HOUSTON, Texas -- Following its first American Athletic Conference loss, No. 7/4 Wichita State (15-3, 5-1) looks to bounce back Saturday at Houston (14-4, 4-2). The 11 a.m. CT tip airs on ESPNU.
 
Shake Milton scored 33 points and SMU shot 63.8 percent from the field Wednesday evening to snap WSU's 27-game Charles Koch Arena winning streak, 83-78. It was just the second loss for WSU at its campus arena in the last five seasons.
 
The Shockers are in their first season in The American after a 72-year run in the Missouri Valley Conference. From 2013-17, WSU won four consecutive regular season titles with a 68-4 record.
 
The Shockers enter the weekend a half-game behind Cincinnati in the standings. Houston and Memphis (both 4-2) are tied for third.

 

GAME 19

Houston, Texas

H&PE Arena (Texas Southern Univ.)

Game Notes: WSU | UH

MATCHUP

#7/4 Wichita State (15-3, 5-1) at Houston (14-4, 4-2)

Saturday, Jan. 20

11:00 A.M. CT

ESPNU (WatchESPN)

KEYN 103.7 FM

GoShockers.com

GoShockers.com

SOCIAL

@GoShockersMBB | #watchus

@goshockers | #watchus

Go Shockers

THE STARTING FIVE:
 
1 --- ROAD WARRIORS:
The Shockers are tied for the nation's longest road winning streak (11 games) and can match a school record with a win on Saturday. WSU's 2013-14 team – which finished the regular season with an unbeaten record – won all 12 of its true road games... The Shockers (5-0) are one of six teams that are still unbeaten on the road this year, along with Saint Mary's (6-0), Kanas (4-0), Ohio State (4-0), Purdue (4-0) and LSU (3-0).
 
Active True Road Winning Streaks (NCAA Division I)
11 -- Wichita State (5-0) -- Jan. 20 at Houston
11 -- Saint Mary's (5-0) -- Jan. 20 at Pacific
10 – Kansas (4-0) -- Jan. 23 at#4 Oklahoma
 
2 --- HEADING TO HOUSTON:
The Shockers are 2-7 all-time in Houston. This is their first visit since Jan. 2, 1960 – nine years before the debut of Hofheinz Pavilion. The Shockers, coached by Naismith Hall of Famer Ralph Miller, won 69-63… Houston is playing home games this season at Texas Southern's H&PE Arena while Hofheinz Pavilion undergoes a $60 million renovation. It will reopen for the 2018-19 season as the Fertitta Center... Senior wing Zach Brown is a Houston native who played for Klein Collins High School. Brown is the team's defensive ace, often drawing the opponents' top perimeter threat. A year ago he was named to MVC All-Defensive Team.
 
3 --- BOUNCING BACK:
The Shockers haven't lost consecutive games since November, 2016 when they fell to No. 10 Louisville and No. 24 Michigan State at the Battle 4 Atlantis. WSU hasn't dropped consecutive conference games since the 2012-13 season.
 
4 --- REMATCH:
WSU goes for its first American Athletic Conference sweep. On Jan. 4 in Wichita the Shockers nailed 10 first-half threes in a decisive 81-63 victory over the Cougars. Landry Shamet led the way with a game-high 18 points.
 
5 --- BATTLE OF THE BOARDS II:
Houston is the only team that has outrebounded the Shockers this year. WSU ranks fourth nationally in rebound margin ( 10.6). The Cougars rank 16th at 7.6 and have outrebounded 16 of their 18 foes this year.
 
###
 
SHOCKER ROAD SHOW; GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!           
Wichita State has brought out the best in opposing crowds this year. Each of the Shockers' first five road opponents have set a season attendance high… Opponents are averaging more than twice as many fans for WSU games (9,733) as they are for their other home dates (4,498).
 
