Shockers endured long week before NCAA bid came down (+video)

The Class 6A basketball tournament at Koch Arena last week went each night, usually, until 10 p.m.

Each night, after the games, a pattern began to emerge.

Several basketballs with Shocker logos rolled out onto the floor. One night, a shooting machine was set up by one basket.

Late nights, it turned out, were no time for the Wichita State basketball team to rest as they awaited their NCAA Tournament fate.

“That’s not something we require,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “We encourage them to do extra work if they can, but that’s on them.”

Not that the Shockers were sleeping that great, anyway. Several said the week leading up to Sunday’s announcement they would be playing Vanderbilt on Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio, in the NCAA’s First Four was one of tough practices and lots of time to reflect on what they’d done to put themselves on the NCAA bubble.

There was also plenty of time spent watching the Shockers’ last game in video sessions — a 57-52 overtime loss to Northern Iowa on March 5 in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals in St. Louis.

“This week was more about getting back to who we are and handling the little things,” WSU sophomore forward Rashard Kelly said. “When we lost in St. Louis, we weren’t doing the little things that really matter, the little things that will carry us through the game and get us wins.”

WSU freshman Markis McDuffie, the MVC Freshman of the Year, was one of those late-night workers, strolling into Koch Arena for about 30 minutes on Friday night for a light shootaround after he finished writing a paper.

“It was a very tough week, with (Marshall) watching a lot of film and getting on us, wanting to be perfect with everything,” McDuffie said. “Just getting back to the way we want to play, to set screens, to move the ball, play defense and get back to that way we haven’t played in awhile.”

Marshall didn’t necessarily agree with the characterization of the practices being tough. Video sessions were another story.

“I think it was probably harder mentally than physically, actually,” Marshall said. “Because we went over every single thing that went wrong in film. Over and over again.”

Some hurt feelings, possibly?

“Maybe,” he said.

“It was a very hard week, very intense practices,” WSU sophomore forward Zach Brown said. “It was a real tough week, and we needed it. We all needed it.”

And when the Shockers were announced as one of the South Regional teams in the first segment of CBS’ Selection Sunday show, there was palpatable relief among the team. And then something else.

“I think right away it was just shock, then that turned pretty quickly into, ‘Let’s go, man, let’s get ready,’ ” McDuffie said. “We’re ready, man, we’re ready to roll.”

This story was originally published March 13, 2016 at 7:47 PM with the headline "Shockers endured long week before NCAA bid came down (+video)."