The RoundHouse | 1/4/2020 6:46:00 PM
The conditions, Jamarius Burton knew, set up for a shooter to enjoy a big game. Mississippi traps in the half court. Beat that trap and the advantage swings to the offense.
Somebody is open, most times. On Saturday, that somebody was often guard
Erik Stevenson. He made his first three-pointer from the corner when the Wichita State navigated through that 1-3-1 defense and he kept making shots, guarded or not.
"Erik had one of those special days," Wichita State coach
Gregg Marshall said.
Stevenson, a sophomore guard, scored a career-high 29 points in Saturday's 74-54 win over Ole Miss at Koch Arena. He made 9 of 15 shots, 5 of 11 from three-point range, and came back from a cut on his right hand that required five stitches to close after the game.
Marshall sees Stevenson as someone overflowing with confidence – maybe a bit too much at times – and someone who loves to play good opponents. Ole Miss (9-4) qualified as a challenge with its SEC athletes. Wichita State (13-1) won its seventh straight game.
"You've got to bring your top game," Stevenson said. "That adrenalin gets flowing and that ball goes through the basket."
The Shocker offense thrived because Burton, Stevenson and
Grant Sherfield handled the traps. Picking up your dribble is an invitation for the Rebels to close the trap and create turnovers. The Shocker guards kept the ball moving by dribbling through the pressure or passing over it.
When the guards created a man-advantage, they found shooters and Stevenson made the Rebels pay.
"Keeping your dribble allows the defense to not be able to trap you, because you have a way out," Burton said. "We did a great job with that. We knew once we beat any pressure, whether it's half-court or full-court pressure, there will be people on. Erik was on the receiving side of that today and he did a great job knocking down shots."
Stevenson made them from all over. When you're rolling, you can take long three-pointers that perhaps coaches don't love. He made one of those in the second half.
"I just rose up and shot it," he said. "Crowd went pretty crazy. Typically, you'll be coming out if you miss that."
Not on this day. He beat his previous high by seven points with his aunt and her three friends, who traveled from Washington, watching from behind the team bench.
"He loves playing against good teams," Marshall said. "The more intense the game is, the better he plays."
Burton made 6 of 8 shots to score 16 points in 36-plus minutes. He handed out four assists with four turnovers.
Wichita State's offense did its part on defense, as it often goes against teams that pressure.
Ole Miss averaged 17.1 points a game off turnovers in its first 12 games, five times scoring 20 or more. The Rebels need the layups and dunks created by turnovers to get their offense going.
The Shockers starved them of those points. They committed 12 turnovers and the Rebels scored one point off those giveaways.
That forced the Rebels to run their offense against Wichita State's half-court defense most of the game. The Shockers smothered Ole Miss' ball-screens with guards fighting through them and big men directing traffic. The Rebels took a lot of contested jump shots and their numbers show it – 16 of 52 shooting (30.8 percent) and 15 turnovers.
With the Shockers dictating the pace, the Rebels got in a rush and shot too quickly. Guard Tyree Breein was held to nine points on 2-of-9 shooting. While the Shockers focused defenders on Breein and others, they helped off other Rebels, who were unable to make enough shots to thwart that tactic. Ole Miss' five reserves combined to shoot 3 of 13, meaning the Shockers could feel comfortable focusing on better scorers.
"We just couldn't score," Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis said. "They did a great job on Breein and Breein got frustrated."
Marshall credited assistant coach
Isaac Brown for devising the scouting report and the Shockers for following the plan. Ole Miss averaged 16.8 assists a game entering Saturday. Wichita State's defense took away their passes and movement and forced them into guarded shots off the dribble. Ole Miss recorded a season-low five assists.
"They run their offense with such great pace, if you allow them to do that," Marshall said. "We were able to pick the right guys to help off of. Our guys did a wonderful job listening, understanding the strategy."
Wichita State sophomore forward Dexter Dennis returned after sitting out three games during a leave of absence for personal reasons. He entered the game to an ovation in the first half and played almost 10 minutes and did not score.
Marshall remains optimistic that Dennis will return to the form he showed last season, when he averaged 8.4 points and 5.3 rebounds and made 39.9 percent of his three-pointers. He made the American Athletic Conference's All-Freshman team
"When he gets going – and it's going to happen – because I'm going to give him his opportunities," Marshall said. "Boy, you add a guy with his ability . . . He still has the talent. It's going to blossom here real soon as he continues to get healthy."
This season, Dennis averages 6.5 points and is shooting 23.1 percent from behind the arc. He started Wichita State's first seven games.
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
