Shockers can’t weather the storm
Wichita State falls to Oklahoma State at Intrust Bank Arena, where before Saturday they held a perfect 6-0 record.
Junior forward Darral Willis jr (21) gets frustrated at the referee after being called for a foul in the second half of the annual INSTRUST Bank Arena game Saturday evening.
Snow was falling at Intrust Bank Arena, as was WSU’s long-lasting records. The Shocker’s 6-0 run at Intrust Bank Arena was broken by Oklahoma State in a 17-point defeat. The Cowboys also broke Wichita State’s 42-game non-conference home win streak.
“I didn’t realize that it would have the effect where people would say, ‘We’ll play you, home-and-home, if the game’s at Intrust Bank Arena.’ ” head coach Gregg Marshall said. “I don’t know why that is, we’ve been pretty successful here over the years. I think maybe there’s a phobia about home-and-homes in Koch Arena.”
WSU had gone 93 consecutive home games without surrendering 80 or more points since Indiana State reached 83 in triple overtime on Jan. 22, 2011. Oklahoma State capped 90 in the 93-76 finish.
This was the 38th meeting between the two teams, and the first in the last 14 years. The series began a more than 80 years ago.
The game marked the seventh-consecutive year that WSU has played downtown and the team’s third consecutive downtown sellout. All 15,004 seats were claimed.
Wichita State’s defense — ranked third nationally in field goal percentage defense and 10th in scoring defense — had to attempt to slow the nation’s fourth-most productive offense.
All to no avail, led by the OSU guard Juwan Evans’ fast four-point start.
OSU held Wichita State scoreless for 7:50. The dry spell was broken by a layup by junior center Rauno Nurger.
By halftime OSU’s lead was 49-33 after a last-second bucket by redshirt junior guard Conner Frankamp.
By halftime, OSU was shooting 52 percent from the floor, had 21 rebounds and eight turnover. WSU trailed in nearly every category, posing a 33 percent shooting percentage, 12 rebounds and double-digit turnovers.
Despite a six-point run in the opening minutes of the second half, Wichita State could never mount a comeback. OSU kept the intensity with high-fire offense and three-pointers from nearly every angle.
Oklahoma State finished shooting above 52 percent.
Besides not being able to execute their game plan, WSU’s biggest downfall, to Marshall, was lack of effort.
“There was a lot of less than ideal Shockers in terms of energy, passion, aggression and toughness,” Marshall said. “If you’re not making shots you can still play hard.
“And it’s the things we pride ourselves that we weren’t very good at — defense, toughness, playing harder than the other team. Those things didn’t happen tonight.”
Each team used an extended rotation, with WSU playing all 16. Yet no rotation faired well for Marshall.
“Watching film over the course of the week, I knew that we were in for a battle,” Marshall said. “I tried to relay that to my team. They really were good, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that we weren’t very good.”
Junior forward Zach Brown coincided. He felt discouraged by the lack of effort, toughness and intensity from his teammates.
“Effort isn’t a skill. Effort isn’t something you work on in the gym. Effort has to be something you bring every single game,” Brown said. “You can’t let your effort shrivel up and go away. I guess that’s what happened today.”
Marshall extended credit to junior forward Darral Willis, Jr. who lead WSU scorers with 24 points and 13 rebounds — each career-bests.
“You give it what you got and you learn from your mistakes,” Willis, Jr. said. “Today was frustrating, but we will rebound — hopefully quickly.”
Aliyah Funschelle was a sports reporter covering men's basketball for The Sunflower. She studied sports management at Wichita State, and worked as a Campus...
