SMU (12-7, 4-3) at
WICHITA STATE (8-11, 1-6)
WED. JAN. 30, 2019 | 8:05 P.M. CT
WICHITA, KAN./ CHARLES KOCH ARENA
SERIES: SMU leads 6-5 (3-2, WSU in Wichita)
TV: ESPNU
RADIO: KEYN 103.7 FM & GOSHOCKERS.com/LISTEN
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>>> WSU returns home Wednesday night to take on the SMU Mustangs at Charles Koch Arena.
>>> Watch the game on ESPNU with Matt Schick (pbp) and Brooke Weisbrod.
>>> Listen on KEYN 103.7 FM and online at GoShockers.com/Listen. Mike Kennedy, now in his 39th season as "Voice of the Shockers," and Dave Dahl tip things off at 7 p.m. with the INTRUST Bank Pregame Show.
>>> Join Kennedy on Monday nights for the
Gregg Marshall Radio Show LIVE from 6-7 p.m. at AJ's Sports Grill at The Alley. Listen in on KNSS (98.7 FM / 1330 AM). The show is also rebroadcast in a television format Mondays at 9 p.m. on YurView Kansas (Cox 2022) and online at YurView.com/Kansas. Remaining shows dates are February: 4, 11, 18, 25 and March 11.
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OPENING TIPS:
***This is meeting No. 12 in the series. SMU holds a slim, 6-5 advantage. WSU has won three of the five games all-time in Wichita.
***The teams split last year with each winning on the other's home floor. The Mustangs' Jan. 17 win in Wichita -- fueled by Shake Milton's 33-points on 11-of-14 shooting -- spoiled the seventh-ranked Shockers' 5-0 start to The American Era and also ended a 27-game Charles Koch Arena winning streak. WSU returned the favor in late February with an 84-78 win at Moody Coliseum, helped by
Markis McDuffie's season-high 26 points.
***SMU is one of just five schools that have won at the Roundhouse over the last six years (77-6). Cincinnati is the only team that's done it twice in that span.
***The Shockers never led in back-to-back road losses last week at USF and UConn. Prior to that, WSU had held a lead for some length of time in167-consecutive conference regular season games going back almost 10 years to the 2009 MVC finale at Southern Illinois.
***Saturday at UConn, freshman
Jamarius Burton scored a career-high 16 points and fellow rookie
Erik Stevenson added 12, but the Shockers couldn't keep pace the Huskies' three-point shooting barrage (11-of-24). UConn built a 10-0 lead in the first five minutes and led by double-figures the rest of the way.
***The Shockers shot poorly in two road losses last week: 31.4% from the field, 6-of-34 from beyond the arc (.176) and 21-of-36 at the foul line (.583). As a result, they averaged just 50.5 points.
***The Shockers have been to seven-straight NCAA Tournaments and posted nine-straight 25-win seasons under Marshall but are rebuilding this year with 10 first-year players.
***Whether you favor RPI (10th), NET (8th) or KenPom (26th), the youthful Shockers have played one of D-I's strongest schedules... Using NET, 13 of their 19 games would be classified by the NCAA Selection Committee as Quadrant I or II contests. That's tied for the eighth-highest total in all college basketball.
***The Shockers have dropped seven of their last eight games, all of which have come against NET top-100 teams. Starting Wednesday, each of their NEXT four games will come against teams ranked outside the top-100, and three of them are at home.
***Senior forward
Markis McDuffie is The American's second-leading scorer at 18.6 points-per-game. He's scored at least eight points in every game this year and topped 20 on eight occasions. On Saturday at UConn McDuffie saw a streak of 17-straight double-figure scoring games come to an end but became the 26th Shocker to reach the 1,200-point plateau. He needs just four more points to crack the top-25 on WSU's all-time list.
***6-11 center
Jaime Echenique is the team's leading rebounder (5.4) and shot-blocker (24)... Seniors McDuffie and
Samajae Haynes-Jones (12.4 ppg, 2.8 apg) both averagine 32.6 minutes.
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THE SERIES WITH SMU:
***This is meeting No. 12 in the series. SMU holds a slim, 6-5 advantage.
***WSU leads 3-2 all-time in Wichita.
***The teams split two conference games last year, with each winning on the road. Prior to that, neither side had won on the other's home court since the series debut. On Dec. 22, 1955 (less than a month after the Roundhouse's ribbon cutting), SMU routed the host Shockers, 85-67.
***WSU's move to The American ended a 22-year series hiatus. The teams split a four-game non-conference series from 1993-96. The Shockers won twice in Wichita. SMU held serve with two wins in Dallas.
***The Shockers won the most important game in the series, to-date, on a neutral floor in Manhattan, Kan. Behind 31 points from Kelly Pete, the Shockers knocked off SMU 86-81 in the 1965 NCAA Midwest Regional Semifinal on their way to the Final Four.
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MATCHUP MASHUP:
***
Gregg Marshall is 8-6 career against Tim Jankovich. Marshall won seven of the 12 head-to-head meetings during Jankovich's time at Illinois State (2007-12).
***Jankovich is 2-4 at Charles Koch Arena (1-0 w/ SMU).
***Marshall is 1-1 against SMU all-time.
***SMU assistant K.T. Turner worked one season under Marshall at WSU and helped the Shockers to the 2013 Final Four.
***The two stars from last year's WSU-SMU game in Wichita have moved on. Both were early entries to last summer's NBA Draft. Shake Milton (33 points) and WSU's
Landry Shamet (20 points, 10 assists) are now teammates on the Philadelphia 76'ers.
***In last year's win at SMU, the Shockers finished with more offensive rebounds (17) than SMU had defensive boards (15).
***In SMU's win in Wichita, the Mustangs shot 76% (19-of-25) from inside the arc and 63.8% overall. Both marks are the highest for a visiting team since Charles Koch Arena's 2003 renovation (and second-highest by a Shocker opponent in ANY location in WSU's 12 seasons under Marshall).
***Jahmal McMurray is a native of Topeka, Kan. and a Highland Park graduate. He prepped at Sunrise Christian Academy (located just outside of Wichita).
***Jankovich was a member of Bill Self's original staff at Kansas (2003-07) before accepting the head coaching job at Illinois State. His move to the Missouri Valley coincided with Marshall's arrival at Wichita State.
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A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…  Â
… improve their record to 9-11.
… up their conference mark to 2-6.
… make WSU 78-6 at CKA over the last six seasons.
… make
Gregg Marshall 9-6 vs. Tim Jankovich.
… tie the all-time series with SMU at 6-6.
… make them 2-1 vs. the Mustangs in the AAC Era.
… move Marshall to within 11 wins of 500 for his career (489-192) and within five of 300.
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A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
… drop them to 8-12.
… leave them four-games under .500 for the first time since Jan. 17, 2009 (7-11)
… be their worst 20-game start since 2007-08 (Marshall's first year) when they also opened 8-12.
… sink their record to 1-7 in conference play for the first time since a 1-8 MVC start in 2008.
… make WSU 5-7 all-time vs. SMU (1-2 AAC Era)
… be just their seventh at CKA in six seasons (77-7).
… be less good than a win.
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UP NEXT:
***The Shockers welcome rival Tulsa to Charles Koch Arena for a 1 p.m. Saturday tip on ESPNU.
***Single-game seats are still available, online at GoShockers.com/Tickets and by contacting the Shocker Ticket Office at 316-978-FANS.
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