‘What a difference a year can make’: Shockers eclipse win total from a season ago with victory over Knights

Wichita+State+senior+Jaime+Echenique+dunks+the+ball+during+the+second+half+of+the+game+against+Central+Florida+on+Jan.+25+inside+Charles+Koch+Arena.

Marshall Sunner

Wichita State senior Jaime Echenique dunks the ball during the second half of the game against Central Florida on Jan. 25 inside Charles Koch Arena.

In back to back seasons, Wichita State has defeated UCF in front of a packed Charles Koch Arena crowd, but this year’s game had a much different feel than the last. 

A year ago, the Shockers were struggling and searching for their first conference win coming into the matchup against the Knights, but this year was a different story. With their 87-79 win on Saturday, the Shockers have already reached the 2018-19 regular-season win total, and they’ve done so in 10 fewer games. 

In last year’s contest, the Shockers only had three different players reach double figures. This season, the Shockers had five players in double figures. As sophomore Dexter Dennis puts it, “What a difference a year makes.”

“It feels great,” Dennis said after the game. “But, at the same time, we can grow a lot more, and I think that’s what Coach is ready for. That’s what we’re ready for, too. We just have to keep getting better. But what a difference a year can make, for sure.”

One season ago, the Shockers were 1-6 through seven conference games with the lone win coming against these same UCF Knights. This year, WSU is 5-2 with only two teams standing in front of them in the American Athletic Conference title race – Tulsa and Houston. 

Despite getting off to a much better start, Head Coach Gregg Marshall maintains that his team has room for improvement.

“We’re better,” Marshall said. “I mean, I’ve said that we’re pretty good. We weren’t pretty good at this time last year. We’re pretty good, and we have to decide if that’s good enough. Are we satisfied with pretty good? Because we have some things that we need to clean up, and I’ve got to do a better job coaching, and we’ve got to do a better job of absorbing coaching and making it a priority to improve.”

The Shockers, however, have yet to reach the level they’ll need to achieve if they want to play late into March. Marshall along with other know that they will need to push the right to buttons to help the players unlock this next level.

“We’ve maintained ‘pretty good.’ 17-3 is pretty good,” Marshall said. “We’ll see where it goes. I don’t know how we’re going to continue to evolve and get better.

“We’ve been in neutral for a while, but we’ve got a lot of talent. A lot of kids that are quality individuals, but we have to buckle down and eliminate the silly mistakes.”

Grant Sherfield, who has struggled as of late, was vital in pulling out a victory over the Knights. One key play was a long offensive rebound he secured to give WSU a chance at capitalizing on another possession.

“You learn a lot here,” Sherfield said. “At the beginning of the year, I don’t think I would have been able to make that play, but the coaching in the film room, and Coach drilled it into me, so I’m glad I’m able to make that play now.”

WSU tallied an impressive 20 assists on Saturday. In the recent losses to Temple and Houston, the Shockers’ ball movement was stagnant. With the improved ball movement and unselfishness against South and Central Florida, WSU’s offense has been more successful.

As a senior, Jaime Echenique understands the importance of improving day by day.

“We just have to keep moving up and learn from our mistakes and then keep practicing and keep believing,” Echenique said. “I’m really glad we shared the ball, and we were really unselfish in that point. That’s what gave us the win.”

WSU will have to wait until Saturday for their matchup with Tulsa at the Donald W. Reynolds Center in Oklahoma. Currently, Tulsa is tied with Houston atop the AAC standings. The Havoc in the Heartland matchup is scheduled to tip off at 5 p.m.