Coach says Wichita State basketball ‘ready’ to win close games, not just play in them

The first half of the American Athletic Conference schedule has seen the Wichita State men’s basketball team repeatedly come up empty down the stretch of close games.

In the Shockers’ 1-8 start to league play, six losses have featured one-possession games in the final four minutes, none more agonizing than this past Saturday’s last-second loss at Memphis when WSU led for nearly 38 minutes and by as many as 14 points.

First-year head coach Paul Mills expects enough growth from his team to start winning those games when the second-half of the AAC schedule kicks off Wednesday with a 6:30 p.m. game against UTSA (8-14, 2-7 AAC) streamed on ESPN+ from Koch Arena.

“There is a huge difference between playing people close and actually winning,” Mills said Monday on his radio show. “That is a hurdle we will overcome. Nobody is content with playing (close). We’re two-thirds of the way through the season, so this final third I think you’re going to see the immature plays dwindle and head in the right direction. That gulf between playing people tough and winning is wide, but we’re ready to cross it and get to the other side.”

WSU has won just twice in the last 10 weeks with a 77-72 win over SMU on Jan. 28 providing a respite from the losing and ending an eight-game slide.

This past road swing was an opportunity for the team to spark a turnaround. Instead, it only delivered more pain: WSU coughed up a 15-point lead in a 79-68 loss at Tulsa before blowing a 14-point lead in the final eight minutes in Memphis.

Players were dejected following the Memphis loss, but continued to show their resolve in discussing their issues.

“We’ve got a lot of guys in this locker room that are willing to fight for each other,” WSU junior Ronnie DeGray III offered up. “No matter how things are going right now, we have guys who aren’t going to quit.”

“You just have to remain optimistic and realize things aren’t always going to go your way, that’s how life is sometimes,” WSU leading scorer Colby Rogers added. “Sometimes you have to weather the storm. You’re not always going to have good fortune. The worst thing you can do is quit and dwell on the negative feelings. You have to pick yourself up and climb out and stay positive and just keep putting one foot in front of the other.”

A second straight win in the Roundhouse on Wednesday would ensure that isn’t just lip service, although a victory over UTSA might not seem as secure as a 10-point projected advantage on KenPom might indicate.

The Roadrunners are a stylistic challenge for the Shockers, as they play at a fast pace (56th-fastest nationally), shoot a lot of 3-pointers (29.2 per game is ninth-most nationally), make a lot of 3-pointers (10 per game is 19th-most nationally) and hit the glass hard (top-100 offensive rebounding rate).

On paper, that’s bad news for a WSU team that ranks 13th in conference play in 3-point shooting defense — opponents are making 39.7% of triples against the Shockers — and 12th in defensive rebounding rate.

A lot of long shots means a lot of long rebounds on the defensive end for the Shockers. Limiting UTSA to one shot will be a key to victory for WSU, and Mills is challenging the team’s guards to help out with the effort.

“Your bigger players are down there wrestling bears, so your guards have to stick their nose in there and be able to come up with the basketball,” Mills said on his radio show. “And you have to know where to run to. You have to do a good job defensively of rebounding around the free-throw line. You can’t just run into the restricted arc. So getting our guards in the right areas and more engaged is a priority.”

UTSA features one of the best scorers in the conference in 6-foot-3 junior guard Jordan Ivy-Curry, who is averaging 18.8 points and 3.8 assists. Point guard Christian Tucker averages 12.6 points and 5.7 assists, and 7-foot center Carlton Linguard averages 10.4 points and 5.9 rebounds with the ability to knock down 3s.

Because the Roadrunners have a center who can routinely hit 3-pointers, WSU’s typical drop coverage with Quincy Ballard in the pick-and-roll game will be challenged. Mills said WSU will have to adjust its coverages and play differently on defense than it has for most of the season.

But in order to return to winning, Mills said it begins with the players believing in themselves to make the right plays in the clutch.

“We need to double down on (our belief),” Mills said on his radio show. “We need to go even harder, we need to believe longer, we need to be more engaged. And we need to bet on ourselves and bet on our teammates.”

UTSA at Wichita State basketball preview

Records: UTSA 8-14, 2-7 AAC; WSU 9-13, 1-8 AAC

When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Koch Arena (10,506), Wichita

How to watch: ESPN+ (Shane Dennis with Bob Hull)

Radio: KEYN, 103.7-FM (Mike Kennedy with Dave Dahl)

KenPom says: WSU 84, UTSA 74

Series history: WSU leads 2-0 (2-0 in Wichita)