EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- No. 13 Wichita State (15-2, 5-0 MVC) will look to add to a couple of impressive streaks Saturday in one of its toughest road tests of the year at Evansville (13-4, 3-2 MVC).
COVERAGE:
Saturday's 1:00 p.m. tip can be seen on the MVC Television Network, with Scott Warmann (play-by-play) and Rich Zvosec on the call. The MVC TV network airs on FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports Indiana and FOX Sports Kansas City, Comcast SportsNet Chicago, ESPN3 (outside the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri), DirecTV (Channel 671), Dish Network (Channel 418), AT&T U-Verse (Channel 748) and AT&T U-Verse HD (Channel 1748)... Mike Kennedy - now in his 35th year as Voice of the Shockers - was named Kansas Sportscaster of the Year by the NSSA last week. He'll call his 1,121st consecutive game on the radio side, joined by analyst Bob Hull.
THE SERIES:
The Shockers lead the all-time series 25-16. They trail 10-9 at Evansville but have won three of the last four on the Aces' home court.
THE MATCHUP:
Evansville boasts the Valley's top scoring offense at 74.6 points per game and is shooting over 51 percent from the field for the season. The balanced Shockers rank second in the league in scoring defense (58.5) and third in scoring offense (72.1), and opponents are shooting just 36 percent against them through the first five games of conference play.
The teams rank Nos. 1-and-2 in assist-to-turnover ratio (WSU at 1.5-to-1 and Evansville at 1.4-to-1).
The Shockers will need to shut down D.J. Ballentine, the Valley's leading scorer (20.5 points per game). WSU's Ron Baker ranks third (16.2 points).
The two lineups will have ample time to get a feel for the opposition. Four Aces average 29.0 minutes or more, while three Shockers average 30.0 or more.
PEAK OF THE VALLY
The Shockers collected their 23rd consecutive Valley victory on Wednesday and now have sole possession of the longest conference winning streak in modern MVC history. The Shockers would need to reach 16-0 in conference play to equal the all-time MVC record for consecutive conference wins. Kansas notched 34 in a row from 1922-24 to set the record. Nebraska won 29 straight between 1912-15. The Shockers' current run of 23 straight is third on the list.
SIX-CESSFUL STARTS:
The Shockers are looking to reach 6-0 for the second straight year. It'd be only the fifth time in school history. WSU was 6-0 to start the 1963-64 season, 8-0 in 1964-65, 10-0 in 1980-81 and, of course, 18-0 in 2013-14. Each of the previous four teams that started 6-0 went on to win the Valley regular season title. The 1980-81 group reach the Elite Eight, and the 1964-65 team went to the Final Four.
WINNING ON THE ROAD:
WSU's 11 straight Valley road wins is the sixth-longest of all-time, though each of the top five streaks on that list fell between 1912 and 1928... A win Saturday would tie the Shockers with Kansas, which posted 12 in a row between 1914-16. The record (also set by U) is 28.
ROAD HOGS:
The Shockers' 42-9 road record since 2010-11 leads the nation... Only eight other teams nationally can boast 40 wins over the last five seasons.... WSU is the only MVC team and one of only 53 teams nationally with a winning road record over that span... How impressive is the Shockers .824 five-year, road winning percentage? Only 57 of the 351 Division I teams can even boast a HOME winning percentage strong.
VANVLEET HAVING ANOTHER SEASON FOR THE AGES:
Fred VanVleet leads the MVC in assists per game at 5.6 per game and ranks 29th nationally. He's on pace to become WSU's all-time assists leader before the year is out.
In Sunday's win at Loyola, Fred VanVleet (14 points, 10 assists) became the first Shocker in nearly a decade to record a double-double on points and assists. Fridge Holman (23 point, 11 assists) last did it on Feb. 18, 2004 against Northern Iowa.
VanVleet's 4.02-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio during the 2013-14 season was the nation's fourth-best. His numbers are down a hair in 2014-15 (3.69-to-1 is 9th nationally), but they're still far better than any other point guard in school history.
VanVleet could turn the ball over on each of the next 40 possessions and would still rank at WSU's career-leader. Not likely, though. VanVleet has just 26 turnovers through the first 17 games combined.
TRENDING:
• Through 17 games, WSU has yet to turn the ball over more than the opposition.
• VanVleet has posted five or more assists in nine of the last 11 contests and is averaging 6.3 assists over that stretch (beginning with WSU's Dec. 9 win over Seton Hall).
MARSHALL JOINS INFINITI COACHES CHALLENGE
Gregg Marshall is participating for the second straight year in the Infiniti Coaches Challenge. Fans are invited to go online to espn.com/infiniti to vote for their favorite coaches, who are each competing to raise money for a charity of their choice. First round voting opened Jan. 5 and will run through midnight Eastern Time on Jan. 25. The top 24 vote getters from the pool of 48 coaches will advance to the second round. Marshall reached to the Final Four in 2014 and is once again competing on behalf of the Wichita Children's Home. As of Friday Marshall ranked third out of the 48 coaches in Round One voting.
CAREER LIST WATCH
Steals
Fred VanVleet and Tekele Cotton continue to climb WSU's all-time steals list and are the MVC's active career leaders in that category... VanVleet (137 career steals) is in sixth place and needs just nine more to catch both Aubrey Sherrod and P.J. Couisnard for fourth... Cotton (131) passed up Cheese Johnson for seventh and is seven behind VanVleet.
Three-Pointers
Ron Baker (138 career treys) ranks ninth all-time and needs just two more to catch Ryan Herrs (1992-96) for eighth on the list. He's six behind Paul Guffrovich (1987-91) for seventh.
Assists
VanVleet, who has 23 assists over his last two games, now has 378 for his career - five behind Guffrovich, who sits in seventh. VanVleet needs just 53 more to surpass Murry as WSU' s career leader. At his present pace of 5.6 assists per game, VanVleet (just a junior) is on pace to reach that mark in mid-February.
Games Played
When he checks into Wednesday's game, Cotton (who is preparing for his 124th contest in a Shocker uniform) will move into the top-10 all-time, tying Jamar Howard (2001-05) and Randy Burns (2001-05)... Demetric Williams, a senior on WSU's 2013 Final Four team, holds the current record with 140. Cotton would need to play in all of the remaining regular season games, plus five postseason contests (including the MVC Tournament) to set the record.
Wins
The Dec. 13 win at Detroit made Cotton the second-winningest Shocker of all-time. A Dec. 16 victory over Alabama was the 100th of his WSU career. He currently has 107. Williams (111 wins) has the highest career total.
VANVLEET, BAKER NAMED TO WOODEN WATCH LIST
Ron Baker was named to the John R. Wooden Award Midseason 25 List. The Wooden Award is given annually to the nation's best player... He and Fred VanVleet were both included in the preseason top 50 watch list.. Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan ('97) and Kevin Durant ('09). Creighton's Doug McDermott won the 2014 Wooden Award.
UP NEXT:
WSU plays the second of back-to-back road games at Missouri State on Wednesday night. The game will air on Cox Channel Kansas (Cox Cable channel 22, HD 2022) at 7:05 pm CT.
