GREENVILLE, N.C. -- No. 5/5 Wichita State (13-2, 3-0 American) plays two road games in three days, beginning Thursday at ECU (7-8, 1-3).
 
The 8 p.m. CT (9 p.m. ET) tip airs nationally on ESPN2 with Kevin Brown and Chris Spatola.
 
The Voice of the Shockers, Mike Kennedy describes the action alongside Bob Hull on Shocker Radio (KEYN 103.7 FM and online at GoShockers.com/Listen), beginning with a one-hour pregame show.
 
Five of the top-7 teams in the AP Poll lost last week, leading to a major shakeup in the polls. WSU (which won two games by an average of 28 points) jumped four spots into a tie for fifth.
 
The Shockers are on a season-best five game winning streak and have won 9-of-10 since Thanksgiving.
 
This is WSU's first season in The American after a 72-year run in the Missouri Valley Conference, where the Shockers had won four-straight and five the last six regular season crowns.
 

GAME 16

Greenville, N.C.

Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum

Game Notes: WSU | ECU

MATCHUP

#5/5 Wichita State (13-2, 3-0 American) at ECU (7-8, 1-3 American)

Thursday, Jan. 11

8:00 P.M. CT (9:00 P.M. ET)

ESPN2

KEYN 103.7 FM

GoShockers.com

GoShockers.com

SOCIAL

@GoShockersMBB | #watchus

@goshockers | #watchus

Go Shockers

THE STARTING FIVE:
 
1 --- FIRST DATES:
ECU is one of four new American foes that the Shockers are facing for the first time this season (along with USF, UCF and Tulane). This is the only regular season meeting between the Shockers and Pirates.  WSU won't host ECU or Memphis this year and won't travel to Tulane or USF.
 
2 ---- START SEARCH:
WSU (3-0 in conference) enters the day tied for first place. A win over ECU would give the Shockers a half-game lead in the standings over Cincinnati (3-0), which is idle until Saturday... In the league's first four seasons, nine American teams opened 3-0 or better. UCF (11-7, 4th) was the only one that finished outside of the top-3, and eight of the nine reached postseason play (SMU was not eligible)... The Shockers are shooting for the league's sixth-ever 4-0 start. Cincinnati owns the conference record with 11-0 starts in both '14 and '17. Tulsa went 10-0 in '15.
 
3 ---- ROAD WARRIORS:
WSU puts the nation's second-longest road winning streak (9-straight dating back to last January) on the line over the next three days with games at ECU and Tulsa... Since the start of the 2013-14 season, the Shockers own the most road wins (44-6) and highest road winning percentage (.880) in Division I. They've also been the decade's best road team at 70-14 (.833) since the start of the 2010-11 campaign... WSU is 3-0 in true road games in 2017-18 with wins at No. 16 Baylor (69-62), Oklahoma State (78-66) and UConn (72-62).
 
4 ---- GREAT OUT OF THE GATE:
In back-to-back home wins last week, the Shockers held commanding halftime leads over Houston (53-32) and USF (51-20)... WSU hit 40-of-60 first-half shots (.667) and went 16-of-25 from three (.640). In the first 20 minutes against Houston, the Shockers hit 10 first-half threes. A 75 percent (21-of-28) opening salvo against USF was WSU's highest halftime field goal percentage in 11 seasons under Gregg Marshall.
 
5 ---- 3"D" PICTURE:
The Shockers rank 14th nationally in three-point percentage (.413). ECU leads the American and ranks 29th nationally in three-point field goal percentage defense (.305). The Pirates haven't given up more than nine threes in a game this year. The Shockers average 9.8 per game and have hit double-digit threes in 9 of their first 15 contests.
 
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WINNING WAYS:
WSU is 44-7 (.863) over the last two seasons. All seven losses came to teams that were either ranked or receiving votes in the AP Poll.  The last exception came over 22 months ago -- an OT loss to UNI in the 2016 MVC Tournament.
 
SCOUTING THE PIRATES:
ECU is under new management after Jeff Lebo's resignation in late November. Assistant coach Michael Perry was elevated to interim head coach and has led the Pirates to a 5-4 record… B.J. Tyson (6-3, Sr., G) averages a team-high 15.7 points. He's one of just three players in The American who average more than 35 minutes per game… Hawaii transfer Isaac Fleming (6-3, Jr., G) averages 12.7 points and leads the Pirates with 19 steals… Last year's leading scorer and rebounder Kentrell Barkley averages 12.4 points and 6.4 rebounds… Jabari Craig leads ECU in rebounds (6.9) and blocks (17) while putting up 5.9 points… The Pirates' non-conference strength of schedule ranked 349th out of 351 Division I teams. ECU ranks last nationally in three-point percentage (.260) and its 4.7 threes per game is 347th… ECU played three of its first four conference games on the road, picking up its first win on Jan. 3 at USF (67-65). Now the schedule evens itself out. This is the first of three-consecutive home games for the Pirates, who welcome Houston to town on Sunday then play a rematch against USF on Jan. 17.
 
