Wichita State is looking to rebound off its first loss of the season and will be faced with another Power-Five matchup this weekend. 

Interim Head Coach Isaac Brown met with the media prior to WSU’s non-conference matchup with Oklahoma State on Saturday. 

Reinforcements

During the team’s first two games, they were limited to only nine scholarship players but reinforcements will be on the way in the coming weeks. 

Brown said that some of the players were returning to practice on Tuesday, but he is unsure whether they’ll have a full roster on Saturday. 

“Some of those guys still have to go through COVID protocol where they can only go for 15 minutes, 30 minutes the following day, 45 minutes the day after that, they have to pass an EKG,” Brown said. “So, it’s kind of hard for me to answer that question if we will have a full roster but we will have ten guys.”

Brown has made it an emphasis to keep in contact with the players that have been out due to COVID-19. 

“I just call them every day, ask them how they’re doing, making sure they’re feeling well,” Brown said. “I try to get on Zoom and go over the plays with them and make sure they understand the system. I call their parents and talk with them to make sure everything’s okay and just let them know we can’t wait for them to get back.”

Brown said he wants to make sure that the players aren’t rushed back and are fully ready to go upon their return.

“We’ll try to cover everything to make sure they know all of it. We’ll try to get them back in shape and we don’t just want to rush them back on the basketball court. We want to make sure they know everything. We also want to make sure they have good conditioning before we can just put them out there.”

Oklahoma State

Last year, the Shockers were able to collect one of its biggest victories of the season in Stillwater, defeating the Cowboys, 80-61.

This year’s OSU team looks a lot different with the No. 1 recruit Cade Cunningham now in Stillwater. Brown said that OSU’s backcourt Cunningham and junior Isaac Likekele, who didn’t play in last year’s matchup, could present a difficult matchup. 

“(Cunningham)’s a matchup nightmare. He can shoot threes. He’s a top-three NBA prospect. They have a good basketball team. Isaac Likekele, he didn’t play against us last year and he’s one of the better players in the Big 12. I also think he’s an NBA player down the road.”

Brown said that by throwing different defenses at Cunningham, it could help limit his impact on the game.

“We’ll throw a lot of things at him. You know, sometimes we’ll defend at a ball screen. Sometimes we’ll have Dexter on him and we’ll put Trey on him anytime they throw it to him in a low post. We’ll try to double team him. We’ll want to try to get the ball out of his hands as much as possible.”

Brown said that Cunningham presents the biggest challenge for Dennis thus far in his collegiate career on the defense. 

“I think he’s up for the challenge,” Brown said. “It’ll be the biggest challenge of his college basketball career. This is a kid that’s super talented, he’s got great size, he’s a top three NBA prospect for a reason. I think Dexter’s got to do a good job of giving him different looks.”

Dexter Dennis’ Impact

Junior combo-guard Dexter Dennis has struggled on the offensive end during the first two games, only tallying 5.5 points per game.

Brown said that Dennis’ defensive importance could be playing a factor for him on offense.

“Anytime you’re the best defender, you’re chasing the other team’s best offensive player,” Brown said. “I think that does take a little bit away from you on the offensive end. I think it’s just hard to guard and you’re expending all that energy chasing him around and then you’ve got to go on offense and try to create plays.”

Brown challenged the team’s point guards to try to get Dennis better looks which could help get him going.

“That’s where other guys are important because Alterique Gilbert and Trevin Wade have got to get Dexter wide-open shots,” Brown said. “He can’t just work offense all the time and then work on defense. We’ve got to do a better job of trying to create wide-open shots for him since he’s expending so much energy on defense.”