The RoundHouse | 12/16/2023 8:02:00 AM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
Two losses don't change the process for coach Paul Mills and Wichita State basketball. The week leading into Saturday's game against Southern Illinois is devoted to digging out solutions for problems that arose in losses to Missouri and South Dakota State.
 
"We understand life," Mills said Friday. "Things don't always go your way. Our job is to respond correctly."
 
The job continues for the Shockers (7-3) against Southern Illinois (6-3) at 6 tonight (ESPN+) at Koch Arena.
 
Saturday's 79-69 loss to South Dakota State at Intrust Bank Arena interrupted what had been an uplifting start to the season. Even in the 82-72 loss at Missouri, the Shockers battled and had two shots to tie the game down 71-68.
 
Perhaps that fight is why the loss to South Dakota State stood in such contrast. The Shockers trailed 32-26 at halftime before turnovers and missed shots helped the Jackrabbits build a 40-26 lead.
 
The Shockers shot 26 percent in the first half and missed several shots around the basket. That level of futility on offense will frustrate almost any team and the Shockers showed it.
 
"We didn't have enough good energy in order to win," Mills said. "It was obviously an issue Saturday night."
 
Mills liked the way the team responded in practices.
 
"You saw ownership," he said. "Winning is in the details. A lot of people play basketball. Not a lot of people play winning basketball. You're way more receptive, sometimes, after a failure. Your antennas are a little bit more in tune."
 
The Shockers worked on spacing, which creates turnovers – a major problem vs. South Dakota State - and hurts scoring. Mills talked about Quincy Ballard learning how to give Xavier Bell room to operate in the lane by not bringing his defender into the picture. Kenny Pohto missed seven of 10 two-point shots and committed five turnovers. Smaller defenders swarmed him after offensive rebounds and he helped them by bringing the ball down.
 
"He's good enough to go back up and not have to dribble inside of that traffic," Mills said.
 
Wins are great, but they can sometimes obscure problems.
 
"Guys understand you can get better through losses," Mills said.  "You may get worse through a win, simply because you didn't approach it the right way. You can get deceived sometimes thinking you can do something that may have allowed you to win, but it's not going to lead to winning. Guys understand what leads to winning and the approach you have to take."
 
Beating SIU will require the right approach in many ways. The Salukis, who own wins over Saint Louis (101-62) and Oklahoma State (70-68) will test the WSU defense with guard Xavier Johnson, who averages 25 points and 5.3 assists. He is shooting 42 percent from three-point range and has made 74 of 81 foul shots (91.4 percent).
 
Johnson's skills scoring from so many areas, and his passing, means the Shocker defense needs to be at its best on the perimeter, in the lane and off the ball.
 
"We've got to do our best to contain him," Mills said. "We'll try to throw a number of different guys at him. We need to do a really good job of containing him with those who are inside the paint."
 
The Salukis are the first former Missouri Valley Conference opponent to visit Koch Arena since the Shockers departed the MVC in 2017. Wichita State has won nine straight in the series, including an 87-68 win in their last meeting on Feb. 15, 2017.
 
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.