The RoundHouse | 2/21/2018 10:22:00 AM

Tulane at No. 13 Wichita State
 
When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday
Records: Tulane 13-13, 4-10 American; Wichita State 21-5, 11-3
Listen: KEYN 103.7 FM/goshockers.com
Watch: CBS Sports Network 
 
By Paul Suellentrop
 
Wichita State's Rashard Kelly concluded Sunday's raucous celebration after a win at No. 5 Cincinnati with the wise counsel of a senior. Kelly, drenched with water and Gatorade, yelled "a real man gets a taste of success and wants more."
 
The perfect summation of an emotional, season-altering week and the transition back to the grind. The Shockers rallied from a 14-point deficit to defeat Temple 93-86 at home on Thursday. On Sunday, they knocked off No. 5 Cincinnati 76-72 for the program's first road win over a top-five ranked since 1964.
 
Great stuff. The wins moved the Shockers up six spots to No. 13 in the Associated Press poll and ESPN.com's Joe Lunardi elevated them to a No. 4 seed in his NCAA bracket projection.
 
Those wins put Wichita State in control of its own destiny in the American Athletic Conference race. Win the final four games, which includes a March 4 rematch vs. Cincinnati at Koch Arena, and the Shockers are assured at least a share of the title. Every win also helps Wichita State's case for the potential geographic protection offered to top NCAA seeds.
 
The Shockers (21-5, 11-3 American) get back to work against Tulane (13-13, 14-10) on Wednesday at Koch Arena. The Green Wave comes to Wichita on a five-game losing streak, one in overtime and one by two points. 
 
 "If we are hitting our stride, then I hope that we can sustain it," Shocker coach Gregg Marshall said. "We played pretty well against Cincinnati, obviously, and you have to do that in order to win there. We now need to keep it up."
 
Tulane started the conference season with a surprising win at Temple and defeated SMU and Houston in early January. It started conference play 3-3 before fading. Guard Melvin Frazier averages 15.9 points and 5.2 rebounds and is shooting 38.5 percent from three-point range. Forward Cameron Reynolds averages 15.7 points and 6.6 rebounds.
 
Frazier is a "tremendous athlete," Marshall said. "He gets a lot of points around the basket. He shoots a very, very good percentage. Melvin Frazier's kind of burst onto the scene. . . an NBA prospect who really has developed under coach (Mike) Dunleavy."
 
The Green Wave is one of the fast-paced teams in the conference, averaging 71.4 points a game and an average possession length of 16.8 seconds, according to kenpom.com.
 
Leaky defense is a major culprit in Tulane's slip in February.
 
Tulane ranks 10^th in defensive shooting percentage in conference play by allowing opponents to make 46.5 percent of their shots. According to Pomeroy, American opponents make 53.2 percent of their two-point shots to rank Tulane 11^th in the 12-team conference.
 
Seven of Tulane's past eight opponents shot 45 percent or better from the field. In the past two games, East Carolina shot 56.6 percent from the field and Memphis 54.3.
 
Tulane trails opponents by 30 points at the foul line during conference play, a problem worsened by its 14 foul-outs. No opponent has fouled out vs. the Green Wave.
 
Marshall considers Dunleavy, who played at South Carolina before the NBA, a role model. Dunleavy played in the NBA for Philadelphia, Houston, San Antonio and Milwaukee. He coached 16 seasons in the NBA with the Lakers, Milwaukee, Portland and the Clippers. His 1991 Lakers lost in the NBA Finals to the Chicago Bulls.
 
"I thought he was a tremendous player," Marshall said. "He just kept getting better and bigger and stronger . . . refining his game. He ended up having a wonderful career there (at South Carolina). He went on and had great success in the NBA and was a dynamite three-point shooter early on, and then he was a complete player later in his career. I told him I loved watching him play, and I was a big fan of those teams growing up."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.