In a sea of red, white and blue at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, Wichita State lost to the University of Kansas, 86-67, in the Shockers’ last non-conference game.
Head men’s basketball coach Paul Mills said that it was a tough game for the Shockers, but it was in large part due to the Jayhawks’ high level of play.
“We needed to play well to beat a team of this caliber,” Mills said. “They had a lot to do with our inability to really get into a flow.”
KU would start the game on an 8-2 run with a pair of three-pointers from Dajuan Harris Jr.
WSU’s junior Xavier Bell said that despite being in a deficit during the first few minutes, the team worked well to try to stop the Jayhawks’ offense.
“We were going to have to go under on screens and trying to squeeze the floor on them, try and turn them into a jump shooting team,” Bell, who scored 11 points during the game, said. “I think we just executed the game plan and just tried to stick with each other at that point.”
Ten minutes into the first half, KU was in the lead, 14-9, but the Shockers made an effort to tie the game with a layup from junior Kenny Pohto and a three-pointer from graduate student Dalen Ridgnal 14-14. This would be the last time the Shockers would be able to tie the game.
A missed layup by Wichita State proved to be costly, allowing the Jayhawks to go on a 9-0 stretch to take the lead, 23-14.
“After (Ridgnal’s) three … and I just thought they leveled up, and we just didn’t respond,” Mills said.
With less than seven minutes in the first half left, KU’s offense began to connect better than before to outscore Wichita State, 22-13. The Jayhawks would lead at the half, 43-27.
“We came out with high energy, then I feel like when things went bad, we kind of separated and didn’t stick together,” Pohto said. “We’ve got to do a better job of sticking together when things go sideways.”
KU started the second half with momentum, going on an 8-0 run to stretch the lead, 51-27.
The Jayhawks didn’t look back, leading by as much as 28 during the second half. Bell said that in tough moments, they will have to come together to grow and realize who they are as a team.
Wichita State will return home to open its conference play against North Texas on Jan. 4 at Charles Koch Arena. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.
