The RoundHouse | 3/13/2019 11:21:00 AM

 
Wichita State freshman Dexter Dennis remembers the uncertainty of his first road trip and a tough game against Providence. He remembers how hard Markis McDuffie played, how he scrambled to deflect passes and harass shooters, dove for loose balls and pursued rebounds.
 
When Dennis is asked about McDuffie's influence on the youngest team of coach Gregg Marshall's career, he responds with examples of defense, rebounding and hustle.
 
He does not mention McDuffie's scoring.
 
"Exactly," Dennis said.
 
McDuffie, a 6-foot-8 senior, leads the Shockers in scoring with an average of 17.9 points. For parts of the season, McDuffie carried the offense and the Shocker rose and fell on his performance. Twenty-six points against Alabama. Twenty-three on 9-of-15 shooting in a win over UCF to close a four-game stretch in which he averaged 22.5 points and 5.5 rebounds and made 52 percent (13 of 25) of his three-pointers against the top four finishers in the conference standings. Twenty-seven points at Tulsa.
 
For all the three-pointers, shimmies at the foul line and fall-away jumpers, his teammates appreciate his effort during the tough times.
 
Dennis earned All-Freshman honors in the American Athletic Conference on Monday. He is the future and he learned from McDuffie, starting with his 32 points and two steals in an 83-80 win over Providence at the Naval Academy in early November.
 
"We didn't really know how to make those winning plays that Coach talks about all the time," Dennis said. "That game, he showed me what being a Shocker really, really meant. The winning plays."
 
McDuffie's legacy at Wichita State will include a different ending than his well-known predecessors. He won big for the first three seasons as part of experienced teams. McDuffie then took on the challenge of keeping a difficult season from turning into disaster and showing the newcomers how things are done.
 
"That's me being here, me knowing what it takes to win," McDuffie said. "Me being a Shocker player. Me knowing what the fans want. I'm not the biggest guy. I'm not the strongest guy. I just know how to play the game of basketball and I love to compete."
 
Earlier this season, McDuffie dropped a "young guys these days" after a game when talking about his teammates. He often speaks like a proud father when asked about the progress of teammates such as Dennis, Asbjørn Midtgaard and Jamarius Burton. 
 
Wichita State, after a 1-6 start to conference play, went 9-2. They set their sights on finishing sixth and did so with a 17-13 record, 10-8 in the American. They could not have done it without McDuffie, both his scoring and his work on defense.
 
"He's a high-energy guy on both ends, even if offense isn't going our way," freshman guard Erik Stevenson said. "That's helped us a lot."
 
The Shockers improved over the past month and they learned how to win without big efforts from McDuffie. They smacked Tulsa 81-60 on the road when he missed all six of his three-pointers and won at SMU 67-55 despite McDuffie's 4-of-17 shooting.
 
"That's all the hard work, all the tough times," McDuffie said. "Coach has done a great job, pushing these guys to be better. Now these guys are maturing."
 
Marshall calls McDuffie a bridge – the last on the roster who played with Ron Baker, Fred VanVleet and Evan Wessel, the last who played in an MVC game and the one who takes ownership of the future with current teammates.
 
"He has been a true warrior for us," Marshall said. "This guy has come to practice and played as hard as he possible could - every single night."
 
Wichita State's success starts in practice. Marshall sums up McDuffie and fellow senior Samajae Haynes-Jones by describing them in those settings. 
 
"For guys that are used to winning and winning big - like myself and Markis and Samajae - it was tough," Marshall said. "There's been times where it's really been tough. Those guys come every day, whether they are a little bit down they don't show it, they keep fighting - they keep trying to persevere through the adversity. That's all you can ask as a coach."
 
McDuffie earned second-team All-American Athletic Conference honors on Monday, adding to a resume that includes All-Missouri Valley Conference honors and runner-up in MVC Player of the Year voting in 2017 and MVC Freshman of the Year in 2016.
 
He came to Wichita State as a 17-year-old freshman, always smiling, bouncing, personable and a little goofy. Four years later, he is the old guy in the locker room, the leader who played in three NCAA Tournaments and will leave Wichita State with a distinctive legacy.
 
"It's the way he approaches you, it's in such a positive manner," Haynes-Jones said. "That rubs off on a lot of people, making them feel more positive about themselves. He's always there for me when I need him. Even when things aren't perfect."
 
He and Haynes-Jones presided over the program's remake, endured a stretch of seven losses in eight games, and guided a team with nine newcomers playing. Their contributions to Wichita State as seniors will be remembered for carrying a team with freshmen playing almost half its minutes to a better future.
 
"Those moments I'll never forget," McDuffie said after his final regular-season game at Koch Arena. "That's why I appreciate being here so much. The way they cheer for defense and hard work. Not only because we make a shot, because we are making plays and playing the Shocker way - Shocker basketball."

Sixth-seeded Wichita State opens play in the American Athletic Conference Tournament vs. 11th-seeded East Carolina (10-20) at 9 p.m. Thursday (ESPNU) in Memphis.
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.