Feb 11, 2023

🏀 MBB: Wichita State hosts SMU on Sunday

Posted Feb 11, 2023 9:52 PM
WSU hosts SMU.jpg
WSU hosts SMU.jpg

WICHITA, Kan.—Wichita State will host SMU on Sunday afternoon.

SMU (9-16, 4-8) at WICHITA STATE (12-12, 5-7)
Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023 | 3:01 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena (10,506)

Tickets: 316-978-3267 (FANS) or goshockers.com/tickets
TV: ESPN w/ Mike Corey & Terrence Oglesby
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM (goshockers.com/listen) w/ Mike Kennedy & Dave Dahl
Live Stats: shockerstats.com
Series: WSU leads 10-6 (5-2 in Wichita); Last: Jan. 22, 2023 in Dallas (WSU, 43-31)

PROMOTION:
Discounted general admission tickets are available for just $15 at the Shocker Ticket Office, or purchase online at goshockers.com/tickets and use the promo code "BIGGAME."

OPENING TIPS:

  1. The Wichita State Shockers play host to the SMU Mustangs in the day's biggest game.
  2. Shocker teams are 2-0 all-time when hosting on Super Bowl Sunday. In 2002, they bested Indiana State in overtime. Two years ago they held off Temple, 70-67.
  3. In conference play, the Shockers have been better on the road (4-2) than in Wichita (1-5). They've dropped their last three at the Roundhouse and are looking to avoid their first four-game home skid since the 2007-08 season. WSU went a combined 32-11 against AAC visitors in its first five seasons in the league.
  4. WSU is 10-6 all-time against SMU (5-2 in Wichita) with six straight victories. The Mustangs' last series win came on Jan. 17, 2018 at the Roundhouse in the first AAC era meeting between the schools.
  5. The Shockers escaped Moody Coliseum with a wild, 71-69 victory on Jan. 22. The teams traded 15-0 runs late in the game, but Craig Porter Jr. hit three go-ahead free throws with 35 seconds left and WSU it closed out with a pair of timely defensive stops.
  6. SMU (4-8) knocked off Temple, 72-71, on Wednesday on Zhuric Phelps' free throw with 3 seconds left. The Mustangs enter the weekend one rung below the seventh-place Shockers (5-7) in the conference standings.
  7. WSU is coming off a painful, 72-67 home loss to UCF on Wednesday. The Shockers led by 11 points with 12:00 to play before falling victim to a 16-2 run. They shot 51% from the field -- led by Porter's 19 points and seven assists -- but committed 18 costly turnovers.
  8. The Shockers have held 15 of their 24 opponents below 40% from the field – including SMU (38.3%) in the last meeting. They enter the weekend ranked 15th nationally in field goal percentage defense (.394).
  9. Strange but true. WSU has won five straight weekend games but dropped six straight midweek contests.
  10. James Rojas earned his first AAC weekly honor roll nod on Monday. He's scored in double-figures in each of the last nine games.
  11. One of nine new transfers on this year's active roster, junior wing Jaykwon Walton is averaging a team-best 13.9 points and his 63.6% true shooting percentage ranks among the top-70 nationally per Kenpom.
  12. Porter – one of just two holdovers from last season – averages 12.4 points and ranks among the AAC leaders blocks (3rd, 1.6) , assists (8th, 4.1), steals (11th, 1.4) .and rebounds (12th, 6.2).


ON THIS DATE: SUPER BOWL SUNDAY        

  1. This is the second time in three seasons that WSU has played at home on SBS. They're 2-1 all-time.
  2. Jan. 31, 1999 – Super Bowl XXXIII --WSU suffered a 31-point loss at Missouri State, and 87 million viewers tuned in to watch the Broncos beat the Falcons.
  3. Feb. 3, 2002 – Super Bowl XXXV -- WSU outlasted Indiana State in overtime behind C.C. McFall's 24 points. New England QB Tom Brady made his big game debut against the St. Louis Rams.
  4. Feb. 7, 2021 – Super Bowl LV -- Tyson Etienne's three-point play put WSU in front with 42 seconds left in a 70-67 win over Temple. We're still not ready to talk about the Chiefs-Buccaneers game.


STUFFING THE STAT SHEET:

  1. Craig Porter Jr. is on track to become just the fifth player in the last 30 years to average better than 4.0 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steal-per-game. He enters the day at 4.1, 1.6 and 1.3.
  2. Relax the blocks standard to 1.0 and the list grows to 33 different players in the past three decades, 18 of which went on to play in the NBA, including Draymond Green (2011 at Michigan St.), Jeremy Lin (2010 at Harvard), Dawyne Wade (2003 at Marquette), Jamaal Tinsley (2000 at Iowa State), Ron Artest (1999 at St. John's), Grant Hill (1994 at Duke) and Penny Hardaway (1993 at Memphis) among others.


