Game Notes: Wichita State (PDF) | Northern Iowa (PDF)

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NORTHERN IOWA (10-9, 2-4 MVC) at rv/rv WICHITA STATE (12-5, 6-0 MVC)
Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016  | 7:05 p.m. CT
Cedar Falls, Iowa / McLeod Center

Telecast --
On Air: Cox Channel Kansas (Cox HD 2022), Timer Warner SportsChannel (Kansas City), ESPN College Extra*
Streaming*: Link
Announcers: Bruce Haertl & Shane Dennis
* - UNI feed only, subject to blackout in Kansas and the Kansas City metro area

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
• First-place Wichita State (12-5, 6-0 MVC) returns to the scene of its lone conference loss of the last three seasons when it travels to Northern Iowa (10-9, 2-4) Wednesday evening.
 
• UNI - then ranked 18th nationally - defeated the 12th-ranked Shockers 70-54 on Jan. 31 of last year. The loss snapped WSU's modern conference record, 27-game MVC winning streak. WSU rebounded to win its last eight games (the last coming against the Panthers in Wichita) to take the title.
 
• The Shockers' 41-7 road mark (.854) is better than any other MVC team's conference home record during that span. (UNI's 38-10, .792 home mark is the closest.) However, three of those seven WSU road losses have come in Cedar Falls.
 
• The Shockers have won seven of the last nine meetings in the series. A win on Wednesday would even the all-time tally at 26-all.
 
• WSU brushed aside Indiana State, 82-62, Sunday afternoon behind a career-high 29 points from Fred VanVleet, to maintain their one-game lead in the standings over Evansville and SIU. They now have a victory in hand over each of the three closest challengers in the standings.
 
• With his six steals last week, VanVleet (195 career thefts) needs just five more to become the 17th player in MVC history to reach the 200-mark. He is working on a run of eight-consecutive multi-steals games.
 
• WSU is 10-1 since VanVleet's Dec. 5 return from a hamstring injury that cost him four games and slowed him down significantly in two others.
 
• Wednesday night's game features two of the 10 winningest coaches in Valley history. WSU's Gregg Marshall (107 career MVC wins) ranks eighth and UNI coach Ben Jacboson is ninth (105).
 
• Marshall (216 wins in nine seasons at WSU) needs four more victories to match Ralph Miller (220, 1951-64) atop the school's all-time wins list.
 
• UNI owns more wins over Marshall (8) than any other active Valley school but is still below .500 against him (8-9). Marshall has a winning record at every MVC road destination, save for one – he's 3-5 in Cedar Falls.
 
• Since seeing their 13-game MVC road winning streak come to an end in their last visit to the McLeod Center, WSU has built up another, winning seven-straight Valley road contests. A win Wednesday night would tie for the sixth-longest road streak by a Valley school since 1950.
 
• Wes Washpun (5.4 assists per game) and VanVleet (5.3) rank one and-two on the MVC assist chart. VanVleet is looking to become just the fourth player in MVC history to three-peat as conference assists leader.
 
FRED GIVETH
VanVleet's 6.5 assist per game in MVC play is on track to be the fifth-highest mark by a Valley player in the last 20 years. Only Illinois State's Jamar Smiley (7.28 in 1996-97 and 7.22 in 1997-98), Drake's Adam Emmenecker (6.72 in 2007-08) and Evansville's Jeremy Stanton (6.61 in 2000-01) have averaged more in a conference season.
 
FRED TAKETH
VanVleet's 2.67 steals per game in MVC play is the fourth-best tally by a Valley individual in the last 15 seasons. SIU's Bryan Mullins (3.22 in 2005-06), Illinois State's Paris Lee (2.88 in 2014-15) and Bradley's Walt Lemon, Jr. (2.72 in 2013-14) are the only players to average more.
 
1-800-REBOUND
Senior forward Anton Grady needs just seven more rebounds to reach the 800-mark for his career. As of Monday, only 15 other active players in Division I basketball had reached the plateau.
 
SIX YEARS OF SUCCESS
With recent losses by Duke and Gonzaga, WSU once again has the nation's highest winning percentage since the 2010-11 season. Over the last six years, the Shockers are 163-34 (.827).
 
CONFERENCE COLUMN
WSU is 41-1 (.976) against the MVC over the past three seasons, which is the league top winning percentage by any school in any conference. Only Stephen F. Austin comes close at 39-1 (.975).
 
CONQUERING BEFORE THE DIVIDE
WSU has held a halftime lead in 11-straight games, winning nine of them. Aside from the Seton Hall game, WSU has not trailed in the second half of any game since Dec. 1.
 
BEGINNER'S SKILL
The Shockers have scored first in eight-straight games and in 12 of the first 17 overall.
 
POLL VAULTING
• WSU is eyeing a return to the national rankings, following an eight-week absence. The Shockers took a major leap forward, Monday, with 38 votes in the AP (the equivalent of No. 28 nationally) and 16 in the Coaches Poll (No. 31).
• WSU had been a fixture in the national polls since completing its 2013 Final Four run, but after opening the season at No. 10 in the AP Poll (their first preseason top-10 debut since the early 1980s), the Shockers fell out entirely, thanks to a 2-4 November swoon.
• Three of the Shockers' five losses have come to teams that are either currently in the top-25 (USC and Iowa) or are receiving votes (Seton Hall). The other two - Tulsa (62) and Alabama (42) - began the week with strong RPI numbers.
 
LITTLE START UP COMPANY
WSU is 6-0 in league play for the third-consecutive year after accomplishing that feat just two times in the previous 68 years combined. Each of the previous four teams that started 6-0 went on to win the MVC title and win at least one NCAA Tournament game.
 
THE STAKES
A Shocker Win Would...
... be their eight-straight and 11th win in 12 tries.
... extend their MVC road winning streak to eight-games – tied for the third-longest Valley road string since 1950 and five shy of the school record, set last year.
... be Gregg Marshall's 217th at WSU - three shy of Ralph Miller (220) for the school's all-time record.
... tie the all-time series at 26-26 and be their 8th victory over the Panthers in the last 10 meetings.
... improve them to 7-0 in MVC play for the third-consecutive year but just the fourth time in school history.
... tie Fred VanVleet for second on WSU's wins list with former teammate Demetric Williams (107, 2009-13) and move him to within 13 of Tekele Cotton's school and conference record, 120.
 
A Shocker Loss Would...
...snap a seven-game winning streak.
... end a seven-game MVC road winning streak
... end a 14-game MVC regular season winning streak
...be just their second loss in the last three MVC seasons.
... be their second-straight in Cedar Falls and fourth in the last seven visits.
... be less good than a win.
 
UP NEXT
WSU plays the next two games at home, beginning Saturday afternoon against Bradley (2 p.m. CT, Cox Channel Kansas).
 
WSU has won 12-straight against the Braves (3-16, 1-5 MVC). A victory this weekend would tie for the fourth-longest series winning streak by one active MVC school over another, matching Illinois State's run of 13 against Indiana State from 1993-99.
 
Loyola (8-10, 1-5 MVC) comes to Charles Koch Arena next Wednesday night for a late 8 p.m. CT start on CBS Sports Network.