HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. -- No. 19/18 Wichita State (20-5, 10-3 American) travels to No. 5/5 Cincinnati (23-3, 12-1) for a Sunday afternoon matchup with heavy conference title implications.
 
The 3 p.m. CT tip airs nationally on ESPN with Kevin Brown and Fran Fraschilla on the call.
 
The Voice of the Shockers, Mike Kennedy describes the action on Shocker Radio (103.7 FM KEYN and GoShockers.com/Listen) alongside Bob Hull. Tune in early for Shocker pregame beginning an hour before tipoff.
 
Cincinnati is playing its 2017-18 home games at nearby Northern Kentucky University while its renovates its on-campus arena.
 
WSU trails by two games in The American standings but now controls its own destiny. If the Shockers win their last five games (two of which are against the first-place Bearcats), they're guaranteed at least a share of the conference regular season title.
 
The Shockers rallied from 14 down at halftime to defeat Temple on Thursday night, 93-86. WSU's archive of box scores dates to the mid-1970s. The comeback is the second-largest on record. The Owls hit 16 threes (11 in the first half), but WSU big men Darral Willis Jr. (24 pts) and Shaquille Morris (23) combined to net 18-of-21 field goal attempts. Morris grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds.
 
Cincinnati saw its 16-game winning streak and 12-0 conference start come to an end on Thursday. A 67-62 loss at Houston was the Bearcats' first since Dec. 9.
 
The Bearcats and Shockers play twice in a span of 15 days to close out the regular season. Cincinnati makes a return trip to Wichita for the March 4 finale on CBS.


 

GAME 26

Highland Heights, Ky.

BB&T Arena

Game Notes: WSU | CIN

MATCHUP

#19/18 Wichita State (20-5, 10-3 American) at #5 Cincinnati (23-3, 12-1 American)

Sunday, Feb. 18

3:00 P.M. CT

ESPN (WatchESPN)

KEYN 103.7 FM

GoShockers.com

GoShockers.com

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STARTING FIVE:
 
1 --- LONG TIME, NO CINCY:
WSU and Cincinnati played 26 times from 1958-70 while the latter was a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, but this is their first meeting since 1981. The Bearcats lead the series 18-11 and are 11-3 at home.
 
2 --- TALENT SHOW:
Wichita State ranks second nationally in rebound margin ( 10.7) and Cincinnati is seventh ( 8.3). The Shockers have been outrebounded just once this year (by Houston on Jan. 4)... The Shockers are averaging over 84 points per game and rank third nationally in both assists (19.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio. Cincinnati opponents are averaging just 56.3 points on 36.5 percent shooting (both figures rank second nationally)... Cincinnati has outscored opponents by a nation-best 19.6 points this year. The Shockers rank 12^th at 13.4 points.
 
3 --- A HOME RUN:
Cincinnati owns the nation's longest active home court winning streak (39), last losing to Temple on Dec. 29, 2015. The last 19 wins have all come by double-digits. WSU has been the nation's most successful road team over the last five seasons at 46-8 (.852). The Shockers are 6-2 in enemy territory this year, including a Dec. 2 win at No. 16 Baylor.
 
4 --- SLAPPING HIGH-FIVES:
All-time, the Shockers own three road wins over AP Top-5 opponents, the last coming 54 years ago. Led by All-American Dave Stallworth, they defeated No. 3 Loyola Chicago in back-to-back years (1963 and 1964). In 1954 they knocked off No. 5 Oklahoma A&M (State) in Stillwater. [see pg. 4]
 
5 --- ANOTHER HIGH-FIVE:
Shaquille Morris reached the 500 rebound mark on Thursday to become the fifth player in Shocker history with 1,000 points, 500 boards and 100 blocks. Robert Elmore, Antoine Carr, Xavier McDaniel and Garrett Stutz are the others.
 
THE SERIES WITH CINCINNATI:
*WSU and Cincinnati met 26 times from 1958-70 while Cincinnati was a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bearcats lead the all-time series 18-11.
*Cincinnati won six straight MVC titles from 1958-63 and played in five straight Final Fours, winning national titles in 1961 and 1962. The Shockers supplanted Cincinnati with back-to-back titles in 1964 and 65. The latter group reached the Final Four for the first time in school history.
*WSU last played at Cincinnati on Jan. 26 1976 and last won there on Feb. 13, 1969. Shockers teams are 3-11 all-time on the Bearcats' home floor.
*The teams last played on Dec. 5, 1981 in Wichita. The future NBA trio of Xavier McDaniel, Antoine Carr and Cliff Levingston combined for 35 points and 24 rebounds, and the Shockers pulled away for an 87-67 victory. Michael Williams (24 points, 13 rebounds) and Dwight Jones (13 points, 16 rebounds) starred for Cincinnati.
 
