Bob Lutz: Conner Frankamp’s debut becomes a defensive masterpiece for WSU

The Conner Frankamp coming-out party was a bit of a bust Wednesday night, as the former City League sharpshooter went 0 for 5 in 14 minutes for Wichita State.

But it was that kind of game against UNLV, which the Shockers survived to win 56-50 at Koch Arena.

Frankamp wasn’t the only one missing shots. WSU shot 37.5 percent, made 3 of 18 three-point attempts and hit half of its 22 free throws. You shoot ducks like that at the county fair and you don’t come home with a stuffed animal.

Fortunately for WSU, the Runnin’ Rebels weren’t much better. And it was the Shockers’ stifling defense during the game’s first 12 1/2 minutes, when they built a 22-8 lead, that had the most to do with the win. That and the play of mending point guard Fred VanVleet, who had 14 first-half points and finished with a game-high 17.

It’s not quickness or speed that sets VanVleet apart. It’s savvy, moxie and a Zen-like understanding of time and space. Someday I’d like to sit in on a conversation between VanVleet and Phil Jackson.

VanVleet was 6 of 9 in the first half with a couple of three-pointers. He winds his way through a defense like a snake and commands the floor. VanVleet, still hobbled slightly with a hamstring injury, played 33 minutes. And the Shockers don’t come close to beating UNLV without him.

And a big win it was.

UNLV was 7-1 with a two-point loss to UCLA its only blip. The Rebels had been averaging 83.1 points and were coming off an 80-69 win over No. 24 Oregon.

That the Shockers won with their C-game offensively — a tough teacher might have given them a D — is testament to how defense so often drives this bus. You hold UNLV to 50 points and you take your chances.

Frankamp, the City League’s career scoring leader after four box score-filling years at North, played for the first time since March 23, 2014, when he was with Kansas during a Jayhawks’ loss to Stanford in the NCAA Tournament.

“He’s out there, he got his feet wet,” Marshall said of Frankamp. “And he swished two free throws when we desperately needed them.”

Those came with 20 seconds remaining and they gave the Shockers a 54-50 lead. Frankamp was fouled in the backcourt while being pressured and did what he’s done thousands of time — make free throws.

He said he expected three of the five shots he took to go in because they all felt good leaving his right hand.

“But that didn’t happen,” he said. “And that’s all right, we’ll get it figured out.”

Frankamp often struggled to find his shooting rhythm as a freshman at KU in 2013-14, mostly because of sporadic playing time. He’s going to get plenty of minutes at Wichita State and received a standing ovation from a good number of the sellout crowd when he entered the game with 14:17 left in the first half.

He admittedly was nervous.

“I knew I would be,” Frankamp said. “But it felt great to be back out there. The atmosphere was great.”

Marshall, who praised Frankamp’s work in practices over the past year, says shots will start to fall.

“I predict he’ll make his first jumper at Intrust Bank Arena,” Marshall said of Saturday’s game against No. 25 Utah. “How about that?”

Wednesday’s game wasn’t artistic, and after it was over, Marshall sounded like a football coach whose defense had just blanked an opponent.

He called it a throwback win, one won with heart, determination and rebounding.

“We just won on the defensive end with grittiness and toughness and resolve,” Marshall said proudly.

But you have to have some offense to win in college basketball and most of it early was provided by VanVleet, who showed off a variety of moves and shots in the first half. He made a heavily-guarded three-pointer and another one from what should be four-point range. And his array of fakes, drives, pivots and ambidextrous shots had the crowd fixated on his every move.

“(UNLV) couldn’t keep him in front of them,” Marshall said. “And his assist total should have been way up there but we had some guys missing bunnies.”

The Shockers are finding their way, though, after a futile trip to Florida a couple of weeks ago during which they lost games to USC, Alabama and Iowa. WSU has won twice since and Marshall badly wants to get Saturday’s game against Utah.

That would go a long way toward fixing what has been ailing Wichita State, which still hasn’t found itself offensively through the season’s first eight games.

With Frankamp back and VanVleet getting healthy, it’s just a matter of time. Until then, the Shockers have a stingy defense on which to fall back.

This story was originally published December 9, 2015 at 11:19 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Conner Frankamp’s debut becomes a defensive masterpiece for WSU."