🏀 MBB: Shockers host Texas Southern

WICHITA, Kan.—Wichita State wraps up the non-conference portion of its schedule Thursday night against Texas Southern.

OPENING TIPS:

1. TSU has represented the SWAC in six of the last eight NCAA tournaments. The Tigers dispatched A&M-Corpus Christi in the 2022 First Four.
2. TSU (3-8) has played the nation's fourth-toughest schedule, per NCAA NET, and gave current AP No. 25 Arizona State its only loss back on Nov. 13.
3. WSU is 4-0 all-time against TSU. All four meetings have come in Wichita.  The most-recent (Nov. 9, 2019) will go down as one of the grittiest wins in program history. The Shockers shot just 24.2% from the field, at one point missing 21-straight, but outscored the Tigers 34-17 at the foul line to escape with a 69-63 victory.
4. A win on Thursday would give WSU (6-5) a winning non-conference record for the 25th consecutive season.
5. It would also ease some of the pain from Saturday 59-49 loss to Oklahoma State at INTRUST Bank Arena, during which the Shockers missed 20 of their 21 three-point attempts.
6. 11 of the 13 Shockers who have seen action this year are newcomers (two redshirts + nine transfers).
7. The offense is a work in progress (191st in efficiency, per KenPom), but the group has gelled quickly on the defensive end, ranking 41st. The Shockers have limited foes to 60.7 points (27th) on 36.8% shooting (13th).
8. Senior point guard Craig Porter Jr. – one of just two returners from last year's active roster – leads the team in points (13.7), rebounds (6.5), assists (4.1) and steals (1.8) and averages a conference-best 1.8 blocks.
9. Junior wing Jaykwon Walton has been an impactful addition, averaging 12.7 points and 6.3 rebounds. He's shooting 54.7% from the field and 15-of-30 from deep.
10. Shocker players will have three days off (Dec. 23-25) before returning to practice Monday evening. The team departs Tuesday afternoon for Orlando, Fla. and will open its American Athletic Conference schedule Wednesday, Dec. 28 against UCF (6 p.m. CT, ESPN+).

ON THIS DATE: DEC. 22
1997– Freshman Maurice Evans scored 22 points on just eight shots in an 80-55 win over Drake. He was 7-for-8  from the field (5-of-6 from three) with the lone miss coming in the game's final minute.
2012 -- WSU overcame a 12-point second-half deficit to defeat Southern Miss at INTRUST Bank Arena.
2014 -- Eight different Shockers made a three (a school record) and WSU routed Loyola Marymount, 80-53, in a quarterfinal matchip at the Diamond Head Classic.
2015 -- Helped by 38 Nevada fouls, WSU sank a school-record 44 free throws in a 98-69 win. Fred VanVleet was 10-of-12 and Zach Brown made 11-of-12.
2021 -- WSU pulled out the wildest of wins at South Florida. The Shockers rallied from 13 down in the first half, squandered a five-point lead in the final five seconds of regulation, then regrouped to win in overtime.

TRENDING:

1. Craig Porter Jr. is one of four players nationally who have both a five-block game and a five-steal game under their belt, along with Mississippi State's Cameron Matthews, Southeast Missouri State's Kobe Clark and Merrimack's Jordan Minor.
2. In Saturday's loss to Oklahoma State, the Shockers logged four assists on 19 field goals. It was their lowest assist total since a Feb. 9, 2020 loss at Houston in which they had four dimes on 14 baskets.
3. WSU's 1-for-21 (.048) three-point shooting night against OSU was its worst since an 0-for-11 performance against New Mexico State in the 2014-15 season opener.
4. Saturday's slump came on the heels of the best two-game stretch in program history (26 threes; 13 vs. Longwood and 13 vs. Mississippi Valley State).
5. WSU is 1-3 in games decided by five points in either direction. The Shockers have been one of the nation's unluckiest teams, according to KenPom, ranking 337th out of 363 teams in "Luck" -- a metric that compares a team's expected won-loss record (based on stats) to its actual mark.
6. Porter has reached double-figure scoring in each of the last nine games, one more than his career total coming into the year (2019-21).
7. Walton's .500 three-point percentage leads the AAC and ranks No. 38 nationally among players with at least two attempts-per-game.
8. The 6-foot-2 Porter and 7-footer Quincy Ballard are both among the nation's top-100 in blocks.
9. Ballard (1.44) is 97th as of Wednesday. 10 of his 13 total blocks have come in the past four games, including five against Longwood.
10. Per RealGM, Porter's average (1.82, 42nd) is tops among the nation's point guards.

THE SERIES WITH TEXAS SOUTHERN:

1. The Shockers are 4-0 against Texas Southern. All four have taken place at Charles Koch Arena.
2. WSU has played at TSU's H&PE Arena, but not against the Tigers. Houston hosted an American Athletic Conference game there against the Shockers while renovating its campus arena.

Nov. 20, 2005 (Wichita): WSU 86, TSU 54
The Shockers improved to 2-0 behind 19 points from Karon Bradley and Paul Miller's 14 points and 15 rebounds. Miller would go on to earn honorable mention AP All-American and MVC Player of the Year plaudits for the Sweet 16 Shockers.

Dec. 3, 2009 (Wichita): WSU 74, TSU 43
WSU held the Tigers to 15 first-half points and forced 24 turnovers for the game. Garret Stutz scored a team-high 14 points in 16 minutes off the bench.

