WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State center Jaime Echenique is a busy senior, what with playing the best basketball of his career and shepherding sophomores and freshmen toward the NCAA Tournament.
He always has time to represent his home, however, and the artwork on his Under Armour shoes is the latest example. Echenique used acrylics to paint Colombia's flag on the back of his all-white shoes.
"They gave us them before practice and I was like 'I want to do something with these shoes,'" he said. "I took (art) classes in high school and I knew I could do it."
His fellow Colombians notice his artistic talents.
"People from back home love it," he said. "I want to be proud of where I'm coming from and I want to show my people I never forget. All the people who support me and are sticking up for me."
Echenique's game will again take the spotlight during Sunday's game at No. 25 Houston. The January game against the Cougars provided a harsh example of what he means to the Shockers. Foul trouble limited him to 14 minutes in that 65-54 loss and deprived the Shockers of a matchup problem they needed to dent the defense. He scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds in those limited minutes.
Echenique has played 27 or more minutes in six of his past seven games. He averages 14.8 points and 5.7 rebounds during that stretch, shooting 52.4 percent from the field.
Those are not the numbers that Echenique cares about.
"This is my last year and my last chance," he said. "I've never gone to an NCAA Tournament, but I want to go. I want to enjoy the experience. We went to the NIT last year, but it wasn't the right tournament for us."
The Shockers worked their way out of an offensive slump in Thursday's 80-79 loss to Cincinnati. Turning that performance into any kind of a hot streak won't be easy.
Wichita State shot 48.5 percent from the field against the Bearcats, its best in American Athletic Conference play. Its 36.4-percent accuracy from three-point range ranks second in conference games.
According to Pomeroy's statistics, Wichita State played its third most efficient offensive game of the season, scoring 1.15 points per possession. The Shockers are 44-3 since the 2016-17 season in games in which it scores at that clip or better, according to kenpom.com.
Echenique played 31 good minutes and scored 19 points. Forward Dexter Dennis rebounded from a poor shooting night at Tulsa to make 4 of 6 three-pointers. The Shockers committed 10 turnovers in a high-scoring game.
"For a good amount of games down the stretch, we haven't been able to put the ball in the basket," guard Jamarius Burton said. "(Thursday) we were able to do so. We've got to get back to our calling card, which is defense and that has kept us in games. Hopefully, we can pair the offense and defense next game."
Houston will put Wichita State's scoring to another test. The Cougars held the Shockers to 30.4 percent shooting in the first meeting. Houston blocked nine shots and limited the Shockers to six second-chance points and three on fast breaks. That means the Shockers got very few easy baskets and had to work against Houston's set defense far too often.
Houston doubled Echenique and owns the rare set of defenders who could harass him and recover to bother shooters. The Cougars took Wichita State's guards – especially Erik Stevenson – out of the game with their defense.
After that game, the Shockers talked about selfishness and a lack of execution on offense. They improved their passing and execution, but little comes easy on offense.
This is more of the same in the American. Sunday's game pits Wichita State against a defense ranked in Pomeroy's top 75 for efficiency for the ninth straight time. Thursday's game at UCF will make it 10 in a row.
Nine of the 12 American teams rank in the top 75, led by No. 10 Memphis. Wichita State is No. 17.
The Shockers held the Cougars to eight offensive rebounds and eight second-chance points in the January meeting. Wichita State would love to match that effort on Sunday.
Houston ranks third nationally, according to Pomeroy, by grabbing 38.4 percent of available offensive rebounds.
Houston has won six of seven games with the loss at Cincinnati (64-62) on Feb. 1.
Guard Quentin Grimes returned to the starting lineup in Thursday's 75-62 win over Tulane and scored 15 points and handed out five assists. Freshman guard Caleb Mills came off the bench to make 4 of 7 three-pointers and score 18 points. Mills, who played 12 minutes and scored five points against the Shockers, averaged 14.8 points in the five games since and is 12 of 24 from three-point range.