AfterShocks | 7/16/2021 11:08:00 PM

 
Rashard Kelly and Zach Brown working hard on defense, harassing dribblers, deflecting passes, always in the way.
 
Wichita State won a lot of basketball games from 2014-18 with those two shining in those roles. On Friday, they flashed back to help the AfterShocks survive miserable shooting to defeat Ex-Pats 60-53 in the first round of The Basketball Tournament at Koch Arena.
 
That sets up Sunday's Missouri Valley Conference rivalry against the Omaha Blue Crew – Creighton alums – at 3 p.m.
 
When the AfterShocks couldn't hit a shot, Kelly and Brown kept them energized with their effort. Kelly finished with 16 points, 13 rebounds and three assists. Brown added five points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal.
 
"That's where the heart of it started – being intense on defense," Kelly said. "We love getting stops."
 
While Kelly reminisced about similar scenes while in a Shocker uniform, Brown did not. He sees Kelly and himself as more complete players as professionals.
 
"Our games have changed so much," he said. "We're dynamic players in so many different ways. We're different kind of glue guys. It's been three years. If we haven't elevated our game, what have we been doing?"
 
Kelly scored 10 points in the second half and his ball-handling, passing and shooting helped lift the offense out of the muck. He teamed with guard Conner Frankamp on several productive two-man actions that got the defense out of position and freed shooters.
 
"We seemed to play pretty well our entire careers together," Frankamp said. "He's great getting people open and he's a great finisher."
 
 

1 down ✅

See you Sunday! #AfterShocks #TBT pic.twitter.com/phTZu0vDwB

— AfterShocks (@AfterShocksTBT) July 17, 2021

Frankamp scored 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Fourteen of those points came in the second half, highlighted by a dagger three that gave the AfterShocks a 58-51 lead on their way to the Elam Ending target of 60 points.
 
"My emphasis was making the game easy, getting guys like Conner open," Kelly said. "Get him the ball as much as possible."
 
Kelly showed those point forward skills as his career progressed at Wichita State. As a freshman, he recorded 14 assists and more than twice as many turnovers. By his senior season, he was trusted to lead fast breaks and finished with 84 assists, second on the team, and 45 turnovers.
 
"Rashard was unbelievable," AfterShocks coach Zach Bush said. "The way he was getting guys open . . . that's what got them the looks."
 
Brown's three gave the AfterShocks a 55-51 lead to start the race to the Elam Ending target of 60. It came off an offensive rebound and assist by Kelly. After Frankamp's three, Kelly ended the game with a layup on a bounce pass from Tyrus McGee.
 
 

The @AfterShocksTBT advance with a 60-53 victory over the Ex-Pats in the first round of the #TBT. Leading scorer Rashard Kelly (16) scores the final basket on a feed from Tyrus McGee. Next up is the @OmahaBlueCrew at 3 p.m. Sunday. pic.twitter.com/HcFb3JqTaO

— Wichita State Alumni (@ShockerAlumni) July 17, 2021

The AfterShocks shot 37.7 percent for the game and 10 of 37 from three-point range. In the first half, they missed 25 of 32 shots and 18 of their 20 threes.
 
"I'm proud of them for fighting through and not hitting the panic button," Bush said. "It's hard when shots aren't falling and you start questioning a lot of things."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.