Game Notes: Wichita State (PDF) | Southern Illinois (PDF)

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SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (18-5, 7-3 MVC) at #21/22 WICHITA STATE (16-5, 10-0 MVC)
Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016  |  8 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan. / Charles Koch Arena

Telecast --
On Air: Cox Channel Kansas (Cox HD 2022)
Time Warner SportsChannel 2 (Time Warner Cable in Kansas City)
MVC-TV affiliates, including Fox Sports Midwest*
Streaming*: ESPN3 (Link)
Announcers: Bruce Haertl & Bob Hull
* - MVC-TV and ESPN3 will carry the Cox feed outside of the Cox Channel Kansas and Time Warner SportsChannel viewing areas

Radio --
On Air: KEYN 103.7 FM
Online: goshockers.com/watch
Announcers: Mike Kennedy & Dave Dahl

Social Media ---
Twitter: @GoShockers, @GoShockersLive
Facebook: facebook.com/WichitaStateUniversityAthletics
Instagram: instagram.com/goshockers
Exposure: goshockers.exposure.co
 

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OPENING TIPS

• Gregg Marshall chases history, and No. 21/22 Wichita State (16-5, 10-0 MVC) looks to create some additional separation in the conference standings when Southern Illinois (18-5, 7-3 MVC) comes to town Wednesday night for an 8 p.m. CT tip on Cox Channel Kansas.
 
• Marshall (220-81 wins in nine seasons at WSU) enters the evening tied with basketball hall of famer Ralph Miller (220-133, 1951-64) atop the program's career wins list. A victory over the Salukis would make Marshall the winningest coach in Shocker basketball history.
 
• SIU is tied with Evansville for second-place - three games back of first-place WSU with eight to play. The Shockers' magic number to clinch at least a share of of their third-straight MVC title is down to five.
 
• WSU quieted a sellout crowd at Evansville on Sunday afternoon and finished out a season sweep of the Aces with a 78-65 win, fueled by Fred VanVleet's career-high 32 points.
 
• The Shockers put on a similar performance during their Jan. 9 trip to Carbondale, defeating SIU 83-58 in front a capacity crowd. A Wednesday win would give them the tiebreaker over both UE and SIU in the race for the No. 1 seed and lower the magic number to at least four.
 
• SIU is 5-7 at Charles Koch Arena since its 2003 renovation - tied with UNI for the most wins by an opponent during that time frame. Creighton (3-7) has the next-best record among teams that have made multiple trips.
 
• SIU (8-1 in true road games) fell Sunday at UNI, snapping an eight-game road winning streak, which was briefly the nation's longest.
 
• Charles Koch Arena is now home to the nation's longest home winning streak (42 games). Arizona's loss last Thursday to Oregon ended the Wildcats' 49-game home string and officially ceded the title to WSU.
 
• WSU is also working on an 11-game overall winning streak (tied for the fifth-longest in school history) and an 18-game MVC winning streak.
 
• WSU's Marshall and SIU coach Barry Hinson both rank among the MVC's all-time conference victory leaders. Marshall is tied for sixth with former SIU boss Rich Herrin (111 wins), and Hinson is alone in fifth with 123, three behind Kansas' Phog Allen.
 
GIVE & TAKE
 
16.05 --- Turnovers Forced by WSU (17th nationally)
10.60 --- WSU turnovers/game (19th fewest nationally)
+5.55 --- Turnover Margin (3rd-best nationally)
23.9% --- Turnover % - WSU opponents turn the ball over on nearly a quarter of their possessions, according to Ken Pomeroy's advanced statistics (5th-highest nationally).
6.00 --- VanVleet's MVC-leading assist average through 10 games (1.3 assists higher than any other player)
2.20 --- VanVleet's league-leading steals average through 10 MVC games (22 total).
1.90 --- Number of steals averaged by Baker during MVC play - second only to VanVleet (19 total).
1.48 --- Baker and VanVleet's combined steals-to-assist ratio during the month of January. (37 stl, 25 TO)
201 --- Career steals for VanVleet (recorded 2 at UE)
6 --- MVC players in history with the career combo of 200 steals and 500 assists.
5.44 --- VanVleet's Assist-to-Turnover Ratio since
January 6 (2nd-best nationally)
1 --- Steals needed by Baker (147 career steals) to tie Aubrey Sherrod and P.J. Couisnard for 6th on WSU list.
 
