Jan 25, 2020

Shockers Host UCF on Hall of Fame Night

Posted Jan 25, 2020 10:21 PM

WICHITA, Kan. - The Wichita State Shockers (16-3, 4-2 and ranked No. 22 in this week's USA Today Coaches Poll) entertain the UCF Knights (11-7, 1-4) in an American Athletic Conference matchup at Charles Koch Arena.

>>> WSU coaches will wear tennis shoes on for Saturday's game as part of Coaches vs. Cancer's Suits and Sneakers Awareness Week. Learn more at NABC.com.

>>> At halftime, WSU will induct five new members into the Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame. Fiery men's basketball forward Jamar Howard (2001-05) is joined by longtime men's golf coach Grier Jones (1995-2019, cross country/track standout Tonya Nero (2009-11, women's tennis star Lutfiana Budiharto (2009-12) and early women's athletics pioneer Janet Kohl Hoskins (1968-72).

>>> Saturday's matchup airs nationally on ESPNU with streaming available through the ESPN App, accessible on computers, smart phones, tablets and devices to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider. Anish Shroff & Mark Wise have the call.

>>> Division I college basketball's most-tenured tandem, Mike Kennedy and Dave Dahl, tip off their 39th season together on radio (KEYN 103.7 FM and online at goshockers.com/listen). Kennedy, who is now in his 40th year as Voice of the Shockers, will call is 1,247th consecutive game.

OPENING TIPS:

  1. The Shockers are coming off one of their best defensive performances in Tuesday's 56-43 win at South Florida. Tyson Etienne scored a team-high 13 points and Dexter Dennis celebrated his return to the starting lineup with 12 points on four three-pointers. USF shot 30% and had more turnovers (13) than baskets (12)
  2. This is the fourth series meeting between WSU and UCF -- all since 2018. The Shockers are 3-0 against the Knights (2-0 in Wichita). WSU won last year's only matchup (Jan. 16, 2019 at CKA, 75-67. It was the Shockers' only win in a 1-6 conference start.
  3. The Shockers have doubled their win total from this time last year when they hit the 19-game mark at 8-11 (1-6 AAC). They are 30-7 since.
  4. With a win on Saturday the Shockers would match their regular season win total from last season (17-13).
  5. Wichita State ranks among the national leaders in turnover margin (19th, +3.9) and field goal percentage defense (25th, .385). KenPom rates the Shocker defense eighth nationally in efficiency.
  6. WSU is 12-1 at home this year (11-1 at CKA). Last Saturday's loss to Houston snapped what had been a 14-game home winning streak.

HOWARD TO THE HALL: 

  1. Fiery forward Jamar Howard is set to join the Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame at halftime.
  2. Howard (2001-05) was a three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference selection for WSU, twice earning first team status. He made the league's all-defensive team in all four seasons and was its defensive player of the year in 2003. He currently ranks 10th on WSU's all-time scoring list (1,571 career points, while also totaling 711 rebounds, 263 assists, 153 steals and 88 blocks.
  3. Howard was part of a core that helped turn around a struggling program with three-straight NIT bids, WSU's first postseason appearances in 14 years.

THE SHOCKS IN SHORT:

  1. For Wichita State, youthful and successful have not been mutually exclusive traits. Ten of the team's 13 scholarship players are underclassmen, but the Shockers find themselves ranked No. 22 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and one spot out of the AP top-25 after a 16-3 start.
  2. Last year, the rebuilding Shockers missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011 but rode a second-half surge to 22 wins and the NIT semifinals. Seven of the top-nine scorers from that team are back, joined by the highest-rated recruiting class in head coach Gregg Marshall's 13-year tenure.
  3. This season's goal: return to the NCAA tournament. The Shockers have put together an at-large quality resume that includes five Quadrant I or II wins. Two of their three losses have come against teams currently ranked in the AP Top-25 (West Virginia and Houston). Signature wins include No. 20 Memphis and VCU at home, plus a 4-0 record vs. "Power 5" foes: South Carolina (N, Oklahome State (A, Oklahoma (H) and Ole Miss (H).
  4. The 2018-19 team found an identity with defense, rebounding and ball security. Those qualities still apply, but the 2019-20 backcourt has raised the bar with its perimeter shooting and ability to force turnovers.
  5. KenPom rates the Shocker defense 10th nationally in efficiency (up from 44th last year). WSU has held 14 of its 19 opponents under 40% from the field. Only two teams have scored more than 70 points against the Shockers this year in regulation and none more than 75.
  6. Seven players are averaging at least 7.0 points and eight clock 12-or-more minutes-per-game.
  7. Sophomore guard Erik Stevenson -- a two-time AAC player of the week pick -- leads the Shockers in points (12.5) and steals (35) and is the team's third-leading rebounder (4.8). He's topped 20-points three times.
  8. Sophomore Jamarius Burton (11.2 ppg) can play point guard or wing, as needed. He's averaging a team-high 3.4 assists with a 1.68 A:TO ratio and has been the WSU's top scorer in conference play at 12.2-per-contest.
  9. The team's lone senior -- 6-11 center Jaime Echenique -- averages 10.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks. On a 40-minute basis, he leads the team in  scoring (20.8) and plus-minus (+20.8).
  10. 6-foot-6 forward Trey Wade -- a JUCO transfer from South Plains (Texas) College -- has been an impactful addition at the four-spot. He puts up 7.9 points-per-game and is the team's top rebounder (6.2).
  11. Sophomore Dexter Dennis (7.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg) -- an athletic wing and the team's most versatile defender -- was an AAC All-Freshman pick last year. He returned to the starting lineup at USF for the first time since Nov 27 and hit four three-pointers.
  12. A couple of four-star freshman guards have also helped elevate the Shockers. Tyson Etienne (9.9 ppg) ranks fourth on the AAC list in both threes-per-game  (2.2) and three-point percentage (.424). Combo guard Grant Sherfield (8.5 ppg) has been the team's other primary point guard and a reliable scorer off the bench.
  13. The Shockers are one of the league' deepest teams in the post with Echenique backed by 6-9 sophomore Morris Udeze (5.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg). 7-foot junior Asbjørn Midtgaard and 6-9 sophomore Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler are  also capable contributors.
  14. Three other true freshmen are on the roster: Forward DeAntoni Gordon (11 games) and point guard Noah Fernandes (12) have shown flashes of potential. 6-10 forward Josaphat Bilau is redshirting.

