WICHITA, Kan. -- No. 17/16 Wichita State (16-4, 6-2) wraps up the first half of its American Conference slate Sunday evening against Tulsa (11-9, 4-4) at Charles Koch Arena.
The 5 p.m. tip airs nationally on CBS Sports Network – available in Wichita on UVerse (643), Cox (260), DIRECTV (221) and DISH (158). Subscribers to CBSSN can also stream the game via cbssports.com/watch/cbssportsnetwork.
The Voice of the Shockers, Mike Kennedy, describes the action on Shocker Radio (KEYN 103.7 FM and GoShockers.com/Listen). Join Kennedy and analyst Dave Dahl for pregame beginning one hour before tipoff.
The Shockers ended a two-game slide Thursday night, defeating UCF, 81-62.
Shaquille Morris scored 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting,
Rashard Kelly grabbed 10 rebounds (his second straight outing with double-digit boards), and
Landry Shamet dished out a game-high six assists... Tulsa has been idle since Jan. 20.
The Shockers won the first meeting in Tulsa back on Jan. 13, 72-69. Sterling Taplin (26 points) hit 6-of-10 three-point attempts but missed a try at the buzzer that would have forced overtime. Shamet and
Conner Frankamp led WSU with 16-each and combined for eight of the team's 10 three-point field goals.
WSU (6-2) begins the weekend with a half-game lead over Houston (5-2) for second-place in the American standings. Neithber has faced first-place Cincinnati (7-0, as of Friday).
The Shockers play their next two on the road: at Temple (Feb. 1, 6 p.m. CT, ESPN2) and at Memphis (Feb. 6, 8 p.m. CT, CBSSN).
Havoc in the Heartland Central
THE STARTING FIVE:
1 --- PLAYING THE OLDIES:
Tulsa is WSU's third-most played opponent (behind Drake and Bradley). Sunday's meeting will be their 128
th all-time and 60
th in Wichita. The Shockers and Golden Hurricane were conference rivals in the Missouri Valley from 1945-96. Following Tulsa's MVC exit, they played 14 non-conference games over a 21-year span. Including its victory earlier this month in Tulsa, WSU has now won eight of the last nine encounters.
Most Frequent Shocker Opponents (All-Time):
1. Drake (MVC) – Since 1936 – 151 Games – 75 in Wichita
2. Bradley (MVC) – Since 1948 – 142 Games – 66 in Wichita
3. Tulsa (American) – Since 1931 – 127 Games – 60 in Wichita
4. Creighton (Big East) – Since 1946 – 100 Games – 49 in Wichita
5. Southern Illinois (MVC) – Since 1965 – 95 Games – 49 in Wichita
2 --- 700 CLUB:
A Sunday win would be the Shockers' 700
th men's basketball victory at the Roundhouse (excluding exhibitions). The building opened in December, 1955... 31 of the 699 wins have come against Tulsa.
3 --- TIPPING POINT REACHED:
Wichita State's Saturday, Feb. 10 home game against UConn – previously listed as TBA –--- will tip at 5 p.m. CT. The game will air nationally on either ESPN or ESPN2.
4 --- LEGENDARY SHOCKER BLOCKERS:
Shaquille Morris (131 career blocks) needs just one more to tie Robert Elmore for second on WSU's all-time list…. Morris recorded his 35
th block of the year on Thursday, matching his season output from last year (35 in 34 GP)… Morris has blocked a shot in each of the last six contests.
5 --- CHARGING A-BUCK-FIFTY:
Conner Frankamp can become just the seventh player in WSU history to hit 150 career threes. He enters Sunday's game with 148 in 82 games. Just four Shockers have reached 150 faster: Sean Ogirri (72 GP), Ron Baker (75) and Randy Burns (79).
