Game Notes:
Wichita State | Alabama
Tournament Central
#20 Wichita State (2-2) vs. Alabama (2-2)AdvoCare Invitational Consolation Semifinal
Nov. 27 | 12:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m. CT
Lake Buena Vista, Fla. | Disney Wide World of Sports Complex | HP Field House
Telecast --Streaming: ESPN3 (via espn3.com)
App: WatchESPN
Announcers: Rich Hollenberg & Tim Welsh
Radio --On Air: KEYN 103.7 FM
Online: goshockers.com/watch
Announcers: Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
Social Media ---Twitter: @GoShockers, @GoShockersLive
Facebook: facebook.com/WichitaStateUniversityAthletics
Instagram: instagram.com/goshockers
Exposure: goshockers.exposure.co
OPENING TIPS• No. 20/20 Wichita State (2-2) faces Alabama (2-2) in consolation semifinal action at the AdvoCare Invitational at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
• The winner meets the survivor of No. 17 Notre Dame and Iowa in Sunday's fifth-place game (7 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. CT, ESPNU), and the losers square off for seventh-place Sunday at 10 a.m. ET/ 9 a.m. CT on ESPN3.
• This is the Shockers' fifth meeting with Alabama in the past six years. WSU has won three of the four including a sweep of a two-game home-and-home that concluded last December.
• WSU is on the consolation side of an exempt tournament bracket for the first time since 2011 when it fell to eventual national champion UConn in the quarterfinals of the Maui Invitational.
• Counting exempt, conference and postseason tournaments, WSU had an outstanding run of 10-straight wins in tournament openers snapped on Thursday. Prior to the USC loss, the Shockers hadn't dropped a debut game since March of 2012 when they fell to VCU in NCAA Round of 64.
• WSU has never gone 0-3 in an exempt tournament under Marshall and has made just one appearance in a seventh-place game (2007 - Marshall's first year - when the Shockers fell to Baylor and Monmouth in their first two Paradise Jam games before salvaging a win over Illinois-Chicago).
• Overall, the Shockers have captured at least one win in 13-straight exempt tourneys, dating back to 1998.
SERIES WITH ALABAMA & THE SECThe Shockers are 4-3 against Alabama and 21-19 all-time against active members of the SEC... WSU is 5-3 against the SEC under Marshall (3-1 vs. Alabama, 2-0 vs. LSU, 0-1 vs. Kentucky, 1-1 vs. Tennessee)... WSU claimed a 66-57 victory in finals of the 2011 NIT… Alabama (ranked 16th nationally at the time) returned the favor in November of the same year, defeating the Shockers 70-60 in the semifinals of the Puerto Rico Tipoff… The teams played a home-and-home series in 2013-14 and 2014-15, and WSU swept both matchups. In the most recent game, WSU trailed by 11 points with 6:00 to play but outscored the Tide 13-1 the rest of way for a 53-52 victory. The win was the Shockers' 23rd-straight at home, setting a new WSU record.
THANKSGIVING THURSDAY LEFTOVERS• Despite 25 points from
Ron Baker - one shy of his career-high - WSU fell to USC, 70-67, in quarterfinal action.
• Baker matched his career-best with six treys on 10 attempts and has topped 20 points in each of his last three games.
• Freshman small forward
Markis McDuffie enjoyed a breakthrough performance. He had scored just five points (all on free throws) in the Shockers' first three games combined but errupted for 14 points and four steals.
• WSU tallied 19 offensive rebounds, but they resulted in just 11 second-chance points. The Shockers' 74 field goal attempts were the most in regulation by a Marshall Era WSU team but produced only 67 points.
• The Shockers forced 23 USC turnovers. Eight Shockers combined for 13 steals.
• Sophomore
Zach Brown made his first career start. All-American point guard
Fred VanVleet missed his second straight game with a strained hamstring.
Baker passed up Steve Grayer (1985-89) for 23rd on WSU's all-time scoring list with 1,231 points. He needs 16 more to match Paul Guffrovich (1987-91) for 22nd... Baker needs just two more steals to crack WSU's all-time top-10 in that category.
A SHOCKER VICTORY WOULD…... advance WSU to Sunday's 7 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. CT fifth-place game.
… give WSU a 5-3 lead in the all-time series with Alabama.
… improve WSU to 6-3 against the SEC under Marshall.
... improve WSU to 4-1 against Alabama under Marshall
… give Marshall 401 career wins
… give Marshall 207 wins at WSU and move him to within 13 victories of the school's all-time leader, Ralph Miller.
… up their record against non-conference opponents to 48-7 since the start of the 2010-11 season.
-Wichita State-
