Yahoo Sports Struggles continue for Shocker basketball in UTSA loss for 0-3 AAC start: 3 takeaways
Two-a-day practices and come-to-Jesus meetings did little to reverse course for the Wichita State men’s basketball team.
The Shockers still struggled to defend, still struggled with the same mistakes and still struggled to make outside shots in an 88-75 loss to UTSA at Convocation Center on Saturday afternoon.
Everything seemed like a struggle for the third straight game, as WSU (10-6, 0-3 AAC) will try to find answers following its fourth straight 0-3 start in American Athletic Conference play with a short turnaround coming. The Shockers have a home game against Charlotte slated for Tuesday.
Even with a subpar game from the nation’s third leading scorer Primo Spears, who finished with eight points one game after erupting for 40, UTSA (7-8, 1-3 AAC) snapped a 3-game losing streak behind 15 3-pointers and 21 points from Marcus Millender. Xavier Bell led WSU with a game-high 23 points, while Quincy Ballard added 22 points on 11-of-12 shooting.
Here are three takeaways from the loss:
1. Turnovers top long list of problems for Wichita State
There’s a laundry list of issues to pick from to begin to dissect what went wrong for WSU on Saturday.
Missed defensive rotations, missed box-outs and missed shots were all once again problems, but perhaps the most aggravating problem of all was the ball-handling miscues.
WSU finished with 16 turnovers, which is a high total but doesn’t sound like an exorbitant amount — it was more about when and how the turnovers occurred.
The Shockers never played particularly well on Saturday, but they did manage to scrounge together some momentum on the heels of a 6-1 run that trimmed UTSA’s lead to 22-19 midway through the first half. But that’s when the two most costly turnovers of the game sent the team into a tailspin.
Following a UTSA 3-pointer, WSU point guard Justin Hill stumbled with his dribble before reaching halfcourt and threw a panic pass that was picked off and turned into two easy points at the other end. Seconds later, nearly the same exact thing happened with WSU’s other point guard — Bijan Cortes lost his dribble against light pressure and the turnover was converted into a thunderous dunk at the other end.
Throw in a clanked 3-pointer by WSU and a swished 3-pointer by UTSA — a fair encapsulation of the game — and the Roadrunners used WSU’s mistakes to fuel a 10-0 run in 70 seconds that flipped the game for good.
A one-possession game became a 13-point game and the Shockers spent the final 22 minutes trailing by double digits and by as many as 22 points in the second half.
Tempers flared late in the game when WSU’s Corey Washington was whistled for a foul call on a shot attempt by UTSA’s Primo Spears with 3:27 remaining and the Roadrunners up 17 points. After coming away with the ball, Washington flipped it toward Spears on the ground in frustration and Spears tossed it back up and hit Washington in the head.
A dust-up on the court ensued and just seconds after cooler heads prevailed and the players were separated on opposite ends of the court, a scrap broke out between opposing assistant coaches at the scorer’s table. It appeared that WSU assistant Quincy Acy slightly bumped UTSA graduate assistant Pierce Spencer, which led to Spencer pushing Acy and the two sides having to be separated again.
After the dust settled, Washington and Spears both earned technicals for their roles in the original scuffle, while Spencer was also assessed a technical. The game ended without incident and the handshake line was also drama-free.
2. WSU outscored by 27 points on 3-pointers
Teams are often able to mask their deficiencies in nonconference play better because those teams are usually preparing on just a day or two of scouting.
When it comes to league play, everybody knows everybody and the opposition knows your strengths and weaknesses better than anyone.
WSU managed to survive without much shot-making from the perimeter in nonconference play, but its inability to score from distance has become a glaring problem for the team in an 0-3 start to AAC play.
Even with a late flurry of 3s (all six came in the final 15 minutes), WSU was out-scored by 27 points beyond the arc on Saturday. In total, opponents have out-scored the Shockers by 60 points on 3-pointers in three games.
Compounding the issue of WSU not being able to make 3s of its own is that the team allows its opponent to have a field day beyond the arc. Temple made nine 3s on 45% accuracy, South Florida made 12 3s on 46% accuracy and UTSA made 15 3s on 50% accuracy.
Add it up and opponents have made 36 3s on 47.4% accuracy, while WSU has made 16 3s on 29.1% accuracy in conference play.
3. Another first achieved by AAC team against Shockers
After South Florida beat Wichita State at Koch Arena for the first time, another first was achieved by a conference foe against the Shockers on Saturday.
It’s far from an extensive series history, but UTSA registered its first win in program history over the Shockers on Saturday. Before UTSA joined the AAC last season, the Shockers and Roadrunners had only played twice — both wins by WSU at home in 1998 and 2004.
UTSA, picked to finish tied for 11th in the preseason conference poll, entered Saturday’s game with a 4-8 record against Division I competition with a No. 281 ranking in the NET and No. 267 ranking in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency.
Up next: Shockers vs. Charlotte at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN+
The search for WSU’s first conference win continues on Tuesday when the struggling 49ers come to Koch Arena for the first time ever. Charlotte (7-9) is riding a 4-game losing streak entering Saturday night’s road game at Tulsa.
Other info on WSU-UTSA basketball game
While WSU had played UTSA three times before Saturday’s meeting, the Shockers had never played the Roadrunners in San Antonio.
Corey Washington registered his third double-double of the season in Monday’s loss to South Florida with 15 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 5 steals. Meanwhile, Quincy Ballard logged three double-doubles in the past four games.
Ballard leads the American Athletic Conference in blocks per game (2.07) and ranks 26th nationally. He moved into fourth on WSU’s career blocks list earlier this season and is on pace to shatter the career record for blocks per game at 2.02.
Xavier Bell had scored in double digits in seven straight games entering Saturday’s game, including a WSU career-high 29 points in a win over Friends.
WSU continues to have three players missing in action due to injury: senior forward Ronnie DeGray III (fractured wrist), freshman wing T.J. Williams (torn meniscus) and senior center Zane Meeks (knee scope). DeGray and Williams both recently returned to practice and suited up for Saturday’s game, while DeGray seems poised to make his return to the court sometime next week during a two-game homestand. It is unclear when Meeks, who has still not returned to practice, will play for the Shockers.
Austin Claunch is in his first season coaching UTSA after one season as an assistant coach at nationally-ranked Alabama and a 5-year stint as head coach at Nicholls State that produced back-to-back conference championships.
UTSA was picked to finish tied for 11th place in the AAC preseason poll. The Roadrunners rank third nationally in free throw percentage (81.8%), seventh in fast-break points (17.4), 11th in steals per game (10.1) and 26th in turnovers forced per game (15.9).
On this date, Jan. 11, Terry Benton recorded his third straight 20-rebound game with a school-record 28 boards in an 82-74 win over Loyola Chicago in 1971; the sixth-ranked Shockers rallied from 19 down at Missouri State to improve to 17-0 and save their perfect season in 2014.
