Jim Mashek

WKU STRUGGLES WITH SHOT SELECTION, TRANSITION DEFENSE IN LOSS TO SHOCKERS

There was a sense of anticipation, of nostalgia, of Western Kentucky University men’s basketball back in the national narrative.

The possibilities were there.

Wichita State was unfazed. The Shockers were confident on Opening Night at WKU’s historic E.A. Diddle Arena. They were poised, to strike for an upset. They pushed the ball upcourt, and they drilled 11 shots from 3-point range.

They weren’t going to be denied.

Wichita State led for nearly the entire second half, and turned back one WKU challenge after another in holding off the Hilltoppers, 91-84, before an enthusiastic Diddle crowd of 4,547.

Good portions of said turnout that started streaming for the exits in the final minute of the game.

“Obviously, we can’t keep giving up 91 points if we expect to win,” WKU coach Hank Plona said.

Plona, in his first game as the WKU head coach after succeeding Steve Lutz last March, had reason to be encouraged by the Hilltoppers’ grit, their tenacity. He praised the crowd that showed up to celebrate last year’s Conference USA Tournament championship and return to the NCAA Tournament field for the first time since 2013.

He didn’t sugar-coat anything.

“We were probably the more aggressive team, I don’t know, the first 10 or 15 minutes,” Plona said. “The last 25 minutes or so, on both ends (of the floor), they had the physicality and aggressiveness that usually leads to winning.”

The Hilltoppers were without the services of 6-foot-11 senior Blaise Keita, who was nursing a bone bruise injury. Plona, the former Indian Hills (Iowa) Community College head coach, went with a smaller starting lineup against the Shockers, turning to 5-foot-10 sophomore guard Jack Edelen to complete his starting five. Edelen had turned in a strong effort in last week’s 88-79 loss to UAB in exhibition play.

Wichita State grabbed the early momentum, but there were four lead changes in the first half before the Shockers took a 43-38 bulge into the locker room. Wichita State closed the first half on an 11-2 run, with the Shockers’ A.J. McGinnis hitting his only field goal of the night, a 3-pointer from the right wing with four seconds left in the half.

The first-half finish may have flustered WKU senior guard Don McHenry, the All-Conference USA star who finished the night with 21 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Athletic forward Babacar Faye, a native of Senegal who transferred to WKU from the College of Charleston, turned in a strong effort while leading the Hilltoppers with a game-high 28 points and eight rebounds.

“I don’t want to say they figured out our press,” McHenry said, “but I think instead of us continuing to wear them down, it started wearing on us a little bit … It kind of opened up, for sure.”

Wichita State, playing in its first true road opener since 1992, played with the kind of ball movement WKU coach Hank Plona was looking for, long before the Hilltoppers took the court against the tradition-rich Shockers.

Junior guard Justin Hill led the way for the Shockers with a game-high 31 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including a 4-for-7 clip from 3-point range. Xavier Bell, a Wichita native who returned to his hometown school after beginning his college career at Drexel, finished with 17 points, including a 3-for-7 showing from downtown.

All told, the Shockers hit 11 of 27 shots (40.7 percent) from 3-point range, compared to the Hilltoppers’ shaky 6-for-25 effort (24 percent) beyond the arc.

That’s a recipe for disaster, right there.

“I’m disappointed, in the bottom line,” WKU coach Hank Plona said. “. . . (Wichita State was) getting to the rim, and having too much room shooting the three. We’re going to have to get scoring from more people … We’ve got to figure out how to move the (opposing) defense with multiple passes.”

In other words, the Tops took a lot of bad shots.

“We didn’t shoot it very well,” McHenry said.

The Hilltoppers seemed to be without a ‘glue’ player, such as former WKU swingman Brandon Newman, who had one solid season in Bowling Green before following Steve Lutz to Oklahoma State and the prestigious Big 12 Conference. Newman also was with Lutz at Purdue, before Lutz got his first head coaching job at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

There was a bright spot for the Hilltoppers in the second-half play of 6-foot-4 freshman guard Julius Thedford, who had 11 points and four rebounds in less than 14 minutes on the floor for the game. Three Wichita State players — Corey Washington, Matej Bosnjak and Ronnie DeGray III — had two blocked shots, and the Shockers held the lead for nearly the entire second half.

WKU forward Babacar Faye’s strong play near the basket — he hit 9 of 16 shots from the field — helped keep the Hilltoppers within striking distance down the stretch, but the Shockers had the antidote they needed to spoil the home debut of the Hank Plona Era at WKU.

The Hilltoppers are on the road to face Grand Canyon University on Saturday night in Phoenix, before returning home to face NAIA opponent Campbellsville College next Tuesday night at Diddle. Grand Canyon was an NCAA Tournament team last year under former Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew, and the Antelopes opened their season on Monday with an 89-79 victory over Cal State-Fullerton.

“We’ve got to emphasize ‘staying in the moment,'” Plona said. “You can’t put your head down, when things don’t go your way … We’re trying to get back to the NCAA Tournament. We’re trying to make progress for where we want to go.”