WICHITA, Kan. -- No. 7/4 Wichita State (15-2, 5-0 American) plays three of its next four at home, beginning Wednesday night against SMU (12-6, 2-3) at Charles Koch Arena.
 
The 6 p.m. CT tip airs nationally on ESPNU with Anish Shroff and Dino Gaudio on the call.
 
The Voice of the Shockers, Mike Kennedy, describes the action on Shocker Radio (KEYN 103.7 FM and GoShockers.com) alongside analyst Dave Dahl. The pair host a one-hour pregame show beginning at 5 p.m. CT.
 
The Shockers are 6-0 since the return of junior forward Markis McDuffie -- last year's leading scorer and rebounder -- who missed the first 11 games of the seasons with a foot injury.
 
Overall, WSU is on a season-best seven game winning streak, last losing over a month ago to Oklahoma (currently No.4 in the AP Poll).
 
The Shockers swept a two-game road swing last week. Thursday at ECU, they totaled a Marshall Era best 32 assists on 38 baskets. Landry Shamet had his first career double-double with 11 points and 11 dimes. Saturday WSU held off Tulsa, 72-69, behind 16 points each from Shamet and Conner Frankamp.

 

GAME 17

Wichita, Kan.

Charles Koch Arena

Tickets

Game Notes: WSU | SMU

MATCHUP

SMU (12-6, 2-3 American) at #7/4 Wichita State (15-2, 5-0)

Wednesday, Jan. 17

6:00 P.M. CT

ESPNU (WatchESPN)

KEYN 103.7 FM

GoShockers.com

GoShockers.com

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@GoShockersMBB | #watchus

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THE STARTING FIVE:
 
1 --- WHAT'S NEW SMU?:
Wichita State and SMU face off for the first time since Nov. 30, 1996. The Mustangs have won five of the nine meetings all-time, but the Shockers lead 3-1 in Wichita.
 
2 --- START SEARCH:
WSU is the fifth team in the league's five seasons to start 5-0 or better. (Cincinnati can make it a sixth with a Tuesday night win at UCF). SMU did it in 2016 and, notably, saddled each of the other three unbeatens on the list with their first losses.
 
3 --- STRAIGHT-CASH AT HOME:
The Shockers have won 27-straight and 67 of their last 68 games at Charles Koch Arena. The only loss in that span came Feb. 13, 2016 against UNI.... 65 of the 68 games have been sellouts
 
4 --- SHAQ 100!:
Senior center Shaquille Morris has participated in 99 victories as a Shocker. With a WSU win over SMU, Morris would become just the seventh player in program history to reach the century mark. WSU is 99-19 when Morris plays. Rashard Kelly (102-21) hit the milestone earlier this month.
 
5 --- POINTS-COUNTERPOINTS:
WSU averages 84.9 points per game and has scored at least 80 points in 10-consecutive home games. SMU ranks seventh nationally in scoring defense (61.1 points). The Mustangs have allowed more than 80 points just once in 18 games this year (a 94-83 loss at TCU). This is the first of several tests for WSU's offense over the next few weeks. SMU is one of three American teams that rank in the top-10 nationally in scoring defense, joining Cincinnati (2nd, 58.4) and UCF (3rd, 59.1). The Knights come to town Jan. 25.
 
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THE SERIES WITH SMU:
This is the 10th meeting all-time between WSU and SMU. The Mustangs lead the series 5-4... The schools alternated home-and-homes from Dec. 1993 to Nov. 1996 with the home teams winning all four games… The teams last met on Nov. 30, 1996 at then-Henry Levitt Arena… Playing in their first game under new head coach Randy Smithson, the Shockers won 62-44 behind 13-each from Marvin Hill and Darrin Williams… WSU has never beaten SMU in Dallas (0-4)… The Shockers are 3-1 against SMU in Wichita. All four games took place at the Roundhouse, but this will be the first since the arena's 2003 renovation… WSU won the most important game in the series on a neutral floor in Manhattan, Kan. Behind 31 points from Kelly Pete, the Shockers knocked off SMU 86-81 in the 1965 NCAA Midwest Regional Semifinal en route to the program's first-ever FInal Four.
 
