Opening Tip // After four home tune-ups, Wichita State (4-0) prepares for its first major test with three games in three days in the Bahamas at the Battle 4 Atlantis. The Shockers open with an 11 a.m. CT (Noon ET) quarterfinal tip against LSU (3-0) on ESPN2
 

BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS

LSU (3-0, 0-0 SEC)   rv/rv Wichita State (4-0, 0-0 MVC)

Wednesday, Nov. 23

11 A.M. CT

Paradise Island, Bahamas

Imperial Arena

Bracket

Tournament Central

Game Notes: WSU | LSU

COVERAGE

ESPN2

ESPN3

KEYN 103.7 FM

GoShockers.com

Live Stats

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SERIES HISTORY

Shockers vs. LSU: 4-1

At Neutral Site: 1-1

Last Meeting: Dec. 18, 2010 (WSU 70-69)

AT A GLANCE

Stat Comparison LSU WSU  Points/Game 82.3 93.3  Opp. Points/Game 66.7 56.5  Field Goal % .505 .523  3-PT Field Goal % .393 .393  Free Throw % .619 .713  Rebounds/Game 38.0 44.8  Assists/Game 14.0 19.3  Steals/Game 7.3 8.8  Turnovers/Game 11.3 12.8

Bracket // The WSU-LSU winner advances to Thursday's semifinals for a 1:30 p.m. CT (2:30 p.m. ET) tip against the winner of No. 10 Louisville and Old Dominion. The loser plays a consolation quarterfinal matchip at 8:30 p.m. CT (9:30 p.m. ET, AXS TV) against the Louisville-ODU.
 
WSU in Exempt Tournaments // The Shockers have played well on the tournament circuit under Marshall, winning the 2012 Cancun Challenge (Mexico) and the 2013 CBE Classic (Kansas City, Mo.). In 2014, the Shockers claimed a runner-up finish in Honolulu, Hawaii at the Diamond Head Classic. The only recent exception came a year ago when a banged up Shocker team limped into the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando without point guard Fred VanVleet and lost three-consecutive games to USC, Alabama and Iowa.
 
Shocker Summary // Losing Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet to the NBA was supposed to hurt much worse. Instead, former role players have progressed and newcomers have provided an additional spark in WSU's 4-0 start. That the Shockers are still unbeaten isn't necessarily a surprise, but rather it's the way they've gone about it, with four lopsided wins by an average of nearly 37 points.
 
Depth: Ten Shockers are averaging between 13.0 & 22.0 minutes and 5.5-11.5 points. WSU leads the nation in bench points (53.5).
Defense: WSU opponents are shooting just over 35% from the field and are averaging 18.0 turnovers.
Accuracy: WSU is shooting 52.3% as a team and has hit nearly 40% of its three-point attempts. The team ranks in the top-20 nationally in both scoring offense and defense.
Freebies: The Shockers have made a living at the line, averaging 33 attempts per game. Their 92 free throw makes are nearly double the opposition's total (47).
Rebounding: Typical Marshall teams rebound relentlessly. This one is no different, with an average margin of +15.3.
 
WSU-LSU Series Notes // WSU leads 4-1 all-time (1-1 on neutral floors)… The Shockers have won four-straight… In the summer of 2006, WSU and LSU agreed to a three-game, home-home-neutral series. The Shockers swept all three meetings... On Nov. 28, 2006, WSU (fresh off a Sweet 16 trip and ranked 24th) won at No. 20 LSU (coming off a Final Four), 57-53...  Under Gregg Marshall, WSU won subsequent games in Wichita (67-47 on Dec. 19, 2007) and in Bossier City, La. (70-69, Dec. 18, 2010)... LSU's lone series victory came in the 1981 Elite Eight in New Orleans over a Shocker squad bookended by future NBA standouts Cliff Levingston and Antoine Carr.
 
