WICHITA, Kan. – Two weeks removed from an overtime loss in Philadelphia, No. 19/18 Wichita State (19-5, 9-3) looks for revenge against Temple (15-10, 7-6) Thursday evening at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
On Feb. 1, the Owls overcame a seven-point deficit with 5:02 to play in regulation and a five-point overtime hole to defeat the Shockers, 81-79. Obi Enechionyia's free throws with 18 seconds remaining were the game winners.
WSU has bounced back nicely in the days since, defeating Memphis (85-65) and UConn (95-74) last week.
Landry Shamet found his shooting stroke, averaging a team-high 18.0 points while hitting 8-of-13 threes to earn a spot on The American Honor Roll. In the two wins, WSU had a dazzling 41 assists with just 17 turnovers, led by Shamet's 9-to-1 ratio.
WSU ranks in the top-5 nationally in rebound margin (2nd, +10.8), assists (3rd, 19.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (5th, 1.62).
STARTING FIVE:
1 ---- 20 & 200:
A victory over Temple would push WSU to the 20-win mark for a ninth-consecutive year. It would also be the 200th since the 2003 Roundhouse Renaissance Project transformed an aging Henry Levitt Arena into Charles Koch Arena. Shocker teams have won 20+ games in 12 of the 15 seasons since the renovation. Prior to that, the WSU program had experienced just eight 20-win seasons in its entire history.
2 ---- GRUDGE MATCH:
The Shockers are still in search of their first series win against Temple. Each of the four previous games were decided by less than five points and the last two went to overtime. This is the Owls' first visit to Wichita since December, 1985.
3 ---- DOUBLE TROUBLE:
The Shockers haven't been swept in a regular season since Evansville nipped them twice in 2012-13.
4 ---- A PASSING PRODIGY:
Landry Shamet needs three more assists to reach 250 for his career. He would be just the third Shocker to hit that milestone before the end of his sophomore season, joining
Fred VanVleet (282) and Joe Griffin (306).
5 ---- MORE MILESTONES:
*
Rashard Kelly's streak of 130-consecutive games played (131 if he sees time Thursday) is the third-longest in school history behind early Marshall Era heroes J.T. Durley (137) & Toure' Murry (139).
*The list of Shockers who have played their entire four-year career without missing a game is shorter than you might think. Since freshman gained eligibility in 1972, just five have done it: Murry, Durley, Jamar Howard, Randy Burns and Paul Guffrovich.
*
Conner Frankamp's next three-pointer will tie him with David Kyles for sixth on WSU's all-time list. Kyles hit 153 from 2008-12.
* Shamet (137 career threes) needs three more to move into the top-10. Ryan Herrs (10th, 140),
Fred VanVleet (9th, 141) and Guffrovich (8th, 144) are all in the crosshairs.
###
THE SERIES WITH TEMPLE:
This is the fifth meeting between the teams all-time. The Shockers are still looking for their first series win… Temple leads 4-0 with a 2-0 mark in Wichita. This is their first visit since December, 1985… WSU and Temple have played overtime in each of the last two go-arounds. The Owls, of course, won 81-79 two weeks ago the Liacouras Center. In the 2011 Puerto Rico tipoff, Temple won 78-74 in extra time behind 23 points from Ramone Moore. Toure' Murry scored a game-high 24 for the Shockers, who went on to win 25 of their next 27 games en route to their first NCAA Tournament bid over the Marshall Era… The teams met twice in the 1980s in Wichita. In Dec. 1983, junior Xavier McDaniel played all 40 minutes and tallied 24 points and 18 rebounds, but Temple survived, 78-73. Two seasons later, the Owls squeezed out a 62-60 win at the finals of the Pizza Hut Shoot Out. The Shockers held 51-42 with 8:56 remaiming, but Tim Perry's three-foot jumper at the buzzer capped a furious Temple comeback.
MATCHUP MASHUP:
Markis McDuffie's sister, Sierra McDuffie, is in her second season as a graduate manager on the Temple men's basketball staff. She played Division II basketball at Felician University in Rutherford, N.J… Temple redshirt senior Josh Brown (Class of 2013) and WSU junior
Markis McDuffie (Class of 2015) are both St. Anthony's High graduates. The two played together for a handful of games late in the 2012-13 season after McDuffie earned a varsity call-up… Fran Dunphy makes his first visit to Charles Koch Arena. The last visiting head coach to win his Roundhouse debut was VCU's Shaka Smart on Feb. 18, 2011…
Shaquille Morris and Temple's Obi Enechionyia are tied for the league lead in blocks per game (1.6)... WSU averages a league-best 9.5 threes per game. Temple has defended the deep ball well, limiting opponents to just under 31 percent for the year (second only to Cincinnati).
