Senior forward Karon Boyd stepped up to the free throw line with 15 seconds left, a chance to swing momentum late after forcing a turnover. One make would tie the game. Two would give the Shockers the lead.
He missed both, and WSU ultimately dropped its first home game of the season, 61-58.
But Boyd’s misses weren’t isolated. They reflected a larger issue for the Shockers: free throw shooting.
WSU finished 13-of-28 from the free throw line — a season-low 46% — and missed its final five attempts. The Shockers’ 15 misses tied their worst mark since a 2018 loss to Louisiana Tech.
In past losses this season, the culprit had been effort and execution. Against the Blue Demons, it was follies at the foul line.
“I didn’t feel there were plays that had to be made in those other games,” head coach Paul Mills said. “Defensively, we stepped up, and I thought (Dre Kindell) provided a tremendous spark. I thought (Mike Gray Jr.) was able to bail us out of some bad movement.
“It’s not the same song and dance. It’s a little different just because opportunities were extended to us.”
The Shockers opened hot, using an 11-0 run out of the gates to build a 16-2 advantage. But DePaul’s CJ Gunn fueled a 21-3 response, sending the Blue Demons into halftime ahead 36-31.
And anytime WSU threatened in the second half, costly misses at the foul line stalled momentum. Down 51-49, the Shockers missed the front end of two one-and-ones. The final five misses sealed the outcome. They went 5-for-10 in the first half and 8-for-18 in the second.
The theme of missed opportunities at the stripe carried into the locker room.
“The name of the game was free throws,” senior guard Kenyon Giles said. “It wasn’t because of the fight. We were fighting, and that was just a technical issue. It’s still early in the year, and that’s something we can learn from.”
“Like KG said, I just feel like we should put an emphasis on free throws,” senior center Emmanuel Okorafor added. “We’re going to have more and more games coming up, and we’re going to have a lot of free throws. So, we just have to put an emphasis on that, and we’re going to be good.”
What made the outcome more frustrating is that all six players who attempted shots at the line — Giles, Okorafor, Boyd, junior Dre Kindell, redshirt freshman TJ Williams and senior Mike Gray Jr. — combined to shoot 80% entering the game. Giles bottled it up to an off day that the began to snowball for WSU.
“You’re missing them, and the pressure is going to keep rising,” Giles said. “We didn’t have to be in those moments if we just hit our free throws, so that’s really just on us.”
But head coach Paul Mills was quick to shoulder the blame. His usual “Free Throw Club” — an after-practice touchup for players under 75% from the line — wasn’t enforced this week due to finals and the team’s 72% mark in the previous 10 games.
“Blame that on me,” the third-year head coach said. “Because we had shot pretty well this year, and they just got done with finals, I didn’t do it. I should have — I have always done it. That falls on me.”
With the American Conference opener at UAB approaching on Dec. 31, the Shockers know free throws will decide close games. In a matter of one- and two-possession games, the ability to hit free throws — especially down the stretch — will be crucial.
“We just have to do better when we’re working out individually,” Giles said. “Working on our free throws, put more emphasis (on it), imagining the crowd in there because in this league, we’re going to play a lot of tough teams.”
WSU will get another chance to course-correct before then, as it hosts Wofford on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Koch Arena before wrapping up non-conference play against Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 21.
“We play two really good teams,” Giles said. “We got two tough ones. These two games are going to end in one-possession games.”
And if the Shockers want to win those one-possession battles, they’ll have to win at the line first.
