ORAL ROBERTS (4-9) at WICHITA STATE (6-4)
Saturday, Dec. 19, 2018 | 7:05 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena (10,506)
TV: YurView Kansas // YurView.com/Kansas
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM // GoShockers.com/Listen
Tickets: GoShockers.com/MBBTickets

>>> Wichita State (6-4) plays host to Oral Roberts (4-9) at 7 p.m. Wednesday evening inside Charles Koch Arena.
>>> Tickets are available through the Shocker Ticket Office or click here to purchase online.
>>> Watch the game on YurView Kansas with Shane Dennis and Bob Hull, available statewide on Cox 2022 and in all 50 states at YurView.com/Kansas.
>>>Listen on KEYN 103.7 FM and online at GoShockers.com/Listen. Join Mike Kennedy, now in his 39th season as "Voice of the Shockers," and Dave Dahl for the INTRUST Bank Pregame Show, beginning at 6:00 p.m.
>>>Catch the Gregg Marshall Radio Show 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
***A win guarantees the Shockers a winning non-conference record for the 21st consecutive season.
***This is the 12th meeting all-time between WSU and ORU. The Shockers lead the series 6-5. The teams have split six previous games in Wichita. The schools were preseason closed-door scrimmage opponents in 2016 and 2017 (the latter was ORU coach Paul Mills' first year) but this will be their first public game in five seasons. WSU won 71-58 on Dec. 7, 2013 for win No. 9 in a 35-0 start.
***ORU posted its first road win of the year on Saturday at Richmond. The Eagles (0-6 previously on the road) shot 52.1% and held the Spiders to 29.9% (4-of-30 from three).
***The Shockers have won four of their last five after downing Jacksonville State (69-65) and Southern Miss (63-60) last week. A win over ORU would give them three-straight wins for the first time this year.
***After putting up eight points in the season opener, Markis McDuffie has scored in double-figures in nine-straight games. He's looking to become just the tenth Marshall Era Shocker to post a double-digit streak of double-digit scoring games. Ron Baker did it three times over the course of his career and Cleanthony Early twice.
***McDuffie entered the week ranked fourth on the AAC scoring chart (18.4 points per game).
***McDuffie needs 10 points to match Jamie Arnold (1,046 from 1993-97) for 41^st on WSU's all-time scoring list. He's 11 shy of Tekele Cotton (1,047 from 2011-15) and 19 back of No. 39 Ernie Moore (1,055 from 1960-64).
***Echenique (team-high 6.6 rebounds) has blocked a shot in each of his first 10 games. It's tied for the third-longest Shocker streak since 1986 (when the block became an official NCAA statistic). It's also WSU's longest block streak to begin a season since 1980 when Cliff Levingston swatted shots in each of the first 10.
 
WSU-SOUTHERN MISS LEFTOVERS
*** WSU trailed 60-59 with less than a minute to play but scored the last four points. Jaime Echenique's alley-oop from Ricky Torres provided the go-ahead basket with 42 seconds left.
***Down three, USM had an opportunity to tie the game on its last possession but missed three-straight free throws with 0.7 seconds to play.
***17 was the magic number. WSU finished +17 on the glass, and Echenique and McDuffie shared the scoring lead with 17 points-each. The Shockers led by 17 with 14:00 to play before a furious USM comeback. On Monday (the 17th), Echenique was named to the American Athletic Conference Honor Roll. He recorded his second double-double of the year against USM, finishing with 11 rebounds and a pair of blocks.
 
EVERYONE IS COLD IN DECEMBER
***The Shockers haven't shot the ball particularly well during the month of December, but neither have their opponents. They've held three of their four foes to less than 40% from the field but are shooting a combined 36.5%, themselves, during that stretch.
***WSU's 25.1% shooting performance at Oklahoma was its worst in 21 seasons.
***Samajae Haynes-Jones is 11-of-27 (.407) from three-point range in December. The rest of the team is a combined 14-of-68 from deep (.206).
 
In the month of December:
Points/Game --- WSU (62.8) // Opponents (67.0)
Field Goal % -- WSU (.365) // Opponents (.390)
3-Point % -- WSU (.263) // Opponents (.341)
Free Throw % -- WSU (.615) // Opponents (.727)
Wins – WSU (3) // Opponents (1)
 
TRENDING
***WSU is 4-1 at home this year (3-1 at CKA).
***WSU exploited its size advantage last week against Jacksonville State and Southern Miss. They outscored the two opponents, 76-32, in the paint and outrebounded them both by double-digit margins (+11 vs. JSU and +17 vs. USM).
***The Shockers have used five different starting-fives through 10 games. The grouping of Torres-HaynesJones-Stevenson-McDuffie-Echenique has opened each of the last two games and is 2-0.
***On a per-40-minute basis, Jaime Echenique leads the team in plus/minus (+12.68) ahead of Erik Stevenson (+4.92), Markis McDuffie (+1.37), Dexter Dennis (+1.24) and Rod Brown (+1.23).
***Echenique was +10 in a four-point win over JSU on Wednesday and +15 in Saturday's three-point victory against USM.
***Over the last three seasons, the Shockers are 56-2 (6-0 in 2018-19) when outshooting their opponent, compared to 6-14 (0-4 in 2018-19) when outshot.
***Erik Stevenson is 12-of-25 (.480) from three-point range in WSU's four campus home games this year but is just 6-of-35 (.171) outside of Charles Koch Arena. He's averaging a team-best 16.0 points at CKA.
***In stark contrast, Markis McDuffie is 2-of-19 (.105) at CKA and 19-for-38 (.500) elsewhere.
 

