PDF Notes:
 Wichita State
 Charleston Southern

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WICHITA, Kan. – No. 10/12 Wichita State kicks off the 2015-16 season this Friday when it hosts defending Big South champion Charleston Southern for a 7 p.m. tip at Charles Koch Arena, Home of Devlin Court.
 
Prior to the game, the Shockers will unveil new banners in honor of their 2015 Missouri Valley Conference championship and NCAA Sweet 16 appearance.
 
A win would extend WSU's school-record home winning streak to 33 (matching Southern Illinois, 2003-06, for the fifth-longest in MVC history) and give Gregg Marshall his 399^th career victory.
 
COVERAGE:
 
 Telecast---
On Air: Cox Channel Kansas (statewide via Cox Communications) with simulcasts in select markets, including Kansas City and Northwest Arkansas.
Online: ESPN3 (subject to blackout in Cox Kansas and KC viewing areas)
Announcers: Bruce Haertl (PBP) and Bob Hull (Analyst)
 
Channel Listings, by location ---
*Wichita (& statewide) – Cox Communications – Cox Channel Kansas – 22 (HD 2022)
*Kansas City – Time Warner Cable – TWC SportsChannel 2 – 324
*Northwest Arkansas - Cox Communications – Cox Channel Arkansas – 78 (HD 2078)
*Outside Cox Kansas and Kansas City markets – ESPN3.com
 
Radio ---
FM 103.7 KEYN
Announcers: Mike Kennedy (PBP), Dave Dahl (Analyst)
 
Social Media ---
Twitter: @GoShockers, @GoShockersLive
Facebook: facebook.com/WichitaStateUniversityAthletics
Instagram: instagram.com/goshockers
Exposure: goshockers.exposure.co
 
THE SERIES:
 
This is CSU's third trip to Wichita in the last five seasons. Four years ago – to the day - WSU defeated the Buccaneers 85-57 to open up the 2011-12 campaign. The Shockers won a 65-53 decision a year later on Dec. 20, 2012.
 
WSU is 5-0 all-time against current members of the Big South, with four of those matchups coming at Charles Koch Arena.
 
CSU is a familiar foe for head coach Gregg Marshall. He coached nine seasons in the Big South at Winthrop and owns more wins over CSU than any other opponent (22-2 all-time with 15 straight victories).
 
LOOKING BACK: Nov. 7: WSU 91, Hawaii Pacific 57
 
WSU defeated Division II Hawaii Pacific last Saturday, 91-57, in its lone exhibition. A total of 14 Shockers saw action and all played at least eight minutes. 12 players scored, led by 13 points from Anton Grady and 11 from Ron Baker. A pair of freshman guards also finished in double-figures: Landry Shamet, starting in place of a sidelined Fred VanVleet, chipped in 10 points in 24 minutes, and Ty Taylor II added 11… The Shockers outrebounded HPU 44-30, led by Bush Wamukota (7 rebounds) and Markis McDuffie (6)… WSU shot 50 percent from the field and knocked down 26-of-31 free throw attempts… The Shockers won their 21^st consecutive exhibition, dating back to 2001, and improved to 10-0 under Gregg Marshall.
 
CHASING 400
 
Head coach Gregg Marshall (398-159, 18^th season) is two wins shy of the 400 mark… He'd be only the 12^th Division I coach in history to hit that milestone within his first 18 seasons… Marshall is one of only 11 coaches with 398 or more wins in his first 17 seasons… He enters the year 17^th among active Division I head coaches in career winning percentage (.715) and is 49^th in total victories… Marshall's 204-76 (.729) mark at WSU is 16 wins shy of all-time wins leader Ralph Miller (220-133).
 
ABOUT CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
 
Charleston Southern was picked fifth in the 11-team Big South Conference… The Buccaneers are coming off a 19-12 finish, highlighted by an epic triple-overtime win on the final day of the regular season that earned them a share of the Big South title for the second time in three years… They've also appeared in the NIT twice in that span (2013, 2015)… Over that stretch, CSU has been one of the nation's most prolific three-point shooting teams, ranking in the top-11 nationally in three-point makes and attempts in each of the last three seasons… They were 11^th in makes and third in attempts in 2014-15…. The Bucs must replace a large chunk of their scoring with seniors Saah Nimley (First Team All-Big South), Will Saunders (Second Team) and Arlon Harper (Honorable Mention) all moving on.
 