TRENDING:

  1. Tuesday marked the first time in over four years that the Shockers have won a game when scoring less than 60 points. They defeated UNLV 56-50 on Dec. 9, 2015. Since then WSU had lost 14-straight when scoring less than 60.
  2. USF's 12 field goals was the fewest allowed by the Shockers since a Feb. 9, 2016 win at Drake when the WSU held the host Bulldogs to 11-of-44 (.250).
  3. With the win at USF, WSU improved to 3-1 in true road games this year. The Shockers have won nine of their last 10 in enemy territory going back to last February.
  4. The Shockers are coming off a rare home loss. It's been nearly nine years since they last dropped back-to-back at home. In Feb., 2011 the Shockers fell to SIU and VCU.
  5. The Houston game was WSU's sixth-straight sellout at Charles Koch arena (capacity: 10,506) and the 175th in the 16 seasons since Charles Koch Arena's renovation. It was also be the Shockers' 15th sellout in 21 American Athletic Conference home games.
  6. Tuesday night at Temple Gregg Marshall shuffled his starting five for the first time in 10 games when Dexter Dennis replaced Erik Stevenson. It marked the first time this season that Stevenson has come off the bench. Only Trey Wade has started all 19 games for the Shockers this year. Dennis made his first start since the Nov. 27 loss to West Virginia and responded well with 12 points on four three-pointers. 10 different Shockers have started at least once this season.
  7. Somewhat surprisingly, the Shockers were out-rebounded in each of their first five of their conference games. They had won the battle of the boards in 12 of their 13 non-conference contests and have annually been among the national leaders in that category. WSU stopped the streak by outrebounding USF on Tuesday night, 36-29. The Bulls finished the game without a single second-chance point.
  8. A 74-54 win over Ole Miss on Jan. 4 was WSU's 99th 20-point victory under Marshall (2007-Pr.).
  9. This is WSU's fifth-consecutive week in the USA Today Coaches Poll dating back to Dec. 23.

 BUILDING A RESUME:

  1. The Shockers are 5-3 in Quadrant I and II contests. Two other wins come painfully close to Q-II status: A neutral court win over No. 101 South Carolina (51-100 qualify) and the road win at No. 137 USF (76-135 qualify).
  2. Eight of the 12 remaining games on the Shocker schedule are of the Q-I or Q-II variety. Six are on the road.

SCOUTING UCF:

  1. UCF has reached the postseason in two of the last three years. The Knights won 24 games and advanced to the 2017 NIT semifinals. Injuries took their toll in 2018, but UCF bounced back to earn an NCAA at-large berth in 2019.
  2. UCF lost much of its fire power from a year ago. Seniors B.J. Taylor and Tacko Fall graduated, and Aubrey Dawkins (son of head coach Johnny Dawkins) declared for the NBA draft.
  3. UCF was picked ninth out of 12 teams in the American preseason poll.
  4. KenPom rates the Knights No. 72 nationally in defensive efficiency.
  5. Collin Smith is the team's leading scorer. The 6-foot-11 junior forward is averaging 13.2 points – up from 8.0 a year ago – and is the team's second-leading rebounder at 6.2-per-game.
  6. Junior guard Cesar DeJesus has also taken on an expanded role. He's averaging 10.7 points in just over 27 minutes – up from 3.4 points and 11 minutes in 2018-19.
  7. Alabama graduate transfer Dazon Ingram – a 6-6 guard -- is the team's third-leading scorer at 9.2 points and tops the chart in rebounding (7.7, assists (4.0, steals (1.0) and minutes (29.0).
  8. True freshman guard Darin Green Jr. has connected on a team-high 30 three-pointers with 34.1 percent accuracy.

