TEXAS SOUTHERN (0-1) at WICHITA STATE (1-0)
SATURDAY, NOV. 9, 2019
WICHITA, KAN./ CHARLES KOCH ARENA (10,506)
TV: YURVIEW KANSAS (COX HD 2022, YurView.com/Kansas)
RADIO: KEYN (103.7 FM / GoShockers.com/Listen)
SERIES: WSU LEADS 3-0
 
The Wichita State Shockers play host to the Texas Southern Tigers at 2 p.m. on Saturday inside Charles Koch Arena, Home of Devlin Court.
 

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TICKETS:

• Tickets are still available for this game, as well as for the Nov. 16 UT Martin contest at 316-978-FANS or goshockers.com/Tickets.
• The game is part of a special men's and women's doubleheader. Fans are invited to stick around to watch the Shocker women in their season-opener against Northern Iowa, slated to begin at 5 p.m. The arena will not be cleared in between games.
• Great Lower bowl season tickets are still available as part of WSU's ongoing capital seating program. For more information, contact Alex Johnson in the Shocker Athletics Development Office.

TUNE IN:

• Saturday's matchup will air statewide on YurView Kansas, available to Cox subscribers on HD 2022 and to fans in all 50 states on YurView.com/Kansas. Shane Dennis and Bob Hull have the call.
• Division I college basketball's most-tenured tandem, Mike Kennedy and Dave Dahl, tip off their 39th season together on radio (KEYN 103.7 FM and online at goshockers.com/listen).

 

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OPENING TIPS:

• Gregg Marshall will coach his 700th career game. He's one of just 24 active D-I coaches with 500+ wins.
• WSU is 1-0 for the 12th time in 13 seasons under Marshall and is in search of its eighth 2-0 start in that span.
• This is the fourth meeting all-time with Texas Southern. WSU leads 3-0 with all three wins coming in Wichita.
• The Shockers are 2-0 against TSU under Marshall with the last meeting coming in November, 2010.
• WSU is 13-0 all-time against members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, including 5-0 under Marshall. This is the first SWAC opponent for the Shockers since Dec. 13, 2010 when they downed Alabama A&M.
• The Shockers are in the midt of a five-game homestand -- their longest since 2003-04.  They'll play a school record 19 regular season home games in 2019-20.
• WSU defeated Omaha 68-54 in Tuesday's opener. JUCO transfer Trey Wade, who started his career at UTEP, became the first newcomer in 20 years to debut with a double-double (19 pts, 11 reb). Dexter Dennis tallied 17 points on five triples and freshman Grant Sherfield added 12 points and six assists. WSU shot 36.6% but nailed 11-of-31 threes and finished +7 in turnovers.
• WSU played the bulk of Tuesday's game without two of its three returning starters. Jamarius Burton injured his ankle early in the first half and did not return. Senior  center Jaime Echenique is out with a fractured hand.
• Picked fourth (out of 12) in the AAC preseason poll, WSU returns seven of the top-nine scorers from a team that won 22 games and reached the NIT semifinals.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS:

• TSU was picked second in this year's SWAC preseason poll behind defending champion Prairie View A&M.
• Forward Eden Ewing was named the league's preseason all-conference team.
• The Tigers are 0-1 after dropping their season opener Tuesday night at San Diego State, 77-42. The host Aztecs used a 20-0 run to take a 48-13 halftime lead. TSU committed 19 turnovers but just four after halftime. Tyrik Armstong scored a team-high 10 points to pace TSU. Ewing added six points and eight rebounds. The Tigers shot just 22.6% for the game, including 4-of-19 from deep.
• TSU's 2018-19 season ended on a last on a last-second overtime jumper at Green Bay in the CIT Semifinals. It was the school's longest postseason run since winning the 1977 NAIA Tournament.
• The Tigers came up a win short of the NCAA Tournament, losing to Prairie View A&M in the SWAC Tournament title game.
• TSU played 24 true road games in 2018-19 and banked non-conference wins at Baylor, Oregon and Texas A&M.

