Shockers look to rebound from tough loss to West Virginia

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Selena Favela

Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall calls a play during the game against Oral Roberts at Charles Koch Arena on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019.

Wichita State’s weaknesses were exposed last week in the first loss of the season to West Virginia.

With a progressively more difficult schedule on the horizon, Head Coach Gregg Marshall met with the media Tuesday. Here are some of the highlights:

Dennis’ sophomore slump

After being poised for a breakout season, Dexter Dennis has fallen into a sophomore slump.

After earning an AAC Honor Roll selection at the beginning of the season, Dennis’ production has diminished. He only scored a combined nine points on 3-14 shooting in the Cancun Challenge.

Marshall said Dennis is struggling in all facets of his game.

“I don’t really think it’s offensive at all — I think it’s overall with him,” Marshall said on Tuesday. “He’s not rebounding like he did last year at times. He’s not defending like he did.”

Dennis’s recent performances earned him a one-on-one meeting with his coach early Tuesday.

“He just came by the office and we had a nice chat. Basically, ‘How can I help you?’” Marshall said. “Is there anything that’s bothering you that I can get involved. Young people have a lot of things going today and they’re all different.”

Marshall said he was impressed with Dennis’s performances in the first two games, and the Shockers will need him to step up as the schedule gets harder.

“We need him to play well. He hasn’t played up to his ability for a while now. He knows it,” Marshall said. “Nobody’s panicking, but we just want him to get him back to being that guy. He had a wonderful summer, a wonderful fall. Whenever it happened, he lost a little bit of that verve, vigor, and vitality. He needs to get it back.”

Stevenson’s shot selection

Sophomore guard Erik Stevenson leads the team in scoring with 13.6 points per game, and has been rewarded with a selection to both the AAC Honor Roll and the Cancun Challenge’s All-Tournament Team.

Marshall said he’s liked Stevenson’s shot selection for the most part, but it’s something that still needs to be honed.

“There are some shots he takes that I’m not pleased with. That goes for several guys,” Marshall said. “That’s another issue we’re going to have to work through.”

Marshall said it’s his responsibility to help young players learn when they should and shouldn’t pull the trigger.

“As a coach, there’s a fine line being a player’s coach and letting them play the game and take shots when they’re there and making the green light go from green to yellow to red,” Marshall said. “That fine line is when you have to make a decision. I feel like young players have a real difficult time deciding when to shoot.

“Sometimes Erik is wide open, and I want him to shoot when he catches it. There are times he takes it and turns a wide-open catch-and-shoot shot into a semi-contested one-dribble pull-up.”

Marshall pointed to Stevenson’s first shot of the second half against West Virginia.

“The very first shot he took of the second half was a very contested — almost a fadeaway deep three with 20 seconds on the shot clock in the deep left corner in front of West Virginia’s bench,” Marshall said. “It wasn’t a good shot, but he’s been playing so well with such confidence, and then you get to that.”

The road ahead

Before the schedule ramps up, Marshall said he wants his team play well against Central Arkansas on Thursday. After that, the team will travel for their first true road game of the season against Oklahoma State.

“I want to see us play really well, regardless of the opponent,” Marshall said. “I want to see how well we can possibly play. We’re not going to play a perfect game, but how well can we play? Because that’s what it’s going to take when we go down to Stillwater on Sunday.

“I just think we’re going to have to compete more and harder. West Virginia exposed that, and they’ve got a pretty special brand of athlete — especially inside — but they beat us on the glass with their second effort, quickness, and all of the things they were able to do. We need to compete a little more, show some resolve and backbone.”

KenPom gives the Shockers a 97% chance of beating Central Arkansas. The game is set to tip-off at 7 p.m. inside Charles Koch Arena.