WSU notes: Shockers dive into extended practice time before Seton Hall

Wichita State’s winning streak coincided with the return of guard Fred VanVleet. It also coincided with plenty of practice time.

The Shockers (5-4) are all about basketball with finals complete. With a week between games, WSU can practice as often as it wants, lift weights and let guard VanVleet’s strained left hamstring continue to heal before Saturday’s game at Seton Hall.

“It was very beneficial coming back from Florida, leading into the Saint Louis game,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “We need all the time to practice. We hope it’s equally as beneficial heading into the game at Seton Hall.”

WSU won three games in a row and polished up its NCAA Tournament resume with last week’s wins over UNLV and then-No. 25 Utah. Seton Hall (8-2) offers the Shockers a chance to earn a road victory over a good opponent, an asset that could be helpful when the NCAA selection committee evaluates their resume. WSU took Sunday off before practicing on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday is scheduled for film and conditioning before returning to the court. On Friday, the Shockers are scheduled to practice at the Brooklyn Nets practice facility in East Rutherford, N.J.

The wins over UNLV and Utah took steps to rehabilitate WSU’s national perception after its losses to Southern California, Alabama and Iowa, without VanVleet, in late November. It received votes in both the Associated Press and USA Today coaches poll. Even before those wins, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi put WSU in his bracket projection as a No. 12 seed.

▪  With sophomore Zach Brown and freshman Markis McDuffie playing well at small forward, senior Evan Wessel is back at the power forward spot he inhabited last season. While Wessel is under-sized at 6-foot-4, he holds up well defensively against bigger players.

On offense, it is also a good fit, Marshall said, because the position doesn’t require Wessel to drive to the basket as often. His shooting ability can draw bigger defenders away from the rim.

“He just doesn’t want to do the ball-handling part, and we’ve been effective with basically a three-guard offense,” Marshall said. “All handling the ball and driving it and passing it, like Tekele Cotton last year. We’ve encouraged (Wessel) to do it, even at the (power forward), but he doesn’t seem to want to do it.”

▪  The rotation of centers Shaq Morris, Bush Wamukota and Rauno Nurger performed well, especially defensively, last week against talented big men from UNLV and Utah. While Marshall isn’t sure they deserve the “monster” portion of the “three-headed monster” label, he is pleased with their efforts.

“I’m going to play them in a rotation until one of them says I need to be playing more,” he said. “That guy is going to get, maybe 20 minutes, and the other guys are going to split the other 20.”

Morris, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, offers the best combination of scoring and shot-blocking. Fatigue catches him quickly, which limits his playing time. Marshall said Morris had X-rays on his hand Monday and they came back negative. Morris practiced on Tuesday.

“He stops being able to play at two, two-and-a-half minutes,” Marshall said. “He doesn’t run as hard. He doesn’t work as hard on defense.”

▪  While guard Conner Frankamp is off to a slow start with his shooting, Marshall expects that to improve soon. Frankamp is 2 for 11 from the field, 1 for 7 from three-point range, in two games since becoming eligible.

“It just looks like it’s coming out of his hands a little hesitantly,” Marshall said. “It’s to be expected. He hasn’t played basketball since the spring of 2014.”

Frankamp made his first shot late in the game against Utah, a shot he had to take because of the shot clock.

“He just let his muscle memory take over, which he’s done million of times,” Marshall said. “He drained it. He’s a great shooter and he’s going to end up having a breakout game here soon.”

Alabama transfer joins volleyball team — Tabitha Brown, Zach Brown’s sister, is transferring to WSU to play volleyball.

She played in 15 matches, starting 12, for Alabama this fall as a freshman. Brown, a 5-foot-10 outside hitter, is eligible to practice and play with WSU this spring and will be a sophomore in the fall.

Brown, from Spring, Texas, hit .172 for Alabama with 161 kills and 19 aces. She had a season-high 19 kills against Northern Illinois.

This story was originally published December 15, 2015 at 6:15 PM with the headline "WSU notes: Shockers dive into extended practice time before Seton Hall."