The Wichita State men’s basketball season may have hit rock-bottom on Tuesday night after a thorough home loss against a team ranked 298th in the NET rankings.
Wichita State made its return to Koch Arena against the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) after a loss in Chicago to DePaul University. The Shockers struggled to maintain any 3-point output against the Roos in a 74-64 loss.
With the loss, Wichita State dropped to 8-3 overall. UMKC, which was paid $80,000 to play against the Shockers, improved to 7-7 riding a three-game win streak.
Head coach Paul Mills chalked the loss up to “malaise” in the Shockers after the conclusion of the academic semester.
“I get a little fearful sometimes about this time of year, simply because we’re with them three hours a day,” Mills said. “And the other 21 (hours), they don’t have any other obligations. There’s no busyness that comes with the normal.”
The Shockers could not buy a bucket at any level. The team shot 39% from the field and 16% (3-19) from 3-point range, both second-worst marks of the year. Additionally, WSU made 13-24 from the charity stripe, a 54% mark that was the team’s worst of the year.
“To only make 54% of your free-throws, that’s not going to get it done,” Mills said. “Look at being 3-19 for three, that’s not getting it done. That stuff comes back and gets you.”
WSU forced 14 turnovers, most of which came in the second half, while turning the ball over a season-low six times. However, poor shooting negated any potential advantage.
The Shocker defense had two great defensive possessions in the first five minutes, forcing two airballs. Despite a good start, it quickly dwindled as the game went on. UMKC scored all 74 of its points without making a single bucket on a fast break.
“I didn’t think the energy was what it needed to be until about the 14-minute mark,” Mills said. “That has got to be corrected because this is not the standard in which we need to play.”
The 3-point attack by the Roos outscored any 2-point swings made by Wichita State. UMKC made seven 3-pointers in the first half. While the Wichita State defense deterred the Roos from fighting inside, all it did was leave a man open from the deep.
Despite the defensive pressure brought on by senior center Quincy Ballard, the rest of the team looked lost defensively, particularly when senior center Matej Bošnjak was on the floor. Ballard was one of two Shockers to finish with a positive plus/minus at +9 when he was on the court, while the Shockers lost by 19 during Bošnjak’s minutes.
“Hope isn’t a strategy; you can’t hope people miss,” Mills said.
On the offensive side, Wichita State could only find tough layups and turnovers late in the first half.
“We can’t really dictate everything that the defense is going to contest and not contest,” senior guard Xavier Bell said. “If we’re getting layups and shots around the rim, even if they are contested, those are really good shots, especially for a team like us.”
Despite a spark with Ballard on the floor, the Shockers shot a paltry 33% from the field in the opening period, highlighted by an 0-8 stat line from beyond the arc. A 9-0 run for UMKC capped off the first half with the Roos ahead, 38-24, as the road team shot 56% from the field.
Coming into the second half, Wichita State dialed back on the defensive aggression. However, the offense retained the same focal point, going inside and attacking the rim.
While both teams ended up equal in offensive boards, many of the Roos’ boards fell into their hands while the Shockers scrapped for contested rebounds.
“They shot 15 threes in the first half,” Mills said. “Those shots lead to long rebounds. And though you generate a miss, those (offensive rebounds) are momentum killers.”
Almost none of the scoring by Wichita State looked clean or easy as they threw up floaters, layups in traffic and an overreliance on scoring into a packed paint as UMKC didn’t respect Wichita State’s long-range attack.
Fifth-year guard Justin Hill hit Wichita State’s first 3-pointer of the game with less than six minutes left on the clock.
A late 15-1 run by the Shockers that included four steals was punctuated by a Ballard putback slam with 3:43 to make the score 63-54, UMKC. However, it was too little too late. After the run, the WSU momentum ended as the comeback attempt fell apart.
Bell scored his 1,000th-career point off a layup by the 10-minute mark of the game. He ended up with a game-high 21 points on 15 shots.
“It’s special, obviously, doing it here at home, but at the same time, it’s 1000 points,” Bell said. “I’m going to come out the next game and hopefully score, but at the end of the day, we didn’t win.”
Bell was one of the few consistent performers in the game. Hill was the only other Shocker to eclipse double-digit points. Ballard led the game in rebounds with 11 while limited to 23 minutes on the floor.
Starting junior forward Corey Washington and senior guard Bijan Cortes combined to go 2-19 from the field and 0-6 from 3-point range. Washington pulled down seven boards, six of which came on the offensive glass.
Wichita State will play again at Charles Koch Arena, hosting Kansas State University on Saturday, Dec. 21. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
