Wichita State basketball: 2019-20 keys to defeating Houston on the road

Wichita State Basketball: 2019-20 keys to defeating Houston on the road

SAN DIEGO, CA - MARCH 16: The Wichita State Shockers mascot gestures in the second half against the Marshall Thundering Herd during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Viejas Arena on March 16, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

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WICHITA, KS – NOVEMBER 13: Guard Demetrius Pollard #20 of the Charleston Southern Buccaneers shoot the ball against the Wichita State Shockers (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /

Force Houston To Shoot 3s

As I’ve watched the recent losses for Wichita State, there has seemed to be one issue that really sticks out to me on the defensive end. They’ve played a bunch of teams that don’t shoot the 3 well at all but don’t do anything to force those opponents outside. 3-point shooting has gotten undeniably worse this season thanks to the line being extended out, but the Shockers haven’t really done anything to take advantage of that.

In their loss to Houston, the Cougars only attempted 12 3s. Tulsa only shot 14 and one of them was the buzzer-beater, so it wasn’t really one that the Shockers forced them into. Temple only shot 12 3s. Only Cincy shot 20, but I don’t really think you could claim the Shocker defense forced them to do anything in that game.

The common thread between all of these teams (and the AAC in general) is that none of them have shot the 3 well this season. In fact, Houston is the only one of these teams that is even within the top-200 in the country in 3-point percentage.

Wichita State needs to start taking advantage of how one-dimensional the offenses in this conference are and force Houston to play outside the arc. They should clog the lane right from the start of the game and force Houston to beat them with the jump shot.

In particular, I think the Shockers should try playing Jaime Echenique and Morris Udeze together for a stretch of this game to defend the paint and see if they can coexist on the offensive end. This would beef up their front line and give them some more length around the rim and it should force the Cougars to extend their offense out to the 3-point line.

I believe the Shockers will have a tough time winning this game if they allow Houston to attack the rim, especially if the defense looks anything like it did against Cincinnati. They need to force Houston to shoot from outside in this game or they are going to give up a lot of points in the paint.