OPENING TIPS
*Wichita State (9-2) makes its annual trip downtown this Saturday for a non-conference showdown with Oklahoma State (8-2) at INTRUST Bank Arena.
*The 6 p.m. tip can be seen in all 50 states on ESPN3 with Mitch Holthus (pbp) and Rich Zvosec on the call.
*Catch every Shocker game, home and away, on FM 103.7 KEYN and online at goshockers.com/listen. Mike Kennedy -- now in his 37th year as Voice of the Shockers -- will call his 1,184th consecutive game, alongside Bob Hull.
 

SHOCKERS vs. COWBOYS

rv/rv Wichita State (9-2, 0-0 MVC)   -/rv Oklahoma State (8-2, 0-0 Big 12)

Saturday, Dec. 17

6:00 P.M. CT

Wichita, Kan.

INTRUST Bank Arena

Tickets (Sold Out)

Game Notes: WSU | OSU

COVERAGE

The Valley on ESPN3

WatchESPN (available in all 50 states)

Mitch Holthus & Rich Zvosec

KEYN 103.7 FM

Listen

Live Stats

SOCIAL

@GoShockersLIVE | #watchus

@goshockers | #watchus

Go Shockers

SERIES HISTORY

All-Time: OSU leads 29-8

In Wichita: OSU leads 14-5

Last Meeting: Dec. 21, 2002 (OSU 68-58)

AT A GLANCE

Stat Comparison OSU WSU Points/Game 93.5 81.7 Opp. Points/Game 78.3 59.5 Field Goal % .459 .461 3-PT Field Goal % .379 .381 Free Throw % .762 .713 Rebound Margin +5.0 +9.6 Turnover Margin +7.1 +3.8 Assist-TO Ratio 0.99 1.42 Blocks/Game 4.1 3.3

THE MATCHUP:
*OSU is the Shockers' closest Division I neighbor – roughly 120 miles down the road, however this will be the first meeting between the two teams in 14 years. WSU plays at OSU's Gallagher-Iba Arena in 2017.
*The Shockers are the equivalent of No. 27 in both major polls. OSU (6-2) received eight votes in this week's Coaches Poll.
*A Shocker team that has traditionally excelled at protecting the basketball must do the same against an OSU group that that forces 21.2 turnovers per game (second nationally). Juwan Evans averaged nearly three steals per game.
*Statistical guru Ken Pomeroy ranks OSU as one of the nation's 10 most up-tempo teams, at 76.1 possessions per game. WSU is near the middle of the pack at 69.9.
*WSU's defense -- ranked third nationally in field goal percentage defense (.346) and 10th in scoring defense (59.5) -- must also slow the nation's fourth-most productive offense (93.5 points per game). 
*The Cowboys have scored at least 97 points in seven of their eight wins this year. WSU has kept six opponents under 60.
*WSU has gone 93 consecutive home games without surrendering even 80 points. Indiana State reached 83 on Jan. 22, 2011 but needed three overtimes to do it.... Texas Tech was the last visitor to hit 80 in regulation, scoring 83 on Dec. 19, 2009, though WSU went on to upset the 16th-ranked Red Raiders anyway, 85-83. That streak now stands at 116 games.
*That 2009 Texas Tech game was also the most recent regular season visit that WSU has received from a Big 12 opponent (just over seven years ago).
 
DEEP THOUGHTS:
*These are two of the nation's deepest and most-productive benches thus far. WSU entered the weekend second nationally in bench scoring (48.4), and OSU (40.7) ranks fifth. The Cowboy reserves scored 60 points in Wednesday night's win over Pine Bluff. WSU has topped 60 twice.
* All 10 of WSU's rotation players average between 5.0 and 10.5 points per game, and their minutes range from 10.5 to 22.3.
 