MATCHUP MASHUP:

  1. Gregg Marshall is 4-1 vs. UCF. He faced the Knights twice at Winthrop, going 1-1. On Dec. 2, 1998 (just his fifth game as a head coach, Marshall's Eagles fell 79-57 in Orlando. A year later – Nov. 23, 1999 – he defeated UCF, 87-54, in a return game at Winthrop Coliseum.
  2. Marshall is 3-1 vs. Johnny Dawkins. In March, 2009, Dawkin's Stanford team defeated the Shockers, 70-56, in the CBI quarterfinals to end WSU's first postseason bid under Marshall. Dawkins' 14-point win remains the lopsided victory by a road team in the Marshall Era.
  3. Dazon Ingram twice beat the Shockers while playing for Alabama. He recorded eight points, five assists and four rebounds in 25 minutes in the fifth-place game at last season's Charleston Classic. As a true freshman in 2015-16, he started against the Shockers in an Advocare Invita-tional matchup in Orlando and put up 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes.

THE SERIES: WSU leads 3-0 (2-0 in Wichita)

  1. UCF was one of four American foes that WSU had ever faced prior to its 2017-18 conference debut (along with ECU, Tulane and USF).
  2. The Shockers opened 1-6 last year before rallying for a 10-8 finish. Their only win in that seven-game stretch came against the Knights. The 0-3 Shockers upset 3-0 UCF, 75-67, in a rare 9 p.m. CT tipoff.
  3. WSU's win snapped a seven-game UCF winning streak. The Knights entered the day as the AAC's lone unbeaten (3-0) and were receiving votes in both national polls.
  4. WSU took both meetings in 2017-18. The Shockers led wire-to-wire in an 81-62 home victory in Wichita and escaped Orlando a month later with a 75-71 overtime win (prlonged by a buzzer-beating three from UCF's A.J. Davis at the end of regulation).

Jan. 25, 2018 (Wichita) | #17 WSU 81, UCF 62

  1. WSU won the first-ever meeting between the two programs and snapped a two-game losing streak.
  2. Bumped from the starting lineup, Shaquille Morris came off the bench for 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
  3. Helped by Morris cameo, WSU reserves accounted for 50 of the team's 81 points.
  4. Conner Frankamp extended his school-record run of consecutive games with a three-pointer to 40. The streak ended three days later in a win over Tulsa.
  5. WSU outrebounded UCF 48-38 and turned 13 offensive rebounds into 21 second-chance points.
  6. The Shockers committed a season-low six turnovers.
  7. Rashard Kelly grabbed 10 rebounds in 17 minutes.
  8. UCF played its second game without 7-foot-6 center Tacko Fall, who would miss the remainder of the year with a shoulder injury.

Mar. 1, 2018 (Orlando, Fla.) | #11 WSU 75, UCF 71 (ot)

  1. After UCF banked in a buzzer-beater three to extend the game, WSU kept its conference title hopes alive by winning in overtime. The victory kept the Shockers within a game of Cincinnati going into the season finale.
  2. Shaquille Morris led WSU with 19 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Conner Frankamp scored 11 of his 16 points after halftime, and Landry Shamet added 14 points and six assists with just one turnover. 
  3. A.J. Davis was the hero for UCF with 31 points and 14 rebounds in 43 minutes. He hit 6-of-9 threes. B.J. Taylor tacked on 23 points with five assists.
  4. Down 66-63 with 17 seconds to play, UCF's Taylor missed a game-tying three, but the rebound trickled through several Shocker hands to Davis on the perimeter. The senior's desperation heave from the right wing glanced off the backboard and through, tying the game with 0.7 seconds showing on the game clock.
  5. WSU regrouped to outscore UCF 9-5 in the five-minute overtime period.

Jan. 16, 2019 (Wichita) | WSU 75, UCF 67

  1. Markis McDuffie scored 18 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, and the Shockers handed first-place UCF its first conference loss.
  2. WSU snapped a four-game losing streak -- its longest in 10 years.
  3. Against a UCF defense that came in 12th nationally in field goal percentage defense, WSU shot a season-best 51.9% and cashed in 17-of-18 free throws.
  4. The Shockers out-rebounded the Knights 20-5 in the second half and 36-24 for the game.
  5. Seldom-used 7-footer Asbjørn Midtgaard scored six points in 16 minutes and was an effective foil for  7-foot-6 Tacko Fall.
  6. WSU led 33-25 at halftime. UCF shot 50% in the second half and nailed 6-of-9 threes to keep things interesting.
  7. Aubrey Dawkins scored 16 of his 22 points after halftime. He hit back-to-back threes to cut the margin to 47-46 with 11:00 to play.
  8. Up by two with 2:07 to play, WSU launched a 10-2 run.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD….

... make them 17-3, equaling their regular season win total from the 2018-19 season.

... up their conference mark to 5-2.

... give them a 13-1 record at home (12-1 at CKA).

... make them 4-0 all-time vs. UCF -- all since 2018.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…

... drop them to 16-4 (4-3).

... be their third in four games.

... give them back-to-back home losses for the first time since February, 2011 (SIU & VCU).

... be their first to UCF (3-1).

UP NEXT:

The Shockers are off mid-week and return to action next Saturday at first-place Tulsa. The 5 p.m. CT tip airs on ESPNU.

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