The RoundHouse | 2/11/2018 9:24:00 AM

Roundhouse review: No. 22 Wichita State 95, UConn 74
 
By Paul Suellentrop
 
Key stats: Wichita State's offense compiled a season-high Pomeroy offensive efficiency rating, scoring 1.43 points per possession.
 
That is Wichita State's eighth-highest total since Pomeroy's service began in 2001-02. Last season's team passed 1.50 twice, against Evansville and Maryland Eastern Shore.
 
The Shockers average 1.19 points per possession this season (ranked No. 13 nationally) and the national average is 1.05. Pomeroy's rating (which assigns value to offense on a possession basis to remove tempo as a distraction) loves three-pointers, free throws and hates turnovers.
 
The Shockers excelled in all those categories against UConn.
 
The Shockers shot 52.4 percent from the field, 50 percent from three-point range and made 15 of 20 foul shots. Twenty-four assists and nine turnovers contributed to the visually pleasing performance. Fifteen offensive rebounds, which produced 16 points, added the grit.
 
Shocker coach Gregg Marshall is more of a grit guy. He can appreciate the aesthetics of crisp passing that leads to an open shot.
 
"That's not something I want to coach - pretty basketball - but it is a thing to marvel at sometimes," he said. "The way they share it, and the way the ball moves side-to-side. Sometimes a really good shot, they give it up for a really great shot. That's really rare when they don't improve the quality of the shot with that extra pass."
 
Wichita State's passing and cutting forced the Huskies to do a lot of chasing and they often seemed two steps behind.
 
"Our defense was just horrible," UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. "We didn't get out on shooters. They do have some great shooters. And that ball is not stopping. We've got to make third- and fourth-effort plays and we didn't do that."

Wichita State's top Pomeroy offensive efficiency ratings since 2001-02:

Season	Opponent	Efficiency	Score
2016-17	Evansville	155.1	W, 109-83
2016-17	Maryland Eastern Shore	151.8	W, 116-79
2006-07	Maryland Eastern Shore	150.1	W, 102-46
2011-12	UNLV	147.0	W, 89-70
2004-05	Evansville	145.5	W, 91-81
2004-05	Houston	144.2	W, 85-69
2013-14	Southern Illinois	144.0	W, 82-67
2017-18	UConn	143.0	W, 95-74

 
Records: UConn 12-13, 5-7 American (No. 173 Pomeroy, No. 99 RPI); Wichita State 19-5, 9-3 American (No. 18 Pomeroy, No. 19 RPI)
 
Topper: Wichita State's offense works when guard Landry Shamet works. If he is free to run the offense, pass and shoot, there are too many weapons for most teams to keep pace.
 
Shamet encounters a lot of physical defensive attention – bumping, trapping, holding, pushing. Houston's aggressive defense took Shamet (and all the Shockers) out of their game in a 73-59 loss in which he committed three turnovers and the team 18.
 
In the past two games, Shamet handled physical play from Memphis and UConn quite well. Neither team held up defensively after the first few passes and Shamet exploited that to help the Shockers shoot better than 50 percent in both games and limit turnovers to 17 total.
 
Shamet got his first taste of the bumps and bruises to come against Oklahoma State.
 
"When I was football-sore after Oklahoma State, that's when it really hit me," he said. "I knew that with all the, meaningless as it was, the attention in the preseason I was getting, clearly a spotlight was there. That had to be their game-plan, to just be super-physical and try to take me out of the game."
 
That game-plan hasn't changed much, although some teams are better equipped to play that style than others. Marshall was thrilled with the way Shamet handled the pressure from Memphis' guards.
 
"Five assists and no turnovers with all that pressure," Marshall said. "They were on him the second half, a lot of beating and banging. He was getting ridden. He battled with a lot of contact and didn't turn the ball over."
 
Shamet's ability to deal with beating and banging will determine how the rest of the season unfolds. Up next is Temple, which forced 16 turnovers in its win over the Shockers in Philadelphia. Two games with Cincinnati, one of the nation's top defensive teams, await.
 
"It's like anything – if you're seeing it over and over you're going to become more adept at handling those kind of situations," he said. "If you don't play well one game, you get back and you expect the same approach (from defenses)."
 
Shamet leads the American in assists (5.2 a game) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.6). In conference games, he averages 5.8 assists and a 2.8 ratio, also tops in the conference.
 
"I don't really let that stuff get in my head," he said. "It makes every catch, every possession somewhat of a challenge. A lot of guys try to be physical and get to you. I kind of enjoy it."
 
Lineup check: When most of the rotation plays well, the Shockers score 95 points and win by 21. Most notably, guard Conner Frankamp made 4 of 5 three-pointers to score 14 points off the bench.
 
That's history: Marshall won No. 150 in Koch Arena to improve to 150-21 in 11 seasons  . . . UConn made its first visit to Wichita State, as did American opponents Central Florida and South Florida. Tulane is also a first-time home opponent for the Shockers.
 
Numbers: Rashard Kelly grabbed 10 rebounds, his eighth game this season with 10 or more. That matches Carl Hall (2012-13) for the most by a Shocker since Garrett Stutz totaled 13 double-figure rebound games in 2011-12.

Kelly has 81 offensive rebounds this season (five more on Saturday), which ranks third on Wichita State's season list behind Steve Grayer's 103 in 1988-89 and Larry Callis' 90 in 1994-95.
 
Worth noting: The Shockers held their turnovers to single digits for the fourth time in five games and eighth time this season. They topped 20 assists for the ninth time . . . Wichita State won its seventh American game by 18 or more points.
 
Next up: vs. Temple (15-10, 7-6), 6 p.m. Thursday – The Owls dealt the Shockers one of their most disappointing losses on Feb. 1. Wichita State led by 10 points in the second half and 79-74 in overtime before losing 81-79 in Philadelphia.
 
Temple will bring a five-game win streak to Koch Arena.
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.