Wichita State Shockers (23-4, 13-2 MVC)
at
Davidson (20-6, 14-2 Southern)
Noon Eastern
Sat., Feb. 18, 2012
John Belk Arena (5,223)
Radio: KNSS 1330 - Mike Kennedy/Bob Hull
TV: ESPN2 - Marc Kestecher/LaPhonso Ellis
Quickly... Wichita State will travel to play Davidson on Saturday, Feb. 18, at noon eastern time in Charlotte, North Carolina in the 10th annual Sears BracketBusters event.
-The Shockers are one of 26 teams selected to be a part of the BracketBusters event on the ESPN family of networks. Drake, Creighton, Missouri State and Northern Iowa are the other MVC schools selected for a televised game.
-WSU has not previously faced Davidson on the hardwood.
-WSU improved to 23-4 overall and 14-2 in conference play with Wednesday's win that allowed first-place WSU to clinch at least a share of the league title and the No. 1 seed in the MVc Tournament.
-WSU has six players who average between 8.9 and 14.3 points a game. Garrett Stutz is at the top of the list with 14.3 points.
-WSU is the winner of 13-of-14 and 21-of-23, including two eight-game win streaks this season. WSU's longest win streak under head coach Gregg Marshall was nine games during 2009-10.
- WSU has played only nine true road games (8-1: 1-non-con/8-MVC). Its only true non-conference road game was at Tulsa Dec. 7, where it won, 77-67. WSU was 9-2 in true road games in 2010-11.
-Wichita State is 17-3 on the road since the beginning of 2010-11.
-WSU has completed the MVC home-and-home series against Bradley, SIU, Evansville, Indiana State, UNI, Creighton and Missouri State. The Shockers only have Illinois State on the road Wednesday and Drake at home Saturday to complete the loop season.
-WSU has a plus-15.3 point margin of victory (7th in NCAA on Feb. 16) and a plus-6.5 rebound margin (21st in NCAA on Feb. 16). The scoring offense of 78.3 points a game is 20th.
-WSU is 14-1 at home, with the only loss a MVC home game, 68-61, to Creighton on Dec. 31 in Wichita. A year ago, WSU lost four games in Charles Koch Arena. Nine times has WSU lost only one game at home, with the last time 2009-10. Prior to that it was 1987-88.
Back in the Polls... WSU entered the Top 25 poll this week for the first time since Dec. 26, 2006 (16th in the AP after a season high of 8th). WSU's highest ranking was No. 1 for two games in 1964-65. It climbed to No. 8 in the Dec. 11, 2006, poll on the strength of wins at George Mason, No. 6 LSU and No. 15 Syracuse.
WSU in BracketBusters
Wichita State has played in the Bracketbusters series since the 2003-04 season. WSU did not play in the event in its first season. The Shockers are 2-6 on BracketBusters Saturday and are 7-0 in the matchup played in the return meeting.
Here is a look at WSU's BracketBusters results and then the return results and sites:
2003-04
W, 62-47 at Austin Peay (Clarksville, Tenn.)
2004-05
Return - W, 72-62 vs. Austin Peay (Wichita)
L, 65-58 at Miami, Ohio (Oxford, Ohio)
2005-06
Return - W, 55-46 vs. Miami, Ohio (Wichita)
L, 70-67 vs. George Mason (Wichita)
2006-07
Return - W, 72-66 at George Mason (Fairfax, Va.)
L, 60-58 vs. Appalachian State (Boone, N.C.)
2007-08
Return - W, 63-53 at Appalachian State (Wichita)
L, 85-75 at Northern Arizona (Flagstaff, Ariz.)
2008-09
Return - W, 58-53 vs. Northern Arizona (Wichita)
W, 70-59 vs. Cleveland State (Wichita)
2009-10
Return - W, 69-54 at Cleveland State (Cleveland)
L, 68-58 at Utah State (Logan, Utah)
2010-11
Return - Delayed one season vs. Utah State
L, 68-67 vs. VCU (Wichita, Kan.)
2011-12
Return - WSU 83, Utah State 76 (Wichita)
WSU at Davidson
After Today... WSU travels to Normal, Ill., to face Illinois State in the last league road game for the Shockers. The game can be seen on Kansas 22.