Nov. 16, 2010 (Wichita): WSU 79, TSU 67
David Kyles went 5-of-7 from three for 20 points for the eventual NIT champions in their season opener. 11 Shockers played 12-or-more minutes, and the bench supplied 41 of the 79 WSU points.

Nov. 9, 2019 (Wichita): WSU 69, TSU 63
The Shockers survived one of the worst shooting nights in school history (24.2%). That figure was the lowest in a Shocker home game since the advent of the shot clock. WSU missed 21-straight field goal attempts over one 13-minute stretch of the first half. Despite shooting just 13.5% in the first half, they trailed just 24-23. For the game they held a 20-8 advantage in turnovers and outscored the visitors 34-17 at the foul line.

SCOUTING TEXAS SOUTHERN:

1. TSU is preseason favorite in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, ahead of Alcorn State (which defeated the Shockers back on Nov. 10).
2. Sixth-year head coach Johnny Jones has taken three different schools to the NCAA tournament: North Texas (2007, 2010), LSU (2015) and now TSU (2021, 2022).
3. The Tigers return three starters from last year's 19-13 team that won the SWAC tournament and a First Four game against A&M-Corpus Christi before bowing to eventual national champion Kansas in the first round.
4. TSU has taken part in every postseason since 2014 and has represented the SWAC in six of the last eight NCAA tournaments.
5. The Tigers' 3-8 record won't turn heads, but they've played the nation's fourth-toughest schedule, per NCAA NET, and handed Arizona State (11-1, NET No. 23) its only loss of the season back on Nov. 13. That 67-66 overtime victory was an ultra-rare home game for TSU against a major conference opponent, made possible by the new PAC-12/SWAC challenge series.
6. Thursday night will be TSU's seventh game against a KenPom top-100 opponent: Texas Tech (No. 37), Arizona State (35), Oral Roberts (78), Houston (2), Auburn (23), Kansas (5) and now WSU (90).
7. Under Jones, TSU has defeated some high-profile opponents on the road, including Baylor and Oregon during the 2018-19 season and Florida last December.
8. TSU finished No. 102 last year in KenPom's defensive efficiency rankings (best in school history) and is at 191 this year.
9. TSU has a pair of 6-foot-9 veterans anchoring the front court: Joidon Karl Nicholas (10.3 ppg, team-best 8.2 rpg) was voted preseason first team All-SWAC and preseason defensive player of the year. Per KenPom, he ranks among the nation's top-100 in defensive rebound percentage, snatching up 24.1% of enemy misses.
10. John Walker III (11.9 ppg, team-high 14 blocks) was a preseason second team All-SWAC choice.
11. 6-5 sophomore Davon Barnes has taken a major leap forward, averaging a team-best 14.4 points (up from 2.1 as a freshman).
12. 5-10 senior P.J. Henry also averages in double-figures (11.3 ppg) along with a team-best 2.4 assists.
13. 6-7 redshirt freshman Shaqir O'Neal – son of NBA legend Shaquille – averages just over 10 minutes-per-game off the bench.
14. The Tiger rank fifth-to-last nationally in three-point field goal percentage (4.6 on 26.4% accuracy) and are fourth-from-the-bottom in free throw percentage (.591).
15. Per KenPom, TSU has scored 61.7% of its points on two-point field goals (as opposed to threes or free throws). Just five teams nationally average more

MATCHUP MASHUP:

1. TSU coach Johnny Jones was a member of LSU's 1981 Final Four team that defeated the Shockers in the Midwest Regional Final. WSU avenged that loss the following year at Levitt Arena. Despite 13 points from Jones, the Shockers overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to win 66-65.
2. WSU is 2-0 against Jones (the coach). The first meeting came when Jones was head coach at LSU. In November, 2016, the Shockers downed the Tigers, 82-47, in a Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinal matchup.
3. Out of 363 teams, WSU ranks 352nd in assist rate (40.9% of baskets come with an assist). TSU is 348th (41.7).

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD….
... Make them 7-5 with wins in three of the last four.
... Guarantee a winning non-conference record for the 25th consecutive season.
... Give them a 5-0 lead in the all-time series with TSU.

UP NEXT: UCF
Thursday, Dec. 28 | 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET) | ESPN+
Orlando, Fla. | Addition Financial Arena

1. The Shockers open their sixth season of American Athletic Conference play.
2. The Knights defeated the Shockers for the first time ever last February in Orlando (71-66).
3. WSU leads the series 8-1 (3-1 in Orlando).
4. UCF is 8-3 heading into Wednesday's non-conference finale against Stetson has the conference's third-highest NCAA NET rating (67).
5. Picked sixth out of 11 teams in the AAC preseason poll after losing four starters, the Knights have wins over Florida State, Oklahoma State and Ole Miss.

AND THEN: EAST CAROLINA 
Sunday, Dec. 31 | 3 p.m. CT | ESPN+
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena

1. WSU is 6-0 against the Pirates (3-0 in Wichita).
2. The Shockers won the lone meeting last season at CKA (70-62). Craig Porter Jr. did Craig Porter Jr. things, finishing with 15 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in 34 turnover-free minutes, to go with two blocks and a steal.
3. ECU (8-4 going into Wednesday's non-conference finale against High Point) is rounding into form in its first season under head coach Michael Schwartz. The Pirates defeated South Carolina last weekend on a neutral floor, 64-56.
4. ECU was picked last out of 11 teams in the AAC preseason poll.