Scene Setter // Wichita State tunes up for the 2016-17 men's basketball season Saturday afternoon with an exhibition game against Division II Augusta University at Charles Koch Arena. 
 

EXHIBITION

Wichita, Kan.

Charles Koch Arena

Tickets

Game Notes: WSU | Augusta

MATCHUP

Augusta (18-11, 12-7 PBC in 2015-16)   rv/rv Wichita State (26-9, 16-2 MVC)

Nov. 5

2 P.M. CT

Cox Channel Kansas (Cox HD 2022)             Time Warner SportsChannel (KC Area)

ESPN3

KEYN 103.7 FM (Mike Kennedy)

GoShockers.com

GoShockers.com

SOCIAL

@GoShockersLIVE | #watchus

@goshockers | #watchus

Go Shockers

TV & Radio // The 2 p.m. CT tip will air statewide on Cox Channel Kansas (Cox HD 2022) and in the Kansas City area on Time Warner SportsChannel, with Shane Dennis (pbp) and Bob Hull (analyst) on the call. Fans outside of the two viewing areas can catch the game via ESPN3... Mike Kennedy, now in his 37th season as the Voice of the Shockers, can be heard on KEYN 103.7 FM, and around the world at GoShockers.com/Watch. Dave Dahl returns for his 36th year as home analyst.
 
Shocker Summary // A near unanimous pick to win its fourth-consecutive Missouri Valley Conference title, Wichita State returns two starters and nine lettermen from last year's 26-9 team that qualified for NCAA Tournament play for the fifth-straight year and defeated Vanderbilt (First Four) and Arizona (Round of 64) before falling to Miami (Round of 32). Six-foot-8 sophomore wing Markis McDuffie, last year's MVC Freshman of the Year, landed on the league's preseason all-conference first team. Junior center Shaquille Morris was named to the second unit.
 
All About Augusta // Formerly Augusta State University (1965-2013) and GRU-Augusta (2013-15), the Jaguars played their first season as Augusta University in 2015-16. The athletic department sponsors 11 NCAA Division II varsity sports, but its golf teams compete at the D-I level. The men's golf program won back-to-back D-I national titles in 2010 and 2011... The 2015-16 Jags narrowly missed out on a national tournament bid when they fell to top-seed Lander in the PBC Tournament Championship on a put-back with two seconds to play in double-overtime... Augusta is scheduled to return three starters, including three-time all-conference and two-time All-American performer Keshun Sherrill, who averaged 23.6 points last year and enters his senior season with over 1,500 for his career...Also back is junior Tamyrik Fields who was second on the team in scoring with 11.8 per game.  Also returning are sophomores Ja'Shawn Brooks, Aaron Byrd, Tyvez Monroe and Deane Williams, all of whom played significant minutes as freshmen last year.
 
Meet Up with Metress // Augusta head coach Dip Metress played one season for Gregg Marshall (then a young assistant) as a senior at Division II Belmont-Abbey in 1987-88 before launching a successful coaching career of his own. Metress took the reins at Belmont-Abbey in 1996 and has won over 400 games in his 21 seasons. He and Marshall have squared off on one other occasion as head coaches: Nov. 18, 2000 when Marshall led his Winthrop Eagles to a 55-44 victory. Metress moved from Belmont-Abbey to Augusta in 2004 and has taken the Jaguars to seven NCAA D-II Tournaments in 12 seasons, including a run of three-consecutive national quarterfinal appearances from 2008-10 and a 2008 national runner-up finish.
 
Perfect at Practice // Wichita State has won 21-consecutive exhibition games, dating back 15 years. On Nov. 1, 2001, Athletes First escaped then-Levitt Arena with a 93-88 win.
 
All-Time Exhibition Numbers // The Shockers are 55-10 overall in home friendlies, including 36-2 since 1993. The only losses in that stretch actually came consecutively in the first two seasons under Mark Turgeon. In 2000, the Shockers fell 74-72 to the California All-Stars, followed in 2001 by the aforementioned Athletes First game. A week after losing to Athletes in First, WSU needed overtime to survive the EA Sports All-Stars (Nov. 8, 2001). The victory, nontheless, kicked off the current 21-game streak. Each of the last 20 have been decided by at least seven points.
 
