RICE (3-3) at WICHITA STATE (2-3)
Sunday, Nov. 25 | 2 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena (10,506)
TV: YurView Kansas (Cox HD 2022)
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM
 

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>>> Wichita State (2-3) hosts Rice (3-3) at 2 p.m. CT on Sunday at Charles Koch Arena.
>>> Tickets are still available at goshockers.com/mbbtickets.
>>> Watch the game on YurView Kansas, available locally on Cox HD 2022, and in all 50 states at YurView.com/Kansas, with Shane Dennis and Bob Hull.
>>> Listen on KEYN 103.7 FM and online at GoShockers.com/Listen. Join Mike Kennedy, now in his 39^th season as "Voice of the Shockers," and Dave Dahl for the INTRUST Bank Pregame Show, beginning at 6 p.m. CT.
>>> The Gregg Marshall Radio Show returns to the airwaves, Monday, Nov. 5. Join host Mike Kennedy and Coach Marshall LIVE from 6-7 p.m. every Monday at AJ's Sports Grill at The Alley, or listen to the show on KFH (98.7 FM / 1330 AM).  The show is rebroadcast in a television format Mondays at 9 p.m. on YurView Kansas (Cox 2022).
 

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 OPENING TIPS:
***This is the second meeting all-time against Rice. The other came just shy of 70 years ago (Dec. 28, 1949) in Houston. The 72-66 loss was – at the time-- the highest-scoring game in Shocker history.
***It's the first home action for the Shockers in 19 days. Since the Nov. 6 opener, WSU has played its last four games on neutral courts. The Shockers play five of their next six in Wichita, beginning with Sunday's game.
***WSU went 1-2 at last week's Charleston (S.C.) Classic. The Shockers shot just 30.8% in a quarterfinal loss to Davidson (57-53) but found their offensive rhythm over the next two games. They defeated Appalachian State (82-76) before falling to Alabama (90-86) in the fifth-place game.
***Markis McDuffie was named to the American Athletic Conference honor roll for Nov. 12-18. The senior forward averaged 22.7 points on 9-of-16 three-point shooting in three Charleston Classic games last week and made the all-tournament team.
***McDuffie (21.6 points) is off to the best five-game scoring start by a Shocker in 20 years. He leads the American in scoring and entered the weekend ranked No. 39 nationally.
***McDuffie needs just 39 more points to become the 47^th member of WSU's 1,000-point club. Just two other Marshall Era Shockers have reached 1,000 prior to their 100^th game. Sunday marks No. 98 for McDuffie.
***Jaime Echenique is averaging a team-high 6.6 rebounds. He posted his first-career double-double in the win over App State (12 points, 11 rebounds). Echenique also leads the team in blocks (7). He's swatted at least one in each of the first five games.
***WSU's three primary ball-handlers all have a better-than 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratios: Ricky Torres (seven assists) technically has no ratio because he has yet to turn the ball over in 74 minutes of action. Samajae Haynes-Jones (21, 21:10) leads the team in assists at 4.2 per game and Jamarius Burton (2.00; 18:9) ranks second at 3.6 per contest.
***Erik Stevenson posted six of his team-high eight steals in Charleston. WSU is averaging 6.6 steals-per-game – slightly above average in Division I – but a big improvement over last year's 4.7-per-game (331st out of 351 teams).
*** After five games in 13 days to start the season, the Shockers play just three times over a three-week stretch. After Rice, they're off again until next Saturday's home game against Baylor (7 p.m. CT, CBSSN).
 

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MOST POINTS IN FIRST FIVE GAMES (Last 40 Years)
23.8 – Maurice Evans (1998-99)
21.6 – Markis McDuffie (2018-19)
20.4 – Jason Perez (1999-00)
20.2 – Ron Baker (2015-16)
19.6 – Xavier McDaniel (1983-84)
19.6 – Cliff Levingston (1980-81)
19.0 – Cheese Johnson (1978-79)
19.0 – Xavier McDaniel (1984-85)
 

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 ALL-TIME SERIES vs. RICE:
***This is the second meeting all-time against Rice. The other came just shy of 70 years ago (Dec. 28, 1949) in Houston. The Owls defeated the Shockers, 72-66. The AP newspaper account of that game noted that both teams shot better than 40 percent from the field (a rare feat in that era). The teams combined for 138 points. At the time, it was the highest-scoring game in Shocker history. That mark has since been broken – on 1,034 different occasions.
 
SCOUTING RICE:
***Rice was picked last in the 14-team Conference USA preseason poll.
***The Owls return less than a third of the minutes from last year's 7-24 team.
***The team's only returning starter, junior guard Ako Adams, is averaging a team-high 15.1 points.
***Rice has five scholarship freshmen along with a pair of transfers:
***Sophomore Josh Parrish (a former Rivals150 recruit) sat out last year after playing his freshman season at TCU. He has a team-high eight blocks.
***Forward Jack Williams -- a graduate transfer from Penn – is the Owls' leading rebounder (7.2).
***Scott Pera coached NBA star James Harden at Artesia High School in California before moving into the collegiate ranks. Following stops at Arizona State and Penn, he served three seasons as an assistant under Mike Rhoades at Rice. The team finished 21-13 and made the CBI quarterfinals in the 2016-17 season, after which Rhoades departed for VCU, and Para was promoted to head coach.
***Rice is shooting 48.2 percent as a team and is averaging 79.5 points per game.
***The Owls are 3-0 at home and 0-3 on the road. Their wins are over Saint Leo, Alabama A&M and Northwestern State. Losses have come at Penn, Houston and BYU.
 
