Adversity hits much of Wichita State’s roster for first time as Shockers

Wichita State spent the week trying to wash away a three-game losing streak with sweat.

“We got in shape,” center Bush Wamukota said. “When you watch film, we look a little bit slow. I can’t even tell you how many (sprints). We’re not looking at it as punishment; we’re looking at it as we’re getting better.”

The Shockers (2-4) play at Saint Louis (4-2) on Saturday night in what is as close to a crisis game as they’ve faced since 2013. A record that includes one win over an NCAA Division I team puts their NCAA Tournament resume on the edge of disaster starting a crucial stretch against the Billikens, UNLV, Utah and Seton Hall.

For most of the roster, this is the first adversity they associate with Wichita State, dumped from the national rankings for the first time since 2013.

Ron Baker, Fred VanVleet and Zach Bush are the only players around from the 2013 team that endured serious injuries, lost three straight Missouri Valley Conference games and kicked away a chance to win the MVC title with a home loss to Evansville on senior night.

Since then, WSU rolled to the 2013 Final Four, went 35-1 in 2014 and 30-5 last season. It’s been a dream ride during the recruiting and playing stages for most of the roster. That mood changed dramatically with injuries to VanVleet (strained left hamstring), freshman Landry Shamet (stress fracture) and senior center Anton Grady (spinal concussion) since October.

VanVleet practiced this week, moving cautiously toward playing condition, and considers himself a game-time decision for Saturday.

“It's a wake-up call,” freshman forward Markis McDuffie said. “No one expected this. Sometimes we don't get lucky, things don't go our way, but we've got to push through this adversity and build mental toughness as a team.”

A week of tough practices can help. So can VanVleet’s return, Saturday or soon after. Transfer guard Conner Frankamp will provide another scoring threat soon. Coach Gregg Marshall knows several areas must improve for the Shockers to win, problems a challenging schedule made worse in the AdvoCare Invitational.

Fast-break points, the easy baskets any offense needs to thrive, dried up without VanVleet’s passing, scoring and rebounding. WSU is shooting 37.8 percent, ninth in the MVC, and 31.1 percent from three-point range, seventh in the MVC. Issues range from poor shot selection to sloppy execution on cuts and screens.

On defense, inexperienced players are leaving shooters open and fouling too much. WSU’s opponents are making 37.4 percent of their three-point shots, ninth in the MVC. Opponents are outscoring WSU 106-104 at the foul line, usually an area where the Shockers pile up points.

“We’re moving small forwards into the backcourt just to have enough guys to put out there… to have Fred and then Landry go down is just a lot for us to overcome,” Marshall said.

The turmoil — which includes watching Grady carried off on a stretcher late in the loss to Alabama in Florida — is testing young players in ways neither they nor the coaches could anticipate. With VanVleet and Shamet out, freshman Ty Taylor is forced into playing a bigger role than planned. Sophomore center Rauno Nurger chose to redshirt, until a combination of Grady’s injury and Shaq Morris’ ineffectiveness moved him to the active roster on Sunday against Iowa.

“It’s been tough for us, losing so many people,” freshman forward Eric Hamilton said. “We’ve got to regroup, come together as a team, come together as a family.”

For Wamukota, that means following his usual post-practice routine of making 300 jump shots, all around 12 to 15 feet from the basket, and free throws. With a student manager rebounding for him on Thursday, he made his shots and was the last Shocker to leave the practice gym. With Grady out, WSU needs post scoring.

“Confidence comes up when you believe in your ability,” he said. “I know I’ve been working on my shot and I know when I shoot it, it’s going to go in. Adversity causes some to break and others to break records. We’re trying to break records.”

This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 9:47 AM with the headline "Adversity hits much of Wichita State’s roster for first time as Shockers."