Playing Small Ball // The majority of the victims in the Shockers' exhibition streak have been small college foes - 17 to be exact... In all, Gregg Marshall is 22-0 against D-II or NAIA opponents in nine previous years as Shocker head coach (17 in exhibitions and 5-0 in regular season contests)…. NCAA Division II schools Emporia State (7x), Newman (2x) and Pittsburg State have made multiple appearances. Other D-II's include Rockhurst, Fort Hays State, Arkansas Tech and Hawaii Pacific. NAIA powers Oklahoma Baptist (currently transitioning to NCAA Division II) and Northwood have also come to Charles Koch Arena for exhibition contests…
 
Margin in Charge // WSU's five most recent exhibition wins have come by an average of 43.6 points:
2011 – Emporia State – W, 82-43 (+39)
2012 – Pittsburg State – W, 100-56 (+44)
2013 – Oklahoma Baptist – W, 73-29 (+44)
2014 – Northwood (FL) – W, 112-55 (+57)
2015 – Hawaii Pacific – W, 91-57 (+34)
 
Blending Well in Battle Cameos // Incoming freshmen may take part in the exhibition game without burning any potential redshirt options. That has been the case with a handful of eventual Shocker redshirts under Marshall, many of whom have played well in their short time in the spotlight: A year ago, Brett Barney (now a redshirt freshman) collected five points in eight minutes against Hawaii Pacific. In 2013, Shaquille Morris finished with four points, three rebounds and a pair of blocks in 10 minutes against Oklahoma Baptist. Rian Holland scored eight points to go with four rebounds in the same contest. As a true freshman, Ron Baker hit 2-of-5 treys on his way to six points in 16 minutes.
 
Top Marshall Era Exhibition Performances:
*Points: 23 – Carl Hall vs. Pittsburg St. (2012)
*Rebounds: 14 – Ramon Clemente vs. Emporia St. (2008)
*Assists: 7 – Matt Braeuer vs. Pittsburg St. (2007)
*Blocks: 3 – Three times; Last: Kadeem Coleby vs. Oklahoma Baptist (2013)
*Steals: 4 – Twice; Last: Ron Baker vs. Oklahoma Baptist (2013)
*3-Pointers: 4 – Four times; Most accurate: Rian Holland (4/4 vs. Northwood in 2014)
*Free Throws: 9 – Twice; Carl Hall and Ron Baker vs. Pittsburg St. (2012)
*Minutes: 29 – Matt Braeuer vs. Arkansas Tech (2007)
 
Pounding Virtues // Gregg Marshall continues to preach the virtues of competitiveness, toughness and maturity to his young team. Marshall told a gathering of fans at Thursday's Tipoff Banquet that his biggest points of emphasis this year are playing with both a sense of urgency and with "mental intensity." That latter – borrowed from South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp – isn't quite as catchy as the popular "Play Angry" mantra from WSU's Final Four run, but it's no less important. "This group will continue to get better every day," Marshall told the crowd. "As a coaching staff, we're pounding these values into them every day in practice. Eventually they'll get it."
 
A Senior Moment // WSU began the school year without a scholarship senior, but circumstances changed in mid-October. After sophomore Peyton Allen departed for personal reasons, Marshall successfully petitioned the NCAA to allow the open scholarship to be used by fourth-year walk-on John Robert Simon. Marshall made a surprise announcement at a team gathering with many of Simon's family members present. He and fellow senior walk-on Zach Bush are the last remaining players who logged time on the 2013-14 team that opened with 35-straight wins.
 
Gumby No More // Markis McDuffie arrived last year as a skilled albeit skinny freshman. Listed at 6-8, 185 pounds, coaches nicknamed him "Gumby" after the flexible, green Claymation character. But what a difference 12 month makes. McDuffie packed on 27 pounds over the course of his freshman year and enters his second go-around at 6-8, 212.
 
Up Ahead // The Shockers open the regular season next Friday against MEAC preseason runner-up pick South Carolina State (8:30 p.m. CT on Cox HD 2022), kicking off a stretch of three-games in six days. Long Beach State – the favorite in the Big West – appears two nights later (Nov. 13, 7 p.m. CT on Cox HD 2022) followed by Tulsa (Nov. 16, 7 p.m. on ESPN3).