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HOME SWEET HOME:
Wichita State's on-campus home, Charles Koch Arena [pronounced "Coke"], is often referred to as "the Roundhouse" for its unique circular shape. The building opened in December, 1955 and the 2017-18 season marks its 62nd season of use… The Shockers have won just over three-quarters of their games in the arena all-time, at 699-217… WSU's rise to national relevance began in 2003 with the completion of the Roundhouse Renaissance. A $25 million dollar construction project turned an aging Henry Levitt Arena into one of college basketball's best home environments. The building reopened as Charles Koch Arena for the start of the 2003-04 season… In the 15 seasons since the renovation, the Shockers are 197-35 on campus. That includes a 148-21 mark under
Gregg Marshall… WSU has won 68 of its last 70 games at Charles Koch Arena over the last five seasons. The only losses came against UNI (Feb. 13, 2016) and SMU (Jan. 17, 2018)... 67 of the 70 games in that stretch have come in front of capacity crowds (10,506)… Throw in a 6-2 record at downtown INTRUST Bank Arena, and WSU is 101-6 (.944) overall in Wichita since the start of the 2011-12 campaign… Charles Koch Arena has played host to 207-consecutive regular season crowds of 10,000+, dating back to December of 2004… WSU has sold out its last 17 home games, dating back to last year (16 at Koch Arena and one at 15,004-seat INTRUST Bank Arena.
THE SERIES WITH TULSA:
The Shockers have won nine of the last 10 meetings with Tulsa to take a 66-61 series lead… WSU leads 37-23 in Wichita with five-straight wins. Tulsa's last series win in Wichita came on Dec. 8, 2001…
Gregg Marshall is 7-1 against Tulsa (4-0 at Charles Koch Arena and 3-1 at the Reynolds Center)… Marshall won four of his five head-to-head meetings with Frank Haith.
WSU has won seven of the 10 overtime games between the teams (2-2 in Wichita, 5-1 in Tulsa with four-straight wins)... After WSU's Charles Koch Arena renovation the balance of power shifted dramatically. On Dec. 20, 2003 (Koch Arena's inaugural season), the Shockers stopped a 13-game losing streak against Tulsa with a 66-58 victory. That started a run of seven-straight Shockers wins… The Shockers are 28-35 against the Hurricane in Tulsa but are 4-3 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center (now in its 20th season of use).
MATCHUP MASHUP:
Tulsa senior Corey Henderson Jr. was a freshman on WSU's 2015 Sweet 16 team, appearing 28 of the 35 contests while averaging 1.9 points per game… Henderson hit four triples and finished with 14 points in the Jan. 13 meeting down in Tulsa. He was nearly the hero, rimming out a three-point attempt with 11 seconds to play that would have given the hosts a one-point lead... Henderson's first visit to Charles Koch Arena in enemy colors came last season during non-conference play. He finished with nine points (on 3-of-10 shooting), three assists and two steals in 28 minutes, but WSU triumphed 80-53…. This is Tulsa's second trip to Wichita this year. Back on Dec. 9, the Hurricane defeated Kansas State, 61-54, at INTRUST Bank Arena.
TRENDING:
Rashard Kelly will move into WSU's all-time top-10 in games played on Sunday. The Tulsa game is his 127th in a Shocker uniform…
Shaquille Morris leads the team in plus/minus. Per 40 minutes, the Shockers are outscoring opponents by an average of 17.8 points with Morris on the floor (compared to +9.7 during Morris bench time).
Conner Frankamp (+17.5) and
Landry Shamet (+16.2) rank second and third among the team's regulars… Of course, statistically speaking,
Brett Barney is the roster's most valuable player. The Shockers are +28.2/per 40 minutes with their walk-on center on the floor…
Austin Reaves has 23 assists with just four turnovers in six January games (5.75 ratio)…
Shaquille Morris is averaging a team-high 13.6 points in January on 62% shooting… Shamet has two double-digit assists games this year. The last Shocker to do it more than twice in a year was Fridge Holman (4x) during the 2003-04 season… Senior center
Shaquille Morris (960 career points) is 40 points shy of 1,000. He would be the club's 46th member and the ninth since Marshall's arrival.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Wichita State entered the weekend ranked third nationally in rebound margin (+10.6). The Shockers have been outrebounded just once in 20 games this year (Jan. 4 vs. Houston).
