The RoundHouse | 1/13/2021 9:09:00 AM

 
 
Quietly, perhaps surprisingly so, the Tulsa-Wichita State series is approaching what people envisioned when the schools resumed conference hostilities in 2017-18.
 
The Shockers joined the American Athletic Conference that season and much of the focus landed on Cincinnati and Houston, because of their status, and Memphis' hype. 
 
Tulsa, which shared last season's conference title with those two, is forcing its way into that picture. On Wednesday, the Golden Hurricane visits Koch Arena and the rivalry – sustained mostly by memories of the 1980s – enjoys another chance to heat up.
 
Wednesday's game matters to the conference race and the hard work of building an NCAA Tournament resume. The Shockers won the first matchup, 69-65 on Dec. 15, catching the Hurricane after a 10-day COVID-19 layoff and two postponed games.
 
"This is a huge basketball game against Tulsa," Wichita State interim coach Isaac Brown said. "They're 4-1, the hottest team in the league, the defending champions. This will help us if it's a tie-breaker rule in the end, if we could win two games over those guys."
 
The Shockers had won five in a row and 12 of 13 in the series before last season, all of which put a chill on a rivalry which lacked high stakes. That is changing.
 
The teams met in Tulsa with the Shockers ranked No. 23 and both teams near the top of the conference. Tulsa won 54-51 on a last-second three by Elijah Joiner, leading to a court-storming and putting the Hurricane in first place.
 
Wichita State responded with a 79-57 win in the regular-season finale to deny Tulsa sole possession of the conference title.
 
That is a good start to creating importance in a rivalry. Wednesday might be another. Tulsa (7-3, 4-1 American) and Wichita State (7-3, 3-1) trail No. 11 Houston (10-1, 5-1) in the standings. The winner keeps pace at the top. The loser falls into the middle. 
 
"We have the opportunity to be in first with Houston with a win," Brown said. "(Tulsa is) a good basketball team, so we've just got to do a good job of just handling that matchup zone, being able to make shots, trying to get out in transition, to get some easy ones and defending and rebounding at a high level."
 
The Hurricane plays excellent defense – ranking fourth nationally by holding opponents to 36.1 percent shooting – and the skill is equal parts physical and mental. Tulsa switches defenses often and favors a matchup zone. That forces the opposition to think and hesitate. 
 
Shooters with a clouded mind often aren't good shooters.
 
"I think No. 1, we've got to try to get out in transition where they can't set the zone up," Brown said. "If we can beat them down in transition on makes and misses and try to attack the rim at that point, that helps us in our scoring. If we can't get out in transition and we've got to go against their set defenses, we've got to make sure we do a good job of attacking it. 
 
In Tulsa, the Shockers made 10 of 26 three-pointers and grabbed 15 offensive rebounds. They led by as many as 17 in the first half after making seven threes.
The Hurricane shot poorly – 8 of 31 from three-point range. The game also served as a breakout for the Wichita State bench, which contributed 33 points. Ricky Council IV scored 13 and Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler added 10.
 
"We've got to have a lot of movement," Brown said. "We've got to be able to penetrate the gaps. Then at some point you've got to be able to make a wide-open shot. We got off to a good start versus them the last game because we made four threes early in the game."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.