GETTING RIGHT TO THE POINT(s):

  1. WSU has averaged 75.7 points over its last nine games (up from 64.5 through the first 15 contests).
  2. In this nine-game span, five Shockers are averaging double-figures: Jaykwon Walton (17.6 pts, 61.3% FG), James Rojas (14.0 pts, 7.4 reb), Craig Porter Jr. (12.3 pts, 6.9 reb, 4.9 ast), Kenny Pohto (10.1 pts, 6.8 reb, 3.0 ast) and Jaron Pierre Jr. (10.6 pts).
  3. The Shockers are shooting only slightly better but have gotten to the foul line with more regularity (22.2 FTA) and are playing at a much faster pace.
  4. WSU was statistically one of the nation's worst passing teams in the first half of the season but has reversed that trend with a strong assist-to-turnover ratio (1.15), assist rate (57.1) and assist-per-game average (15.1) over these past four weeks.


TRIPLE TROUBLE:

  1. Shocker opponents have shot the cover off the ball since the start of conference play, averaging 9.0 threes on 36.0% accuracy. Only ECU (.364) has given up a higher percentage against league opponents.
  2. The trend has been even worse at the Roundhouse where WSU is an uncharacteristic 1-5 in AAC home games. The six invading teams have combined to average 10.2 threes on 39.9% accuracy (61-of-121). Their percentage jumps to 43.1% after halftime. The last three home opponents -- Tulane (7/13), Houston (6/12) and UCF (8/16) -- all staged second half comebacks with help from the three-ball.


SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS:

  1. SMU is in its first season under former Siena and Georgia State coach Rob Lanier, who replaces the retired Tim Jankovich.
  2. The Mustangs lost four double-digit scorers from last year's conference regular season runner-up -- Kendric Davis and Emmanuel Bandoumel to the portal and brothers Marcus and Michael Weathers to graduation -- but Lanier has rebuilt the roster with seven new transfers.
  3. 6-9, 240-pound senior Efe Odigie (Troy/UTEP) is averaging 10.6 points and 7.0 rebounds,
  4. 6-7 forward Samuell Williamson (Louisville) is the team's top rebounder (7.3) and shot-blocker (21).
  5. A couple of returning guards have also stepped up:
  6. Sophomore guard Zuric Phelps has gone from 3.8 points-per-game last year to 17.0-a-game this year and is averaging better than two steals.
  7. Per KenPom, Phelps has taken 35% of the shots when he's on the court. That's the nation's fifth-highest percentage.
  8. SMU's lone returning starter, senior guard Zach Nutall, averages 13.5 points. He's hit a team-best 49 threes on 32.2% accuracy.
  9. SMU finished the non-conference strong with a runner-up finish at the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Mustangs defeated Iona and Utah State in the first two round before dropping a 58-57 heartbreaker to host Hawaii in the title game.
  10. Phelps' go-ahead free throw with three seconds left lifted SMU to a 72-71 home win over Temple on Wednesday night and boosted its conference mark to 4-8.
  11. The Mustangs are 1-8 on the road this year with their lone victory coming in overtime at Tulsa.
  12. 12 of the 16 players on SMU's roster have at least two more years of eligibility beyond this one.


THE SERIES WITH SMU:

  1. This is meeting No. 17 in the series. WSU leads 10-6 with six straight wins.
  2. WSU is 5-2 all-time against SMU in Wichita with back-to-back wins. The Mustangs upset the seventh-ranked Shockers in 2018 in a showdown between future NBA guards Shake Milton and Landry Shamet. WSU won the following year on a last-second shot. SMU's 2022 visit was its first in three years, due to a combination of unbalanced schedules and COVID-19 cancelations. The Shockers won by 15.
  3. The Shockers are 4-4 in Dallas. They lost four non-conference games at Moody Coliseum between 1956 and 1995 but have won all four visits since joining the American.
  4. The series' most-important game took place on a neutral floor in Manhattan, Kan. in the 1965 Midwest Regional Semifinal. Behind 31 points from Kelly Pete, the Shockers knocked off SMU 86-81 on their way to the FInal Four.
  5. WSU's move to The American ended a 22-year series hiatus. The teams split a four-game non-conference series from 1993-96.


