Wichita State Shockers bad week hurts conference hopes

Coming into this week ranked at #7 in the country, the Wichita State Shockers have hit a major stumble. The Shockers lost back to back conference games this week.

There was a lot to be excited about for Wichita State Shockers fans this week. The Shockers came in ranked as the #7 team in the entire country, and seemed poised to go higher with their remaining schedule. However, things quickly went off the rails as WSU lost a pair of conference games this week against nonranked opponents.

Of course there is still plenty of time left in the season to undo the damage of this week, but it’s still a stumbling block where there shouldn’t have been one. It was largely expected that the Shockers would roll through their schedule as they stared down a February match-up with Cincinnati.

After these two losses, Wichita State sits third in the American Athletic Conference at 5-2 (15-4 overall). They will go into next week knowing that they should be 7-0 in conference play right now. Losing these two games, and in the fashion that it happened, is going to be a major wake up call to this team.

Shockers Lose 78-83 To SMU

Sometimes upsets just happen. It’s a part of the game and the Wichita State Shockers aren’t immune to that. You never know who is going to suddenly step up and show some life. Plus, it’s not as if the SMU Mustangs are a terrible team. However, this was still a game that the Shockers know they should have won.

Shockers Lose 59-73 to Houston

This one is much more difficult to explain for the Wichita State Shockers. They were completely run out of the building by the Houston Cougars. This was a game that had some real conference standing implications, so it means a lot more. For the Shockers to have been blown out, especially after another loss this week, is definitely concerning.

What Happened To All The Points?

Coming into this week, there was one thing everyone knew the Wichita State Shockers could do, and that was put up points. Prior to this week, the Shockers had scored 80+ points in 11 of 17 games this year. The offensive firepower of Wichita State had been dominating their opponents, allowing them to cruise to easy wins.

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That hot scoring for Wichita State included a strong win over Houston earlier this season. Just another reason why losing this game was definitely alarming. This team needs to find their offensive spark and start putting up points again if they want to rebound. The upcoming schedule should give them something of a break.

Hopefully this week will serve as a wake up call for the Shockers. It’s not difficult to imagine that this team was getting a little enamored with themselves at the top of the league standings. That can happen to teams from time to time. We’ll just have to hope that’s all this was, and not an indication of something bigger.

The Wichita State Shockers have some high expectations for this season, but they will have to be the ones to live up to that. Teams that want to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament can’t afford to drop games like these. You want to get the best seeding you can in the postseason. The Shockers need to start playing better to get a high spot.