WICHITA, Kan. -- Wichita State (23-4, 13-1 MVC) continues its quest for a fourth consecutive regular season title when it travels to Carbondale to face Southern Illinois (14-13, 7-7 MVC), Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT.
 
Shane Dennis will be joined by special guest analyst Rob Kampman. Catch the action on Cox Channel Kansas in the Wichita area, with simulcasts on Spectrum Sports Kansas City, Fox Sports Midwest, Fox Sports Indiana and Comcast SportsNet Chicago.
 
Listen to every Shocker game, home and away, on FM 103.7 KEYN and online at goshockers.com/listen. Mike Kennedy -- now in his 37th year -- will call his 1,203^rd consecutive game, alongside Bob Hull.

 

MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAY

Wichita State (23-4, 13-1 MVC)  Southern Illinois (14-13, 7-7 MVC)

Wednesday, Feb. 15

6:00 P.M. CT

Carbondale, Ill.

SIU Arena

Game Notes: WSU | SIU

COVERAGE

COX Channel Kansas (HD 2022)

WatchESPN

Shane Dennis & Rob Kampman

KEYN 103.7 FM

Listen

Live Stats

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SERIES HISTORY

All-Time: SIU leads 48-46

In Carbondale: SIU leads 30-13

Last Meeting: Jan. 24, 2017 (WSU 87-45)

MVC STANDINGS

Team MVC OVR Wichita State 13-1 23-4 Illinois State 13-1 21-5 Northern Iowa 8-6 13-12 Southern Illinois 7-7 14-13 Loyola 6-8 16-11 Missouri State 6-8 15-12 Drake 5-9 7-19 Evansville 4-10 13-14 Indiana State 4-10 10-16 Bradley 4-10 9-18

STARTING FIVE:
 
1 ----- Race for First Place: WSU enters the evening in a first-place tie with Illinois State with four regular season games remaining. The Shockers and Redbirds split their home-and-home series, but ISU has a leg-up on the No. 1 seed at Arch Madness (RPI). WSU and ISU are a perfect 24-0 against the other eight Valley schools.
 
2 ----- Great-Plus-Eight: WSU has won eight-straight games by an average of 23 points. Opponents are shooting just 35.2% and none have topped 70. The streak is tied for the nation's sixth-longest. Over that stretch, Conner Frankamp (12.1 points) is shooting an incredible 58.3% from three (21-of-36), and Shaquille Morris has averaged 7.8 rebounds (3 more than his season average). Morris was Jan. 23 MVC Player of the Week and Frankamp won it Feb. 6.
 
3 ----- WSU-SIU Round 2: The Shockers shot 56% from the field while holding SIU to less than 28% to win the Jan. 24 clash in Wichita... The 42-point win tied for the program's fourth-largest MVC margin... It was a big night for big men. Markis McDuffie (20 pts, 9 reb.), Darral Willis Jr. (15) and Morris (10) led the scoring, while WSU's core guards combined for just nine points on eight shots.... WSU was +20 on the glass, outscored SIU in the paint, 44-16.
 
4 ----- Making Up for Loss Time: The Shockers' last series loss to SIU came Feb. 5, 2013 in Carbondale (64-62). That was also WSU's last defeat against a team with a sub-.500 MVC record. The Salukis (1-10 heading into that game) trailed 29-12 less than 12 minutes in before mounting an incredible comeback. WSU has won the last eight meetings since then - all by double digits.
 
5 ----- Road Work: Gonzaga is the only D-I team that is still perfect on the road (8-0). Six others -- including Wichita State (8-1) -- have suffered only one road setback: Maryland (6-1), Arizona (6-1), Kansas (7-1), Creighton (7-1), St. Mary's (8-1) are the others.
 
 
POLL PATROL:
*For the second straight week, Wichita State is the equivalent of No. 26 in the AP poll. A 2-0 week wasn't quite enough to push the Shockers into the rankings, but they more than doubled their vote total from a week ago in both polls.
*WSU last appeared in the AP Poll on Feb. 5, 2016 at No. 25. The team's last Coaches Poll ranking came on Feb. 29, 2016 at No. 23.
*The Shockers have been ranked at some point in each of the five previous seasons. That's one short of the program record of six-straight years, set between 1957-58 and 1965-66 under Hall of Fame coach Ralph Miller.
 
SERIES WITH THE SALUKIS:
*WSU is looking for its sixth series sweep against the Salukis in eight years.
*The Salukis have held the lead since 1999, but a Shocker win would close the gap to 48-47, SIU.
*In 2015-16, WSU forced 39 SIU turnovers and held the Salukis under 40% from the field in both meetings. The Shockers were 21-of-44 from three(.477), compared to SIU's 7-of-34 (.206). Both wins came by 20+ points.
*WSU has defeated the Salukis in each of the last eight meetings -- all by double-figures.
*A Shocker victory on Wednesday night would match the program's longest winning streak in the series. From 1980-84, WSU took nine-in-a-row.
*SIU (48-46), Bradley (71-70) and UNI (28-27) are the only active MVC schools with all-time series leads against the Shockers, though WSU has been gobbling up ground on all three in recent years.
*SIU owns six wins over Gregg Marshall – second-most among active Valley schools. After losing his first four to SIU, Marshall (14-6 career vs. SIU) has turned the tables by winning 14 of the last 16.
 
