The Aftershocks are going into their second-round matchup against Sideline Cancer with a defensive mentality, their head coach said.

“It’s going to be a defensive game at the end of the day,” Coach Karon Bradley said. “They have great guards, we just have to be locked in the entire game.

Despite being an underdog in the first round of TBT against the Kansas alumni team, Self Made, Sideline Cancer showed no nerves in front of a packed Charles Koch Arena. Sideline Cancer got off to a hot start in the first quarter and never looked back, blowing out Self Made 87-63.

In the contest against Self Made, Sideline Cancer went on to shoot 51.6% from the field, while going 13-32 (40.6%) from beyond the arc, with four different players sinking a three-pointer.

One of the more intriguing aspects of their game against Self Made is that Sideline Cancer dominated the points in the paint. Sideline Cancer went 17-24 (70.8%) in the paint while tallying up 34 points in the entire game. In comparison, the Aftershocks also scored 34 points in the paint, but it took the WSU alumni eight more shots to do so.

Sideline Cancer relies upon a guard trio of Maurice Creek, Marcus Keene and Raymond Cowels III to accumulate the majority of their scoring. In their first game, Creek led the team with 23 points including a team-high five three-pointers. Cowels III showed his versatility as he scored 17 points while converting three triples in the contest. Lastly, Keene primarily ran the offense as he scored 16 points with 2 assists.

The trio combined to score 56 out of their 87 points. If the Aftershocks want to move on they must find ways to get stops and find a way to disrupt their rhythm offensively.

Although Keene ran the Sideline Cancer offense with much success, he struggled with taking care of the basketball. Keene turned the ball over five times and Self Made was unable to take advantage of his mistakes. If the Aftershocks can find a way to get some stops along with expanding upon their offensive success then you can expect the Aftershocks to advance to the finals of the Wichita Regional.