WSU forward Shaq Morris shines in loss to Miami, shows promise for future (+video)

After a loss is no time to pat yourself on the back. Especially not after a season-ending loss.

WSU forward Shaq Morris stuck to those themes on Saturday following the Shockers’ 65-57 loss to Miami in the NCAA Tournament’s South Regional, but it was hard to deny that Morris, a 6-foot-8, 260-pound sophomore from Edmond, Okla., showed there was another level he could take his game to during the tournament.

And that’s including one with a horrendous start in a First Four victory over Vanderbilt on Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio, in which he picked up two first-half fouls in less than one minute.

Morris bounced back in that game with a big second half, then played tough in a win over Arizona with seven points, two blocks and two momentum-changing dunks in the second half. Saturday, he played his most complete game against Miami with a team-high 12 points, four rebounds and two steals, including a second-half steal in which he pushed the ball past midcourt and cocked the hammer on a one-handed slam that cut Miami’s lead to 42-39 with 12:08 left.

“I thought Shaq played hard, played really well and rebounded tonight and did some good things,” WSU assistant coach Isaac Brown said. “He gave us some good scoring inside and grabbed some tough rebounds.”

Not that any of that mattered to Morris, who was despondent after the loss.

“It’s crazy that we’re here, I didn’t want to be here and I didn’t want our seniors to be here and feeling this way, at least not so soon,” Morris said. “I just feel like I didn’t do enough. As the clock hit zero I just had that feeling that I didn’t do enough, didn’t do enough for my seniors.”

It capped a season in which Morris showed off a new, leaner physique and showed a commitment to making plays on the defensive end from start to finish — he led the Shockers with 1.1 blocks to go with 6.6 points and 3.5 rebounds and started 29 of 35 games.

He now enters his junior season as the leader in the Shockers’ frontcourt. It’s a far cry from the player Fred VanVleet once called out on Twitter after missing an early-morning workout or the player who seemed to spend his first two seasons constantly in WSU coach Gregg Marshall’s doghouse.

“The sky is the limit for Shaq,” Brown said. “He’s in tip-top shape right now, and he needs to make sure he goes into next season in the shape he’s in right now. If he does that, he’ll be one of the best big men in the conference. I don’t think Shaq needs us to ride him to make sure he does the work anymore. He’ll hit the strength and conditioning in the summer, he’ll monitor what he’s eating and we’ll make sure we’re keeping him in the gym.”

Morris seemed up to the task, and vowed to use Saturday’s loss as motivation.

“You definitely don’t want this feeling again,” Morris said. “Of course it’s going to be hard to get back to this point without Fred and Ron (Baker), but it’s all about how we pick back up and start working in the offseason. Guys that didn’t play much this year, guys like Ty Taylor and Eric Hamilton, will need to step up and get on board. Know that it won’t be easy because we’ve got a great group of guys that’s leaving.”

This story was originally published March 19, 2016 at 4:32 PM with the headline "WSU forward Shaq Morris shines in loss to Miami, shows promise for future (+video)."