Wichita State players finished final exams last week, then past another test on Saturday against Norfolk State. Today at his weekly press conference, head coach Isaac Brown talked about the team's offensive improvements and looked ahead to Tuesday night's opponent, Alcorn State. Read on for some of the highlights.
 
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HEAD COACH ISAAC BROWN ON…
 
… Alcorn State:
"One thing I'll say about Alcorn State is that you have to be a really tough team to be able to play 16-straight games on the road. A lot of these MEAC schools and SWAC schools have to raise money for their programs. I saw one team we're playing this year, Prairie View A&M, actually plays three straight days on the road, three back-to-back games. Alcorn State is a very tough team. They're scrappy and they play hard. They won at Milwaukee, and Milwaukee has a kid that is supposed to be a top-20 draft pick in the NBA Draft, and two or three other games, they were right there. I saw when they played Southern Illinois that they were up 16, so we just have to be ready to go. We've got to continue to get better."
 
… On the team's improvement over that last week:
"I was very pleased. In practice, it's all we worked on: taking care of the basketball, taking good shots, taking fewer dribbles, a lot of movement, a lot of cutting hard, a lot of setting screens for your teammate to get a wide-open shot, and we had 18 assists and eight turnovers. I thought that was excellent."
 
… Where the Norfolk State game ranks on WSU's list of top offensive performances:
"We've played some good games this year offensively. At Missouri down the stretch, we executed. At Oklahoma State, we executed down the stretch, but we've got to continue to get better in transition, number one. I thought we did a better job in transition, not turning the basketball over. I thought we did a great job at the free throw line. We just have to continue to have movement on offense, a lot of spacing, and guys need to continue to knock down threes at a high clip."
 
… If Craig Porter Jr. needs to score more to be a threat on offense:
"I think he needs to look to take wide-open shots. Every day in practice when Craig gets the ball and they swing it to him and he has a wide-open shot, I'm screaming, 'Shoot the ball. Shoot the ball. You've got to take that shot. If you're not going to take that shot now, it's hard to make those shots in the game.' So he's been doing a better job of taking those shots in practice. He can make a wide open three. I've seen him do it. He's just so unselfish. He's always trying to get his teammates shots, but I need him to be shot-prep ready in order to make a wide-open shot, which I know he can make."
 
…Potential areas of improvement heading down the final stretch before conference play:
"The number one thing we talk about on offense is pushing the ball in transition, trying to get easy baskets before they set up a set defense, executing, trying to get the ball inside to Morris, trying to go inside to Joe Pleasant. We want to play inside-out and just take good shots. I think anytime we take good shots, we shoot a good percentage, and on defense, our pressure. We've got to get after teams with our 1-2-2 press. We've got to make sure we do a good job of protecting the paint, not letting the ball get inside, and then we've got to rebound. We need to step up our rebounding because, as you get into conference, you start playing teams that are a little bit more athletic."
 
… Udeze's improvements over the last two weeks:
"I think early on in the season we were turning it over a lot. Morris was turning it over. I think the first three or four games, he had four turnovers in the first half, so he's doing a better job handling other teams, double teams, and digging inside. He's making good passes to teammates. He's going quicker. When he gets the ball inside, he doesn't wait. He just goes right up and scores a basket, and that's helping us. When he can score inside, that makes us a better team overall."
 
… The residual effect, if any, of playing overtime with Arizona (now No. 1 in the NCAA NET):
"In my mind, I think we can play with anybody when those guys play the right way and when we execute our offense, don't turn it over, take good shots. The defense has always been there. We just have to do a better job of rebounding. In that game against Arizona, we didn't rebound well, and it led to 42 free throws, but if we can play like that on any given night, we can play with anybody in the country, I think."
 
… The team's success blocking shots despite not having much size in the front court:
"Our guards can block shots, so a lot of times in transition when guards are dribbling down, Porter blocks a lot of shots, Dexter does it, and Ricky Council IV, and I think our big guys do a good job of being in the right position and helping the weak side. If a guard gets beat, Kenny's always running over to block a shot. Morris Udeze does a good job, and that's what we have to do in order to be a good basketball team. Again, we won basketball games around here because we defend, we rebound, and we play with toughness. We just have to do a better job on the glass. We've got to do a better job of going to the offensive glass and getting second shots. If we can start getting ten to twelve offensive rebounds and limit the other team to only about eight offensive rebounds, I think our overall offensive and defensive numbers will both go up."
 
… Redshirt candidates Jalen Ricks and Isaac Abidde:
"I already told Jalen he was going to redshirt. He was excited about that, just to be in practice every day. He's out. He's got a meniscus he has to have surgery on. He hurt it in practice shooting a jump shot and he played through it. He's been in practice every day just watching and cheering on his teammates. He's doing well. He's had a positive attitude. His goal is to get bigger and stronger. He's a guy that can shoot the basketball. He's got good size and length. He's a big guard. He's only 18 years old, so he's going to continue to get better. Isaac hasn't played much. There's a chance I'll meet with Isaac really soon, but he's had a positive attitude in practice. He comes every day ready to work. He hasn't been negative one day. He hasn't played in a game, but every day, he's been really positive. He's been on the scout team every day in practice. He's doing a good job and getting better. He can shoot the three-pointer, he can handle it, he's gotten bigger and stronger, and my vision for those two guys is the same. I think they're going to be a great player at Wichita State for a long time."
 
… Cobbling together a scout team with just 12 healthy bodies:
"The good thing about it, number one, is that Kenny (Pohto) has had a great attitude, and he's a really smart, high basketball IQ freshman, so a lot of times, I put him on the scout team because I know he understands and watches film and knows exactly what the other team is doing offensively that he can guard, so I don't have to have him with the starting team as much. Isaac (Abidde) has done a great job with the scout team. Steele (Gaston-Chapman) has done a great job. Chaunce Jenkins and Clarence Jackson. What we do is, I start those five guys on the scout team, and we go for about 10 minutes, and then we'll flip it. I'll put the starters on the scout team, and those other five guys that normally come off the bench will be Wichita State going up against the scout team. They've been positive. We've got short numbers. Everybody's having a good attitude, and things have been going well."