No Shock this time: KU handles WSU in their first regular-season matchup in 30 years

Nearly a decade later, there were no Evan Wessel-like heroics, no Fred VanVleet-like victory screams, no Zach Brown-like hustle plays for Wichita State when it crossed paths with Kansas on the basketball court.

If watching the Shockers win the in-state rivalry in the 2015 NCAA tournament was euphoria for WSU fans, then Saturday’s 86-67 rout at the hands of the Jayhawks at T-Mobile Center was misery for a WSU fan base that has clamored for the two in-state programs to play regularly.

While WSU holds a 2-0 record all-time against the Jayhawks in March Madness, KU has otherwise dominated the series. In the first regular-season matchup between WSU and KU in 30 years, Kansas prevailed for its 13th win in 14 regular-season games.

“Tough game for the Shockers and obviously Kansas had a lot to do with that,” WSU head coach Paul Mills said after his team lost for the fourth time in the last five games to conclude its nonconference slate with an 8-5 record.

“Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. This will be a great learning experience for us.”

Players from both teams will benefit from Saturday’s game, which drew 18,702 fans in attendance. According to sources with direct knowledge, the Kansas City Sports Commission, the third party who hosted the game, will donate proceeds from the ticket stales to the collectives representing both schools — Mass St. Collective and Armchair Strategies. WSU’s athletic department will also receive a $100,000 check for participating in the game from the third party, according to the game contract obtained by The Eagle.

What made the 2015 showdown so compelling, apart from a matchup between two high-level teams, was each side didn’t hide its distaste for the other. But there was nothing resembling animosity on Saturday and KU head coach Bill Self brushed off a question afterward about if his squad treated it like a rivalry game.

“I don’t think what happened 32 years ago had a lot of bearing on guys being fired up today,” Self said. “It’s the last game of (2023). I just tried to spin it like it’s a circle game for Wichita State. We have to respect that and play with intensity we know they’ll come out and play with.”

For the game’s first 12 minutes, WSU kept its upset bid alive.

The Shockers were disciplined on defense, packing the paint and going under ball screens in an attempt to turn KU into a jump-shooting team. The gamble paid off for the majority of the first half, as the Jayhawks misfired on 13 of their first 17 shots — with none coming at the rim.

“Just bringing the right energy and trying to stick to the game plan,” said WSU guard Xaiver Bell, who had 11 points. “We knew we were going to have to try to squeeze the floor on try to turn them into a jump-shooting team. We executed there at the start.”

Given the final margin, it’s hard to remember that WSU once owned the momentum of the game halfway through the first half when KU was clanking away with its jumpers and WSU was piecing together a run.

A masterful skip pass from Bijan Cortes connected with Dalen Ridgnal for a corner 3-pointer that tied the Shockers with the second-ranked team in the country at 14-14 with 8 minutes, 47 seconds remaining in the first half.

“And then I thought that (KU) leveled up and we just didn’t respond well afterwards,” Mills said.

After walling off access to the rim so well for 12 minutes, a point-blank miss and then a turnover by WSU allowed KU to run in transition for the first time and score two straight baskets by Elmarko Jackson (12 points) at the rim. It was as if a flipped switch for the rest of the first half and KU suddenly remembered its bread-and-butter in the paint.

KU enforced its will in the paint from there on out, stretching WSU’s defense, running more in transition and diligently working the ball inside.

“You’ve got to give Kansas a lot of credit,” Mills said. “Whenever we made mistakes, they made us pay.”

After scoring 14 points on its first 21 possessions of the game, KU ended the half scoring on all but two of its final 16 possessions and producing 1.81 points per possession. A total of 23 of those 29 points were scored as a result of attacking the rim, which helped KU take a 43-27 halftime lead.

“We came out with high energy, then I feel like when things went bad, we kind of separated and didn’t stick together,” said WSU center Kenny Pohto, who had eight points, six rebounds and four assists. “We’ve got to do a better job of sticking together when things go sideways.”

It didn’t take long for any WSU hope of mounting a comeback out of halftime to vanish, as Hunter Dickinson (22 points, 13 rebounds) and Jackson drilled back-to-back triples and Kevin McCullar (20 points, seven rebounds) turned one of 15 WSU turnovers into a basket at the other end.

The 8-0 spurt extended KU’s lead to 24 points within the first 90 seconds of the second half. The deficit grew as large as 28 points before WSU showed some resolve to trim KU’s lead to 75-59 with 5:39 remaining.

If there was any bright spot from Saturday’s game, Mills admitted it was the inspired play of the Missouri State graduate transfer who finished with a team-high 13 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and three steals in 29 minutes off the bench.

“You have to have guys who will continue to fight,” Mills said. “It doesn’t always go your way and you have to have some guys who have some resolve about them and some resiliency. I’m confident about all of those guys in the locker room.

“But Dalen, he responds the right way. The players who are uncoachable and will fight you, I say this a lot, uncoachable players eventually turn into unemployed adults. (WSU players) aren’t that way. I don’t have that group. They can acknowledge mistakes that we need to tighten up. You can see it on their face. The worry on their face demonstrates that their care factor is pretty high. We’ve got a group in that locker room that will respond the right way.”