Shockers’ Evan Wessel seeing reduced role so far in tournament (+video)
Evan Wessel’s role has changed considerably in Wichita State’s two NCAA Tournament games — the most obvious example being reduced playing time.
Wessel, who has started all 34 games, averages 21.2 minutes but has played less than that, total, in wins over Vanderbilt and Arizona. Against Vanderbilt, he played seven minutes and against Arizona he played 12. It’s more in line with his reserve role during his sophomore season, when WSU went 35-1 and Wessel averaged 12.2 minutes. It was that season that Wessel began to develop the reputation as a scrappy rebounder and defender.
Part of the reduced role is because of matchup problems. At 6-foot-4, Wessel has consistently shown he can guard players four and five inches taller. But facing back-to-back opponents with multiple 7-footers — at forward — that’s been a problem, and those minutes have gone largely to 6-7 sophomore Rashard Kelly and 6-8 freshman Markis McDuffie. Even 6-10 forward Rauno Nurger has become an option after sitting on the bench for most of the season.
Not that you’ll ever hear Wessel complain about it — he’s often been the first to praise teammates and first to tell someone who’s not playing to stay ready.
“Just comes from how I was brought up, how I was taught to play the game,” Wessel said. “Ultimately, the most important thing to me is to win. If you get caught up in all the other stuff, it just distracts you from doing your job when you’re on the court. That’s why I want to stay focused and help our team win.”
Baker’s injury — WSU senior guard Ron Baker injured his left quadriceps muscle late in Thursday’s win over Arizona. Diving for a loose ball, Baker was kicked in the leg and was visibly upset when he got up.
Friday, he did interviews riding a stationary bike to keep the muscle warm and moving.
“It’s just sore today,” Baker said. “Obviously, I took a knee to it so I’m icing it and trying to recover for tomorrow the best that I can. It’s just something you have to stretch and ice as much as you can. It’s one of those injuries you get from hustling, so it was worth it for the win. Hopefully I can get it ready to go for tomorrow.”
Still the home team — As the media gathered outside of WSU’s locker room following Thursday night’s win over Arizona, several minutes of screaming and shouting stirred an otherwise empty Dunkin Donuts Center to life.
The reason? Providence College, which plays its home games at the arena, had just defeated Southern California in its NCAA Tournament game in Raleigh, N.C., on a last-second layup by Rodney Bullock. It was the Friars’ first win in the NCAA Tournament since 1997.
Like Wichita, Providence is a basketball-obsessed town. The exit off the interstate to the arena features a billboard with a huge picture of Providence All-American Kris Dunn. The Providence mascot — the Friars — is ubiquitioius wherever you go.
“It’s exciting with the NCAA Tournament in town, but I think people’s minds are still with the Friars,” said local fan Richard Groce, who was at Wednesday’s practices and most of Thursday’s games. “I’ve got tickets to watch the NCAA games at The Dunk, but once the Friars come on, I’m outta there.”
Fashion sense — WSU assistant director of media relations Bryan Holmgren tracks a lot of statistics, but perhaps the most obscure is WSU’s record according to what coach Gregg Marshall wears. Specifically whether he wears a tie or not. Marshall has been without a tie in the last two games, both NCAA Tournament wins.
For the season, WSU is 8-1 when Marshall goes tieless with a sport coat. The Shockers lost another three games when he went tieless, but those games were all at the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando, when he wore a tournament-issued polo.
This story was originally published March 18, 2016 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Shockers’ Evan Wessel seeing reduced role so far in tournament (+video)."