Shockers Open 5-Hour Energy Puerto Rico Tip-Off
Colorado Buffaloes (1-0)
vs.
Wichita State Shockers (1-0)
6:30 p.m. Central | Thurs., Nov. 17, 2011 | Coliseo de Puerto Rico (San Juan, PR)
Radio: KNSS 1330 - Mike Kennedy/Bob Hull TV: ESPNU
Today's Game... Wichita State travels to Puerto Rico for the 5-hour Energy Puerto Rico Tip-off. The Shockers face Colorado (1-0), for former Shocker Assistant in Buff Head Coach Tad Boyle, in its opening game of the tournament. Colorado also made the NIT Final Four, but lost to Alabama, 62-61, before the Shockers defeated Alabama, 66-57, for the title.
Home/Season Opener... WSU downed Charleston Southern, 85-57, Sunday in Wichita. The Shockers opened their 106th season ad improved to 87-18 in home openers. WSU is now 77-28 in season openers no matter the location.
In-Season History... Wichita State has competed in 51 in-season tournaments dating to the 1946-47 season and carries a 72-56 record. That record includes 13 championships and eight runner-up finishes.
The Shockers' last in-season tournament title was the championship of the Cessna Classic during the 1998-99 season in Wichita. WSU has competed in an in-season tournament in seven of the last eight years, and in six-straight, skipping the 2004-05 season.
The Shockers' highest finish during that time frame is a runner-up finish in the 2003-04 Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, USVI. WSU went 2-1 a year ago in the EA Sports Maui Invitational with a loss to eventual National Champion Connecticut in the opening game. (See full tournament history on the last page.)
MVC Player of the Week Nominee..David Kyles was WSU's nominee for Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week as he led WSU with a game-high 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting (54 percent), which included five three-pointers in the win against Charleston Southern. He also had four assists and a steal in 23 minutes of play.
MVC Newcomer Nominee...Junior Carl Hall was WSU's nominee for MVC Newcomer of the Week after he picked up a game-high nine rebounds in his debut. He scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting, and also picked up an assist and a block in 19 minutes of play.
Moving Pieces... Wichita State used 13 players in Sunday's win against Charleston Southern, including Toure Murry who had been nursing sore ribs in an injury suffered in an open scrimmage Oct. 27.
Balance Again?... Twelve players scored against Charleston Southern, including five in double-figures led by senior David Kyles' 19 points. Even better, nine players recorded at least one assist led by Kyles' four.
Newbies Find the Floor... Newcomer Carl Hall scored 12 points, but also had nine rebounds in his Shocker debut. He made 5-of-9 shots, and he also picked up an assist and a block. Local product Evan Wessel two points and two assists while battling a bloody nose in 14 minutes. Junior James Anacreon scored a point, but had three rebounds in six minutes. Freshmen Tekele Cotton and Jake White added 10 and six points, respectively.
Rebound Margin... Since Gregg Marshall arrived, WSU has out-rebounded 107 of 137 opponents, which included all but four opponents in 2010-11. WSU now carried a plus-8.4 rebound margin a year ago, which ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA all season.
Marshall Loves the 80s... Gregg Marshall is 71-3 in his career when his teams score 80 or more points, which includes a 16-0 record in the last four seasons at WSU, including the season-opener. He is also 12-0 when his teams have scored 90-plus points in his 13-plus seasons as a head coach. In 2010-11, WSU was 7-0 when scoring more than 80 points, and was 3-0 when scoring more than 90.
Murry was 40th Shocker to Reach 1,000...Toure Murry became the 40th player in Shocker history to reach the 1,000 point milestone last season. Murry currently ranks 28th with 1,142 points.
An All-Around Guy...Toure Murry is climbing the WSU career charts in four visible categories, including points, assists, steals and three-pointers. As mentioned he ranks 28th in scoring with 1,142 points, but he also ranks fifth in steals with 139, tied for 12th in three-pointers with 119, and ninth in assists with 320.
More Career Record Lists... Senior David Kyles ranks tied for 16th with 103 three pointers. In addition, senior Garrett Stutz ranks 11th in blocks with 68.
Shocker Nation... Wichita State carries a 107 regular-season game streak of more than 10,000 fans in Charles Koch Arena after the win on Sunday.
Exhibition Action...WSU cruised to an 82-43 win over Emporia State on Tuesday night in its lone exhibition game for 2011-12. Garrett Stutz and Joe Ragland each scored 10 points for the Shockers.
Exhibition History... Wichita State is now 6-0 in exhibitions under Gregg Marshall and 46-10 overall in exhibition games after the win over ESU. WSU last lost an exhibition 16 exhibition games ago during the 2001-02 season to Athletes First.
WSU Head Coach Gregg Marshall... 2011-12 will be Gregg Marshall's fifth season as the Shockers head coach. He brought WSU from 11 wins in his first season, to a school-record 29 and an NIT championship last season. Marshall has a 277-138 career record and is 83-55 at Wichita State.
Murry Preseason All-Valley... Wichita State senior guard Toure' Murry was selected to the 2011 MVC Preseason first-team. The Houston native was selected to the second team MVC Preseason second-team in 2010. Murry passed the 1,000 point mark last season but begins 2011-12 as day-to-day with an injury suffered during Shocker Madness.
