohto used the space vacated by DeGray to drive, the defender, Chuck Harris, failed to stay attached to DeGray, who was left free to easily tip in Pohto’s miss.
“I just kind of know when guys shoot where to go for the ball to come off,” said DeGray, who had three offensive rebounds. “It’s just a luck thing. I feel like it goes my way more on the offensive side.”
The next time down, with WSU trailing 72-69 with less than 90 seconds left, Bell again attacked the left side and then threw back to Pohto. SMU’s top defender, Samuell Williamson, once again aggressively stunted at Pohto.
“I thought the key was Kenny slipping out of those,” Mills said. “That caused two on the ball and it allowed Kenny to make a read.”
While Williamson did his job, this time SMU’s low-side defender forgot his assignment. Harris was still guarding the corner when DeGray was left wide open for a layup.
“When I slip the screen for the pop, I get the ball back and I’m always looking for that cut,” Pohto said. “If it’s not open, then I go for the hand-off. When they’re overplaying like that, the back cut is usually open and Ronnie was there and I’ve got good vision, so I just found him. We practice that every day.”
Lanier mentioned on his post-game radio interview that he was sure SMU would make the correct adjustment just 30 seconds later when WSU had the ball, down 72-71, and dialed up the same play.
To his dismay, the same problem occurred.
It was like watching a replay: Bell passed back to Pohto, Williamson stunted at Pohto, DeGray cut through and the rotation never came, which left DeGray wide open for the go-ahead layup with 34 seconds that proved to be the winning play.
“I couldn’t believe he was open both times,” Pohto said. “We just got lucky.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2024 at 1:00 PM.
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