WICHITA STATE (0-1) vs. PROVIDENCE (1-0)
Annapolis, Md./ U.S. Naval Academy / Alumni Hall
Friday, Nov. 9, 2018 | 5 p.m. CT | CBS Sports Network

Wichita State (0-1) and Providence (1-0) are the opening act in Friday evening's Veterans Classic doubleheader at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.  Tipoff is scheduled for just after 5 p.m. CT (6 p.m. ET). Host Navy meets Maryland in the nightcap.
 
TUNE IN:
*The Veterans Classic will air nationally on CBS Sports Network. Tom McCarthy and Steve Lappas have the call. 
*Listen to the game 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 Bob Hull for the INTRUST Bank pregame, beginning at 4 p.m. CT.
 
THE GREGG MARSHALL SHOW:
*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).
 
OPENING TIPS:
*The Shockers are 0-1 for the first time under Gregg Marshall. Tuesday's 71-58 loss to Louisiana Tech snapped a 16-game winning streak in season-openers. WSU is looking to avoid its first 0-2 start since the 1990-91 season.
*Freshmen accounted for 33 of the Shockers' 58 points in the opener. Erik Stevenson scored 16 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting and Dexter Dennis added 10 points. Jamarius Burton (6 points, five assists) became the first true freshman to start a season opener for Gregg Marshall since Demetric Williams in the 2008-09 season.
*WSU is 2-0 all-time against Providence. The Shockers swept a home-and-home under Mark Turgeon (now at Maryland), winning 90-86 in Providence on Dec. 11, 2004. A year later, WSU's eventual Sweet 16 team defeated the Friars in Wichita, 82-74.
*A young Shocker team could potentially face four-consecutive 2018 NCAA Tournament teams, beginning Friday night against the Friars. Next week's Charleston Classic field includes five teams that danced last March.
*Providence received votes in both preseason AP and Coaches Polls. The Frairs – picked third in the Big East preseason poll – have appeared in each of the last five NCAA tournaments.
*Wichita State is one of just seven teams that have played in each of the last seven NCAA Tournaments and its run of nine-straight 25-win seasons is the nation's fourth longest.
 
THE VETERANS CLASSIC:
*Navy hosts its annual Veterans Classic doubleheader each November, on or around Veterans Day. This is the fifth installment.
*WSU is the third American Conference team to participate. Temple lost to No. 1 North Carolina in 2015, and Memphis fell to Alabama last year.
*Navy is WSU's surrogate football program. The Midshipmen are a football-only member of the 12-team conference. WSU joined The American in 2017-18 in all sports -- with the exception of football which it discontinued in 1986 -- giving the conference an even 12 teams in basketball.
 
FRESH STARTS           :
*On Tuesday, guard Jamarius Burton became the first true freshman since Demetric Williams (2008) to start a season-opener.
*Burton is just the fifth Shocker freshman to start an opener in the Marshall Era. Notably, three of the four previous rookies went on to play in the NBA:  Ron Baker (Knicks) and Landry Shamet (76'ers) were both were coming off redshirt years in 2013 and 2016. Toure' Murry (Knicks, Jazz & Wizards) started the 2008 opener as a true freshman.
 
RANDOM KNOWLEDGE:
*Gregg Marshall used 28 lineup combinations in Tuesday's opener. 
 Nine of the 12 players who saw action were making their Shocker debut. Seven of them were freshmen.
*WSU had at least three freshmen on the floor for over half the game (21:39) and went with four freshmen for 11 of the 40 minutes.
*This is the 113^th season of Wichita State basketball. Friday marks the first time that a Shocker team has played a game on Maryland soil.
 *At 22 letter, Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler's name is the longest in Shocker history.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES vs. PROVIDENCE:
*WSU leads the all-time series 2-0. 
Under head coach Mark Turgeon, the Shockers swept a home-and-home from the Friars (led by Tim Welsh).
*On Dec. 11, 2004 in Providence, WSU won 90-86 behind 24 points from Randy Burns. Ryan Gomes and Tukka Kotti scored 22-each for the Frairs.
*On Nov. 30, 2005 in Wichita, WSU's eventual Sweet 16 team won 82-74 at Charles Koch Arena. Kyle Wilson scored 19 points and MVC Player of the Year Paul Miller added 15 points and eight rebounds. Sean Ogirri went 4-of-6 from three for 17 points off the bench. Herbert Hill scored a game-high 22 points for Providence on 11-of-14 shooting.
*Since the formation of the new Big East in 2013-14, WSU is 3-1 against Big East schools. The Shockers split a home-and-home series with Seton Hall in 2014 and 2015, losing the latter in overtime at the Prudential Center. They defeated DePaul (2013 CBE Classic) and Marquette (2017 Maui Invitational) in exempt tournaments.
 