Jan. 17, 2018 (Wichita) | SMU 83, #7 WSU 78
Behind 33 points from Shake Milton, SMU snapped the Shockers' 27-game Roundhouse winning streak and saddled them with their first AAC loss following a 5-0 start. The Mustangs shot 63.8% from the field and 11-of-22 from three in a low-possession game.  Milton was 11-of-14, including 5-of-6 from distance. Landry Shamet finished with 20 points and 10 assists to lead WSU, which had won 67 of its last 68 games on campus.

Feb. 24, 2018 (Dallas) | #13 WSU 84, SMU 78
Markis McDuffie (26 points, 11/14 FG) and Shaquille Morris (21) led the Shockers to their first ever win at SMU's Moody Coliseum. It was their fifth visit and first since 1994... SMU, which came in ranked fifth nationally in scoring defense (62.9), was down to just seven players due to injuries and scholarship reductions and eventually wore down... WSU expanded a 37-35 halftime lead to as many as 17, helped by a 41-23 rebounding edge... Jahmal McMurray paced SMU with 28 points and hit six of the Mustangs' 15 threes.

Jan. 30, 2019 (Wichita) | WSU 85, SMU 83
Samajae Haynes-Jones scored 17 including the game-winning basket (a driving, twisting, reverse-layup) with 1.0 second remaining to break an 83-all tie. It was a major turning point for the 2018-19 Shockers who came in 8-11 but went on to win 14 of their next 17 on their way to the NIT semifinals. SMU's Isiaha Mike (24 points) hit four three-pointers.

Mar. 3, 2019 (Dallas) | WSU 67, SMU 55
The Shockers put away short-handed SMU early behind Markis McDuffie's 15 points and nine rebounds. WSU never trailed using first-half runs of 11-0 and 10-0 to pull away. The Shockers led by 13 at halftime and by as many as 21 in the second half. Ferron Hunt scored 14 points off the bench for the Mustangs, who hit just 3-of-26 from three-point range.

Mar. 2, 2020 (Dallas) | WSU 66, SMU 62
WSU posted the largest comeback in school and conference history, rallying from 24 down... SMU led 50-36 with 14:48 to play, at which point ESPN's win probability calculator gave the Mustangs a 99.8% chance of victory. Instead, WSU outscored the hosts 40-12 the rest of the way, helped by Dexter Dennis' seven threes and career-high 25 points.

Feb. 5, 2022 (Wichita) | WSU 72, SMU 57
Tyson Etienne and Ricky Council scored 20-each to propel WSU past SMU. It was the first WSU-SMU game in nearly two years, thanks to six different rounds of weather or COVID-19 postponements... The Shockers used an 18-2 first-half run to build a 32-13 lead. They were up 16 at halftime and by as many as 21 early in the second half... Dexter Dennis (three steals) limited AAC player of the year Kendric Davis to a season-low eight points on 1-of-7 shooting.

Feb. 5, 2022 (Wichita) | WSU 72, SMU 57
Jaykwon Walton scored nine of his 18 points during a 15-0 second-half run that put WSU up 13 with less than 4:00 to play...  SMU's press forced turnovers on five of the next seven possessions... SMU's Zach Nutall (17 points) had a four-point play and turned two steals into layups during a 15-0 counterpunch, including the go-ahead basket with 1:41 to go... WSU regained the lead on three Craig Porter Jr. free throws with 35 seconds left and made two defensive stops to close out the win.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...

  1. Make them 13-12 (6-7 AAC).
  2. Be their first at home since Jan. 14, snapping a three-game skid.
  3. Give them a season sweep of SMU and raise their all-time series lead to 11-6 (6-2 in Wichita).
  4. Be their seventh consecutive win over SMU.


A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...

  1. Drop them  to 12-13 (5-8 AAC)
  2. Be the first time since the 2008-09 season they've been under .500 at or after the 25-game mark. That group was also 12-13.
  3. Give them four straight home losses for the first time since a five-game skid during the 2007-08 season.
  4. Make them 6-8 at home (1-6 in AAC home games).
  5. Be their first to SMU since Jan. 17, 2018 in Wichita and snap a six-game winning streak.
  6. Be less good than a win.


UP NEXT:  @ TEMPLE
Thursday, Feb. 16 | 6 p.m.  CT | ESPN+
Philadelphia, Pa. | Liacouras Center

  1. WSU meets Temple for the first time since February, 2021 and plays at the Liacouras Center for the first time since January, 2020.
  2. WSU is 4-3 against the Owls since joining the AAC but is 0-2 in Philly.
  3. Temple (14-11, 8-4 heading into Sunday's Noon road game at Memphis) is coming off a 72-71 road loss at SMU.
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