Jan 18, 2022

Shockers Tackle Temple Wednesday

Posted Jan 18, 2022 4:48 AM

WICHITA STATE (9-7, 0-4 AAC) at TEMPLE (10-6, 3-2)
Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022 | 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET)
Philadelphia, Pa. | Liacouras Center

Tickets: OwlSports.com
TV: ESPN+ w/ Harry Donahue (pbp) & Fran Dunphy (analyst) and Nicki Jones (Reporter)
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM (GoShockers.com/Listen) w/ Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
Live Stats: ShockerStats.com
Series: TEM leads 6-5 (2-0 in Philadelphia); Last Meeting: Feb. 7, 2021 in Wichita (WSU, 70-67)

TELECAST:
Temple University will produce the game for air on ESPN+ with Harry Donahue (PxP), Fran Dunphy (Analyst) and Nicki Jones (Reporter) on the call. ESPN+ subscribers can stream live and on demand via the ESPN App. Subscriptions are $6.99 monthly or $69.99 annually and can be bundled with Hulu and Disney+ at a discount.

SHOCKER RADIO:
Listen live on KEYN 103.7 FM and online at GoShockers.com/Listen with Mike Kennedy (now in his 42nd season as Voice of the Shockers) and Bob Hull (analyst). Pregame coverage begins one hour before tipoff.

OPENING TIPS:

  1. Wichita State looks to stop a four-game slide and put an end to its Liacouras Center struggles Wednesday evening when they take on the Temple Owls in an American Athletic Conference matchup.
  2. WSU fell 61-57 to Cincinnati on Sunday despite 14 points and six assists from Tyson Etienne.
  3. The loss dropped the defending champion Shockers to 0-4 in conference for the first time since the 2008-09 season when they opened Missouri Valley play with six-straight losses. WSU rallied for an 8-10 finish that year and has posted a winning conference mark in ever y season since.
  4. Due to the AAC's unbalanced schedule, this will be the lone regular season matchup between the teams. Temple is the only foe not scheduled to appear in Wichita.
  5. The Shockers are 5-3 vs. Temple since joining the conference, helped by two AAC tournament quarterfinal victories and a 3-1 mark in Wichita. However, Temple is one of just two AAC foes that the Shockers haven't beaten on the road (Houston is the other).
  6. WSU is 0-2 against the Owls in Philly. Temple upset nationally-ranked Shocker teams in both 2018 and 2020.
  7. The Shockers won last year's lone matchup in Wichita behind 20 points from Etienne. His basket with 42 seconds to play was the last of 20 lead changes.
  8. At just under 1,200 miles (as the crow flies), Liacouras Center is WSU's longest road trip of the season.
  9. WSU is 2-1 this year in true road games – all of them against 2021 NCAA tournament teams: at Mizzou (W), at Oklahoma State (W), at Houston (L).
  10. The Shockers are 7-3 in true road games under second-year head coach Isaac Brown.
  11. Etienne, the AAC preseason player of the year, ranks among the league leaders in scoring (14.9), three-pointers (2.60) and minutes (34.1).
  12. Craig Porter Jr. leads the team in the rare combo of assists (3.1) and blocks (1.07).
  13. Morris Udeze (11.3 ppg) is WSU's leading rebounder (5.9) and is coming off his first double-double performance of the year (12 pts, 11 reb) against Cincinnati.
  14. KenPom rates the Shocker defense 41st nationally in efficiency. WSU leads the conference in defensive rebound percentage (.735) and is holding foes to a league-low 29.5% from three.


LAST GAME:
Jan. 16, 2022 in Wichita | Cincinnati 61, WSU 57

  1. David DeJulius scored 18 points, including the go-ahead basket with 2:18 to play to lead Cincinnati to yet another narrow victory over the Shockers.
  2. The Bearcats improved to 8-2 against WSU in the AAC era. Six of those wins have come down to the final minute of play.
  3. Tyson Etienne had 14 points and six assists to lead WSU, which was playing without starting point guard Craig Porter Jr. (health & safety protocol).
  4. Morris Udeze put up 12 points and 11 rebounds and Ricky Council IV added 11 points.
  5. The Shockers surrendered just 12 points in the paint and out-rebounded the visitors 39-32. The Bearcats converted just 6-of-21 attempts from inside the lane but atoned by knocking down jump shot after jump shot: 6-of-10 from mid-range and 10-of-26 from three.
  6. WSU led 42-34 with 13:56 to go after Udeze's three-point play but finished on a 5-for-20 shooting slide. UC outscored the Shockers 27-15 the rest of the way, converting 10-of-16 shots.
  7. Etienne scored the final eight Shocker points over the last 7:28, capped by a circus layup with 2:34 to play that gave the hosts a 57-56 lead.
  8. Cincinnati scored the last five points, beginning with DeJulius' go-ahead layup with 2:18 to play that made it a 58-57 Bearcat advantage.
  9. The teams combined for just 23 fouls and 16 turnovers.