Welcome Back... WSU brings back five of its top six scorers from 2010-11, Murry (9.4 ppg), guard David Kyles (9.3 ppg), seven-foot center Garrett Stutz (7.2 ppg), point guard Joe Ragland (7.0 ppg) and guard/forward Ben Smith (6.7 ppg).
Roster 50-50... Gregg Marshall will have a very balanced roster this season between returnees and newcomers. In his fifth season as the Shockers head coach Marshall will have eight returnees and eight newcomers in 2011-12. Of those eight, Malcolm Armstead and Joe Mitchell will sit out per transfer rules and Ron Baker is scheduled to redshirt his freshman season.
Happy New Year... Creighton and Wichita State were picked one and two, respectively in the MVC men's preseason poll. The Bluejays and Shockers will face each other for the first time this season on New Years Eve in Wichita. WSU will travel to Omaha on Feb. 11.
Inked... Fifth-year head coach Gregg Marshall has announced Thursday the signing of Derail Green, Cleanthony Early, Fred Van Vleet and Henry Uwadiae to National Letters-of-Intent to play men's basketball at Wichita State beginning with the 2012-13 season.
Cleanthony Early, a 6-foot-8, 220 pound forward from Sullivan (N.Y) Community College, was the NJCAA Division III Player of the Year in 2011. He will have two seasons of eligibility at WSU.
Green, a 6-7, 190 pound forward from Houston Klein Forest, averaged 12.9 points and 6.3 rebounds a year ago as a junior.
Van Vleet, a 5-11, 175-pound guard from Rockford (Ill.) Auburn, is ranked the No. 26 point guard in the class of 2012 by Scout.com. He averaged 18.6 points and 7.5 assists as a junior.
Uwadiae (unn-waa-DEE-A), a 6-10, 210-pound center from Benin City, Nigeria by way of Evelyn Mack Academy of Charlotte, N.C., rounds out the signees.
Roster Update... Freshman Ede Eghraveba will transfer at the end of the semester. The 6-foot-6 forward from Queens, N.Y., did not play in the exhibition game on Tuesday.
Brazilian Adventure... In August, the Shockers traveled to Brazil for their first foreign trip since 2006. Wichita State's incoming players were eligible to play in the games that took place against professional teams in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil. One of the teams, WSU faced was the Brazilian National Team. In a game that was closer than the score indicated, Wichita State lost 87-61.
The Year After...Wichita State won the 2011 NIT Championship over Alabama at Madison Square Garden. The Shockers became the Missouri Valley's seventh NIT champion with their win over the Crimson Tide.
On 20 Win-Seasons...With the school-record 29 wins a year ago, WSU has reached 20 wins 12 times in history, won more than 20 games for the second-straight season and won 20 games in back-to-back seasons seven times, including two stretches of three-straight 20 win seasons.
Life on the Top 25 Edge... The Shockers were last receiving votes on Feb. 14, 2011 when they were 32nd in AP poll. Here is a look back at life on the edge in 2010-11:
•Feb. 7, 27th in AP Poll/32nd in ESPN/USA Today poll.
•Jan. 31, 38th in AP/43rd in ESPN/USA Today poll.
•WSU did not receive votes for the week of Jan. 24.
•Jan. 17, 39th in ESPN/USA Today/43rd in AP poll.
•Jan. 10, 42nd in ESPN/USA Today/44th in AP poll.
•Jan. 3, 31st in ESPN/USA Today and 33rd in AP poll.
•Dec. 27, 35th in ESPN/USA Today and 37th in AP poll.
•Dec. 20, 40th in the ESPN/USA Today poll.
•Dec. 3, 40th in ESPN/USA Today and 39th in the AP poll.
•Nov. 29, 39th and 42nd in the two polls, respectively.
•Nov. 22, 34th in the getting votes in both.
•Nov. 15, 33rd in both polls released.
•WSU's votes put them at No. 32 in the Preseason ESPN Top 25 listing.
Last Time Ranked/Getting Votes...Prior to the 2010-11 season, WSU received votes in the Feb. 8, 2010 AP Top 25 poll, which marked the fourth week in the 2009-10 season. WSU also had five points in the Feb. 1, 2010 AP Top 25 poll. Earlier in 2009-10, WSU also received votes in both the Dec. 21 and Dec. 28 AP Top 25 polls. WSU also got one point in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll Dec. 28. Prior to that, WSU last received votes on Jan. 8, 2007.
WSU was last ranked Dec. 25, 2006 (16th in the AP after a season high of 8th). WSU's highest ranking was No. 1 for two games in 1964-65. WSU has six times played the No. 1 team in the country.
Next Outing... The Shockers play host to UAB the day following Thanksgiving (Nov. 25) in the Shockers' second foray into Wichita's new INTRUST Bank Arena. A year ago, WSU defeated former long-time rival Tulsa during the downtown arena's first season, which was also the first game for the Shockers in downtown Wichita since 1955.
That game starts a string of three-straight games, and six-of-seven games in Wichita, including Cal State Fullerton (Dec.1) and UNLV (Dec. 4) in Charles Koch Arena. The UNLV game is a matchup selected for the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge.
-- Wichita State University --