ACTIVE SHOCKERS vs. CSU
 
This is Baker's first on-court encounter with CSU, but he was on the bench for each of the previous matchups (2011 as a redshirt and 2012 just days after injuring his foot)… VanVleet played 24 minutes off the bench as a freshman in the 2012 meeting. He scored four points on 2-of-5 shooting and also collected three rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals… Wessel was also injured during the 2012 game. He made his collegiate debut against CSU as a true freshman in 2011, collecting a rebound and two assists in 13 scoreless minutes.
 
LUTE OLSON WATCH LIST
 
Wichita State seniors Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet have been named to the preseason watch list for the Lute Olson Player of the Year Award, presented by CollegeInsider.com…. Last spring, both Baker and VanVleet were among the 25 finalists for the award… The 2015 recipient will be announced the CollegeInsider.com Awards Banquet on April 3 in Indianapolis, site of the 2015 men's NCAA Basketball Championship… For more information, visit luteolsonaward.com.
 
REGULAR SEASON OPENERS
 
The Shockers have won 13-straight season openers, last falling in the 2001-02 debut to Delaware in the 2001 Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska… WSU  is 80-28 all-time in season openers (57-14 in the post-World War II era)… WSU ha opened at 2-0 or better in each of the last four years and been at least 4-0 in three-straight (9-0 in 2012-13, 35-0 in 2013-14 and 4-0 in 2014-15).
 
HOME OPENERS
 
WSU has won 19-straight home openers, last losing Dec. 4, 1995 to Northern Illinois (77-52)… The Shockers are 93-18 all-time in home openers, including a 63-8 since World War II… They're 53-7 since moving into the Roundhouse in 1955 and 12-0 since its renovation to Charles Koch Arena (2003-Present).
 
NOVEMBERS TO REMEMBER
 
WSU is in search of its 20^th consecutive November win (last losing at Tennessee on Dec. 13, 2012) and 20^th-straight November home win (last falling to UMKC, 66-63 on Nov. 19, 2008 in Marshall's second season).
 
On this Date: WSU is 3-0 all-time on Nov. 13, with all three games taking place during the Marshall era. That includes an impressive 53-51 win at VCU in 2012 and the 85-57 home victory against Charleston Southern in 2011.
 
NON-CONFERENCE CONFIDENCE
 
WSU is 45-5 (.900) against regular season non-conference opponents since the start of the 2010-11 season with 31-consecutive non-conference home wins (the nation's fourth-best run behind Duke (116), Minnesota (43) and Illinois (36).
 
A HOME RUN
 
WSU has won a school-record 32-straight home games (30-in-a-row at Charles Koch Arena), last falling to Evansville on senior night in 2012-13… The run of 32 is the nation's third-longest active streak, trailing only Arizona (38) and North Carolina Central (35)… It's also the sixth-longest in MVC history and third-longest by an active member, trailing Bradley (46) and Southern Illinois (33).
 
The Shockers' 31-straight non-conference home wins is the nation's fourth-best run, behind Duke (116), Minnesota (43) and Illinois (36).
 
An expected capacity crowd for Friday night's opener would push WSU's home sellout streak to 32, stretching back to the end of the 2012-13 campaign and be the 168^th consecutive regular season crowd of 10,000 or more (dating back to December, 2004).
 
WSU is 88-8 at home since the start of the 2009-10 campaign… Seniors Ron Baker (34-0) and Evan Wessel (40-0) have never participated in a loss on their home floor.
 