ABOUT THE SHOCKERS:

• WSU was picked fourth out of 12 teams in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll behind co-favorites Memphis (No. 15 in the AP poll) and Houston (receiving votes) and third-place Cincinnati (also receiving votes).
• The Shockers (22-15, 10-8 AAC) return three starters and seven of the top-nine scorers from last year's roster, which ranked as one of the youngest in college basketball. After a rough start, the team pulled together to win 14 of their last 18 games and reached the NIT semifinals.
• Last year's NIT run marked the program's 11th straight postseason appearance. WSU scored road wins at Furman, Clemson and Indiana, becoming the first team in NIT history to knock off the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 seeds in its region on the way to Madison Square Garden.
• Roles must be redefined. Last year's seniors Markis McDuffie (a stretch-four who earned second team all-conference honors) and lightning-quick shooting guard Samajae Haynes-Jones (11.9 pts, 2.7 ast) started every game and took most of the big shots. It's unlikely that any one player will match McDuffie's 18.3 points-per-game, but with added depth that won't likely be necessary.
• WSU is still young; 10 of its 13 scholarship players are underclassmen and only junior center Asbjorn Midtgaard has spent more than one year in the program.
• Sophomore guard Dexter Dennis (8.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg) was named to last year's AAC All-Freshman Team.
• Sophomore guard Jamarius Burton set a WSU freshman record last year with 126 assists and was twice named AAC Freshman of the Week.
• Senior center Jaime Echenique (9.2 ppg) led the team in rebounds last year (6.0) and ranked third on the AAC leaderboard in blocked shots (51).
• On paper, WSU's recruiting class is Marshall's best.. Freshmen guards Tyson Etienne (No. 117) and Grant Sherfield (No. 118) both made the Rivals150 list, and forward Trey Wade was listed as one of the nation's 25-best JUCO transfers.
• Etienne and Sherfield are just the fourth and fifth Rivals150 recruits to sign with Marshall, joining Fred VanVleet (No. 138 in 2012), Landry Shamet (88; 2015) and McDuffie (145; 2015).

MATCHUP MASHUP:

• Second-year TSU coach Johnny Jones was a member of LSU's 1981 Final Four team that defeated the Shockers in the Midwest Regional Final. WSU avenged that loss the following year at Levitt Arena. Despite 13 points from Jones, the Shockers overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to win 66-65.
• Gregg Marshall is 1-0 against Jones (the coach). WSU defeated his LSU Tigers, 82-47, in a Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinal matchup in November, 2016.
• A potential guard matchup pits WSU's Tyson Etienne against TSU's Bryson Etienne (no relation).

THE SERIES: WSU leads 3-0   

• The Shockers are 3-0 against Texas Southern (2-0 under Marshall). All three games took place at Charles Koch Arena. The sides last met in November, 2010.
• Nov. 20, 2005 (Wichita): WSU 86, TSU 54
  The Shockers improved to 2-0 behind 19 points from Karon Bradley and Paul Miller's 14 points and 15 rebounds. Miller would go on to earn honorable mention AP All-American and MVC Player of the Year plaudits for the Sweet 16 Shockers.
• Dec. 3, 2009 (Wichita): WSU 74, TSU 43
  WSU held TSU to 15 first-half points and forced 24 turnovers for the game. Garrett Stutz scored a team-high 14 points in 16 minutes off the bench.
• Nov. 16, 2010 (Wichita): WSU 79, TSU 67
  David Kyles went 5-of-7 from three for 20 points for the eventual NIT champions in their season opener. 11 Shockers played 12-or-more minutes, and the bench supplied 41 of the 79 points.

EX ECHENIQUE:

• Gregg Marshall announced on Oct. 28 that starting center Jaime Echenique will miss at least four weeks with a fractured left (non-shooting) hand, suffered during the team's closed door scrimmage with Nebraska. The injury will not require surgery
• Echenique (9.1 ppg) made 34 starts last year and was WSU's leading rebounder (6.0) and shot blocker (51).
• Per KenPom, in 18 conference games last year Echenique led The American in block percentage (11.2) and defensive rebound percentage (27.8).

THREE'S COMPANY:

• Dexter Dennis has connected on a three-pointer in 18 consecutive games going back to last season. It's the fifth-longest streak in school history.
• Dennis made 54 threes with 40% accuracy as a freshman in 2018-19, but the bulk of the damage came in the second half of the year. He hit 42 of his 54 triples over the final 17 games while shooting at a .438-clip (42-of-96).

