Wichita State picked up a top-25 win over Baylor on Saturday afternoon.
Facing their second loss of a young season, the No. 8 Wichita State Shockers held on for a 69-62 win over the No. 16 Baylor Bears in Waco on Saturday. These marquee matchups present an opportunity to gauge just how well top 25 teams are playing at this stage of the season, so here’s a look at what we learned from the big game.
1. Wichita State put together some impressive zone offense
One of the most frustrating things about following college basketball is watching teams attack zone defenses. It’s part of why Baylor has so consistently used a somewhat amorphous 1-3-1/1-1-3 zone under head coach Scott Drew. Opposing offenses, especially outside of conference play, aren’t always prepared to deal with the zone’s intricacies and the adjustments Drew can make within it.
Well, it didn’t seem to bother the Shockers on Saturday afternoon. Whether it was positioning a guard at the free throw line and both bigs on the baseline to create a 2-on-1 opportunity down low or running Conner Frankamp behind the backline of the zone to overload one wing defender, the Wichita State coaching staff devised a number of interesting actions to create open looks for their team.
As a result, the Shockers posted 1.14 points per possession against one of the top 25 defenses in the country. It was Baylor’s second-worst defensive performance of the season to date. Frankamp was a critical piece of the puzzle. He led Wichita State with 17 points as all five of his field goal makes came from behind the 3-point arc. Frankamp’s ability to shoot both off the dribble and from well behind the arc bent the Bears defense in ways that few other guards will this season.
Landry Shamet played like one of the nation’s best point guards
Ask any college basketball fan to rattle off the top point guards in college basketball and it might take them a little bit to get to Wichita State’s Landry Shamet, but the 6-foot-4 sophomore staked his claim to be a part of the competition against Baylor. Shamet finished with 11 points, seven assists, four boards and just one turnover against the Bears.
Offensively, Shamet is a safe and effective distributor who can create offense for his teammates. He’s also an effective 3-point shooter on the catch and off the bounce. What Shamet lacks in athleticism, he makes up for with intelligence and smart play.
Defensively, Shamet is capable of hounding opposing guards at the point of attack. His effectiveness was on display in the second half as he spent most of his time guarding Baylor’s leading scorer Manu Lecomte. Shamet helped hold Lecomte, who averaged 17.7 points per game, to just three points on 1-of-6 shooting over the final 20 minutes.
Shamet certainly isn’t the flashiest point guard in the country, but his play style fits the ethos of the Shockers well and it’s part of the reason why this Wichita State team could make a deep run come March.
3. Baylor’s down but not out
Saturday’s contest marked the second straight loss for the Bears who fell 76-63 in an away game against the Xavier Musketeers mid-week but don’t start worrying about them just yet.
For starters, Baylor’s been on a bit of a cold streak from the outside. Against Xavier, the Bears connected on just five of their 16 (31.2 percent) 3-point attempts while they managed to hit a meager 5-of-21 (23.8 percent) against the Shockers. Given that the team entered Saturday’s contest shooting 37.1 percent from outside this season, it’s expected those numbers will turn around.
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Second, neither Xavier nor Wichita State are exactly slouches. Both squads entered the season ranked in the preseason top 25, both could potentially make deep runs in March and both present unique offensive challenges for the Bears.
Now, Baylor has an opportunity to get back to form ahead of Big 12 play. The Bears have five games before a trip to Texas Tech at the end of December. One of those matchups comes against a non-Division I foe while the other four will be played against teams ranked No. 240 or lower at KenPom.
Baylor will be back.