MATCHUP MASHUP:
*Cincinnati's Gary Clark and WSU's Landry Shamet were both named to the Naismith Trophy late season 30 earlier this week.
*Both sides are coming 30-win seasons last year that ended in the NCAA Second round. The Shockers returned all five starters from a 31-5 team. The Bearcats have four starters back from a unit that finished 30-6.
*Cincinnati edged WSU by a single point in the preseason American coaches poll.
*Cincinnati has appeared in seven-straight NCAA Tournaments. The Shockers have made the field in each of the last six seasons.
*Cincinnati's No. 5 ranking is its highest this year. WSU topped out at No. 3 in the polls back on Dec. 11.
*Cincinnati's average home attendance (7,896) ranks second in The American behind WSU (10,827). The Shockers have hosted 14 of the league's 20 sellouts this year and have played in two others on the road.
*The league's two best offensive rebounders, Rashard Kelly (23^rd, 3.32) and Gary Clark (33^rd, 3.15), both rank high on the national lists. Clark is the league's all-time leading rebounder with over 1,000 total boards.
*Wichita State leads The American in 3-point field goals (9.5) and ranks second in percentage (.388). Cincinnati tops the leaderboard in three-point defense, allowing just 6.2 per game on .303 shooting.
*Either Wichita State or Cincinnati leads The American in 19 of the 21 major statistical categories.
 
ON A POLL ROLL:
Just 10 schools -- including Wichita State and Cincinnati -- have been ranked in every AP Poll this year… The Shockers own the nation's eighth-longest AP poll streak (19 dating back to last February).
 
WSU vs. NATIONALLY RANKED OPPONENTS:
*The Shockers are 2-5 in road games against AP Top-25 teams under Gregg Marshall. They won 89-68 at No. 12 Creighton on Feb. 11, 2012 and picked up a 69-62 victory at No. 16 Baylor earlier this season.
*The Shockers are 13-16 against AP Top-25 teams under Marshall. That includes a 10-9 record since Jan. 1, 2012.
*The Shockers' last win over a top-5 opponent came against No. 1 Gonzaga in the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
*Their last regular season top-5 win was a home victory over No. 2 Louisville on Feb. 25, 1967.
*The Shockers are 3-25 in true road games against AP Top-5 teams. All three wins came under Hall of Fame coach Ralph Miller in the 1950s and 60s:
 
 Feb. 24, 1954 – Stillwater, Okla. -- 
#15 Wichita 67, #5 Oklahoma A&M 66
Paul Scheer picked up lose ball at the top of thekey and drained a turnaround jumper at the buzzer to give the Shockers their first-ever win in Stillwater.
 
 Mar. 2, 1963 – Chicago, Ill. – 
# 8 Wichita 73, #3 Loyola 72
The Shockers took down eventual national champion Loyola (two weeks after beating the other national finalist, Cincinnati). It was one of just two Rambler losses that season.
 
 Jan. 25, 1964 – Chicago, Ill. -- 
#10 Wichita 80, #3 Loyola 76
The first Shocker team to make an NCAA Tournament defeated defending national champion Loyola for the second year in a row in Chicago behind 29 points from Dave Stallworth.
 
ON THE LEADERBOARD (as of 2/16):
Wichita State is on pace to set American conference records for scoring offense (84.2), rebounding offense (41.6), assists per game (19.2), rebounding margin ( 10.7). The Shockers also lead the league in field goal percentage (.481), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6), defensive rebound percentage (.782) and three-pointers per game (9.5)… Landry Shamet leads the league in assists (5.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.7). He's second in threes-per-game (2.6), third in three-point percentage (.451), and 10th in scoring (14.6)… Rashard Kelly is The American's top offensive rebounder (3.3) and is fourth in total boards /game (7.6)… Shaquille Morris leads the league in blocks per game (1.6) and ranks third in field goal % (.561)… Austin Reaves ranks second in the league in three-point percentage (.469).
 
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' 10.7 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.
*Last Saturday's victory over UConn was Gregg Marshall 150^th at Charles Koch Arena (excluding exhibitions). He's lost just 21 times in his 11 seasons (.877).
*22 of Shaquille Morris' has a team-high 32 dunks have come in conference play.
*The Shockers are 7-0 with Austin Reaves in the starting lineup.
 Austin Reaves is shooting a league-best 50.8 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.
 
WINNER WINNERS:
A Shocker win on Sunday would be senior forward Zach Brown's 100th in four seasons. He would be just the eighth in school history to participate in 100 wins, joining teammates Rashard Kelly (107-24) and Shaquille Morris (104-22), who both hit that milestone earlier this season.
 
MILESTONES:
Landry Shamet reached 250 career assists on Thursday. He's just the third Shocker to hit that milestone before the end of his sophomore season, joining Fred VanVleet (282) and Joe Griffin (306)... Rashard Kelly's streak of 131-consecutive games played (132 if he sees time Sunday) 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… Landry Shamet (137 career threes) needs one more to move into the top-10. Ryan Herrs (10^th, 140), Fred VanVleet (9^th, 141) and Guffrovich (8^th, 144) are all in the crosshairs.
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…
… improve their record to 21-5 (11-3 American).
… snap the nation's longest home winning streak (39).
… be their first road win over an AP top-5 opponent since 1964 and just their fourth all-time.
… pull them to within a game of first-place Cincinnati with four to play.
… make them 12-18 all-time against Cincinnati.
… make Zach Brown the 100th player in school history to participate in 100 wins, joining Rashard Kelly and Shaquille Morris.
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
… drop their record to 20-6 (10-4 American).
… equal their conference loss total from the four previous years when they went 68-4 in MVC games.
… give Cincinnati a 19-11 lead in the all-time series.
… be just their ninth road loss in the last five seasons.
… leave them three games out of first with four to play.
… be less good than a win.
 
UP NEXT:
Wichita State returns home to face Tulane on Wednesday evening. The 6:30 p.m. CT tip airs on CBS Sports Network. This will be the first-ever meeting between the programs