Why better urgency can help the Wichita State basketball team in Kansas City game

One word has dominated the conversation among the Wichita State men’s basketball team since returning home from Saturday’s 19-point loss at DePaul.

Urgency.

In WSU’s two losses this season, Florida and DePaul combined to make 31 3-pointers. Some of those were the product of a hot shooting game, but too many, at least in the opinion of head coach Paul Mills, were the result of a lack of urgency to defend on the perimeter by his team.

After just one practice, the Shockers will be back in action for a 6:30 p.m. Tuesday game (streaming on ESPN+) and immediately put to the test against a Kansas City (6-7) team that launches nearly 30 shots from beyond the arc per game.

“There has to be a better sense of urgency at getting to shooters than, to be honest with you, what we’ve had all year,” Mills said on his Monday radio show. “We can’t turn around and just play percentages on some of these guys because you don’t know, it may just be their night. Once that match gets lit, a lot of the time it’s hard to put out when you’re playing on the back-end of trying to put out fires. We can do better with our coverages, but there does have to be more of an urgency to (defend the perimeter).”

Mills has borrowed scouting terminology he learned from the Houston Rockets were opposing players fall into three categories: hots, colds and straights. It’s fairly self-explanatory, as hots are players who are considered good shooters, colds are players not to worry about on the perimeter and straights are players who can shoot it and drive it.

When Mills was at Baylor, they used the term “MD” — abbreviated for “must dribble” — to hammer home the point in scouting reports to run those kinds of shooters off the 3-point line to prevent catch-and-shoot looks. A good example of that on Tuesday will be Kansas City forward Cameron Faas, who attempts nearly three-fourths of his shots beyond the arc and leads the team in 3-point shooting with 27 makes at a 37.5% clip.

The more dribbling Kansas City does in Tuesday’s game, it’s more than likely the better job WSU’s defense is doing corralling shooters. Too many times against Florida and DePaul, WSU’s defense paid dearly for growing complacent around the perimeter. That’s what Mills wants to see improve in Tuesday’s game.

“It’s like we think a guy is out of range and I know (the WSU player) has watched film and I know we’ve showed you these clips and I know you think he’s out of range based on your experience. But trust me, if we say we have to be up on his side, then we need to be up on his side,” Mills said. “And then going back to the DePaul game, over-help is going to hurt just as much as under-help. There’s a fine line there and we over-helped early in that game.”

Mills thought his team responded well to the harsh critique of the DePaul game in Sunday’s film session, then had a good practice on Monday. That’s to be expected after a loss, he pointed out.

After 10 second-half turnovers tanked WSU at both ends of the court in the loss to DePaul, Mills wants to see the Shockers return to their identity of taking care of the ball against Kansas City. He thinks quicker and more decisive decision-making from the team’s guards can help in that area.

WSU ranks No. 1 in the country at scoring efficiency on plays involving a cut, per Synergy’s database, as the Shockers score 1.78 points per possession — no other team scores better than 1.57 PPP in the country — and 8.7 points per game on cuts. That’s another area where WSU stands to benefit with more urgency.

“We’ve got to play with a better pace,” Mills said. “We have the ability to get to the rim. We have guys who can play with force. So we can really put pressure on the rim, but in order to create those advantages, there’s got to be better speed and a better pace in which we play with.

“If you can move the ball and you can see people moving and they’re cutting and opening up gaps — I don’t really care what defensively they’re doing — people are going to get out of sync if you’re doing it at the right flow. We need to do better at that.”

Kansas City at Wichita State basketball preview

Records: KC (6-7), WSU (8-2)

When: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Koch Arena (10,506), Wichita

How to watch: ESPN+ (Shane Dennis with Bob Hull)

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

Series history: WSU leads 7-3 (5-1 in Wichita)

Betting line: WSU is favored by 14.5 points, WSU is a -1,050 moneyline favorite and 146.5 is the over-under line.

KenPom says: WSU 81, KC 67

Projected starting lineups

Kansas City Roos (6-7)

Coach: Marvin Menzies, third season, 32-44

Wichita State Shockers (8-2)

Coach: Paul Mills, second season, 23-21

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.