The RoundHouse | 2/6/2019 9:09:00 PM
Wichita State did not shoot the ball well and won 65-49, which is a throwback for the Shockers. They played excellent defense, out-rebounded East Carolina by 19 and limited their turnovers to 10.
The Shockers of previous seasons won a lot of road games that way. They took defense and hustle on the road, which helped when shots didn't fall. In Wednesday's win at Minges Coliseum, the Shockers (11-11, 4-6 American Athletic Conference) survived 39-percent shooting with effort and execution.
If the Shockers are going to return to their "road warrior" ways, winning in that gritty manner is necessary.
Young teams, bad teams let their defense falter when shots don't go in the basket. Teams that can win don't let poor shooting drag down their defense. Consider Wednesday's effort – against a poor shooting team, to be sure – an indication the Shockers are moving in the right direction.
The defensive effort started with Dexter Dennis and others shutting down ECU freshman star Jayden Gardner. Wichita State kept the ball out of Gardner's hands and limited him to 11 points and five rebounds on four shots.
Gardner entered the game averaging 18.3 points and 9.2 rebounds. The American's top teams, however, are able to smother him and the Shockers joined Houston and UConn in holding him under double figures.
The Shockers dominated the backboards by grabbing 14 offensive rebounds.
Jaime Echenique (10) and Asbjorn Midtgaard (a career-high 11) dominated the smaller Pirates (9-13, 2-8). The Shockers held ECU to 34.6-percent shooting (18 of 52).
By Ken Pomeroy's statistics, the Shockers limited ECU to .816 points per possession (their third-lowest number this season), 38.5 percent effective field goal percentage (second) and 36.8 percent two-point shooting (also third).
Wichita State won its first road game of the season after losing six.
The Shockers can realistically set a goal for a record .500 or above. Perhaps they can also think about a run at a top-half finish in the American Athletic Conference standings.
For either to happen, Wichita State almost certainly had to win its four games against ECU and Tulane. That would get the Shockers to a minimum of seven conference wins with five others to get the nine or more it will likely take to finish sixth or higher.
January was brutal for the Shockers. February offers a more level playing field and, so far, the Shockers are taking advantage. Half the remaining eight games are at home. They play at SMU and Tulsa after defeating those schools at Koch Arena.
The Shockers can think about these goals now that they've got a three-game win streak to stand on.
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
