Game Notes: Wichita State (PDF) | Seton Hall (PDF)

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(rv/rv) WICHITA STATE (5-4) at SETON HALL (8-2)
Dec. 19, 2015  | 12:00 p.m. ET/ 11:00 a.m. CT
Newark, N.J./ Prudential Center

Telecast --
On Air: FOX
Announcers: Tim Brando & Jim Jackson

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
 

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OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State's redemption tour continues Saturday at Seton Hall (8-2) at 12:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. CT) on FOX.  The Shockers won the front-end of a home-and-home series with the Pirates, 77-68, last year in Wichita, and will look to finish out the sweep.
 
• The Shockers (5-4) have won three-straight since the return of All-American point guard Fred VanVleet from a hamstring injury, including back-to-back victories last week over NCAA at-large candidates UNLV and No. 25 Utah.
 
• A win Saturday could help push WSU back into the top-25 after a three-week absence. WSU went voteless last week but, Monday, jumped to the equivalent of No. 31 in both polls.
 
• Saturday marks WSU's third-straight contest against a team in the top-60 of the RPI rankings. Heading into Wednesday, Utah ranked No. 28 and UNLV No. 59 in the NCAA's calculations. The Seton Hall game presents yet another opportunity for the Shockers to impress the selection committee. Four previous chances against top-50 teams - Iowa (23), Alabama (24), USC (25) and Tulsa (48) - all came with VanVleet either sidelined or at half speed. Those four games account for WSU's only losses.
 
• With five of its eight D-I games against the RPI Top 50 and six  of eight against the Top-100, WarrenNolan ranks WSU's non-conference schedule as the nation's seventh-toughest to date.
 
• VanVleet has a shot to reach 100 career victories on Saturday. He's participated in 99 wins at WSU and entered the week trailing only Gonzaga's trio of Kyle Dranginis, Przemek Karnowski and Kyle Wiljer.
 
• WSU has won 11 of its last 14 non-conference road games, and its .817 road winning percentage (49-11) since 2010-11 is the best in the nation - better, in fact, than 284 NCAA teams have done at home during the same time frame.
 
• Saturday is a homecoming for WSU freshman Markis McDuffie, a native of Paterson, N.J. who played for coaching legend Bobby Hurley, Sr. at St. Anthony High School.
 
SHOCKERS AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS
• Led by its veteran guards, WSU ranks in the top-10 nationally in turnovers per game (8th, 9.8) and TO margin (5th, +6.3).
• WSU has three of the nation's winningest seniors, by percentage, with medical redshirt senior Evan Wessel leading the way at 88-9 (.907).
• Wessel is also the second-winningest player in the last 20 years, trailing only former Memphis star Chris Douglas-Roberts (99-10, .908), among players with at least 80 games played and 40+ starts.
 
THE SERIES vs. SETON HALL
• This is the third meeting all-time between the two programs and the first in New Jersey. In addition to last year's home win WSU also claimed a first round win in the 2006 NCAA Tournament in Greensboro. That 2006 Shocker team will celebrate its 10th anniversary at the Dec. 31 game.
• Discounting the 100 meetings between WSU and Creighton when the two were members of the MVC, the Shockers are 15-11 vs. current members of the Big East (3-1 under Marshall).
 
LAST YEAR vs. SETON HALL
Dec. 9, 2014 (Wichita/Charles Koch Arena)
Wichita State 77, Seton Hall 68
• Darius Carter recorded a double-double, Ron Baker led the scoring with 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting (including a perfect 3-for-3 effort from beyond the arc), and Fred VanVleet scored 18 points and handed out eight assists.
• A sellout crowd of 10,506 rattled a young Seton Hall team and helped WSU build a big first half lead. The Shockers trailed 13-8 before mounting two big runs (13-0 and 11-0) to go into the break up 34-18.
• In its big first half, WSU shot just under 55 percent (led by Baker's 6-for-8 start) and turned 12 Seton Hall turnovers into 17 points.
• WSU shot just under 55 percent in the first half, led by 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting from Baker.
• The Shockers led by 20 with 7:46 to play in the game before a late Seton Hall push narrowed the margin back to single-digits.
 
SCOUTING THE PIRATES
• Seton Hall is off to an 8-2 start with wins over Georgia (69-62) and Rutgers (84-55) and losses to Long Beach State (80-77) and at nationally-ranked George Washington (72-64).
• The Pirates are led by a talented core of sophomores. Former McDonald's All-American, Isaiah Whitehead and backcourt mate Khadeen Carrington average 15.5 and 14.4 points per game, respectively, with Desi Rodriguez (12.3 points) also in double-figures.
• WSU faces a strong post presence for the third-straight game. The Shockers limited 7-foot NBA hopefuls Stephen Zimmerman (UNLV) and Jakob Poeltl (Utah) last week. The 6-foot-9, Angel Delgado - last year's Big East Rookie of the Year - has collected double-doubles in three-straight games and leads the Big East at 9.9 caroms per contest.
 