ROAD DESTRUCTION:
*Since the start of the 2013-14 season, the Shockers own the most road wins (45-6) and highest percentage (.882) in Division I.
*WSU has been the decade's best road team at 71-14 (.835) since 2010-11 campaign.
*The Shockers' own the nation's longest road winning streak (11).
*WSU was one of just six Division I teams with double-digit road wins in 2016-17. They've hit that mark in three of the last four years.
 
THE SERIES WITH HOUSTON:
*WSU leads 17-9 all-time with wins in 10 of the last 13 meetings.
*This is WSU's first visit to Houston since Jan. 2, 1960 – nine years before the debut of Hofheinz Pavilion. The Shockers, coached by Naismith Hall of Famer Ralph Miller, won 69-63.
*Houston is playing home games this season at Texas Southern's H&PE Arena while Hofheinz Pavilion undergoes a $60 million renovation. It will reopen for the 2018-19 season as the Fertitta Center.
*The Shockers are 2-7 all-time in Houston.
*The Shockers are 12-2 against the Cougars in Wichita, and the only two losses (1952 and 1989) each came by a single point.
*Houston has had its share of success in the Roundhouse -- just not against the Shockers. The Cougars played NCAA Tournament games in Wichita in 1966, 68, 71 and  73 and went 3-2. In 1968, senior Elvin Hayes scored 74 points in two Midwest Regional wins over Louisville and TCU to send the Cougars to the FInal Four
*From 1950-60, WSU and Houston were both members of the Missouri Valley Conference. Over the course of 10 seasons, Shockers won 14 of the 21 MVC games between the two programs.
*The teams last met in the play-in round of the 2005 NIT. WSU ended what had been a 16-year postseason victory drought with an 85-69 decision at Charles Koch Arena. Led by Jamar Howard (21 points) and Kyle Wilson (20), the Shockers shot 62.5 percent from the field. Andre Ownens accounted for 33 of Houston's 69 points and over half of its field goal attempts, going 13-of-29 (7-of-18 from three).
*Houston's last series win came in a Nov. 16, 1989 preseason NIT matchup at the Roundhouse (then known as Henry Levitt Arena). The Shockers, in their first game under new head coach Mike Cohen, fell 67-66 despite a game effort from John Cooper who played all 40 minutes and finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Byron Smith – now in his third year as head coach at Prairie View A&M – led Houston with 29 points.
 
MATCHUP MASHUP:
WSU (84.6 points per game) and Houston (79.6) are The American's two highest scoring teams… A couple of American Player of the Year candidates go head-to-head in WSU's Landry Shamet and Houston's Rob Gray… Both were preseason first team all-conference selections. Gray leads the conference in scoring (19.4 points) but managed just 13 in the first go-around in Wichita... Shamet (16.1 points) ranks among the league's top-10 in seven categories… WSU senior Zach Brown is a Houston native who attended Klein Collins High School in Spring, Texas.
 Gregg Marshall is 1-1 against Kelvin Sampson (1-0 in the American Era)... In  a past life, Sampson (then head coach at Oklahoma) led his third-seeded Sooners past Marshall's 14th-seeded Winthrop team, 74-50, in a first round NCAA Tournament matchup at the McKale Center in Tucson... Marshall (470 career wins) and Sampson (570) have combined for over 1,000 victories.
 
BATTLE ON THE BOARDS:
Two of the nation's best rebounding teams collide on Thursday. The Shockers lead the league and rank fourth nationally in rebound margin ( 10.6), but the Cougars have been nearly as good ( 8.4, 16th nationally). Houston has outrebounded 16 of its 18 opponents this year.
 The Cougars are the only team that has outrebounded the Shockers this year. Their 36-35 margin in Wichita marked just the 16th time in 11 seasons under Marshall that WSU has been outrebounded at Koch Arena.
 WSU (1st, .777) and Houston (2nd, .740) rank one-and-two in the league in defensive rebound percentage.
 
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 .520… 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, three-point percentage and -- if WSU makes some postseason noise -- the record total threes, currently held by Sean Ogirri (91 in 2005-06) is also in play. Shamet is on track for 84 by the end of the regular season, which would rank second on the list.
 