TRENDING:

  1. The Shockers are 9-1 when opponents finish with more turnovers than assists but 0-6 when opponent assists outnumber turnovers.
  2. WSU is 6-1 when out-shooting its opponent from the field (15-1 under Isaac Brown).
  3. WSU has lost four-straight for the first time since the 2018-19 season when it dropped games to VCU (away), Memphis (away), Temple (home), and Houston (away).
  4. The Shockers are 0-4 in conference for the first time since the 2008-09 season when they opened MVC play 0-6 under second-year head coach Gregg Marshall. That group rallied to an 8-10 finish.
  5. That six-game stretch in December, 2008 and January 2009 was also the last time a Shocker team lost five-or-more consecutive games.
  6. WSU has dropped three-straight at home for the first time since the 2007-08 campaign when it lost in succession to Drake, Illinois State, Creighton, Northern Iowa and Bradley.
  7. Shocker opponents are shooting a league-low 29.5% from three-point range. Cincinnati's 10 threes on Sunday were a season-high for a WSU foe. UNLV (nine threes on 47.4% accuracy is the only team that has shot better than 40% against the Shockers this year).
  8. In its seven losses, WSU has shot a combined 35.6% from the field, including 27.4% from deep (compared to 43.4% and 33.5% in its nine wins).
  9. Defensively, WSU has held 10 of its 15 foes under a point-per-possession, going 8-2. They're 1-5 when surrendering more.
  10. The Shockers are 6-0 when holding their opponent under 60 points but just 3-7 when surrendering 60+.
  11. Due to illness and injuries Isaac Brown has used five-different starting lineups over the past five games.
  12. Continuity was one of the keys to WSU's 2021 success. Brown used just three unique starting lineups the entire season and his core-five made over 97% of available starts.
  13. Monzy Jackson is now the only Shocker who has appeared in all 38 games during these last two seasons.
  14. Illnesses loomed large in two home losses last week. WSU played without starters Dexter Dennis and Morris Udeze against Tulane and minus starting point guard Craig Porter Jr. against Cincinnati. Both games came down to the final seconds.
  15. Reserve guard Ricky Council IV saw a large increase in playing time, as a result. He started both games and averaged a double-double (11.5 pts, 10.0 reb) in 33.0 minutes-per-game.
  16. Tyson Etienne stepped up offensively against Tulane with his fourth 20-point game of the season on 6-of-13 three-point shooting. He ran the point on Sunday against the Bearcats and finished with 14 points and a career-high six assists with just one turnover.
  17. Etienne has scored in double-figures in five-straight and in 11 of his 15 games this season. He's made at least one three-point in 13-straight contests.
  18. The third-year guard has led the Shocker scoring in five-straight games and 10-of-15 for the year.
  19. Dennis returned Sunday (his 100th game in a Shocker uniform) and grabbed seven rebounds to move over 500-mark for his career. He's the 43rd Shocker to reach that milestone.
  20. WSU's gang rebounding approach doesn't make for gaudy individual totals, but the Shockers lead the conference in defensive rebound percentage (.735) after ranking last in 2020-21 (.674).
  21. Five different Shockers have taken a turn as leading rebounder over the last six games. Seven players have led that category at least once this season.
  22. The trio of Udeze (5.9), Council (5.7) and Dennis (5.3) all average at least 5.0 rebounds-per-game. Outside of Udeze, Jackson has been the team's most productive rebounder on a per-40-minute basis this year (9.3).
  23. Joe Pleasant is beginning to settle in. The 6-7 Abilene Christian transfer matched his season-high with seven rebounds against Cincinnati. Wednesday against Tulane he filled in for Udeze at center and clocked a season-high 33 minutes. Pleasant also blocked a total of four shots in the two games (compared to just three in his first 13 contests).
  24. A week ago, WSU and Temple were two of just 15 schools that had not recorded a double-double this year. Both schools ended that distinction last Wednesday night. Jahlil White had 11 points and 10 boards in the Owls' road win over Tulsa. Council supplied 12 and 15 against Tulane.
  25. The Shockers made it back-to-back games with a double-double on Sunday when Udeze finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. It was the second double-double of his four-year Shocker career and his third time with double-digit rebounds. His 11 boards were on shy of his career high (12), set Nov. 13 against South Alabama.
  26. WSU's 10 three-point attempts against Cincinnati on Sunday was its lowest total since making 3-of-8 in a Nov. 25, 2013 win over DePaul in Kansas City (90-72).
  27. The Shockers have held double-digit leads in four of their five home losses. They led by 16 near the 16:00-mark against Tulane and by 10 near the midway point of the first half versus Cincinnati.
  28. Defense carried the Shockers in non-conference play. They limited opponents to 61.8 points on 39.4% shooting (28.8% from three). WSU's 12 foes combined for 55 more turnovers than assists (0.71 ratio).
  29. By contrast, in three AAC games, WSU has surrendered an average of 71.8 points on 45.8% shooting. Opponents have a 1.35 assist-to-turnover ratio.
  30. Six Shockers have earned an AAC freshman of the week honor in WSU's five seasons in the conference, but Kenny Pohto is the first to do it twice (Nov. 29, Dec. 27).
  31. Over his last six games, Porter has a sparkling 3.57 assist-to-turnover ratio (25:7).
  32. Point guards aren't typically rim protectors, but Porter is averaging a team-best 1.07 blocks-per-game on a Shocker squad that ranks 43rd nationally in that category (4.9).
  33. As of Monday, 252 players are averaging at least a block-per-game. The 6-foot-2 Porter is the shortest of them all.
  34. Per KenPom, Porter ranks eighth on the AAC leaderboard with a 5.13 block percentage (percentage of opponent shots that are blocked by a player while he is on the floor).


