The RoundHouse | 4/2/2019 10:26:00 AM

 
NEW YORK
 
They're together since early March, on the road to New Orleans, Memphis, South Carolina, Indiana and New York. They explored Greenville, S.C. and Times Square, won under Indiana's five NCAA championship banners and worked out with a view of the skyline from the practice home of the Brooklyn Nets.
 
The togetherness shows, nowhere more than on the defensive end for Wichita State. That defense will endure another difficult test against Lipscomb (28-7) in Tuesday's NIT semifinal (6 p.m., ESPN). The Bisons play fast and shoot accurately to present the Shockers (22-14) challenges along the order of Marshall from last season's NCAA Tournament and Davidson and Furman this season.
 
"This is a great experience for our team," WSU coach Gregg Marshall said Monday. "We've been playing one-and-done basketball for basically a month. We've traversed the country a couple of times. This is a young team and we set a goal to take Markis (McDuffie) home in early February and now we have to try to change that goal. Now, we want to try to end our season on a win."
 
Lipscomb averages 84 points a game, playing at a pace ranked No. 14 nationally by Ken Pomeroy's statistics. The Bisons make 37.9 percent of their three-pointers. Five shooters with 50 or more attempts behind the arc make 37 percent or better. 
 
Senior Garrison Matthews scored 44 points in the quarterfinal win over North Carolina State and makes 41 percent of his threes. Senior forward Rob Marberry shoots 62.7 percent from the field and averages 14.8 points without a three-pointer. Senior forward Eli Pepper is an inside-out threat who makes 40 percent of his threes and averages 7.2 rebounds.
 
"The precision that they run offense (with) is one of the best things that I've seen in college basketball all season," Marshall said. 
 
Lipscomb's precision comes in part from its experience with five starters back from 2017-18. Their maturity showed after a loss to Liberty in the Atlantic Sun Tournament ended their dream to play in the NCAA Tournament.
 
"It's really been a magical ride," Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. "The thing that our team has done best is just stay on task and stay in the moment and treat each day and each game like it deserves. That's really been the formula for why we're here."
 
Wichita State, Marshall joked, wasn't good enough to earn an invitation to its conference tournament in January. Its performance changed dramatically and defense leads the way during a 14-3 run that includes six consecutive road wins, four at teams ranked in the top 70 by Pomeroy.
 
Three of Wichita State's top five defensive efficiency performances, according to Pomeroy, came on the road during that stretch. Three NIT opponents, all playing at home, are shooting 36.7 percent from the field, 27.1 percent from three-point range. The Shockers are out-rebounding NIT opponents 41.3-32.3.
 
"It's us wanting to keep playing with each other," Shocker freshman Dexter Dennis said. "It's us wanting to actually play defense and it's showing."
 
As the team with five freshmen and two juco transfers in the rotation gained experience, the communication and movement on defense improved. Dennis, McDuffie, Jamarius Burton and Samajae Haynes-Jones formed a disruptive unit on the perimeter. Centers Jaime Echenique and Asbjørn Midtgaard guard the rim.
 
The Shockers are now a team that can digest a scouting report on opponent tendencies and strengths and put it into action. Those skills are critical against the Bisons, a team that will fast break at every opportunity. Their pace will and skill will force the Shockers to retreat quickly, perhaps sacrificing offensive rebounds, and talk to match up on shooters fanning around the three-point line.
 
"You saw it during the conference tournament," Haynes-Jones said. "We were very locked in on personnel. When we lost to Cincinnati, we just locked in even more. That's what got us to where we are right now, our defense."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.