2-FOR-NO.1 SPECIAL
Few coaches have the honor of being a school's all-time winningest coach. Even fewer have earned that distinction at multiple stops. Marshall is already Winthrop's career victories leader (194 from1998-2007) and looks to stake a similar claim at WSU. Other notable coaches who have done the same include:
 
• Jim Calhoun          
873 total wins; 1973-2012 
Northeastern (248), UConn (625)
 
• Lou Henson          
779 total wins; 1963-96, 1998-05
Illinois (423), New Mexico State (289)
 
• Johnny Orr
466 total wins; 1964-66, 1969-94
Michigan (209), Iowa State (218)
 
VANVLEET WINS 3^RD MVC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Fred VanVleet won the MVC's Player of the Week Award for the third time this year and fifth time in his career. He averaged 20.5 points, 5.5 assists, helped by a 32-point outing at Evansville in which he tied a school accuracy record by going 15-of-15 at the foul line (matching Dave Stallworth's mark, set in 1963).
 
LITTLE START UP COMPANY
• The Shockers are the 21st team in MVC history to open 10-0 or better, but only the sixth since 1960.
 
• WSU's 2013-14 team logged the only 18-0 finish of the Valley's modern era (1927-28 Oklahoma also did it)... Southern Illinois helped put a stop to Drake's 13-0 start in 2007-08, and the Salukis made it all the way to 17-0 in 2003-04 before losing their regular season finale at UNI... 1985-86 Bradley (led by Hersey Hawkins) and 1978-79 Indiana State (paced by Larry Bird) each finished 16-0...
 
• All five of those teams went on to win the regular season title. Drake cleared Illinois State in the standings by two games. The other four teams won the league by five-or-more games.
 
10 Starts to MVC Play (Since 1960)
 
Start – Team (Season) // 1^st Loss // Finish
18-0 --- Wichita State (2013-14) // none // 18-0, 1^st
17-0 --- Southern Illinois (2003-04) // at UNI // 17-1, 1^st
16-0 --- Indiana State (1978-79) // none // 16-0, 1^st
16-0 --- Bradley (1985-86) // none // 16-0, 1^st
13-0 --- Drake (2007-08) // at So. Illinois // 15-3, 1^st
10-0 --- Wichita State (2015-16) // ?
 
WINNER'S CYCLE
WSU enters its 11th MVC game of the year on an 11-game winning streak -- the second-longest in the Marshall Era and tied for the fifth-longest in school history.
 
Streak -- Start // End Dates
35 -- Nov. 9, 2013 // March 23, 2014      
14 -- Dec. 27, 1953 // Jan. 23, 1954         
13 -- Nov. 30, 1982 // Jan. 20, 1983         
12 -- Feb. 12, 1983 // Dec. 8, 1983           
11 -- Mar. 3, 1920 // Feb. 18, 1921          
11 -- Dec. 26, 1963 // Feb. 8, 1964
11 -- Dec. 22, 2015 // Present
 
LAST MEETING
Jan 09, 2016 (Carbondale, Ill./SIU Arena)
Wichita State 83, Southern Illinois 55

• WSU won a battle of 3-0 teams and - combined with an Illinois State loss - took over sole possession of first-place.
• A sold-out SIU Arena was silent for long stretches after the Shockers raced to a quick 28-10 lead just 10 minutes in.
• WSU took the hosts out of their comfort zone, forcing 17 turnovers while holding SIU to 37 percent from the field. The Salukis collected just two assists on 17 baskets.
 • The Shockers were a sizzling 12-of-24 from three-point range (7-of-12 in the opening half) and easily won the battle of the boards, 40-25.
• Baker led all scorers with 18 points – 16 of them coming in the first half – to go with five rebounds and three steals.
• Frankamp tacked on career-high 14 points, going 4-of-7 from deep, and McDuffie chipped in 10 points.
• VanVleet snagged a career-high 12 rebounds.
• Up 43-29 at the intermission, the Shockers put the game away with a 15-2 run to start the second half. The Salukis first field goal didn't come until the 11:32-mark, at which point WSU led by a comfortable 29-points.
• The Shockers upped the margin to 33 points with 7:05 to go on back-to-back buckets by McDuffie.
• WSU won its third straight in Carbondale, matching a program best, and have now won six of the last seven at SIU Arena.
 