SCOUTING TEMPLE:

  1. Temple is in its third season under former Owl standout and 13-year NBA veteran Aaron McKie.
  2. The Owls dropped home games to UCF and Houston to start conference play but have since won three-straight over UCF, ECU and Tulsa.
  3. The Owls lost top scorer Khalif Battle (21.4 ppg) to a season-ending foot injury after just seven games but  2021 All-Freshman team selection Damian Dunn (15.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 70/82 FT) has picked up the slack.
  4. Another second-year freshman, Jeremiah Williams (9.2 ppg) averages 4.8 assists with a better-than-2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He's played all but 13 minutes in Temple's five league games.
  5. Per KenPom, opposing offenses average 18.7 seconds-per-possession (sixth-longest nationally). Temple foes are shooting just 40%, and the Owls rank among the national leaders in block percentage (35th, 13.4).
  6. Offensively, the Owls have made a living at the line and off second chances. The rank 26th nationally in free throw rate (ratio of free throw attempts to field goal attempts) and are 40th in offensive rebound percentage.
  7. In conference play, the Owls have been the league's worst three-point shooting team (.269) but are shooting an AAC-best 53.5% from inside the arc while averaging league-high 20.2 free throw attempts.


MATCHUP MASHUP:

  1. Temple redshirt sophomore Tai Strickland is the son of former DePaul All-American Rod Strickland, whom the Shockers faced in the first round of the 1988 NCAA tournament at Notre Dame. It did not go well. Strickland finished with 19 points, 13 assists in an 83-62 win.
  2. WSU's Morris Udeze and Temple's Sage Tolbert III played two seasons together at Fort Bend Travis High in Richmond, Texas (2015-17). During that time they went 56-14 and won three Class 6A playoff games.
  3. WSU true freshman Jalen Ricks was teammates with Temple's Emmanuel Okpomo during the 2019-20 season at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia. The pair helped Oak Hill to a 36-3 record and a GEICO Nationals bid.


THE SERIES WITH TEMPLE:

  1. Temple leads the all-time series 6-5, but WSU has won five of the eight meetings since joining The American.
  2. Closely contested games have been the norm in this series. Seven of the 11 have been decided by five points in either direction and three have gone to overtime.
  3. Temple is one of just two AAC teams that the Shockers haven't beaten on the road since joining (0-4 at UH).
  4. The Shockers have twice eliminated the Owls from the AAC tournament with quarterfinal wins.
  5. The teams played three times prior to WSU's move to The American, including twice in the 1980s under the late John Chaney. On Dec. 22 1983, Temple ended WSU's 22-game home winning streak with a 78-73 victory. Junior All-American Xavier McDaniel played all 40 minutes and tallied 24 points and 18 rebounds. That streak stood for more than three decades as the school record.
  6. A year later (Jan. 27, 1985), the Owls squeezed out a 62-60 win in the championship game of the Pizza Hut Shoot Out. The Shockers held a 51-42 advantage with 8:56 remaining, but Tim Perry's three-foot jumper at the buzzer capped a furious Temple comeback.
  7. In the 2011 Puerto Rico tipoff, the Shockers battled back from down eight at the 7:00-mark to force overtime, but Temple won 78-74 in extra time behind 23 points from Ramone Moore. Toure' Murry scored a game-high 24 for the Shockers, who went on to win 25 of their next 27 games en route to an NCAA bid.