On 20 Win-Seasons... With the win against Indiana State on Feb. 4, WSU reached a 20-win season for the 14th time in history, and the third-straight time. The Shockers set the school record with 29 wins a year ago. WSU has won 20 games in back-to-back seasons eight times, including three stretches of three-straight 20 win seasons. WSU last won at least 20 games for three-straight seasons from 2003-04 to 2005-06 with 21, 22 and 26, respectively.
Last Outing... WSU senior center Garrett Stutz picked up his 10th double-double of the season, leading the No. 24 Shockers to a 73-58 win against Missouri State Wednesday at Charles Koch Arena.
Stutz led all players with 21 points, 10 rebounds and finished 4-for-4 from three-point range in the Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball win.
Senior Ben Smith picked up 14 points and senior David Kyles had 12 points for Wichita State. Toure' Murry had a game-high eight assists.
MSU fell to 16-12 overall and 9-7 in the MVC. Anthony Downing paced the visiting Bears with 17 points. Patterson scored 14 of the Bears' 27 points off the bench. Weems finished with 10 points.
21.3 Wins A Year... Gregg Marshall is one win from 300 for his career, which includes a 105-59 record at WSU. He was 194-83 at Winthrop in nine seasons, and now carries a 299-142 career record. In 14 seasons as a head coach, he averages 21.3 wins a year. WSU is also 53-12 over the last two seasons to average 25.5 wins a year.
Ragland Garners MVC POW Honors... Senior guard Joe Ragland averaged 21.5 points and 4.5 assists while shooting 76.2 percent (16-21) in WSU's two wins against UNI and No. 15 Creighton. Against Creighton, he scored 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field, which included a 2-of-4 effort from the arc. He also had six assists and a block. In the UNI game, he scored 19 points on 78 percent (7-9) shooting, which included five three pointers.
Mr. Smith... Senior Ben Smith scored a career-high-tying 22 points against Creighton on 8-of-12 shooting, which included three treys and three free throws. He tied his career high first set against Chicago State on Dec. 14. Two of his three 20-plus point games have come in the last five games, which included 21 points at Missouri State.
Charity Stripe... WSU set the school free throw percentage game record, making 17-of-17 (100 percent) free throws against Creighton. In its last 12 games, WSU is 197-of-241 (82.8) from the free throw line. Murry has been clutch for the Shockers at the line, in his last 15 games, he knocked down 52-of-62 (83%) and is 28-for-33 (84%) in the last eight.
Boarding's Back... WSU opened the season out-rebounding its first 17-straight opponents, but gave up the edge on the glass and also allowed a tie in four of seven games. WSU got the edge back, out-boarding UNI by 10, Creighton by 14 and Missouri State by two, in the last three games.
Small Margin of Defeat... WSU's 12 losses during the last two seasons boil down to an average difference of 5.8 points a game, which includes three, three-point losses, and one one-point loss. One loss this season was in single overtime, and the other in triple overtime on the road.
WSU's three non-conference losses were against future National Champion Connecticut, Final Four participant VCU and Top 25 San Diego State.
Another Top 25 Win...Wichita State toppled No. 17 Creighton, 89-68, led by Joe Ragland's 24 points and Ben Smith's 22 points in front of 18,735 fans at the CenturyLink Center.
The Shockers led by as many as 24 points in the win, which marked Wichita State's 12th in the last 13 games. Demetric Williams and Toure' Murry finished with 11 points each. Williams also led the Shockers with seven rebounds. Foul trouble limited Garrett Stutz to 13 minutes. He finished with eight points and one rebound. Wichita State outrebounded Creighton, 37-23, in the game.
Gregory Echenique led Creighton with 16 points.
Stutz Earns POW... Garrett Stutz averaged 24.5 points and 13.0 rebounds in WSU's two wins the week of Jan. 29, and for his effort was named the MVC Player-of-the-Week. His 24 points against Indiana State pushed him past the 1,000-point mark for his career, while his 15 rebounds against the Sycamores helped him to his eighth double-double of the year.
For the week, he shot 57 percent (17-30) from the field and 82.4 percent (14-17) from the line. At Missouri State, he had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and against Indiana State he had 24 points and 15 rebounds.
41 Becomes 41st...No. 41 Garrett Stutz became the 41st Shocker to reach 1,000 career points with his 24-point out-put against Indiana State. With eight points Wednesday, his 1,044 points now ranks 36th, while he needs 11 points to reach 35th and Ernie Moore's 1,055 from 1960-64.