In Carbondale (30-13, SIU)
*WSU is looking to win four-in-a-row in Carbondale for the first time ever. The Shockers' current three-game streak ties a program-best.
*Since ending an 11-game losing streak at SIU Arena in 2010, the Shockers have won 6-of-7 there.
*What once seemed unfathomable has become a regular occurence. The Shockers have topped 50% from the field in four of their last six visits to SIU Arena and are shooting a combined 51.9% over that stretch.
 
THREES FROM THE EAVES:
*Eight different Shockers connected on a three-pointer in the Jan. 24 win over Southern Illinois, tying a school record set two seasons ago against Loyola Marymount.   The feat was especially remarkable because WSU finished with just nine total threes. C.J. Keyser went 2-for-2, with seven others adding one trey-each.
*It also came without help from two of the team's top three-point shooters. Austin Reaves (who leads the Valley in three-point percentage) and Markis McDuffie each went 0-for-2.
 13 of the 16 Shockers have hit at least one three in a game this year.
 
MATCHUP MASHUP:
*No current Shocker has participated in a loss against SIU. Zach Bush was on the roster as a redshirt in 2012-13 when the Salukis and Shockers split in 2012-13.
 SIU has turned over its entire roster since last beating WSU on Feb. 5, 2012 in Carbondale.
 
TWO OF THE BEST:
*Gregg Marshall and SIU's Barry Hinson are both in the top-5 on the Valley's all-time conference wins list. Hinson (132 conference wins in 14 seasons at Missouri State and Southern Illinois) has a two-game lead on Marshall (129 wins in 10 seasons at Wichita State).
*Marshall is 10-2 against Hinson.
*Hinson is 10-21 against the Shockers all-time.
 
POP 'N FRESHMAN:
*The typical freshman is far more comfortable at home than in hostile environments. Then again, WSU's Landry Shamet is far from the typical freshman.
*In his first tour through the Valley, Shamet is averaging a team-high 15.4 points in conference road games.
*Shamet has been the Shockers' leading scorer in five of the team's seven conference road games this year. He's shooting almost 53% from three-point range (18-of-34) and 88% at the foul line (22-of-25).
*On the road, WSU's deep rotation still spreads out the playing time (10 guys average 12+ minutes), but the versatile Shamet rarely seems to leave the floor. He's averaging 34.0 minutes in seven MVC road contests, compared to 9.0 points in 22.6 minutes in the Shockers' seven Valley home games.
 
ROAD HOGS:
*Wichita State is 31-3 in MVC road games over the last four seasons.
*Since 2013-14, the Shockers have more double-figure road wins (23) in conference play than any other school has total road wins. UNI (17) and Illinois State (16) are the closest.
*The Shockers have outrebounded all seven of their MVC road opponents.
*Valley home teams are shooting 40.6% against the Shockers.
 
SHAMET CHASING 2 FRESHMAN RECORDS:
*Landry Shamet has connected on a three-pointer in 16 consecutive games, tying Randy Burns (2001-02) for WSU's freshman record. If he can do it again Wednesday, Shamet would own the record outright.
*He would also become just the fifth WSU freshman to hit 50 threes in a season, joining Toure' Murry (51), Jason Perez (51), Burns (57) and rookie record-holder Chad Elstun (59). Shamet has 49 through 27 games.
 
MORE FROM MORRIS:
*Junior center Shaquille Morris is two blocks shy of cracking the top-10 on WSU's career list. He enters the week with 86 -- two behind Jamar Howard (2001-05) for tenth.
*Morris is one of seven Valley players averaging a block or more a game.
 
BENCH IMPRESSIVE:
*Wichita State ranks third nationally in bench scoring (36.1 points per game), behind only West Virginia (36.8) and Citadel (41.1). That's the highest season average by an MVC team since 2007-08 when Creighton reserves put up 36.9.
 
WORST. GAME NOTE. EVER:
Spoiler Alert! Illinois State is the only Valley team that has scored first against the Shockers this year. It happened on Jan. 14 in Normal, when the Redbirds handed WSU its only conference loss. When they're on the board first, the Shockers are a perfect 13-0.
 
SUPER 8:
WSU's eight-game MVC winning streak is one of the 10 longest conference streaks in school history. Six of the 10 have come under Gregg Marshall's watch.
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...
... improve their overall record to 24-4.
...give them a nine-game winning streak for the 20th time in program history.
... give them 14 MVC wins for the fourth straight year and for the sixth time in seven years.
... Improve their overall MVC mark to 65-4 since the start of the 2013-14 season.
... maintain their hold on first-place with three regular season games remaining.
... close the gap in the all-time series to 48-47, SIU.
... be their ninth-consecutive win over SIU, matching a program-best.
... improve their road record to 9-1 (7-1 in MVC play).
... make them 32-3 on the MVC road over the last four seasons.
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...
... Drop their overall record to 23-5.
... Snap an eight-game winning streak.
... Sink them to 13-2 in league play.
... End an eight-game winning streak vs. SIU
... Be the Salukis' first victory over the Shockers since the 2012-13 season.
... End a four-game road winning streak and drop WSU's overall record record to 8-2.
... Be just the fifth Valley loss by a Shocker team in the last four conference regular seasons.
... Be less good than a win.