SEEKING QUALITY WINS
• WSU has tallied 36 total wins over Top-100 RPI teams over the last four seasons. The Shockers are 37-18 against the top-100 and 14-11 against the top-50.
• Overall, the Shockers sports an .847 winning percentage against non-conference opponents since 2011-12, going 50-9 over the last four years.
 
ALL-A-BOARD
Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet shared the team-high with four rebounds on Saturday. VanVleet becomes the ninth different Shocker to take a turn as leading rebounder in WSU's nine games this year... The Shockers rarely have individuals with eye-popping totals on the boards, but they've led the MVC in rebound margin in all eight of Marshall's seasons through a committee approach.
 
WSU FOES SHOOTING 0% ON SHOTS THEY DON'T TAKE
On back-to-back Saturdays, WSU limited Saint Louis and Utah to 36 and 34 field goal attempts, respectively - the two lowest totals of the nine-year Gregg Marshall era... Utah's 34 FGA's also matched the lowest total by any MVC opponent since the 2009-10 season... During its three-game winning streak, WSU has averaged 17.3 more shot attempts per game than the opposition.
 
Those extra opportunities on offense are a direct result of...
 
WSU LEADS NATION IN DECEMBER TURNOVER MARGIN
Factoring in only games against Division I competition, WSU entered the week with the nation's best turnover margin during the month of December. In three games against Saint Louis, UNLV, and Utah, the Shockers have forced 56 turnovers to just 21 giveaways (average +11.7 margin per game).
 
Turnover Margin vs. Division I Teams (Dec. 1-15, 2015)
 
            Team  GP       Margin
1. Wichita State        3          +11.7
2. Texas State           3          +10.3
3. West Virginia         3          +10.3
4. Ark.-Little Rock      3          +9.3
 
MINUTES TO WIN IT
Helped partly by injuries and missed games, WSU has another odd stat line heading Saturday. 13 different Shockers are averaging double-figure minutes.
 
BROWNEE POINTS
WSU found itself missing the contributions of the departed Tekele Cotton at small forward in the season's first month, but the emergance of sophomore Zach Brown and freshman Markis McDuffie have turned a weakness into a strength.
 
Brown had been practicing well in recent weeks, so his recent stretch of game success came as little surprise to coaches and teammates.  Brown has scored at least nine points in four-straight outings and is averaging 11.8 points on 60 percent shooting during that stretch. The sophomore has also provided a major defensive lift.
 
McDUFFIE McNUGGETS
McDuffie played sparingly in the first three games of the season before injuries forced him into key rotation minutes during the AdvoCare Invitational. He responded well offensively, averaging just over 12 points in three games. Against Utah, he drilled 4-of-5 three-point attempts on his way to 13 points.
 
Coaches believe his length and athleticism will be a major asset for the Shockers defensively as he adjusts to the system and to college basketball. The 6-foot-8 McDuffie - who played for legendary high school coach Bobby Hurley Sr. - has eight steals over the last five games.
 
BAKER CLIMBING WSU's CAREER SCORING LIST
Ron Baker is on pace to end the year in eighth place on WSU's all-time scoring list. He needs just 8 more points to crack the top-20 and enters Saturday 13 shy of the 1,300 mark.
 
THREE COMPANY
Baker (198 career three-pointers) needs just two more triples to reach the 200-mark for his career. He ranks third on the school's all-time list, trailing only Sean Ogirri (200) and Randy Burns (248)... Ogirri drilled six of his 200 against Seton Hall in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament on his way to 23 points.
 
TAKEWAY BOYS
VanVleet (3rd, 175 career steals) and Baker (9th, 124) both rank in the top-10 on WSU's all-time steals list. VanVleet, who owns two of the top four single-season steal totals in school history, needs five more to catch Toure' Murry for second place on the career leaderboard and 47 more to match Jason Perez's record total of 222.
 
SERVICE ACE
VanVleet broke WSU's career assists record as a junior and is now chasing even bigger things. He needs 14 more to become just the 15th player in MVC history with 500 or more assists.
 
UP NEXT
The Shockers return home to finish out their non-conference schedule with games against Nevada (Dec. 22) and New Mexico State (Dec. 28). Both games will air on Cox Channel Kansas. Drake comes to town on New Years for a 1:00 p.m. tip on ESPNU to open up Missouri Valley Conference play.