The RoundHouse | 11/9/2019 5:57:00 PM

 
The Shockers looked at the box score as they sat at the table in the Koch Arena interview room. Dexter Dennis turned it over and said "Not going to look at that too much." Erik Stevenson realized the numbers signaled a difficult practice coming Monday.
 
"We survived," Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. "We did not play particularly well. They really defended us well. They knew exactly what we were doing."
 
There are reasons the Shockers struggled so much in Saturday's 69-63 win over Texas Southern. 
 
They are down two starters to injury and they miss both the scoring and the understanding of the offense that center Jaime Echenique and point guard Jamarius Burton offer. Their absence leaves a bunch of freshmen and sophomores. Last season, Texas Southern won at Baylor, Oregon and Texas A&M on its way to 21 wins. Tigers special assistant Randy Peele worked with Marshall at Winthrop, which helped the scouting report.
 
However, the box score provides good reason for Stevenson's concern about upcoming video and practice. The Shockers (2-0) will put in a lot of work on offense to improve on 24.2-percent shooting (16 of 66) and six assists. 
 
"We'll have their full and undivided attention for some good practices," Marshall said. "We looked like a team that didn't have any seniors. We had some bad shots. We had some shots we should have made. We had some poor execution that took us out of shots."
 
As the assist total indicates, the Shockers are leaning too much on dribbling, rushed shots, contested shots and one-on-one moves and not enough on using screens, cuts, movement, timing and passing to set up shots. Neither of the starting guards (Stevenson and Grant Sherfield) recorded an assist. 
 
"I've got to get them to execute better," Marshall said. "Now, maybe, they'll understand just trying to go get one, it's hard, playing one on one."
 
As in the opener, good execution stood out. The Shockers got Asbjorn Midtgaard a short hook for a basket in the first half. That type of teamwork didn't happen often enough.
 
"We've got a lot of work to do," Dennis said. "The second half, I think we picked it up and started to run a little more stuff that Coach was calling. We were a little more under control."
 
The Shockers were forced to win with defense and rebounding and they did. If this team understands that at this early date, it's a plus.
 
Wichita State held the Tigers to 38.2-percent shooting and out-rebounded them 47-39. The Shockers grabbed 18 offensive rebounds and scored 19 second-chance points. 
 
Add in turnovers – the Shockers committed eight and forced 20. Poor shooting, however, meant Wichita State scored a mere nine points off those 20 turnovers.
 
Wichita State turned all those possessions into a big edge at the foul line. It made 34 of 42 free throws to outscore Texas Southern by 17. 
 
Sherfield made 9 of 14 foul shots and scored 13 points. Stevenson scored a career-high 22 points, 18 in the second half, and made all nine of his foul shots. Dennis, who scored 19 points to match his career high, made 7 of 8 free throws.
 
"The defensive end is what carried us," Stevenson said. "There's no way we should have won that game without our defensive effort."
 
That is evidence the Shockers didn't let a miserable shooting day affect them on defense. Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler and Stevenson took charges in the final minutes, to protect a 62-57 lead.
 
"We won with our defense and rebounding," Marshall said.
 
The debut of freshman guard Noah Fernandes provided some good injury news. Fernandes missed the opener and about nine weeks of practice with a foot injury.
 
Throughout the summer, Fernandes impressed coaches with his ball-handling and play-making and is described as a true point guard.
 
Fernandes played 8 minutes, 13 seconds on Saturday and didn't score. He returned to practice on Thursday, Marshall said.
 
"I thought he did a pretty good job – he didn't turn the ball over," Marshall said. "I knew it was just going to be a few minutes that he could go. He looked a half a step slower, because he's really quick. It looked like he was trying to get his sea legs back."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.