WICHITA, Kan. -- Wichita State (24-4, 14-1) welcomes red-hot Northern Iowa (14-12, 9-6) to Charles Koch Arena on Saturday.
 
The 11 a.m. CT tip airs on ESPN2 with Mitch Holthus and Mark Adams. 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 1,204th consecutive game, alongside Dave Dahl.

 

MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAY

Wichita State (24-4, 14-1 MVC)  Northern Iowa (14-12, 9-6 MVC)

Saturday, Feb. 18

11:00 A.M. CT

Wichita, Kan.

Charles Koch Arena

Tickets

Game Notes: WSU | UNI

COVERAGE

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SERIES HISTORY

All-Time: UNI leads 28-27

In Wichita: WSU leads 16-9

Last Meeting: Jan. 8, 2017 (WSU 80-66)

MVC STANDINGS

Team MVC OVR Wichita State 14-1 24-4 Illinois State 14-1 22-5 Northern Iowa 9-6 14-12 Southern Illinois 7-8 14-14 Loyola 7-8 17-11 Missouri State 6-9 15-13 Drake 5-10 7-20 Evansville 5-10 14-14 Indiana State 4-11 10-17 Bradley 4-11 9-19

STARTING FIVE:

1----- RACE FOR FIRST-PLACE: WSU enters the weekend in a first-place tie with Illinois State with three 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 26-0 against the other eight Valley schools... UNI has been just as hot over the last five weeks. Since an 0-5 start to Valley play, the Panthers have won 9-of-10 to move into sole possession of third-place.
 
2 ----- TO THE NINES: WSU has won nine-straight games by an average of 22.6 points. Opponents are shooting just 35.4% and none have topped 70. The streak is tied for the nation's sixth-longest (as of Thursday). Over that stretch, Conner Frankamp (12.3 points) is shooting an incredible 62.5% from three (25-of-40), and Shaquille Morris (12.1 points) has averaged 7.7 rebounds (3 more than his season average). If WSU can extend the streak to 10, it would mark just the third time in over three decades that the Shockers have made a double-digit run. They had a 12-gamer in 2015-16 and a 35-gamer in 2013-14. Since 2004, six other WSU streaks have fizzled at nine.
 
3 ----- WORTHY FOIL: Over the last three seasons, UNI is the only Valley school without a losing record against the Shockers (3-3). Illinois State is 3-4. WSU is 41-0 against the other seven teams.
 
4 ----- MY ONE AND ONLY... UNI: Wichita State has won 17-straight and 57 of its last 58 games at Charles Koch Arena, dating back to the start of the 2013-14 season. The lone loss came last February to UNI (53-50). Since the 2003 renovation and rededication of Charles Koch Arena, UNI has more victories (6) than any other visitor. SIU (5) and Creighton (3) have the next-highest total... No Valley team has won back-to-back games in Wichita since Bradley and SIU in 2008 & 2009.
 
5 ----- DRIVE FOR 25: A win would give Wichita State its 25th victory of the year and extend its conference record streak of 25-win seasons to eight. Cincinnati held the previous mark (6; 1957-63). The Shockers went 25-10 in 2009-10 to begin the streak and are a combined 226-52 over the last eight seasons (.813).
 
 
THE SERIES:
*WSU has won 9 of the last 13 meetings.
*UNI is one of just three MVC teams with an all-time series lead on the Shockers. SIU (48-47) and Bradley (71-70) are the others.
*Overall, the WSU-UNI series has been as evenly matched as its record suggests. There have only been five total streaks of three-or-more games, and neither side has ever won more than four-in-a-row.
*A win on Saturday would give WSU just its third regular season sweep of UNI in the last 19 seasons.
*UNI took 2-of-3 last year, marking just the fifth time since 2010 that a Valley team has won multiple games against the Shockers in the same year. The Panthers also did it in 2009-10 with a victory in the MVC title game.
*WSU is 12-11 against Ben Jacobson (11th year).
*The Shockers have generally had success when they've been able to generate even a modest number of points against the defensive-minded Panthers -- though that's easier said than accomplished. When scoring at least 60 against Jacobson's UNI teams, WSU is 12-2 with nine consecutive wins. When held under 60, the Shockers are 0-9.
*WSU is 3-3 against UNI over the last three seasons and 45-3 against the rest of the MVC. In their three wins, the Shockers have lived by the three, hitting 30-of-59 from deep (.508). In their three losses, they've died by it, going 14-for-79 (.177).
 