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS:
The American's defending regular season and tournament champion, SMU (30-5, 17-1 last year) lost standouts Semi Ojeleye (the league's player of the year) and Sterling Brown to the NBA Draft but return plenty of fire power… The Mustangs were picked fourth in the league's preseason poll – just two votes behind third-place UCF… Shake Milton has scored in double-figures in all 18 games this year. The league's preseason player of the year ranks fifth on The American's scoring chart (17.4), third in assists (4.5) and second in minutes (36.3)... Milton is seventh on SMU's all-time three-point list (178)… SMU hasn't played since Jan. 10 when Temple ended its 33-game home winning streak. Josh Brown's bucket with just over a second to play broke a 64-all tie and gave the Mustangs their first Moody Coliseum loss in 700 days… The Mustangs' three-game losing streak is their longest since March, 2014… SMU's shots haven't been falling against American opponents. In five conference games, the Mustangs are shooting at a .351-clip from beyond the arc (compared to .432 during the non-conference slate).
 
MATCHUP MASHUP:
With the win at Tulsa, Gregg Marshall has won exactly three-quarters of his games as Shocker head coach (276-92, .750). Tim Jankovich's .823 winning percentage (51-11) is the highest of any Divisison I head coach at his current school… Marshall is 7-5 career against Jankovich. The two went head-to-head 12 times during Jankovich's five-year run at Illinois State (2007-12)… Jankovich is 1-4 at Charles Koch Arena. All five trips came with Illinois State… Marshall has never faced SMU… SMU assistant K.T. Turner worked one season under Marshall at WSU and helped the Shockers to the 2013 Final Four… Two of the nation's best three-point shooting teams, led by two of its top individual shooters, collide Wednesday night. WSU (21st, .408) and SMU (13th, .413) both rank in the top-25 nationally in three-point percentage. SMU's Ben Emelogu (43-of-73, .589) and WSU's Landry Shamet (46-of-88, .523) lead The American in three-point percentage (minimum 1.0 three-point field goal per game).
 
LANDRY LIST:
Sophomore point guard Landry Shamet was named last Thursday to the Wooden Award Midseason Top-25... The list narrows to 15 next month... Xavier McDaniel (1985), Cleanthony Early (2014) and Ron Baker (2015) have all earned Wooden Award All-American status over the years. Baker was the last Shocker to make the Midseason Top 25.
 
SHOOTING STAR:
In the NCAA's official three-point percentage rankings (which require an average of 2.5 makes per game), Landry Shamet ranks No. 1 nationally at .523… WSU hasn't had an NCAA statistical champion since 1985 when Xavier McDaniel became the first player ever lead the nation in both scoring and rebounding… Shamet is on pace to set school records for three-pointers per game and three-point percentage… If WSU makes some postseason noise, Shamet would also has a shot at the single-season volume record held by Sean Ogirri (91 in 2005-06). Shamet is on track for 81 by the end of the regular season, which would rank second on the list.
 
TRENDING:
Through Jan. 14, WSU's seven Quadrant1/Quaderant2 wins are tied for fourth-most among top-60 RPI teams… Eight of the 12 American Athletic Conference schools rank in the top-100 of the RPI heading into this week… WSU has trailed by double-figures in four different games but rallied to win three of those contests: vs. California (-18, 16:30 2h; Won 92-82), South Dakota State (-13, 16:18 2h) and at Tulsa (-10, 11:11 1h)… The Shockers have led at halftime in all five of their American Athletic Conference games.
 
26 DAYS ACCIDENT-FREE:     
Senior shooting guard Conner Frankamp's last turnover came on Dec. 22 against FGCU. He's committed just one turnover in his last 10 games (spanning 246 minutes) and only five for the year… Frankamp is seven assists shy of qualifying for the national leaderboard, but his 7.80 assist-to-turnover ratio would otherwise lead the nation… According to KenPom, Frankamp has the lowest turnover rate in the nation at 4.1 percent.
 