NO LEAD IS SAFE:

  1. No lead is safe when WSU and Temple battle. The team leading at halftime has lost six of the eight American era matchups between the schools.
  2. Ahead by eight points at halftime, the Shockers lost their first Liacouras Center visit on Feb. 1, 2018 (81-79 in OT). WSU led by seven with 5:02 to go  but managed just two more points in regulation. Shizz Alston Jr. forced overtime on layup with seven seconds remaining and delivered two go-ahead free throws with 18 seconds to play in overtime.
  3. Down 14 at halftime two weeks later in Wichita (Feb. 15, 2018), the Shockers rallied for a 93-86 win, overcoming Temple's arena record 16 three-pointers. It was one of the largest comebacks in school history.
  4. The following year in Wichita (Jan. 6, 2019), the Shockers led by 13 at halftime and by 11 with just over 3:00 to play. Temple scored the last 11 points of regulation to force overtime and went on to win, 85-81. It was one of the largest opposing team comebacks in WSU history.
  5. Alston hit a three ahead of the halftime buzzer in a 2019 AAC tournament matchup, but WSU finished strong for an 80-74 upset.
  6. Jan. 15, 2020 in Philly, the Shockers led by six at halftime but scored just six points in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Temple roared back to win by 12.
  7. Feb. 27, 2020 in Wichita, WSU erased a seven-point deficit in the last 4:00 with an 11-1 run.
  8. The Feb. 7, 2021 meeting between the teams featured 20 lead changes (most since CKA's 2003 renovation).


ON THIS DATE IN SHOCKER HISTORY: JAN. 19
1989 -- Indiana State won a 20-minute segment of 4-on-5 basketball against Wichita State after ejections emptied the Sycamores' bench in a game in Terre Haute… However, the Shockers won the actual game, 84-69, hanging on after Indiana State outscored them 44-43 in the second half. Eight Sycamores were ejected late in the first half, leaving Jeff Lauritzen, Jimmie Holliday, forward Townsend Harris and Ron Cheatham to finish the game… "It was one of the most bizarre second halves I've ever coached," WSU coach Eddie Fogler said that night. "I've never coached five against four. I probably had them way too tight. I mean, what are you going to do? Shoot jumpers or try to get it inside and get one guy fouled out to get them down to three?"… The fight started when Indiana State's Darin Liles went after WSU's Sasha Radunovich after a rebound. WSU's John Cooper was ejected for throwing a punch. Liles and seven Sycamore bench players also got tossed… Cheatham and Harris fouled out in the final minute to finish the game with two Sycamores on the Hulman Center court.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD….
... Make them 10-7 and snap a four-game slide.
... Be their first win of 2022 and first in AAC play (1-4).
... Make them 3-1 on the road (8-3 under Brown).
... Even the all-time series with Temple at 6-6.
... Make them 6-3 vs. the Owls in the AAC era.
... Be their first at the Liacouras Center (1-2).
... Make them 3-1 vs. Aaron McKie.

A SHOCKERS LOSS WOULD…
... Drop them to 9-8 (0-5 AAC).
... Be their first five-game losing skid since Jan. 2009.
... Be their first 0-5 conference start since 2008-09 when they opened MVC play 0-6.
... Drop their road record to 2-2.
... Make them 0-3 at Liacouras Center.
... Extend Temple's series lead to 7-5 (3-0 in Philly).
... Be less good than a win.

UP NEXT:

  1. The Shockers go back out on the road this weekend to face SMU (4 p.m. CT, ESPN2).
  2. WSU is 4-1 against the Mustangs since joining the AAC and leads the all-time series 8-6.
  3. The teams did not meet last year due to multiple COVID-19 shutdowns at SMU.
  4. The Shockers have won all three AAC era visits to Moody Coliseum, most recently on Mar. 1, 2020 when they rallied from a 24-point second-half deficit for an improbably 66-62 victory.
  5. SMU's Feb. 5 visit to Wichita will be its first since Jan. 30, 2019 (1,102 days). WSU won that one, 85-83, on Samajae Haynes-Jones' last-second layup.
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