NCAA Leaders, Rebounding Margin (As of Jan. 26)
1. Michigan St. -- +12.1
2. North Carolina -- +11.6
3. Wichita State -- +10.6
4. Duke -- +10.4
5. Gonzaga -- +10.0
LAST MEETING WITH TULSA
(Jan. 13, 2017 | Tulsa, Okla. | WSU 72, Tulsa 69)
The Shockers survived a harrowing final minute to defeat rival Tulsa in the schools' first conference meeting since 1996… WSU won the last of 11-straight true road games (the second longest streak in school history). It ended a week later at Houston…
Conner Frankamp and
Landry Shamet scored 16 points each and combined for eight of WSU's 10 three-pointers. Frankamp made two big threew late in the game. One put the Shockers up 68-61. Another made it 71-66…
Markis McDuffie has 10 points and nine rebounds…,. Sterling Taplin (6-of-10 from three) scored a game-high 26 points for Tulsa with seven assists… Tulsa hit 12 threes but missed two big ones in the final 20 seconds that would have turned the game. Corey Henderson Jr.'s three for the lead spun out with 11 seconds to go. After the Shockers converted one of two free throws, Taplin missed a three at the buzzer that would have forced overtime... The Shockers trailed 30-20 but ended the first-half on a 16-2 run. Up 36-32 at halftime, WSU opened the second half on a 9-2 run to go up double-digits… WSU outrebounded Tulsa 42-30 and turned 12 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points… Shocker fans made up a large percentage of the 8,355 in attendance (Tulsa's first sellout since 2009).
ON THE LEADERBOARD (Jan. 26):
Wichita State leads the American in scoring offense (83.1), field goal percentage (.483), rebound margin (+10.6), assists (18.7), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5), defensive rebound percentage (.776) and three-pointers per game (9.3)…
Landry Shamet leads the league in assists (5.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.5). He's second in threes-per-game (2.6) and three-point percentage (.473), and he's eighth in scoring (15.0)…
Rashard Kelly ranks second in offensive rebounds per game (3.4) and third in total rebounds per game (7.5)… No player in The American has blocked more shots than
Shaquille Morris (35).
MIDWAY BULLET POINTS:
A win sends WSU into the midway point of its conference schedule with a 7-2 record and would mark the eighth-consecutive years that a Shocker team has finished the "front-nine" with 7+ victories… A loss would mark the first time since the 2012-13 season that a Shocker team has dropped more than three games in a conference season.
MAKE IT - TAKE IT:
Over the last two seasons, WSU is 44-1 when outshooting its opponent from the field (and 3-8 when outshot)… The Shockers' four primary guards have shot just 28% from three in their four losses this year, compared to 47.3% in their 16 victories.
RPI IN THE SKY:
As of Friday, WSU owns eight Quadrant 1 or 2 wins -- tops in The American and tied for ninth nationally. The Shockers are 2-2 in Q1 games and 6-2 in Q2… After Sunday, WSU plays seven of the final nine games against teams ranked in the RPI's top-100... A year ago, the Shockers played just six of their 31 regular season games against top-100 RPI teams.
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…
… be the 700th men's basketball win (excluding exhibitions) in Roundhouse history, making WSU 700-217 all-time in the building.
… improve their record to 17-4 (7-2 American).
… give them their first sweep of an American Athletic Conference opponent and their first conference series sweep of Tulsa since the 1990-91 season.
… makes them 69-2 at Charles Koch Arena over the last five seasons (10-1 in 2017-18).
… give them three-straight wins over Tulsa and be their 10th in 11 tries.
… Improve
Gregg Marshall's record against Tulsa to 8-1 and make him 5-1 vs. Frank Haith.
… give WSU its sixth-straight home win in the series vs. Tulsa.
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
… drop their record to 16-5 (6-3 American).
… give them three conference losses for the first time since a 12-6 MVC finish in 2013.
… be Tulsa's first win at the Roundhouse since its 2003 renovation.
… close the gap in the all-time series to 66-62, WSU.
… be just their third Charles Koch Arena loss in the last five seasons (68-3).
… be less good than a win.
UP NEXT:
The Shockers play their next two on the road: at Temple (Feb. 1, 6 p.m. CT, ESPN2) and at Memphis (Feb. 6, 8 p.m. CT, CBSSN).