NCAA 3-Point Field Goal Percentage Leaders*:
.520 – Landry Shamet (51/93)
.515 – Connor Burchfield (William & Mary)
.503 – Fletcher McGee (Wofford)
.496 – Sam Hauser (Marquette)
.495 – Andre Wofford (Saint Francis)
*-Minimum 2.5 makes per game; As of Jan. 18
 
A HELPING HEAPING:
WSU ranks fifth nationally in assist per game (19.3)… 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 on Jan. 11 was the league's first of the year. He did it again less than a week later vs. SMU (10 & 10)… 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.
 
National Leaders, Assists Per Game (As of Jan. 18)
21.2 – Michigan State
20.4 – TCU
19.8 – Duke
19.5 – Creighton
19.3 – Wichita State
 
ON THE LEADERBOARD (as of 1/18):
Wichita State leads the American in scoring offense (84.6), field goal percentage (.494), rebound margin ( 10.6), assists (19.3), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6), defensive rebound percentage (.777) and three-pointers per game (9.8)… Landry Shamet leads the league in assists (5.3), assist-to-turnover ratio (2.6) and threes-per-game (2.8). He's second in three-point percentage (.520), seventh in scoring (16.1)… Rashard Kelly leads the conference in offensive rebounds per game (3.2). He and Darral Willis Jr. are both among the league's top-10 in rebounding… Shaquille Morris enters the weekend tied for the league lead with 33 total blocks.
 
WINNER WINNER:
Rashard Kelly participated in his 100th career victory on Jan. 7 against USF. Shaquille Morris can join him in the 100-win club with a Shocker victory over Houston. He would be just the seventh in program history to reach the century mark.
 
WSU Career Victories (in games participated):
Tekele Cotton (2011-15): 120-21
Fred VanVleet (2012-16): 120-21
Evan Wessel (2011-16): 109-14
Demetric Williams (2009-13): 107-33
Ron Baker (2012-16): 106-18
Rashard Kelly (2014-Pr.): 102-22
Shaquille Morris (2014-Pr.): 99-20
 
THREES COMPANY:
Conner Frankamp moved to seventh on WSU's career three-point field goal list in Wednesday's game against SMU, passing Paul Guffrovich. Frankamp's 146 career triples are seven shy of David Kyles (153) for sixth.
 
CONNECT THREE:
Conner Frankamp's school record streak (38-straight games with a three-pointer) celebrated its one-year anniversary on Dec. 28.
 
BLOCK PARTY:
Shaquille Morris' 129 career blocks is the most by a Shocker since 1985-86 when the block became an official NCAA stat. He needs 3 more to catch Robert Elmore, brother of CBS commentator Len Elmore.
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…
… improve their record to 16-3 (6-1 American).
… extend the nation's longest true road winning streak to 12 games and tie the school record, originally set by the 2013-14 Shockers.
… makes them 6-0 in true road games this year.
… be Houston's first home loss this year (8-1).
… give them a sweep of the regular season series with Houston and up their all-time series lead to 18-9.
… be just their third win in Houston in 10 tries.
… Improve Marshall's record against Sampson to 2-1.
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
… drop their record to 15-4 (5-2 American).
… give them consecutive losses for the first time since November 2016.
… give them consecutive conference losses for the first time since the tail end of the 2012-13 season.
… snap the nation's longest road winning streak (11).
… be their first road loss since Jan. 14 of last year at Illinois State.
… make Houston 9-0 at home this year.
… give Houston a split of the season series and shrink the Shockers' all-time series lead to 17-10.
… make the Shockers 2-8 all-time in Houston.
… be less good than a win.
 
UP NEXT:
The Shockers play back-to-back home games next week against UCF (Thursday, 8 p.m. CT, ESPN2) and Tulsa (Sunday, 5 p.m. CT, CBSSN).