Forget about Conner Frankamp, Landry Shamet, and Austin Reaves.
The sharpshooters for No. 7 Wichita State on Friday were Darral Willis, Shaquille Morris and Rauno Nurger, as the trio of big men scorched the nets at Koch Arena in the season-opening 109-57 rout of Missouri-Kansas City.
The combined 20 feet of posts drilled a combined five three-pointers after making just 17 combined all of last season. Willis, who didn’t connect on a single three-pointer last season, and made his first two shots from distance to start the season.
For a team receiving its highest preseason recognition in three decades, Wichita State looked every bit the part of the Final Four contender while playing a team ranked outside of the top-300 in Ken Pomeroy’s preseason rankings.