He Does It all... Senior Toure Murry is on pace to reach the Top 10 in WSU career scoring, and is already there in games played, three-pointers, free throws made, assists and steals. He is currently 13th on the WSU scoring chart with 1,461 points, needing 84 to reach 10th and Greg Carney's 1,545 from 1967-70. He also ranks second in steals behind Jason Perez (222/1996-00) with 168, seventh in three-pointers with 133, third in assists with 406, ninth in free throws with 354, and third in games played with 133.
MVC Wildcard TV Weekend... The Missouri Valley Conference has selected the Drake at Wichita State men's basketball game at 12:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 25, to complete the league's Wildcard Weekend on FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports Indiana, FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX College Sports, Comcast SportsNet Chicago and the ESPN family of networks.
Reaching 100...WSU Head Coach Gregg Marshall won his 100th game at WSU with the defeat of Evansville Jan. 25th. In five seasons as the Shockers head coach he has a record of 105-59. With the win, he became just the fourth coach in WSU history to win 100 games. He is currently fourth on the all-time wins list behind Mark Turgeon (128). Of the four coaches, he is the second-fastest behind Gene Smithson to reach 100.
2011-12 is 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 299-142 career record and is 105-59 at WSU.
Ninth Double-Double... Garrett Stutz picked up eight of his 10 double-doubles of the season during Valley play. At Bradley, he had 14 points and 10 rebounds, at Evansville he had a career-high 29 points and 10 rebounds and against Illinois State he had 12 points and 10 rebounds. He also had 16 points and 13 rebounds against the Braves in Wichita, 25 points and 10 rebounds at Missouri State, 24 points and 15 rebounds against Indiana State, 10 points and 12 boards against UNI and 21 points and 10 rebounds against Missouri State. His non-conference double-doubles came against Colorado (14-11) and Temple (13-11).
Scoring, Margin and D Fence...WSU leads the Valley-only stats in scoring at 77.2, scoring margin at plus-13.6, allowing just 63.7 ppg, and in field goal percentage defense at 40 percent.
On Stutz' Steppin' Out... The senior center has scored double-figures in 13 of the last 16 games he played, and has moved up to seventh in the Valley with his 14.3 ppg. He had a career-high 29 points in the win at Evansville. That effort eclipsed his previous career-high of 24 points in the NIT semi-final against Washington State.
Balanced Scoring...Six Shockers are scoring 8.9 points per game or more led by Stutz' 14.3. The six players represented are helping the Shockers score 78.1 ppg, which is second behind Creighton in the MVC.
Balanced Rebounding...Led by Garrett Stutz' 8.0 rebounds a game, which is third in the Valley, and backed by Carl Hall's 5.2 a game, the majority of rebounding is also spread between the same group between 8.0 and 3.6 a game.
Balanced Minutes...Even the Shockers' minutes are balanced with seven players averaging between 29.1 minutes and 22.8 minutes a game.
Winning Percentage Climbing... Wichita State endured a six-game losing streak during the 2008-09 season, but finished 11-6 down the stretch. Overall since that streak, including this season's 23-4 start, head coach Gregg Marshall is 88-28 in his last 116 games for a 76 percent winning percentage.
Marshall Loves the 80s... Gregg Marshall is 80-4 in his career when his teams score 80 or more points, which includes a 26-1 record in the last four-plus seasons at WSU. He is also 15-0 when his teams have scored 90-plus points in his 14-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.
In 2011-12, he is 11-1 when scoring more than 80, 3-0 when scoring 90 or more, and 1-0 when scoring more than 100.
Stutz' Rebounding Up... Senior Garrett Stutz averaged 3.5 rebounds a year ago, but is grabbing the boards at a greater pace in 2011-12. Through 26 games he has played, he is averaging 8.0 boards a game. He had a career-high 15 against Indiana State in Wichita, and has had 11 double-figure rebounding games, including nine in Valley play.
Attack the Boards... Since Gregg Marshall arrived, WSU has out-rebounded 130-of 164 opponents, which includes all but three opponents in 2011-12. WSU carried a plus-8.4 rebound margin a year ago, which ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA all season. WSU is currently at plus 6.5 a game, after out-boarding CU, which is 21st in the NCAA.
More Career Record Lists... Senior David Kyles ranks fifth with 149 career three pointers. In addition, senior Garrett Stutz ranks seventh in blocks with 94.
