‘Win with men’: Shockers lean on veterans for key stretch starting vs. Saint Louis

Through four games, the Wichita State men’s basketball team has passed each test.

Some have come in impressive performances, like the season-opening victory on the road at Western Kentucky, while others have been a bit underwhelming, like Monday’s shorthanded effort at home against Monmouth.

The next three games on the schedule, starting with Friday’s 9:30 p.m. showdown against Saint Louis (available on streaming through Peacock) in the Hall of Fame Classic at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., will require the best from Wichita State to emerge victorious.

After playing Saint Louis in Kansas City, WSU plays two more neutral-site games next week in Orlando against Minnesota and either Florida or Wake Forest — a stretch of three straight games against likely top-100 opponents.

“We’re going to emerge a better team no matter what happens,” WSU head coach Paul Mills promised Thursday. “When we get back to Wichita, we will come back a better basketball team. You have to play a challenging schedule and I’m excited to watch guys shoulder bigger loads and be able to take on more and be able to perform. I’m excited about the opportunity to play those teams.”

If WSU is serious about building an at-large resume to push for a potential NCAA Tournament bid, emerging with at least two victories from the upcoming stretch seems like a bare-minimum requirement.

And that task just became harder with the news on Thursday that WSU senior forward Ronnie DeGray III is expected to miss at least a month of action after suffering a fractured wrist in Monday’s game against Monmouth.

While starting center Quincy Ballard, who sat out last game as a precaution with a turned ankle, is set to return for Friday’s game, the Shockers are still without senior center Zane Meeks and will be shorthanded on frontcourt depth for the stretch of crucial games.

WSU’s problem-solving skills will surely be tested in the coming games, but Mills has confidence in a veteran group that ranks 10th in the country in Division I experience.

“You win with men,” Mill said. “You don’t win with young kids, you win with men. And the way you win with men is men understand responsibilities and they follow through on them. You don’t have to remind men that we’re starting at 2:30 and then check on them at 2:32 to see if they remembered their job. Men show up. Men are responsible. You win with men and our guys are men.”

The challenge Mills has laid down since Tuesday’s film session has been improved rebounding. WSU was shorthanded against Monmouth, but that was not a satisfactory excuse for being outrebounded 41-34 and allowing Monmouth to retrieve 30% of its missed shots.

Friday’s game not only represents the next chance at redemption for WSU, but also an opportunity to control the glass again against a Saint Louis team that ranks No. 278 in the country in defensive rebounding percentage. The Billikens also rate as just an average offensive rebounding team, as Mills would like WSU to be closer to boarding out at an 80% rate on the defensive end.

“A 70% rebounding rate isn’t going to kill Capone,” Mills said. “We’ve got to be better at being able to retrieve more of those opportunities.

“When you lose your leading rebounder and a double-digit scorer (in DeGray), it makes it tough. So our guards are going to have to pick up the load. I know Xavier (Bell) is a better rebounder than what he’s exhibited and A.J. (McGinnis) and Bijan (Cortes) need to do a better job as well.”

Meanwhile, SLU has its own injury questions entering Friday’s game with star center Robbie Avila still working his way back from a sprained ankle suffered in the season-opening game on Nov. 4. The 6-foot-10 big man, who transferred to Saint Louis to follow head coach Josh Schertz after averaging 17.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists last season at Indiana State, is considered doubtful for Friday’s game.

“We’re preparing like we’re not going to have him,” Schertz told local media on Thursday. “I think that’s the best way to go. If he’s able to go, that will be a pleasant surprise. There’s a difference in being able to return to play and return to performance. You don’t want to play somebody unless they feel like they can go out there and be productive. Playing somebody at 60% or 70% of what they can be doesn’t benefit them, doesn’t benefit the team. We have to adapt. We don’t know how long it’s going to be.”

With Avila, the Billikens figure to be one of the most talented teams outside of the power-conference structure in the country. Even without him, they are plenty capable, as they proved in a 77-71 win over a quality Loyola Marymount team. It’s a much different team than the one WSU beat by 19 points last November.

Senior sharpshooter Gibson Jimerson remained in the program through the coaching change and is averaging 22.3 points early in the season, while point guard Isaiah Swope, another star from Schertz’s Indiana State team, transferred over and is supplying 18.3 points and 4.3 assists per game. More than half of SLU’s shot attempts are 3-pointers (17th-highest 3-point rate in the country) and the Billikens shoot 36.5% from beyond the arc as a team.

Mills said Avila’s status won’t change much about how WSU prepares for the game.

“I don’t know if it really changes how much they do,” Mills said. “They run a ton of actions with a ton of splits, a ton of cuts, so it really doesn’t matter who is in that position. Now his ability to step out and shoot the 3 and his ability to pinpoint and deliver passes, that may be a little different, but I don’t know how different the style of play will be.”

Saint Louis vs. Wichita State basketball preview

Records: SLU 2-1, WSU 4-0

When: 9:30 p.m. (approximately) Friday

Where: T-Mobile Center (18,972), Kansas City, Mo.

How to watch: Peacock and NBC Sports FAST Channel (Jake Eisenberg with Jess Settles)

Radio: KEYN, 103.7-FM (Mike Kennedy with Bob Hull)

Series history: SLU leads 41-24 (WSU leads 1-0 at neutral sites)

KenPom says: WSU 80, SLU 78

Projected starting lineups

Saint Louis Billikens (2-1)

Coach: Josh Schertz, first season, 2-1

Wichita State Shockers (4-0)

Coach: Paul Mills, second season, 19-19

This story was originally published November 22, 2024 at 6:01 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.