2017 Tournament Scene // Wichita State has signed on to participate in the 2017 Maui Jim Maui Invitational in Hawaii, alongside California, LSU, Marquette, Michigan, Notre Dame, VCU and host Chaminade, Nov. 20-22, 2017. The Shockers finished 2-1 at the 2010 Maui Invitational,  collecting wins over Chaminade and Virginia after a heart-breaking quarterfinal loss to eventual national champion UConn.
 
On a Roll // WSU's 4-0 start was the most dominant four-game stretch in school history. The Shockers outscored pre-season MEAC runner-up pick South Carolina State (+36), preseason Big West favorite Long Beach State (+37), Tulsa (+27) and Maryland Eastern Shore (+37) by a combined margin of 147 points. The 2011-12 Shocker team held the previous record with +145 stretch against non-conference foes in December of 2011.          
 
Lindsted Links // Second-year WSU assistant Kyle Lindsted built Sunrise Christian Academy in a national power by finding and fostering top international talent. He considers the Bahamas a second home… Lindsted brought 2016 NCAA Player of the Year, Buddy Hield (from Freeport, Bahamas) to the U.S. as a high school junior and coached him for two seasons… Another Lindsted success story from the Bahamas is Michigan State's Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn who played three seasons for Lindsted at Sunrise… St. John's forward Marvin Clark spent two years at Sunrise. He and Nairn were teammates on Michigan State's 2015 Final Four team before Clark landed at St. John's.
 
 WSU's roster includes five players who attended Sunrise for high school or prep school (Zach Brown, C.J. Keyser, Rauno Nurger, Brett Barney and Eric Hamilton).
 
Other Bahama Ties // As a freshman, WSU's Conner Frankamp helped Kansas to a third-place finish at the 2013 Battle 4 Atlantis. Frankamp appeared in all three games, scoring four points in KU's quarterfinal win over Wake Forest… WSU's 2013-14 team that went unbeaten in the regular season included Bahamian Kadeem Coleby in its core rotation. Originally from Nassau,  the 6-foot-9 Coleby played one season for the Shockers after transferring from Louisiana Lafayette. He started 19 games as a senior with a team-high 45 blocks.
 
Totally Tubular 80's Fad // WSU has scored 80 points or more against all four opponents this year. Did you know… It's the first time since December, 2011 that WSU has hit 80 in four straight games… It's the first time in nearly 28 years that WSU has strung four 80-point games together against D-I opponents… The 1984-85 Shockers were the last to hit five and also own the school record with 12 consecutive 80-point games.
 
Bench Ruling // WSU enters the week as the national leader in bench scoring at 53.8 points per game… The Shockers' 64 bench points in Sunday's win was their highest total in 10 seasons under Gregg Marshall… The reserves have topped the 50-point mark in three of the first four games this year… The 53.8-point pace will be tough to maintain but -- for perspective -- no MVC school in the last 20 seasons has averaged more than 37.0-per-game (Creighton, 36.9 in 2007-08 is the next-highest).
 
Reserve Army // From 2012-16, MVC benches (including WSU's) combined for just seven 50-point performances against Division I foes. The Shockers did it three in less than 10 days to start the 2016-17 season.
 
All-Time Start Chart // The Shockers are 4-0 for the fourth time in five seasons… WSU is 4-0 for the 22nd time in the program's 111 seasons... Previous 4-0 Shocker teams were a combined 14-7 their next time out… 
 
Defensive Tradition // Five schools, including WSU and Louisville, are allowing less than 60 points per game over the most recent four-year stretch.
 
Board Shorts // WSU has outrebounded its first four opponents by sizeable margins (+21, +11, +22, +7)… Through Wednesday, the Shockers' +15.3 average was tied for seventh nationally… Marshall's Shocker teams led the Missouri Valley Conference in rebounding margin in each of his first nine seasons at WSU and lead the way again in year 10… Since Marshall's arrival in 2007, WSU ranks fourth nationally in overall rebound margin.