A SHOCKER VICTORY WOULD…
… give head coach, Gregg Marshall 399 for his career.
… be Marshall's 16^th-straight against CSU and improve him 23-2 all-time against them.
… extend WSU's school-record home winning streak to 33 and tie Southern Illinois for the fifth-longest in MVC history and the second-longest by an active Valley school.
… be their 31^st straight win at Charles Koch Arena and improve their building record to 89-8 since the start of the 2009-10 season.
… give WSU a 3-0 lead in the all-time series with Charleston Southern.
… improve WSU to 6-0 all-time against the Big South.
… extend WSU's winning streak in regular season openers to 14 and up their overall mark to 81-28.
… extend WSU's winning streak in home openers to 20 and make them 13-0 in home openers since the 2003 arena renovation.
… give them 20-consecutive November wins, dating back to 2012.
… give them 20-consecutive November home wins, dating back to 2008.
… up their record against non-conference opponents to 46-5 (.902) since the start of the 2010-11 season.
… extend their non-conference home winning streak to 32.
 
ABOUT WSU
 
In less than three years, WSU has gone from Cinderella story to established contender with wire-to-wire national rankings in each of the past two seasons and the highest winning percentage in the nation (151-29, .829) since the start of the 2010-11 campaign.
 
Led by All-Americans and perennial all-conference guards Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet, the Shockers return three starters and nine lettermen from last year's 30-5 team that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16… The 10 total holdovers combined to produce 64.1 percent of the scoring in 2014-15 and nearly two-thirds of the minutes (66.1%) and almost three-quarters of the rebounds (71.5%)... Seven newcomers (five true freshmen and two transfers with Division I experience) join the mix.
 
WSU IN THE POLLS
 
No. 10 Wichita State extended the nation's fourth-longest active streak in the Associated Press poll and will open with a Top-10 ranking for the first time in 34 years… The Shockers' current run of 40-straight weeks in the AP rankings is one of the longest in Division I basketball, trailing only Duke (156 weeks), Kansas (124) and Arizona (60)… This is WSU's fourth preseason Top-10 appearance but its first since the 1981-82 campaign when it opened at No. 6 with a roster boasting future NBA standouts Antoine Carr and Cliff Levingston… WSU has spent 17 weeks in the Top-10 under head coach Gregg Marshall and 62 overall.
 
MVC FAVORITES
 
WSU is a near-unanimous favorite to win its third-straight Missouri Valley Conference title. The Shockers swept 42 of the 43 first-place votes cast by MVC coaches, media and SID's… The Shockers have been tabbed preseason favorites in each of the last three years. The 2013-14 and 2014-15 teams made good on those predictions by winning the league's regular season title with a combined 37-1 record in loop play.
 
MORE ACCOLADES FOR BAKER AND VANVLEET
 
WSU guards Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet are poised for big senior seasons. Baker is a Sporting News first team preseason All-American and VanVleet (a Sporting News second teamer) was named the Missouri Valley Conference's preseason Player of the Year… Baker and VanVleet were each named to the MVC first team and are looking to join a select group players with three first-team All-Valley selections. Only 42 others in conference history have done it… VanVleet (Bob Cousy Award, point guard), Baker (Jerry West Award, shooting guard) and Anton Grady (Karl Malone Award, power forward) are on the preseason watch list for the Basketball Hall of Fame's position-specific player of the year honors.
 
HIGH-SCORING TRIO
 
Grady – a Cleveland State transfer – brings 1,173 career points with him. He now combines with Baker (1,145 points) and VanVleet (1,060) to form the nation's only trio of 1,000-point scorers heading into the season.
 
NEXT UP
 
The Shockers travel to Tulsa on Tuesday, Nov. 17 for a tough early season test… The game will air on Cox Channel Kansas…Tulsa earned a vote in the preseason Coaches Poll and is coming off a top-50 RPI season…  This is the 13^th meeting between the two in the 20 years since Tulsa left the MVC… The Shockers built a 40-22 halftime lead, and Ron Baker sank a career-high six three-pointers to earn WSU a 75-55 victory in the most recent matchup (Nov. 29, 2014 in Wichita)… WSU has won a school-record seven-straight in the series, including three-in-a-row at the Reynolds Center… The Shockers haven't won four-straight in Tulsa in over half a century last doing it between 1956-59… Their best stretch of road success in the 85-year series came over a two-decade period surrounding World War II (1931, 46-49).
 
Next home action for the Shockers comes at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21 against Emporia State on Cox Channel Kansas.