The RoundHouse | 12/5/2017 12:47:00 PM

 
By Paul Suellentrop
 
November stole December's spotlight as the start of the college basketball season years ago. March is the month most associated with the sport and its biggest weekend slipped into April.
 
So let us take a moment to appreciate under-appreciated Dec. 5, which deserves a mention as a candidate for the best day of the year for Wichita State men's basketball. It is strictly a numbers game – the Shockers are 16-3 on Dec. 5 and that .842 winning percentage is its best among dates with 10 games or more.
 
The sixth-ranked Shockers play South Dakota State on Tuesday with a chance to improve that winning percentage. Dec. 5 leads Dec. 9 (13-3), Dec. 2 (13-3), Dec. 6 (14-4) and Dec. 20 (20-7) for success rate. It is the Rashard Kelly of Shocker basketball dates - consistent, dependable and capable of the occasional flashy highlight. Memorable Marches are built on December victories overshadowed by the passage of time,. 
 
In recent seasons, early December games are often reserved for overmatched non-conference opponents. It wasn't always that way and some of the Dec. 5 victories retain their significance even as the game evolved.
 
Former coach Ralph Miller came to the then-University of Wichita in 1951 from East High. He took Shockers basketball from a plodding style where scores in the 40s and 50s reigned to an up-and-down game and game-changing full-court zone press.
 
"Before the presses came along, the offensive team always dictated the court action," Miller told Sports Illustrated in 1965. "The defense had to wait to see what the offense was going to do. But now the defenses are forcing the issue."

It did not take long for Miller's teams to force the issue.
 
Miller's Shockers lost their first game, 62-55 at Colorado. They defeated Baylor 93-59 three nights later. On Dec. 5, 1951, the Shockers hit the century mark for the first time in a 100-63 win over Creighton at the Forum.
 
On Dec. 5, 1964, Dave Stallworth scored 37 points against Long Beach State, No, 18 on his list of 20 30-point games. Ron Washington scored 35 against Mississippi State on Dec. 5, 1967.
 
The Shockers are on a six-game win streak on Dec. 5, a stretch that started with an 81-68 win over Missouri State (then Southwest Missouri State as a non-conference opponent) in 1989. That gave former coach Mike Cohen his first win in Levitt Arena. Former coach Scott Thompson won his first Shocker game on Dec. 5, 1992 – 63-56 over UMKC.
 
Former coach Mark Turgeon defeated Kansas State, for a second straight time, on Dec. 5, 2001. Current coach Gregg Marshall is 2-0 on Dec. 5, defeating South Carolina Upstate in 2009 and Saint Louis in 2015.
 
Filling seats – Wichita State's attendance at last weekend's NCAA volleyball matches totaled 14,515 for the two nights.
 
That, according to Creighton sports information director Rob Anderson, ranks second in total attendance among the 16 sites. Nebraska's 16,527 topped the list. Minnesota's total of 9,183 ranked third.
 
Creighton, which filled 98.6 percent of its seats at Sokol Arena, drew a total of 4,932 fans.
 
At the bottom? Matches at Southern Cal attracted 599 fans the first night and 569 the second.
 
Back in uniform – Wichita State sprinter Deja Young will run in Friday's intrasquad track and field meet at the Heskett Center. The meet marks the start of her return to representing Wichita State in almost two years.
 
Young last ran in a Shocker uniform at the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships. She redshirted during the 2016-17 season to recover from wrist injuries suffered in a car accident and train for the World Para Athletics Championships last July in London.
 
"I am so excited," she said. "I've had a really good fall training. I've been healthy. This season is definitely going to be a major comeback."
 
In her first two seasons at Wichita State, Young ran on the 400-meter relay team that placed 16^th in the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships and placed sixth in 100 meters in the 2016 MVC outdoor meet.
 
As a Paralympian, she won gold medals in the 100 and 200 last summer and two golds in the 2016 Paralympics in Brazil.
 
Young is captain of one of the four intrasquad teams and Wichita State sprints coach John Wise said those type of leadership duties are good for her.
 
"She had a really good fall – I would say her best fall that she's had," Wise said. "She's been a good athlete, but she's struggled with her confidence from time to time. When she's had a bad workout or something's not gone her way, she's not been down for long. Previously, she would have been down longer and it would have affected the next day."
 
Wise considers the American Athletic Conference a strong sprints conference, in large part due to the presence of Houston and its traditionally strong program.
 
"Sprints are probably the biggest step up," Wise said. "Our sprinters, including her, are trying to step up to that challenge. So, there's been a better focus, it appears. She's a knowledgeable track girl. She knows about those things."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.