SERIES NOTES
• WSU is looking for a regular season sweep for the fifth time in seven years.
• SIU (48-44) and Bradley (71-68) are the only active MVC schools with all-time series leads against the Shockers, though WSU has been quickly gobbling up ground in recent years.
• VanVleet is the only current Shocker who has participated in a loss against SIU. He's 7-1 in his career vs. the Salukis.
• SIU owns six wins over Gregg Marshall - second-most among active Valley head coaches, though after dropping his first four games to the Salukis, Marshall (12-6 career vs. SIU) has turned the tables.
• The Shockers have captured 12 of the last 14 games in the series, including four-straight in Wichita. The Salukis are 5-7 since Charles Koch Arena's 2003 renovation - tied with Northern Iowa for the best mark among regular visitors. Creighton (3-7) has the next-best record.
• Points against SIU came at a premium for many years, but WSU has shot 50-percent-or-better nine times in that stretch of 14 meetings, including twice in three games last year. In 2014-15  WSU was a combined 72-of-144 (.500) against SIU. The Shockers hit 46.6 percent in last month's visit to Carbondale.
• WSU's three-game sweep of SIU last year marked the ninth time that the Shockers had gone 3-0 against an MVC opponent in eight seasons under Marshall. Six of those have come in the last three years.
 
SCOUTING THE SALUKIS
• With 18 wins in its first 23 games, Southern Illinois seems on track to double-lap its 2014-15 victory total (12). The Salukis are one of the nation's most improved teams. Their +11 win improvement trails only Tennessee State (+12) for biggest one-year turn around. SIU has been particularly good on the road, where it's 8-1. A win Wednesday night would equal their road win total from the previous three seasons combined (9-34).
• Beane (19.6 points) is the MVC's second-leading scorer. He's averaging 2.3 treys per game (fourth-best in the Valley) and hitting just under 40 percent of his attempts.
• 6-foot-7 Bola Olaniyan's 8.2 rebounds-per-contest also ranks second in the league.
• The Salukis are shooting 47 percent as a team this year and are averaging just north of 76 points per game.
• Tyler Smithpeters is the Valley's most accurate three-point sniper at 39-of-83 (.470).
 
BEANE DIP
WSU has done a solid job containing SIU scoring ace Anthony Beane over his four-year career. He's averaged 12.0 points over eight career meetings but has produced less than a point per field goal attempt. Beane is 33.7 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from beyond the arc. Take out a 25-point outburst against the Shockers during his sophomore season, and Beane's shooting percentage dips to .288.
 
THE STAKES
 
A Shocker Win Would...
...make Marshall the outright winningest coach in Shocker history with 221 over his nine seasons.
... be the 1,500th win in the program's history.
...give them a 12-game winning streak - tied for the fourth longest in school history.
... extend their home winning streak to a national-best 43-straight.
... extend their MVC home winning streak to 24 games - one short of the school record.
...be their seventh-straight against SIU.
... improve them to 11-0 in MVC play for the second time in three years and make them just the 17th team in MVC history to reach that mark.
... be Evan Wessel's 100th career win, making him just the fourth player in Shocker history to hit that total.
 
A Shocker Loss Would...
...snap an 11-game winning streak.
... be their first setback since Dec. 19 at Seton Hall
... end an 18-game MVC winning streak
... be their first regular season MVC loss since Jan. 31, 2015.
... snap the nation's longest home winning streak
... be their first loss at Charles Koch Arena since Feb. of 2013.
...be just their second loss in the last three MVC seasons.
...snap a six-game winning streak vs. SIU
... be less good than a win.
 
UP NEXT
WSU hits the road for two games in four days, beginning with Saturday night's 9 p.m. CT tip at Illinois State on ESPN2. The Redbirds defeated the Shockers in the semifinals of last year's MVC Tournament (one of just two losses against MVC competition in its last 51 go-arounds), but WSU has won 11-straight regular season meetings.