Oklahoma State Bench
Average: 40.7
National Rank: 5th
50-Point Games: 3
Season High: 60
Pct. of Total Points: 45.0%
 
Wichita State Bench
Average: 48.4
National Rank: 2nd
50-Point Games: 5
Season Highs: 64 & 61
Pct. of Total Points: 59.2%
 
 
INTRUST BANK ARENA FACTS:
*Saturday's meeting with Oklahoma State will mark the seventh-consecutive year that WSU has played downtown and the team's third consecutive downtown sellout. All 15,004 seats have been claimed.
*Wichita's multi-purpose downtown arena opened its doors in January, 2010. It is the second-largest indoor venue in the state of Kansas, seating 15,750 for concerts, 15,004 for basketball and 13,450 for hockey. 
*In addition to numerous concerts, INTRUST Bank Arena serves as the home of the Wichita Thunder (ECHL hockey). 
*The arena has played host to six Wichita State men's basketball games, three NBA preseason games involving the Oklahoma City Thunder and three Kansas State men's basketball games over the past six years.
*INTRUST Bank Arena will host First & Second Round action of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Championships (though as co-host WSU will not be permitted to play there). Wichita hasn't hosted the event since 1994 when Fab-Four Michigan (post Chris Webber) and John Calipari-led UMASS invaded the Kansas Coliseum.
*The building previously hosted First & Second Rounds of the 2011 NCAA Women's Tournament.
*Gregg Marshall is, of course, 6-0 at INTRUST Bank Arena, but OSU's Brad Underwood has also coached on this floor as an assistant at K-State. In December, 2011, Underwood's Wildcats dropped an 85-80 heartbreaker to his former K-State mentor Bob Huggins' West Virginia team in double overtime.
 
PERFECT AT INTRUST BANK ARENA:
*The Shockers' 6-0 record at INTRUST Bank Arena includes wins over UAB (2011), Southern Miss (2012), Tennessee (2013) Saint Louis (2014) and Utah (2015). Oklahoma has signed on to face the Shockers in 2017.
 
>> Dec. 21, 2010 -- WSU 82, Tulsa 79
WSU's first appearance in the new building came against its oldest rival. The crowd of 14,112 was, at the time, the largest to ever watch a college basketball game in Wichita. David Kyles hit three treys in the first two minutes of the game and scored 14 of the Shockers' first 16 points. Garrett Stutz added 20 points, and the Shockers sent the fans home happy.
 
>> Nov. 25, 2011 -- WSU 68, UAB 46
One of the best defensive performances of the Gregg Marshall era came in year-two of the downtown series, when WSU held a UAB team fresh off a Conference USA title and a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament to just 46 points. 
 
>> Dec. 22, 2012 -- WSU 59, Southern Miss 51
In another defensive masterpiece against a Southern Miss squad that would go on to post 27 wins, WSU overcame a 12-point second half deficit by limiting the Eagles to four points over the final eight minutes.
 
>> Dec. 14, 2013 -- #12 WSU 70, Tennessee 61
WSU clinched the best start in school history by beating eventual Sweet-16 qualifier Tennessee, 70-61, to improve to 10-0. Tekele Cotton led the way with 19 points. 
 
>> Dec. 6, 2014 -- #8 WSU 81, Saint Louis 52
The Shockers posted the most lopsided win in INTRUST Bank Arena history in December of 2014, crushing defending Atlantic-10 champion, Saint Louis by 29 points.
 
>> Dec. 12, 2015 -- WSU 67, #25 Utah 50
WSU committed just three turnovers while forcing 19 in a 17-point rout. Markis McDuffie connected on four of his five three-point attempts.
 
FOUR-AND-OKLAHOMA?:
*WSU already owns three wins this year over teams from the Sooner State, knocking off Tulsa (82-55) on Nov. 16, Southern Nazarene (87-57) on Nov. 29, and Oklahoma (76-73) last Saturday in Oklahoma City. WSU also faced Oral Roberts in its closed-door scrimmage during the preseason.
*A random bit of trivia -- WSU looks to become the first team since 2001-02 Kansas to defeat Tulsa, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in the same season.
 
