The time for talking is over. Lessons learned over the last three months will only carry a team so far at this point.
One loss can signal the beginning of the next season, and Wichita State finds itself in exactly that situation.
“Excited to get March going this time of year in elimination basketball,” head coach Paul Mills said.
The Shockers must win their 4 p.m. semifinals matchup Saturday at the American Conference Championship to advance to Sunday’s title game with an NCAA Tournament berth on the line.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. Finishing the regular season 21-10 — Wichita State’s best record in six years and the most wins in Mills’ three seasons — has heightened anticipation. Earning a coveted triple-bye, reserved for the top two seeds in this year’s step-ladder style tournament, is a major advantage, especially since the American is likely to be a one-bid league for March Madness.
On top of that, the Shockers can end a drought of both conference tournament success and NCAA Tournament appearances in recent years.
Wichita State’s last conference tournament championship came in 2017, during its final season in the Missouri Valley Conference. Since that triumph a decade ago, the Shockers have yet to capture a postseason conference title. Their only subsequent conference championship was a regular-season title during the disjointed 2020-21 COVID-19 season.
This year’s team will have had a full week to prepare for whichever team emerges victorious from Friday’s 2 p.m. quarterfinals game, however.
They won’t know who they’ll play until then, forcing them to prepare for any of the two potential opponents — North Texas or Tulsa — on their side of the bracket after Thursday’s second-round matchups. FAU beat Temple in the first round before losing to the Mean Green in the round two.
Wichita State also has the luxury of having won against both of those potential opponents throughout the regular season. In fact, it has beaten every team in the field at one point this year, including top-seeded South Florida on its home court in January.
And because the teams know each other so well, the extra preparation time gives the Shockers a chance to add subtle wrinkles to their game.
This could be as simple as adding a zone defense or a man-to-man look or incorporating a new baseline out-of-bounds play on offense. It’s a time to eliminate losing plays — like failing to grab two-handed boards, not sprinting back on defense, neglecting to box out, or not diving for 50-50 balls — to ensure winning outcomes.
“You’re not reinventing the wheel,” Mills said. “It’s a lot of sharpening and synchronicity and making sure everybody’s on the same page when this particular action is happening. A lot of film work.”
Staff meetings have become more deliberate. Practices have been more intense. The commitment to building necessary habits and keeping the season alive permeates the locker room.
“It’s day-by-day; game-by-game,” senior guard Kenyon Giles said. “It’s 1-0 every day. You’re trying to win every day. That’s all it’s about.
“You can’t think too hard. We weren’t thinking about March two months ago.”
Now, the Shockers have time to think about March. Time to think about how to counter each punch. Time to think about what going 1-0 looks like this late in the year.
But the time to talk about it is over. It’s time to think about what hoisting a trophy feels like.
