Wichita Shockers Defense is One of the Nation’s Best
The No. 15 Wichita State Shockers are piling up the wins this season thanks to great defense. The last time the Shockers allowed 70 points or more during regulation was last season against Kentucky in the NCAA tournament.
In the 25 games since that game, the Shockers have suffocated their opponents into submission with a ferocious half court defense. The one team that scored 70 or more points was Hawaii but in overtime, that Wichita State still won.
Greg Lansing the Indiana State head coach said the Shockers pressure is like sharks nipping at you while you are back on your heels and then they turn it up even more.
The Shockers defense plays so tightly around the perimeter that it would be hard to slip a piece a paper between them and their opponent.
They can then turn and collapse so hard around the rim that the paint is just a traffic gridlock. The defense jumps passing lanes, harasses the inbound pass and cause opponents to lose their breath.
Often times, said Lansing, when you break a press you can exhale a minute, but not with the Shockers. They get right back in your face in the frontcourt and never leave you alone.
Last month, Wichita State allowed Bradley to scored just 43 points and a week earlier allowed only 41 points to Evansville and the week after that just 40 against Drake.
However, none of the three defensive efforts was anywhere near as complete as what the Shockers did to Missouri State. Last weekend, the Shockers routed Missouri State 78-35. It was the fewest points a Missouri Valley Conference team has allowed in the past 20 years.
On Wednesday night, the Shockers allowed Indiana State to scored 57 points, which is subpar effort and lifted their season average of points allowed to 55.7 per game.
Wichita State is still just eighth in the nation in scoring defense. Five of the seven teams better than the Shockers on scoring average are in the most recent top 25 including Kentucky, Virginia and Northern Iowa, a rival in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The Shockers have not been this strong defensively since 1947-48, when they gave up just 51.3 points a game. However, that was prior to shot clocks and three-pointers, a time when Chuck Taylors and short shorts were in style.
Only four of Wichita State’s opponents have recorded more assists than turnovers versus the Shockers.
The Shockers are now 22-3 overall and 12-1 in conference play. The team is tied at the top of the conference with Northern Iowa and has a very tough stretch run to finish the regular season with all but one of its remaining opponents in the top half of the conference.
If Northern Iowa and Wichita State win out, they would play a winner take all matchup on February 28 for the conference title at Wichita State.