POLL NOTES:
WSU swept a two-game road swing last week. The good news: the Shockers gained 78 votes in Monday's AP Poll. The bad news: they fell two spots to No. 7… The news was all good in the Coaches Poll, where WSU gained votes and moved from No. 5 to No. 4… WSU's No. 3 AP ranking on Dec. 11 was its highest since finishing the 2013-14 regular season with four-consecutive weeks at No. 2… WSU opened at No. 7 in the AP preseason rankings and No. 8 in the Coaches' -- its highest starting point since the '81-82 campaign… Going back to Dec. 12, 2012 -- a span of five years -- WSU has been ranked or received AP and/or Coaches votes in 118 of the 128 poll weeks.
 
A HELPING HEAPING:
WSU ranks fifth nationally in assist per game (19.0)… Over a four-day span, the Shockers twice set Marshall Era records for assists. They had 28 in the Jan. 7 win over USF and 32 in their Jan. 11 victory at ECU… WSU's 32 assists at ECU was the most ever in an American Athletic Conference game. To date, it's the highest total for a D-I road team this year… Landry Shamet's point-assist double-double (11 & 11) at ECU was the league's first of the year…  Shamet is the first Shocker to record double-digit assists since Fred VanVleet (11 vs. SIU; Feb. 3, 2016)… Shamet's 11 assists at ECU tied for the second-highest total by a Shocker in a true road game. Bill Lang had 11 at Oregon State on Dec. 1, 1972. Bob Trogele tallied 13 at DePaul on Dec. 10, 1977.
 
ON THE LEADERBOARD (as of 1/15):
Wichita State leads The American in scoring offense (84.9), field goal percentage (.491), three-point percentage (.413), rebound margin (+10.8), assists (19.0), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5), defensive rebound percentage (.776) and three-pointers per game (9.8)… Rashard Kelly leads the conference in offensive rebounds per game (3.4). He and Darral Willis Jr. are both among the league's top-10 in rebounding… Landry Shamet leads the league in assists (5.0), assist-to-turnover ratio (2.6) and threes-per-game (2.7). He's second in three-point percentage (.523)… Shaquille Morris enters the weekend with 32 total blocks, tied with Tulane's Blake Paul for the league lead.
 
SHAMET ON THE HONOR ROLL:
Landry Shamet was named to the league's weekly honor roll for Jan. 8-14... The sophomore point guard averaged 13.5 points and 7.0 assists in road wins at ECU and Tulsa. He posted a 3.50 assist-to-turnover ratio and made 7-of-14 threes. At ECU he recorded The American's first point-assist double-double of the year, finishing with a career-high 11 assists and just one turnover.
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…
… improve their record to 16-2 (6-0 American).
… extend their winning streak to a season-best eight games with victories in 12 of the last 13.
… makes them 7-0 since the return of Markis McDuffie.
… extend their Charles Koch Arena winning streak to 28 games (12 short of the school record) and make them 68-1 at the Roundhouse in the last five seasons. 
… Improve Gregg Marshall's Roundhouse record to 148-20 in 11 seasons.
… tie the all-time series with SMU at 5-5 and improve WSU to 4-1 against the Mustangs in Wichita.
… Improve Marshall's record against Jankovich to 8-5.
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
… drop their record to 15-3 (5-1 American).
… stop a seven-game winning streak.
… snap a 27-game Charles Koch Arena winning streak.
… be their first loss at the Roundhouse since Feb. 13, 2016 against UNI and just their second in the last five seasons.
… be their first loss to a team that wasn't receiving AP votes since Mar. 5, 2016 (vs. UNI; MVC Tournament).
… give SMU a 6-4 lead in the all-time series.
… be less good than a win.
 
NEXT UP:
Winners of a nation-best 11-straight true road games, WSU will look to tie the school record for consecutive road victories when it travels to Houston (11 a.m. CT, ESPNU). The Shockers then play back-to-back home dates next week against UCF (Jan. 25, 8 p.m. CT, ESPN2) and Tulsa (Jan. 28, 5 p.m. CT, CBSSN).