Ragland Tearing it Up... Joe Ragland, who scored a career-high 31 points against UNLV earlier this season, scored in double figures eight-straight games, but broke the streak with just six points at Evansville. He bounced back with 20 points at SIU. He now totals 18 double-figure scoring games this season, including nine of the last 12 games he's played.
Hall Heats Up December... Carl Hall has 13 double-figure scoring games, including a stretch that spanned the month of December where he scored seven-of-eight double-figure games and averaged 12.6 ppg. On Dec. 31, he also scored a team-high 17 points against No. 21 Creighton. He also had a career-high 13 rebounds.
Triple OT... The three-overtime loss to Drake was just the fourth triple-overtime game in Shocker history. WSU has now played in two, three-overtime games in the past two seasons as it won against Indiana State, 93-83, on Jan. 22, 2011.
Bench Gets Some PT... With Garrett Stutz out with injury to his back, all 12 remaining players saw game action against SIU, and all 12 scored. That included all five freshman, who scored at least three points, led by freshman Jake White. He led them with 10 points and eight rebounds against SIU in 17 minutes of play. He also shot 57 percent (4-7) from the field.
Orukpe Steps In... With senior center Garrett Stutz out with a back injury against SIU, junior center Orukpe filled in well. He played 22 minutes, scored five points, grabbed a career-high nine rebounds, blocked four shots and dished out two assists with no turnovers.
Valley Margins...The 43-point win over SIU was WSU's second-biggest in an MVC game. This season's team has accounted for three of WSU's top seven margins of victory in a MVC game. WSU's 39-point win at Bradley on Dec. 28 was the largest win margin on the road for the WSU.
Historic Numbers... In the first Valley game this season, WSU handed Bradley its worst home loss in 108 seasons of basketball and its worst loss in 60 MVC seasons. WSU defeated Bradley by the largest margin in the 126-game series and won by its largest margin in an MVC road game. WSU defeated Bradley by 39 in the first meeting and by 37 Jan. 13 in Wichita.
50-Point Wins... With the 94-44 win against Chicago State, Wichita State collected its eighth 50-plus win in history, and its fourth since 1980. WSU's largest margin of victory was March 6, 1907 when it defeated Sterling, 99-31, while its last 50-plus win was a 102-46 win (56) on Dec. 17, 2006. The 49-point win against Newman (102-53) ranks ninth in history.
Friday the 13th Win... Friday's game was the first Wichita State game on Friday the 13th since the 1980-81 season. WSU defeated Southern University, 95-70, on March 13, 1981 in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The game was played at Levitt Arena.
Century Mark.. With the 102-53 win against Newman, the WSU reached the Century mark for the first time under head coach Gregg Marshall. WSU last reached 100 points during 2006 against Maryland-Baltimore County.
Top 25 Foes... The win against No. 18 UNLV marked the first time Wichita State had beaten a Top 25 non-conference opponent since it took down No. 16 Texas Tech, 85-83, on December 19, 2009 inside Charles Koch Arena. The Shockers are 2-2 against the Top 25 this season with the loss to Alabama, 70-60, in Puerto Rico. WSU's second ranked loss was to No. 21 Creighton on Dec. 31, while its second win was against No. 17 Creighton in Omaha on Feb. 11.
Runnin' Down the Rebels... WSU's 89-70 win over No. 18 ranked UNLV was the most lopsided victory by a MVC school over a Top-25 team since 1999. Missouri State defeated No. 20 Tennessee by 30 points in the 1999 NCAA Tournament.
Joe vs. the Rebels From the Arc... Senior Joe Ragland came one three-pointer from tying the Shocker record for treys in a game with the eight he had against UNLV. The eight tied with Maurice Evans' eight against Illinois State on Dec. 12, 1998. Jason Perez holds the record with nine against Missouri State on Jan. 2, 2000. The 12 treys WSU made as a team was tied for fourth.
Topping a Top 25: UNLV... Joe Ragland netted a career-high 31 points as WSU dismantled No. 18 UNLV Rebels, 89-70, in the MWC-MVC Challenge.
The win marked the first time WSU had beaten a ranked non-conference opponent since it took down No. 16 Texas Tech, 85-83, on December 19, 2009. It was the first meeting between the Shockers and UNLV since January 10, 1979.