MATCHUP MASHUP:
ECU senior Jabari Craig and WSU senior Darral Willis Jr. were teammates at Pearl River (Miss.) Community College during the 2015-16 season where they won a division title. Craig played his freshman season at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College -- less than an hour up the road from Wichita… The Shockers are familiar with Isaac Fleming from his days at Hawaii. In the 2014 Diamond Head Classic, Fleming (then a freshman) nearly led the Rainbow Warriors to a massive upset over a Shocker team that came in ranked 11th nationally. Fleming scored 17 points off the bench on 7-of-9 shooting (3-of-4 from three) before fouling out in the final minute of regulation. WSU won the game in overtime, 80-79, on Rashard Kelly's offensive rebound and putback with three seconds to go… Fleming (4.8 assists) and WSU's Landry Shamet (4.7) are The American's top-2 in assists… ECU assistant Doug Wojcik was head coach at Tulsa for seven years. He and Gregg Marshall renewed the WSU-Tulsa non-conference series in 2010-11 after a six-year layoff. The Shockers went 2-0 against Wojcik… In his first job as an assistant coach in the late 80's Gregg Marshall recruited current ECU assistant Ken Potosnak  (then a high school senior) to Randolph Macon College. Marshall remained on staff for Potosnak's freshman year before moving on to Belmont-Abbey.
 
LAST THREE FROM THREE:
WSU has put up some absurd three-point shooting numbers in conference play. The Shockers have hit exactly 12 threes in each of their first three American games. Over that stretch, they are shooting an incredible 50 percent from deep (36-of-72)… Eight Shockers have hit a three in conference play and five have made 5+ from deep: Landry Shamet (8/12), Austin Reaves (6/10), Conner Frankamp (6/11), Markis McDuffie (6/10) and Zach Brown (5/10).
 
TRENDING:
The NCAA's minimum requirement of 2.5 threes per game is a difficult bar to clear, but among the 144 qualifiers, Landry Shamet ranks fifth nationally in three-point percentage (39-of-74, .527)… Zach Brown went 3-for-3 from deep against USF to emerge from a month-long shooting slump. Brown tweaked his knee in a late November practice and wore a brace for most of December. Heading into to the USF game he was 4-of-20 from deep over a stretch of eight games... Brown's 13-point day against USF last Sunday was his first double-figure performance since Dec. 5 and one shy of his season-high (14 vs. Notre Dame; Nov. 22)… C.J. Keyser played 15 minutes against USF and finished with career-highs for points (8) and assists (3)… The Shockers are showing signs of life. Last week they matched their season low with eight turnovers in Thursday's win over Houston. Their +7 margin was also a season-best. Three days later against USF, they were +6 in turnovers and tallied eight steals… Shaquille Morris' 125 career blocks is the most by a Shocker since 1985-86 when the block became an official NCAA stat. He needs 7 more to catch Robert Elmore, brother of CBS commentator Len Elmore.
 
ON THE LEADERBOARD (as of 1/8):
Wichita State leads The American in scoring offense (85.1), field goal percentage (.490), rebounding offense (.421), rebounding margin (+10.5), assists (18.6), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5), defensive rebound percentage (.768) and three-pointers (9.8)… Rashard Kelly leads the conference in offensive rebounds per game (3.5). He and Darral Willis Jr. rank 3rd and 6th respectively in total rebounds per game… Landry Shamet leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.4) and threes-per-game (2.6). He's second in three-point percentage (..527) and assists (4.7)… Shaquille Morris enters the week with 29 total blocks, tied with Tulane's Blake Paul for the league lead.
 
VOTE GREGG. HELP KIDS.
Gregg Marshall is one of 48 coaches competing in Round One of the 2018 Infiniti Charity Coaches Challenge. Now through Jan. 21, Shocker fans can vote for Marshall and help win money for his charity of choice, the Wichita Children's Home, through any of the following means:
 
(1) Visit espn.com/infiniti and click the "vote" button under Coach Marshall's photo
(2) On twitter, tweet the following hashtags: "#Timeout2Vote #CoachGreggMarshall"
(3) On Instagram, post a photo of yourself calling a timeout and include the following hashtags: "TimeOut2Vote #CoachGreggMarshall"
 
OFF ON THE LEFT FOOT:
Junior forward Markis McDuffie has been recovering from a stress fracture in his left foot since late September. The injury did not require surgery but kept him sidelined for over 12 weeks... McDuffie looked a lot like his old self last week in his third and fourth games back, averaging 11.5 points in 16.5 minutes. He was 7-of-12 from the field (6-of-9 from three)… Out since late September, McDuffie returned to practice on Dec. 20 and saw his first action of the season in the Dec. 22 win over Florida Gulf Coast (9 minutes).
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Wichita State entered the week ranked fourth nationally in rebound margin. A few garbage time caroms trashed the Shockers' streak of 18-straight games without being outrebounded. Houston (36-35 on the glass) became the first opponent to best WSU on the boards since Missouri State on Feb. 25, 2017.
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…
… improve their record to 14-2 (4-0 American).
… give them a half-game lead in the standings (3-0 Cincinnati is idle until Saturday).
… run their winning streak to six-games with victories in 10 of the last 11.
… extend their road winning streak to 10 games.
… give them a 4-0 start to conference play for the sixth year in a row.
… give them a 1-0 lead in the series with ECU.
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
… drop their record to 13-3 (3-1 American).
… stop a five-game winning streak.
… snap a 9-game road winning streak.
… be just their seventh true road loss in the last five seasons (44-7).
… be their first loss to a team that wasn't receiving AP votes since Mar. 5, 2016 (vs. UNI; MVC Tournament).
… give ECU a 1-0 lead in the all-time series.
… be less good than a win.
 
UP NEXT:
WSU's road trip continues Saturday at Tulsa in the first conference meeting between the two former MVC rivals since 1996.