Wichita State basketball hopes for ‘chip on shoulder’ in conference tourney games
With the exception of Kemba Walker’s magical 2011 run in Madison Square Garden, winning five straight games in five straight days to capture a conference tournament championship is unprecedented.
That’s the unenviable task required of the Wichita State men’s basketball team to extend its season past this week’s American Athletic Conference tournament: The 12th-seeded Shockers play No. 13 seed Rice at noon Wednesday at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
WSU must win two straight play-in games — Wednesday’s winner advances to play Memphis at 1:30 p.m. Thursday — just to reach Friday’s quarterfinals, where a fully-rested UAB team will be waiting.
It becomes quite daunting when the path is laid out, which is why first-year head coach Paul Mills has taken a simple approach with players following the conclusion of a 13-18 regular season.
“You have to be of a mentality that you’re just trying to go 1-0,” Mills said. “Let’s just get a one-game winning streak, then reevaluate it and go from there.”
“We’re just focused on trying to go 1-0,” WSU junior Colby Rogers said after the regular-season finale loss to Tulane. “We just have to focus on winning that first one and then we can worry about what comes next after that. That first one is all that matters now.”
Mills has experience of winning a conference tournament championship from his last stop at Oral Roberts, where his teams claimed the 2021 and 2023 Summit League tournament titles. While those paths only required three wins, Mills said he has gained valuable experience in preparing teams on short rest and a quick turnaround.
“There’s a blueprint that we give to the guys,” Mills said, “in regards to recovery and rest and all of the things that need to take place from film study to what gets sent to their iPads to plays they need to be familiar with.
“I’ve seen it done at the top and I’ve seen it done when you’re not at the top. A lot of it is just your mental preparation. Teams are hungry this time of year, so the details really matter.”
An advantage for WSU is that it has recent success against its opening opponent, as the Shockers topped Rice, 87-66, at Koch Arena less than two weeks ago.
It was one of the best games of the season for WSU’s offense, which made 14 3-pointers and pumped out 18 assists. While the team isn’t likely to replicate the 3-point totals, Mills would like to see his team share the basketball like that again.
“Rice does a great job of preventing paint touches,” Mills said. “So for us, especially against Rice, we need to be able to move the basketball. In the end, you only get assisted buckets if you’re able to convert. So we need to be able to convert our open opportunities and shots around the rim.”
The majority of the team’s 13 losses in conference play came at the end of close games, which makes WSU a tougher out than its record suggests. But at the end of the day, the Shockers have won just three times away from Koch Arena all season and once since mid-November — all but sealing a fate of the program’s first losing season since 2008.
Despite this, WSU finds itself on common ground with every team in the conference outside of Florida Atlantic: needing to come out on top in Fort Worth to reach the NCAA tournament.
How long the Shockers’ stay in Texas ends up being will likely depend on how much pride the team has left at the end of the season.
“This is just such a fun time of year,” Mills said. “There’s such a joy about playing this time of year. Guys are excited because everybody has an opportunity. Our guys will be very excited, I know we as a staff are. There’s a chip on your shoulder and you’re not happy maybe with how things went in the regular season, but if you’ll come out and play with a chip on your shoulder and have the right mental approach, there’s not a game we won’t be in.”
Wichita State basketball vs. Rice preview
Records: WSU 13-18, Rice 11-20
When: Noon Wednesday
Where: Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, Texas
How to watch: ESPN+
Series: WSU leads 2-1
