The RoundHouse | 10/28/2024 10:38:00 AM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
Wichita State basketball coach Paul Mills hasn't hidden the to-do list for the Shockers to improve in his second season.
 
He's talked a lot about defense and backed that up with a heavy emphasis on stops in practices. The Shockers turned the ball over way too much last season. They missed too many foul shots and ranked ninth in the American Athletic Conference in three-point percentage at 33.3.
 
Have the Shockers improved those areas? Sunday's 99-53 win over Emporia State doesn't offer definitive answers, but it showed the Shockers understand and are moving in the right direction.
 
"There's some good things," Mills said. "Seventy-five percent from the free-throw line is good, especially this early in the year. Only having five turnovers for the game. We've got a number of things to clean up."
 
Start with the defense and turnovers, two areas that often interlock. WSU's turnover percentage of 17.8 ranked No. 228 in the nation and those turnovers too often handed the opponent easy baskets. The Shockers committed 71 more turnovers than their opponents.
 
Sunday, the Shockers played like a team that listened. They didn't commit a turnover until 12:06 remained in the first half. They didn't commit another until 8:57 minutes remained in the game and finished with five.
 
Exhibition against an NCAA Division II foe with a new coach – of course. Five turnovers is a plus no matter the competition. Guard Bijan Cortes handed out three assists and didn't commit a turnover. He blended the smart and the flashy to produce a solid point-guard game, and made both of his three-pointers.
 
"Obviously, turnovers was a main thing," Cortes said. "Making the right reads and not making a big play when you can make a simple one."
 
 

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That is what Mills preaches. He mentioned the competition in practice – another theme of the summer – with sharpening the focus. The competition for playing time, with the addition of Georgia transfer Justin Hill and freshman Zion Pipkin, means a player who turns the ball over isn't guaranteed minutes. Cortes, in 18 games last season, didn't have one without a turnover.
 
Running the offense to get good shots pays off after the shot. Wichita State, because it wasn't put in scramble mode on defense by a bad pass, set its defense regularly against the Hornets. While Mills wasn't totally pleased with the defense, especially stopping penetration into the lane, the Shockers played aggressively and forced 13 turnovers, resulting in 25 points.
 
"I didn't think we were aggressive as we needed to be, especially early," Mills said. "They got into paint way too easily. We were just able to out-personnel them."
 
Defense, as the Shockers confirmed all summer and fall, is the focus of practice. Even while playing deep into the match and platooning in the second half, WSU held the Hornets to 35 percent shooting.
 
"That's going to be whole team identity," senior forward Harlond Beverly said.
 
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.