SCOUTING PROVIDENCE:
*Providence is off to a 1-0 start after defeating Siena on Tuesday night, 77-67.
*A.J. Reeves scored a team-high 29 points on 7-of-9 three-point shooting. Isaiah Jackson and Alpha Diallo added 16-each. Diallo also cleared 11 rebounds. The Frairs hit 13-of-25 threes as a team and out-rebounded Siena 31-23.
*Providence received votes in both preseason AP (2 votes) and Coaches Polls (10). KenPom slotted the Frairs at No. 49 in its preseason computer rankings.
*The Frairs are picked third in the Big East preseason poll behind defending national champ Villanova and Marquette.
*Providence's streak of five-straight NCAA Tournaments is a school record. As a No. 10 seed, the Friars (21-14, 10-8 Big East) fell to Texas A&M in the first round.
*Diallo is one of the Big East's most versatile players. The 6-7 guard averaged 13.2 points and 6.6 rebounds in 2017-18 and was named to the league's preseason all-conference team.
*Center Emmitt Holt returns after missing last year with an abdominal inury. He averaged 12.4 points and 5.4 rebounds two seasons ago.
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…
… improve their record to 1-1.
… give them a 3-0 lead in the all-time series with Providence.
… make them 4-1 against the Big East since its 2013-14 reorganization.
… improve Gregg Marshall's career mark to 481-182 (.725) in 21 seasons; 287-99 (.744) in 12 seasons at WSU.
… give WSU a 72-16 (.818) record in regular season non-conference games since the start of the 2011-12 season.
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
… drop them to 0-2 for the first time since the 1990-91 season.
… be Gregg Marshall's first 0-2 start since 2002 and just the third of his career. Winthrop lost consecutive games to open the 2000 and 2002 seasons. Both were tied to appearances in the NABC Classic.
… drop WSU to 71-17 (.807) in regular season non-conference games since the start of the 2011-12 season.
… narrow their lead in the all-time series with Providence to 2-1.
… be less good than a win.
 
UP NEXT: CHARLESTON CLASSIC:
*Wichita State travels to Charleston, S.C. next week to compete in the Charleston Classic.
*Five of the eight teams in the field qualified for the 2018 NCAA Tournament: WSU, Alabama, Davidson, Purdue and Virginia Tech. They'll be joined in Charleston by Appalachian State, Ball State and Northeastern.
*The Shockers open with Davidson in the quarterfinal round – Thursday, Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET) on ESPN3.
*Davidson is picked third in the 14-team Atlantic-10 Conference.
*This will be the third meeting all-time between WSU and Davidson. The two previous matchups were tied to ESPN's Bracket Buster series. The Shockers notched a 91-74 win in Davidson, N.C., on Feb. 18, 2012 and won the return game on Dec. 18, 2013, 81-70.
*The two head coaches have combined for over 1,000 career wins. WSU's Gregg Marshall is 480-181 going into his 21st season. Davidson's Bob McKillop enters his 30th season at 554-340.
*Davidson returns three starters from last year's NCAA tournament team, including Atlantic-10 Rookie of the Year Kellan Grady. The Wildcats (23-10, 13-5) finished third in the regular season standings but won the A-10 tournament to reach March Madness for the fourth time in seven years. As a No. 12 seed they fell to Kentucky in the opening round, 78-73.