MATCHUP MASHUP:
***Rice had a period of success under former head coach Scott Thompson in the early 90s. His five-year tenure (1987-92) culminated with an NIT bid in 1991 and 20-11 finish in 1992 (the program's first 20-win season in 34 years). That spring, WSU hired Thompson away to replace Mike Cohen. Thompson went 40-70 over four seasons in Wichita.
***WSU (9) and Rice (7) have a combined 16 scholarship newcomers on their active rosters. Rice returned just two of its top-seven scorers from last year and less than a third of its minutes. WSU returned just one of its top-seven scorers and less than 12 percent of its minutes.
***Rice is one of three Conference USA schools on WSU's 2018-19 non-conference schedule. The Shockers opened with Louisiana Tech and will host Southern Miss on Dec. 15 at downtown INTRUST Bank Arena.
 
SHOCKERS ON THE LEADERBOARDS (as of Nov. 23):
***Markis McDuffie entered the weekend atop the AAC scoring chart (21.6 points per game) and No. 39 on the national list. His 51.6% three-point percentage ranked No. 41.
***Samajae Haynes-Jones is playing over 35 minutes per contest. Less than 60 Division I players were averaging more, as of Friday. It's been 19 years since a Shocker averaged 35+ minutes over a full season (Jason Perez, 35.6). Nationally, you would be hard-pressed to find a player with a bigger a jump in court time than Haynes-Jones, who logged just 11.0 minutes over 24 games last year. He's totaled 177 minutes through the first five games in 2018-19 after playing 263 all of last season.
 
TRENDING:
***WSU's last four contests have all been one-possession games within the final 60 seconds. The Shockers are 2-2 in that stretch.
***Over the last three seasons, the Shockers are 52-2 (2-0 in 2018-19) when outshooting their opponent, compared to 6-13 (0-3 in 2018-19) when outshot.
***Shockers opened with five games in 13 days. Now they finally have a chance to regroup and unpack their suitcases. Following last Sunday's Charleston Classic finale – the team entered a stretch in which they'll play just two games in 20 days (Nov. 25 vs. Rice and Dec. 1 vs. Baylor). Both are at home.
***This is the first time since November, 2011 that the Shockers have gone more than two-consecutive weeks without an AP vote.
 
EARLY TESTS:
***A young Shocker team played three of its first five games against 2018 NCAA Tournaments teams. That stretch began with a win over Providence at the Veterans Classic in Annapolis, Md.. The Friars have danced in each of the last five seasons. It continued last week at the Charleston Classic, where WSU met Davidson (2018 A-10 Tournament champions) and Alabama (reached the second round as a No. 9 seed).
 
MORE CHARLESTON LEFTOVERS:
***One of the most-encouraging takeaways from Charleston was freshman Dexter Dennis' performance against Alabama. The 6-5 guard hit all five second-half shots and grabbed four offensive rebounds on his way to a season-high 19 points. 15 of those came in the second half as the Shockers rallied from a 13-point deficit. Dennis' three-pointer tied the game with less than 8:00 to play. He averaged 8.7 points over three games.
***Samajae Haynes-Jones averaged 14.0 points in Charleston. 
***Jaime Echenique (9.7 pts, 6.3 reb) posted his first double-double of the year against App St. (12 pts, 11 reb).
***Erik Stevenson averaged 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals but was just 2-of-16 from three.
***Alabama's 31 free throws were the second-most by a WSU opponent in the Marshall Era. Only UConn (32 in the 2010 Maui Classic quarterfinals) has hit more.
 
ALWAYS FRESH:
***Gregg Marshall used 61 different lineup combinations in the first five games.
***Nine of the 12 players who have seen action are new to the active roster. Seven of them are freshmen.
***WSU has had at least one freshman on the court for every second of every game this season.
***WSU had at least four freshmen on the floor for 11 of the 40 minutes in its season opener against LA Tech.
***The Shockers have played an average of 17 minutes per contest with at least three rookies on the floor.
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…  
… improve their record to 3-3.
… tie the all-time series with Rice at 1-1.
… stop a two-game home losing streak.
… improve Marshall's career mark to 483-184 (.724) in 21 seasons -- 17 wins shy of 500
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD… 
… lower their record to 1-2.
… give them consecutive regular season losses for just the fourth time in the last six seasons.
… give them three-consecutive losses at CKA for the first time since a five-game skid during the middle of the 2007-08 season (Marshall's first at WSU).
… give Rice a 2-0 lead in the all-time series.
… be just the fifth Shocker loss at CKA over the last six seasons (72-5).
 
UP NEXT: BAYLOR (7 p.m. CT, CBSSN):
***Baylor is the first Big 12 team to visit Charles Koch Arena since Nebraska in the 2011 NIT and the first to do it during the regular season since No. 16 Texas Tech on Dec. 19, 2009. The Shocker won on both occasions.
***This is the back-half of a two-year home-and-home between the schools. Last December in Waco, Texas,  No. 8 WSU defeated No. 16 Baylor, 69-62.
***Former teammates of Dave Stallworth, who passed away in March of 2017, banded together to help raise money for a life-size statue of the All-American that will be placed outside the main entrance to Charles Koch Arena. A formal dedication will take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 1 prior to WSU's home game against Baylor.