Bob Lutz: Shockers taken to school in loss to veteran Hurricane

Well, that didn’t go as planned.

Wichita State, which has gotten used to staring down opponents on the road and ultimately forcing its will, ran into a senior-laded Tulsa team that did not relent. The Hurricane used a 47-point second half and beat WSU by 77-67 at the Reynolds Center on Tuesday night. The Shockers had been 54-17 on the road since the start of the 2009-10 season.

Just last week after an impressive win over Charleston Southern, everyone was clamoring about the Shockers’ depth and the young players who looked like they were ready to make a big difference.

Against the grizzled Hurricane, though, the six Shocker freshmen and sophomores who played combined for 12 points on 3-of-13 shooting. They were in over their heads in enemy territory.

It also didn’t help that senior point guard Fred VanVleet continues to play in pain — an injured hamstring limited his effectiveness Tuesday although he did play 30 minutes.

“We’ve got some young guys who are going to have to develop and get better,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “We’ve got to get more production from the freshmen and sophomores. They’re better players than they showed tonight but certainly the results didn’t show that.”

Tulsa never rattled, not even when VanVleet made three long, set-shot three-pointers over Tulsa’s zone in the final 1:17 of the first half that gave the Shockers a 31-30 halftime lead.

Anton Grady, another WSU senior, scored the first five points of the second half and the Shockers were up by five.

And that’s pretty much where the party ended. Tulsa, unfazed by Wichita State’s pressure, took the game from the Shockers. Their seniors scored 63 points and junior college transfer Pat Birt added the other 14.

“They’re a veteran team, they’re at home and they played well,” Marshall said.

And it really was that simple.

It’ll go down as a major upset what with Wichita State being ranked No. 9 and Tulsa being unranked.

But it wasn’t an upset. It was a whipping. And while there’s no reason to think the Shockers won’t regroup and learn from such an experience, there’s also no reason Tulsa can’t have a special season.

VanVleet, frustrated by an injury that won’t heal, was slow getting out of the dressing room after Tuesday’s win. He was taken out of the game late, when the Shockers had to resort to mostly-ineffective full-court pressure, because he’s having trouble moving.

“It’s a lot of emotions going on from the range of … really any emotion you can name, I have it right now. But as a leader on this team and the point guard and the guy who gets all the publicity, it’s my job to try to keep this ship steady.”

VanVleet was a young player once so he knew that going on the road for the first time might shine a light on the Shockers’ inexperience.

It’s one thing to perform well in front of 10,506 home fans against an inferior Charleston Southern. It’s another to go on the road to play a team with so much experience.

“There’s just a mental make-up you have to have to play on the road,” VanVleet said. “Those talented guys we saw last week are still those same guys now. It’s just that you have to perform. There’s a lot of talent on our bench and those guys gotta play up to their talent level.”

The lack of production from Rashard Kelly, Zach Brown and Shaq Morris, sophomores who have been in big games on the road, was particularly unsettling. They produced only two field goals, both by Kelly, in 51 minutes.

Freshman point guard Landry Shamet had some moments, but was limited to 10 minutes because of foul trouble.

Seniors took 42 of the Shockers’ 55 shots and 22 of 26 three-pointers. And one of those seniors was playing on one leg.

“I’ve never been this limited in my life,” VanVleet said. “It’s an adjustment psychologically more than anything. You can’t see this injury and you really don’t feel it and then bam, it just hits you like it did tonight. It’s pretty frustrating but it’s not why we lost. We still had a chance to win that ballgame. I have to be better, everybody has to be better.”

Chances are that in four months Marshall and the Shockers’ players will look back on the defeat as a learning experience, one that the team grew from.

For now, though, there are some caution flags.

Those of us who were too quick to anoint the young players are pumping the brakes.

We got ahead of ourselves. Tulsa did some exposing Tuesday night and it’ll be up to the Shockers to get their clothes back on.

This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 11:01 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Shockers taken to school in loss to veteran Hurricane."