Wichita State Shockers: 3 Thoughts on Win Against Tulsa

1. Wichita State’s Fred VanVleet is the best point guard in the nation.

There is no other point guard in the country right now that can control the game and lead his team from the point guard position like VanVleet. The Wichita State Shockers go as their point guard goes and right now he’s rolling.

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VanVleet was clearly the best player on the court today when the Shockers faced the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, notching a 21-point, 9-assist performance. Even more impressive, in the 32 minutes he played, he committed the same number of turnovers as the number of Libertarian Party Presidents of the United States: zero. Pretty impressive for a guard that has a usage percentage of 22.2% while keeping his turnover rate to 9.7% per 100 possessions. In layman’s terms, he has the ball in his hands a lot, but rarely turns it over to the other team without at least getting a shot or free throw attempt.

With production like this, VanVleet appears to be a shoo-in to win the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year award for the second consecutive year and earn All-American team honors.

2. I guess Ron Baker can kind of shoot.

Ron Baker may be a jack-of-all-trades kind of player at the college level, but what really stands out is his ability to shoot from the outside. The former walk-on from Scott City, Kansas converted a career-high 6 three-pointers out of 11 attempts against Tulsa. This included a stretch early in the first half when he went 4 of 5 from beyond the arc to stave off the hot shooting of the Golden Hurricane to the begin the game.

After starting off the year 0 for 3 against New Mexico State, Baker has found the shooting touch that made him so dangerous last year. Since that New Mexico State game, Baker has been shooting 52.1% from three-point range helping him lead the team with 18.3 points a game. If Baker can find a way to sustain his outside shooting throughout the year, the Shockers will be tough to stop come tournament time.

3. The Wichita State defense is good. Their offense may be just as good.

Last year, the Shockers were mainly known for their defensive prowess, finishing 9^th in the nation in points against and 11^th in the nation in field goal percentage against. They still have a lot of that attitude and tenacity on that side of the floor, but their offensive efficiency is catching up to their defensive dominance.

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Against Tulsa, who ranks 24^th in the nation in points against at 55.4, the Shockers were able to score 75 points on the backs of Baker, VanVleet and Darius Carter who all had efficient shooting days. The three-point shot was open for business for Wichita State, shooting at a 46.2% clip from beyond the arc against a Golden Hurricane team that usually allows 26.6% of opponents threes to fall in for a score.

At this point in the year, the Wichita State Shockers are scoring 82.3 points a game, good for 24^th in the nation. While it’ll be tough for them to sustain this level of production, watching VanVleet constantly penetrate and dish to his teammates for open looks makes it at least plausible that the Shockers can become a top offensive team.

Conclusion

On the strength of strong performances from their two stars, the Wichita State Shockers were able to cruise to an easy against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. VanVleet is earning his Preseason All-American honor and looks as though he is ready to carry this team deep into March. Baker had a career day, absolutely burying Tulsa from three-point range. Their defense looked as suffocating as always, but the Shockers also showed they can pick teams apart on offense which is bad new for the rest of the country.