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THE SERIES WITH ORU
***WSU leads the all-time series 6-5.
***The teams have split six meetings in Wichita.
***The Shockers have faced the Golden Eagles twice in closed-door scrimmages (2016 & 2017) but this will be their first regular season game since Dec. 2013.
***ORU is 1-1 at the Roundhouse since its 2003 renovation. ORU's 76-73 win (on Dec. 30, 2003) was the first by a visiting team post-renovation. WSU has lost just 37 games in 16 seasons at CKA (12 of them to non-conference foes).
 
NOTABLE WSU-ORU GAMES
Dec. 22, 1979 -- WSU defeated ORU for the first time in three tries, 70-66, in front of a sellout crowd. Junior point guard Randy Smithson scored 15 points and handed out 11 assists.
Jan. 6, 1988 -- WSU's Joe Griffin handed out a school-record 16 assists in a 94-72 Shocker victory.
Dec. 12, 1988 -- Sasha Radunovich sanks two free throws with no time remaining for a 92-91 Shocker win in Tulsa. Radunovich was fouled by ORU's Rufus Freeman on a rebound under the basket as time ran out. The first free throw rolled around the rim and dropped. Radunovich calmy swished the second for the game-winner. ORU had taken the lead with 38 seconds to go on Clarence Thompson's seventh three of the game. Haywoode Workman (who went on to both play and officiate in the NBA) scored 28 points for ORU.
Dec. 30, 2003 -- ORU's 76-73 win was the first by a visiting team in the newly renovated Charles Koch Arena.
Dec. 7, 2013 -- WSU improved to 9-0 (on its way to 35-0) with a 71-58 victory. Cleanthony Early (16 points) led a balanced scoring attack.
 
SCOUTING ORAL ROBERTS
***ORU returns three starters and five total lettermen off a team that finished 11-21 last year (5-9 Summit, t-5th).
***ORU is picked sixth in the nine-team Summit League.
Junior forward Emmanuel Nzekwesi is a preseason second team all-league pick who averaged 12.7 points, 7.2 rebounds a year ago.
***Nzekwesi is the team's leading scorer (14.5) and rebounder (7.5).
***Kevin Obanor (10.3 pgg, 6.3 rpg) ranks second in both categories.
***Former Shocker Kaelen Malone (8.4 pgg) is averaging a team-high 5.0 assists.
***Second-year head coach Paul Mills worked 14 seasons under Scott Drew at Baylor before accepting the ORU job.
 
MATCHUP MASHUP
***ORU senior point guard Kaelen Malone was a two-year Wichita State walk-on (2016-18). He appeared in 23 games for the Shockers and totaled 10 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in 61 minutes of action. Malone earned his undergraduate degree from WSU last spring and joined ORU this fall as a graduate transfer.
***Neither team has shot the ball well from the free throw line this year. WSU (.651) ranks No. 288 nationally in free throw percentage. ORU (.634) is 316th.
***WSU has scored 31.0% of its points at the foul line (246th out of 353 teams). Opposing offenses have done 40.7% of their damage at the line (53rd out of 353).
***Last week the Shockers faced a pair of teams that thrive on steals. Saturday they take on a VCU team famous for its full court pressure. However, Wednesday offers a slight reprieve. KenPom ranks ORU 333rd (of 351 teams) in defensive steal percentage. The Eagles average just 5.9 steals per 100 possessions.
***ORU is 2-6 against Division I competition. The Eagles faced WSU's AAC rival SMU earlier this month in Dallas, losing 79-67. SMU led by as many as 22 late in the first half.
 

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A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…
… make them 7-4 on the year.
… be their third-straight (a season-best) and their fifth in six tries.
… give them five-straight home wins and make them 76-4 at Charles Koch Arena over the last six seasons.
… guarantee a winning non-conference record for the 21st consecutive year.
… give WSU a 7-5 lead in the all-time series with ORU.
… make WSU 80-8 in home non-conference games in 12 seasons under Gregg Marshall.
… move Marshall to within 13 wins of 500 for his career (487-185) and within seven victories of 300 as Shocker head coach (293-102).
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…  
… lower their record to 6-5.
… be just their fifth at CKA in the past six seasons.
… tie the all-time series with ORU at 6-6.
… be less good than a win.
 

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UP NEXT
***WSU travels to Richmond, Va. Saturday for its non-conference finale at VCU. The 3 p.m. CT tip airs nationally on ESPN2.
***It's the start of a home-and-home series. VCU makes a return trip to Wichita on Dec. 21, 2019.
***WSU is 2-2 all-time against VCU and 1-0 in Richmond, where it won a Bracket Busters return game early in the 2012-13 campaign.
***A young VCU team finished 18-15 last year and missed out on the postseason for the first time since 2006. Prior to that, the Rams had posted eight straight 25-win seasons and qualified for seven consecutive NCAA Tournaments.