In a game that ‘honors toughness,’ Wichita State basketball came up lacking on Sunday

It wasn’t long ago when Wichita State’s brand of basketball was built on grit.

The backbone of the program was the toughness of its players, who always demonstrated a vigor in the way they defended and rebounded.

A boisterous crowd of 7,019 Shocker fans filled Koch Arena on Sunday with hopes of witnessing the team’s first winning streak since November. Instead, they were sent home dejected and yearning for the days of yesteryear after watching WSU blow a double-digit lead to a last-place team in a 72-66 overtime loss to Temple.

Sports Reference’s database dates back to the 2010-11 season and it came up empty on the last time WSU allowed 22 offensive rebounds in a game or allowed an opponent to shoot 31.9% from the field and win in the Roundhouse.

“This is a game that honors toughness,” WSU first-year coach Paul Mills said. “Our lack of physicality by our guards, that stuff always comes back to haunt you.”

If there was one sequence to summarize WSU’s 3-12 campaign in the American Athletic Conference, it came in the final minute of overtime with WSU trailing by two points and desperately needing a stop.

When Hysier Miller’s runner missed long, Colby Rogers and Harlond Beverly converged on what should have been a rebound and a potential game-tying fast break the other way. Both players could have easily reached out to secure the ball, but neither did, believing the other would.

The inexplicable mistake allowed Temple’s Shane Dezonie, a player who craved loose balls like those old Shocker teams, to retrieve his sixth offensive rebound of the game. Twenty seconds later, Dezonie came up with his seventh offensive rebound to convert on a second chance he created with a tip-in to seal the victory for the Owls.

“I just wanted it more,” Dezonie offered up afterward.

Another costly chain of events occurred earlier in the overtime period when Temple’s Steve Settle missed two straight free throws, but WSU center Kenny Pohto was unable to bring down the defensive rebound and a loose ball went out of bounds in Temple’s favor.

Given a second chance, Temple capitalized with a three-point play by Settle to break a 63-63 tie. The Owls only scored 14 second-chance points on their 22 opportunities, but five of those came in critical moments in overtime.

“You have to be able to secure those rebounds,” Mills said. “A lot of times you have your bigs down there so engaged in box-outs, our guards need to be engaged. We were able to get our hands on basketballs, we just didn’t retrieve them. For whatever reason, we just weren’t able to secure the basketball.”

The WSU teams that ranked among the best nationally in defensive rebounding for a decade straight were disciplined and dedicated to boxing out every time a shot went up. This year’s WSU team is fortunate if more than two players remember to box out on the same possession.

What used to be a strength early in the season when WSU was playing its two centers, Pohto and Quincy Ballard together has turned into a weakness in conference play. The Shockers rank ninth in the 14-team conference in defensive rebounding rate during AAC play.

Most of the team’s troubles stem from when one of WSU’s guards switch onto a forward on the other team. When the shot goes up after the switch, WSU’s guards have the tendency to either ball-watch and let the forward freely chase the rebound or lose the physical battle underneath for positioning and give up the rebound that way.

Other times, loose balls will hit the ground and WSU won’t be the first to the floor. There are even times when two WSU players will fight each other for an uncontested rebound, losing it altogether and allowing the opponent to retain possession.

“Coach says it all the time, it’s about toughness,” WSU guard Xavier Bell said. “The willingness to do it.

“What really hurt us (Sunday) was the offensive rebounds. Just not being physical, on my part and others as a collective. It was definitely frustrating, but we’ve got to stick together and look forward.”

Bell, the only player made available to the media afterward, and Mills both said all of the right things about staying connected and moving forward together. But the frustration of a losing season, and arguably hitting rock bottom with Sunday’s loss, clearly has begun to take its toll on some players.

Pohto was visibly upset following a missed shot late in overtime, attempting to rip his jersey in frustration over the lack of foul call. Following the hand-shake line, Pohto’s emotions were still raw and he attempted to exit the court while WSU gathered on the court for its post-game huddle. Mills chased after him and eventually persuaded him to return with his teammates, but Pohto’s disappointment in the game was evident. The 6-foot-10 Swedish native finished with 11 points and nine rebounds, but shot 3-of-11 from the field and 5-of-10 on free throws.

Mills said afterward the performance was reminiscent of the loss to South Dakota State at Intrust Bank Arena when the team shot 25.6% on 2-pointers. Sunday’s performance didn’t approach that level of bad, but WSU did shoot a miserable 42.9% (18 of 42) on shots in the paint — more than 10% lower than its season average.

With three games remaining in the regular season and WSU spiraling toward its first losing season since 2008, Mills reaffirmed his belief in the team.

“These are our guys and I’ve told them that a number of times,” Mills said. “I heard too many times when I took the job, ‘We can’t wait until you get your guys in here.’ I told them on a number of occasions, ‘You’re my guys. We’re riding with you.’

“These kinds of things happen. You play well again defensively and we allowed ourselves to be in the game, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to own it and you move forward.”