Ragland was one of four Shocker players to hit double-digits, as guard Toure' Murry, and big men Hall and Stutz followed suit. Hall finished with 17, Stutz with 13 and Murry with 11 to go along with his team-high eight assists. Ragland and David Kyles led the Shockers with five rebounds apiece.
Going Downtown... Wichita State won its second-ever game in downtown Wichita's INTRUST Bank Arena, but UAB Head Coach Mike Davis would have still played there than inside Charles Koch Arena. After Friday's 68-46 loss, Davis said, "It would have been 40 over at Koch Arena. I'm glad we played here instead of over there, because if we couldn't handle this situation, it would have been really crazy." The Shockers also won a year ago against Tulsa, which was the first-ever collegiate basketball game held at the new INTRUST Bank Arena, 82-79.
INTRUST Standout...Garrett Stutz scored 17 points in WSU's win against UAB on 70 percent shooting. He was 7-of-10 from the field in just 17 minutes of play, and also made 3-of-4 free throws. He also had three rebounds in minutes limited due to the nature of the 68-46 win.
Murry Surges at Puerto Rico Shootout...Senior Toure Murry averaged 20.7 points a game in Wichita State's three games in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, including 17 points against Colorado, 21 against No. 15 Alabama and a career-high 24 against Temple. He shot 46.9 percent (23-49) for the three games and received votes for all-tournament team honors.
Major Streak... With the win against the Pac-12's Colorado, Wichita State improved to a seven-game win streak against teams from major conferences in Virginia (ACC), LSU (SEC), Nebraska (then-Big 12), Virginia Tech (ACC), Washington State (then-Pac-10), and Alabama (SEC), and Colorado (Pac12). The streak was broken with the loss to No. 16 Alabama in Puerto Rico.
In-Season History... Wichita State has now competed in 51 in-season tournaments dating to the 1946-47 season and carries a 73-58 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.)
Home/Season Opener... WSU downed Charleston Southern, 85-57, in the Shockers' 106th season opener, and improved to 88-18 in home openers. WSU is now 78-28 in season openers no matter the location.
Newbies Against Charleston Southern... 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.
Shocker Nation... Wichita State carries a 114 regular-season game streak of more than 10,000 fans in Charles Koch Arena.
Exhibition Action...WSU cruised to an 82-43 win over Emporia State in its lone exhibition game for 2011-12. Garrett Stutz and Joe Ragland each scored 10 points for the Shockers.
Exhibition History... WSU 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.
Inked... Fifth-year head coach Gregg Marshall has announced the signing of Derail Green, Cleanthony Early, Fred Van Vleet and Henry Uwadiae to National Letters-of-Intent to play men's basketball 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., rounded out the first wave of signees.
WSU Adds Fifth Signee... Teddy Hawkins from Dayton Dunbar High School signed a letter of intent with WSU. Hawkins, a 6-foot-8, 180 pounder from is the fifth member of the WSU's Fall recruiting class.
"I'm more ecstatic now that's he's become a Shocker," Marshall said. "He is the cherry on top of arguably the best recruiting class I've ever been a part of. These five guys are really, really talented and we're very, very excited about what they bring to the table for the future."
Hawkins averaged 16.7 points as a junior, according to the Dayton Daily News, for Dunbar. He was named All-Ohio Division II and the Dayton City League Player of the Year.
"He's a 6-8 kid that can stroke it from deep," Marshall said. "He can guard. He's very, very long. Very skilled."
MVC Weekly Honors Swept...Joe Ragland and Carl Hall were named MVC Player and Newcomer of the Week for the week of Nov. 28-Dec. 4.
Ragland netted a career-high 31 points as WSU dismantled No. 18 UNLV Rebels, 89-70, in the MWC-MVC Challenge. For the week, he shot 77.8 percent (14-18) from the field, and 84.6 percent (11-13) from the arc in the two wins. He also made seven of his eight free throw attempts. Against UNLV, he made 9-of-12 shots, including 8-of-9 from the arc, as the first Shocker player since Paul Miller in 2006 to score more than 30 points. Against Fullerton, he had 15 points.
Hall averaged 18 points and 5.5 rebounds in WSU's two victories. He scored a career-high 19 points and had eight rebounds in WSU's win against Fullerton. He then had 17 points and three rebounds against UNLV on 70 percent (7-10) shooting.