Consecutive Games w/ 3-Point Field Goal (WSU, All-Time)
40 -- Conner Frankamp (1/1/2017 to 1/28/2018)
29 – Landry Shamet (12/17/2016 to 11/22/2017)
27 – Ron Baker (11/18/2014 to 2/22/2015)
25 – Ron Baker (4/6/2013 to 2/5/2014)
18 – Dexter Dennis (2/2/2019 to Present)
 
SOME LINES ABOUT LINEUPS :

• Jaime Echenique's streak of 11-straight starts at center was snapped due to injury. In his place junior Asbjorn Midtgaard made his fourth career start.
• Jamarius Burton came off the bench in last Tuesday's opener. He had started 23-straight at point guard to end the 2018-19 season.
• Dexter Dennis now has the team's longest active starting streak: 14 going back to last Feb. 20.

A GRANT OPENING:

• Grant Sherfield joined an exclusive club on Nov. 5 becoming just the sixth Shocker freshman (and fourth true freshman) to start a season opener under Marshall. He finished with 12 points, six assists and one turnover.
• Notably, three players on the list went on to play in the NBA. Landry Shamet (2016) and Ron Baker (2012) were redshirt rookies. Toure' Murry (2008) and Demetric Williams (2009) and current Shocker sophomore Jamarius Burton (2018) were true freshmen.
• For only the third time under Marshall, WSU started multiple newcomers in its season opener: Sherifled and JUCO forward Trey Wade.
• Wade (team-high 19 points, 11 rebounds) became just the eighth Shocker newcomer to debut with a double-double and the first since O.J. Robinson in 1999.
• WSU started Burton on the wing and JUCO point guard Ricky Torres in its 2018 opener against LA Tech. The other instance came in 2008 when Murry started alongside JUCO point guard Clevin Hannah in the back court.

HOWARD TO THE HALL:

• Fiery forward Jamar Howard is set to join the Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame at halftime of the Jan. 25 game against UCF.
• Howard (2001-05) was a three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference selection for WSU, twice earning first team status. He made the league's all-defensive team in all four seasons and was its defensive player of the year in 2003. He currently ranks 10th on WSU's all-time scoring list (1,571 career points), while also totaling 711 rebounds, 263 assists, 153 steals and 88 blocks.
• One of Mark Turgeon's first signees, Howard was part of a core group that helped turn around a struggling Shocker program with three-straight NIT bids, WSU's first postseason appearances in 14 years.
• Howard will be joined the 2020 hall of fame class by longtime men's golf coach Grier Jones (1995-2019), cross country/track standout Tonya Nero (2009-11), women's tennis star Lutfiana Budiharto (2009-12) and early women's athletics pioneer Janet Pew Hoskins (1968-72).
• Tickets for the Hall of Fame Luncheon (11 a.m., Jan. 25 at WSU's Marcus Welcome Center) are on sale now. For reservations, visit goshockers.com or call the Shocker Ticket Office (316-978-FANS).

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 A SHOCKER WIN WOULD….  
... make them 2-0 for the eighth time in Marshall's 13 seasons and the 45th time in school history.
... up the series lead to 4-0 on TSU (3-0 Marshall Era).
... make them 14-0 against the SWAC (6-0 Marshall).
...  give them four-straight home wins.
... give them six-straight regular season victories going back to Feb. 28, 2019.
... make Marshall 504-196 (310-113 at WSU, 164-26 at CKA).
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…  
... drop them to 1-1.
... be just their second Nov. home loss since 2010.
... be their first-ever to a SWAC school (13-1).
... be only their 27th at CKA under Marshall (163-27).
... be less good than a win.
 
UP NEXT: UT MARTIN (Nov. 16, 2 p.m., YurKS)        
WSU continues a five-game homestand to begin the 2019-20 season when it plays host to Texas Southern on Saturday afternoon. The 7 p.m. CT tip will air statewide on YurView Kansas (Cox HD 2022) and streams in all 50 states on YurView.com/Kansas and ESPN3.