WSU-OSU LINKS:
*First-year OSU coach Brad Underwood has deep Kansas ties. A McPherson native who played two seasons at Kansas State, Underwood earned his first head coaching gig at Dodge City CC (1988-93), then spent six years as a Kansas State assistant (2006-12) under Bob Huggins and Frank Martin.
*Though under new management, the Shockers are still somewhat familiar with the Cowboy personnel. The two teams opened the 2015-16 season with a closed-door scrimmage at Charles Koch Arena.
*Former OSU basketball player Codey McElroy was named WSU baseball's volunteer assistant last week and will start in January. McElroy played professionally in the Atlanta Braves organization before joining the OSU basketball team last season as a senior walk-on. He logged time in four games.
*The last Shocker team -- in any sport -- to beat OU and OSU in the same year was the 2008-09 WSU women's tennis team, led by Chris Young. OSU was so impressed by the feat that it hired him that summer. Last spring Young led the Cowgirls to a national runner-up finish.
 
THE SERIES:
*OSU is the Shockers' closest Division I neighbor – roughly 120 miles down the road, however this will be the first meeting between the two teams in 14 years. WSU plays at OSU's Gallagher-Iba Arena in 2017.
*This is the 38th meeting between Wichita State and Oklahoma State in a series that began just over 82 years ago.
*OSU leads 29-8 and is one of only a handful of schools that has won consistently in Wichita. In fact, their 14-5 record is by far the highest winning percentage among road opponents with at least 10 visits. Southwestern College (26-15 in Wichita during the first half of the 20th Century), Louisville (7-5), and Saint Louis (17-15) are the only others on the list with winning records on the Shockers' home floor.
*OSU was a member of the Missouri Valley Conference for 31 years back in its "Oklahoma A&M" days. The Cowboys (then officially known as the Aggies) won 19 of the 24 conference meetings between 1945 (when WSU joined the conference) and 1956 (when OSU made its exit).
*Saturday's game ends a 14-year series hiatus, though it's not the longest gap the two have had. After WSU defeated OSU, 54-46, in the Midwest Regional Final in Manhattan, Kan. to advance to the 1965 FInal Four, the teams didn't meet again until 1990 (a 25-year layoff).
 
LAST MEETING:
*The teams last met on Dec. 21, 2002 in Wichita. Despite big efforts from a pair of sophomores (22 points and 9 rebounds from Randy Burns and 15 points, 11 boards by Jamar Howard), the Shockers fell 68-58. Tony Allen (18 points) led OSU.
*The Shockers played that game (and their entire 2002-03 home schedule) at INTRUST Bank Arena's predecessor, the Kansas Coliseum, during the construction phase of the Roundhouse Renaissance. The massive renovation project turned turned Henry Levitt Arena into Charles Koch Arena and laid the groundwork for the team's rise to college basketball relevance. 
*The 2002-03 Shockers, led by current Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon, finished 18-11 and  ended a 14-year postseason drought with a spot in the NIT. Since then, WSU has reached postseason play in 12 of the last 14 seasons.
 
AGAINST THE BIG 12:
*Gregg Marshall is 4-2 against Big 12 opponents in 10 seasons at WSU with four straight wins, helped by last Saturday's victory over Oklahoma. Half of those six games were mandated by regular or postseason tournament brackets.
*Between the Texas Tech game and an NIT win over Nebraska in March of 2011, WSU has hosted just Big 12 teams in the 14 years since OSU's last appearance in Wichita back in December, 2012.

UP NEXT:
*The Shockers finish up their non-conference schedule at home against South Dakota State next Thursday night. The 7 p.m. CT tip airs on Cox Channel Kansas (Cox HD 2022)/
*WSU travels to Indiana State for the start of conference play on Wednesday, Dec. 28.