TRENDING:
*WSU's non-conference schedule was light on cupcakes. Four of the six buy games that the Shockers played were against teams that are currently leading their respective leagues: College of Charleston (Colonial), Savannah State (MEAC), South Dakota State (Summit) and Florida Gulf Coast (A-Sun).
*The Shockers' +10.8 rebounding margin is ahead of the school record pace set by the 1980-81 team (+10.1), which featured bookend forwards Antoine Carr and Cliff Levingston.
*Saturday's victory over UConn was
Gregg Marshall 150th at Charles Koch Arena (excluding exhibitions). He's lost just 21 times in his 11 seasons (.877).
*21 of
Shaquille Morris' has a team-high 31 dunks have come in conference play.
*The Shockers are 6-0 with
Austin Reaves in the starting lineup.
*Reaves is shooting a league-best 51.9 percent from three since the start of conference play.
*Including the Feb. 1 loss at Temple, the Shockers are 1-3 this year in close games (margin of 5 points or less) and just 3-11 over the last three seasons.
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 701-217.
*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 199-35 on campus. That includes a 150-21 mark under
Gregg Marshall.
*WSU has won 70 of its last 72 games at Charles Koch Arena over the last five seasons. The only losses came against UNI (Feb. 13, 2016) and SMU (Jan. 17, 2018)... 69 of the 72 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 103-6 (.945) overall in Wichita since the start of the 2011-12 campaign.
*WSU has been outrebounded just 16 times at Charles Koch Arena under Marshall (171 games).
AT HOME IN THE ROUNDHOUSE:
WSU is averaging 90.1 points this year at Charles Koch Arena. A 78-point effort against SMU marked the only time in 12 tries that they've failed to break 80… The Shockers are 11-1 and have outscored opponents by an average of 21.3 points… On campus, the Shockers are averaging over two assists (22.0 per game) for every turnover (10.8)… The Shockers have connected on just under 42% of their threes on the home rims. They're shooting over 51 percent overall from the field… Opponents are shooting less than 40% from the floor and average more turnovers (12.3) than assists (9.7).
AUSTIN FOUND:
Austin Reaves has expanded his role in the month of February. Over the last four games the sophomore guard has averaged 18.5 points (compared to 6.2 over the first 20 games)… Reaves topped 20 points in three straight games against Tulsa (23), Temple (20) and Memphis (22) -- just the fourth time that's happened in the Marshall Era. Prior to that, Reaves hadn't scored more than 12 points in any game this year and had cracked double digits on just three occasions.
NOT FAR FROM THE TREE:
East Tennessee State (led by Steve Forbes) and New Mexico State (Chris Jans) are each receiving votes in the latest AP Poll. Both are coached by former Shocker assistants. Forbes was on the WSU bench from 2013-15 before taking over at ETSU. Last year he led the Buccaneers to a share of the Southern Conference title and spot in the NCAA Tournament. Jans left for NM State last summer and has the Aggies atop the WAC standings with a 22-3 record.
AN EVERY DAY GUY:
"Every day guy" is a phrase often used by
Gregg Marshall to describe his ideal player, and
Rashard Kelly is one of the players who best fits that description. The veteran forward has never missed a game in four seasons as a Shocker. In fact, he's never missed a practice.
The consistent Kelly is ninth on WSU's career games played list (130) and tied for 16th among active Division I players (as of Feb. 12).
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…
… improve their record to 20-5 (10-3 American).
… tie
Rashard Kelly (106-24) for fourth on WSU's career wins list with Demetric Williams (107-33).
… make them 12-1 at Charles Koch Arena this year.
… be their 200th win in the 15 seasons since the arena's renovation (200-35; .851).
… clinch a ninth-consecutive 20-win season.
… be their first in the series with Temple (1-4).
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
… drop their record to 19-6 (9-4 American).
… equal their conference loss total from the four previous years when they went 68-4 in MVC games.
… give Temple a 5-0 series lead.
… mark the first time that a conference foe has swept WSU in the regular season since Evansville in 2012-13.
… be just the third Shocker loss at Charles Koch Arena in the last five seasons (70-3).
… be less good than a win.
UP NEXT:
Thursday's game begins a stretch of four games in 10 days for the Shockers, continuing Saturday at Cincinnati (3 p.m. CT, ESPN).