REALLY GOOD AT MAKING THE OTHER TEAMS MISS SHOTS:
*The Shockers have held their last eight opponents under 40% (and 18 of their 28 overall).
*In MVC play, WSU's .384 field goal percentage defense is one of the five best marks since 1980 (when the Valley began tracking that statistic)... The 2015-16 Shockers held Valley foes to a record .359 in conference play, breaking the mark set by the 2014-15 Shockers.
*Since 1980, 11 MVC teams have held opponents under .400 during league play. From among that group:
9 --- Played in the postseason
8 --- Reached the NCAA Tournament
7 --- Won an NCAA Tournament game
5 --- Won two NCAA Tournament games
5 --- Were Shockers teams (2006, 2012, 14, 15, 16)
 
FINISHING STRONG:
Illinois State and Wichita State are the headliners, but UNI has kept pace with the big-2 for well over a month. In most recent 10-game stretch, all three schools have identical 9-1 records. The only WSU and UNI losses came at Illinois State. ISU's lone setback came in Wichita.
 
RANDOM KNOWLEDGE:
*Wichita State is 24-0 when it outshoots its opponents and 0-4 when outshot.
*Conner Frankamp attemped just one field goal in a scoreless first half at Loyola last Sunday, then erupted for 16 points after the intermission. Wednesday at SIU brought more of the same when Frankamp followed up another goose egg with 14 second-half points.
*Speaking of crazy splits, in MVC play the Shockers are shooting a ridiculous 46.3% from deep in the second half (compared to 38.4% in the first half).
*Rashard Kelly matched a career-best with nine rebounds at SIU, and his 23 minutes were a season-high.
*A leg injury slowed Shaquille Morris for the first month of the conference season, but the big man is getting back in the swing of things. Seven of his team-high 17 dunks have come in the last four games.
 
TWO OF THE BEST:
*Gregg Marshall and UNI's Ben Jacobson are both in the top-7 on the Valley's all-time conference wins list. Marshall (131 wins in 10 seasons at Wichita State) is averaging over 13 MVC victories per season and ranks fifth. Jacobson (123 in 11 seasons at UNI) is seventh.
*Marshall is 11-10 against Jacobson.
*Jacobson is 11-12 against the Shockers all-time.
 
SHAM-WOW!
*Landry Shamet has connected on a three-pointer in 17 consecutive games, breaking Randy Burns' WSU freshman record of 16 (2001-02). He's 10 away from Ron Baker's overall Shocker record.
*Shamet (51 three-pointers) is just the fifth WSU freshman to hit 50 threes in a season and is eight shy of the freshman mark, held by Chad Elstun (59 in 1992-93). Toure' Murry (51), Jason Perez (51) and Burns (57) round out the list.
 
BLOCK PARTY:
*Junior center Shaquille Morris cracked the top-10 on WSU's career blocks list on Wednesday.
*His 88 swats are tied for Jamar Howard (2001-05) for tenth. He needs three more to match J.T. Durley (2007-11) for ninth.
*Morris is one of seven Valley players averaging a block or more a game.
 
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 14-0.
 
TO-THE-NINES (MVC Streak):
*WSU's nine-game MVC winning streak is one of the nine longest conference streaks in school history.
*Six of the top-10 streaks have come under Gregg Marshall's watch.
*The Jan. 14 loss at Illinois State snapped a previous nine-game MVC streak that began in the final weeks of the 2015-16 campaign.
*From 2013-15, WSU set a modern conference record with a streak of 27-consecutive MVC regular season wins.
*Last year, the Shockers built up a similar 19-game streak that ranks among the 10-longest of the league's post World War II era.
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...
... improve their overall record to 25-4.
...give them a 10-game winning streak for the tenth time in program history.
... give them 15 MVC wins for the fourth straight year.
... Improve their overall MVC mark to 66-4 since the start of the 2013-14 season.
... slice their magic number to "2" to clinch a share of the MVC title and give them a temporary half-game lead on Illinois State (which plays Sunday).
... tie the all-time series at 28
... make them 17-9 all-time against the Panthers in Wichita.
... extend their Charles Koch Arena winning streak to 18-games and make them 15-0 on campus this season.
... avenge their 2016 home loss to UNI and make them 58-1 at CKA since the start of the 2013-14 season.
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...
... Drop their overall record to 24-5.
... Give them a 2-7 record (since 2004) when playing with a nine-game winning streak.
... Sink them to 14-2 in league play and knock them out of first place.
... Be their fourth loss to UNI in seven tries.
... Make UNI the first team to win consecutive games at Charles Koch Arena since Bradley and SIU (which both won in 2008 & 2009).
... Make WSU 57-2 at CKA since the start of the 2013-14 season.
... Be just the fifth Valley loss by a Shocker team in the last four conference regular seasons.
... Be less good than a win.