No. 9 Wichita State starts adjustment to reality of Fred VanVleet’s injury (+video)

No. 9 Wichita State is no longer waiting for senior Fred VanVleet to return. It is now figuring out ways to win without its starting point guard.

The Shockers took some tenative steps toward that goal in Saturday’s 76-54 win over Emporia State on Saturday at Koch Arena. Nobody is sure when VanVleet, sidelined by a strained left hamstring, will return. They sound as if they are preparing to play without him at the Advocare Invitational in Orlando, Fla., at least in Thursday’s opener against Southern Cal.

“He’s shut down for awhile,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “I don’t know how long that’s going to be. I’m just going to wait until they tell me he’s absolutely ready to go.”

VanVleet hasn’t practiced since Tuesday’s loss at Tulsa. Marshall said he looked healthy in practice Monday and played well early in Tuesday’s game before tweaking the hamstring again. He limped through 30 minutes, clearly lacking his usual burst and mobility, and Marshall said he didn’t realize how immobile VanVleet looked until he watched the video.

“We know he’s probably not going to get a lot of playing time in Orlando, so we’ve been working on our team without him,” Shockers guard Ron Baker said. “We know some guys are going to have to step up.”

Marshall won his 400th game as coach with a first-half defensive effort that honored his 18 seasons of work. He is 400-160 and became the 12th NCAA Division I coach to reach 400 wins that quickly. He is 206-77 in nine seasons at WSU, behind only Ralph Miller (220-133).

Baker led WSU (2-1) with 23 points. Freshman guard Ty Taylor added nine points, all in the first half, by making 3 of 4 three-pointers. Freshman guard Landry Shamet also scored nine points. Center Bush Wamukota came off the bench to grab seven rebounds.

WSU made 7 of 19 three-pointers and 24 of 51 (47.1 percent) shots from the field.

Joshua Oswald led the Hornets with 16 points. ESU shot 39.2 percent from the field and 20 percent (3 of 15) from three-point range.

The game counted as an exhibition for NCAA Division II Emporia State (0-2), which lost 80-42 to Kansas State in an exhibition on Oct. 30.

If the Shockers are to succeed without VanVleet, they will need to rely on playing hard, playing good defense and avoiding turnovers. The first half demonstrated those things are possible, against an overmatched opponent. WSU built a 38-13 lead at halftime, holding the Hornets to 5-of-22 shooting and forcing 12 turnovers, three on shot clock violations.

“They came out and imposed their will,” Emporia State coach Shaun Vandiver said, after listing root canal and vasectomy as experiences more desirable than playing the Shockers. “They said … ‘We’re going to send a statement to the nation that, hey, tip our hat to Tulsa, but that’s not Wichita State basketball.’ ”

The Shockers made 12 of 21 shots in the first half, moved the ball crisply and unselfishly to the tune of nine assists, and committed seven turnovers.

“We had a really good flow offensively, we were running, getting some baskets in transition,” Marshall said.

The Shockers don’t run fast breaks as often without VanVleet and it won’t get as many easy baskets created by his driving abilities. That puts a premium on using screens, movement, passing and timing to get good shots.

“When he’s not (playing), we have to rely more on us as a team and really execute our sets,” center Anton Grady said.

In the first half, WSU took control with a 15-0 run that expanded its lead to 20-4. Anton Grady started the run with a three-point play. Taylor made back-to-back three-pointers. Shaq Morris dunked off a nifty pass from Shamet and that was plenty to ruin the Hornets.

WSU pushed its lead to 30 points early in the second half and led 61-41, after a brief Hornets rally, with 6:42 to play.

VanVleet, dressed in a gray sweat suit, watched it all from near the end of the bench. On Saturday morning, he rode a stationary bike, stretched and watched the Shockers go through their shoot-around. Until further notice, that is his role and the Shockers must get used to that idea.

This story was originally published November 21, 2015 at 4:12 PM with the headline "No. 9 Wichita State starts adjustment to reality of Fred VanVleet’s injury (+video)."