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Asbjorn Midtgaard

Shockers Tip Off Conference Play Wednesday with ECU

12/31/2019 1:00:00 AM

EAST CAROLINA (6-7, 0-0) at WICHITA STATE (11-1, 0-0)
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 1, 2020 | 2:01 P.M. CST
WICHITA, KAN./ CHARLES KOCH ARENA (10,506)
TV: ESPNU (ESPN App)
RADIO: KEYN 103.7 FM (GoShockers.com/Listen)
SERIES: WSU LEADS 4-0 (1-0 in Wichita)
LAST: MAR. 14, 2019 (WSU, 73-57)
 
>>> Wichita State (11-1, 0-0 American) rings in the new year and a new conference season at 2 p.m. CST Wednesday afternoon when it plays host to the East Carolina Pirates (6-7, 0-0) at Charles Koch Arena.
 
>>> A limited number of tickets are available at GoShockers.com/Tickets.
 
>>> Wednesday's matchup airs nationally on ESPNU and via the ESPN App, accessible on computers, smart phones, tablets and other devices to fans who receive their video subscription through an affiliated provider. Jon Meterparel (pbp) & Robbie Hummel (analyst) 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). Kennedy, who is now in his 40th year as Voice of the Shockers, will call is 1,240th consecutive game.
 
>>> Catch the Gregg Marshall Show on Monday nights throughout the season. Join host Mike Kennedy and Coach Marshall LIVE from 6-7 p.m. at A.J.'s Sports Grill at The Alley, or listen on KFH (97.5 FM / 1240 AM). The show is rebroadcast in a television format Mondays at 9 p.m. on YurView Kansas (Cox 2022). Upcoming Show Dates: January 6, 13, 27
 

OPENING TIPS:
  • The Shockers made their season debut in the AP Poll this week at No. 24 and also climbed two notches to No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. It's the first AP appearance for WSU since going wire-to-wire in the 2017-18 rankings.
  • Due to the league's unbalanced schedule, this is the only time that WSU and ECU will play during the regular season.
  • The Shockers lead the series 4-0. The teams had never met prior to WSU's American debut in 2017-18.
  • WSU swept all three games from ECU last year, including a first round conference tournament matchup in Memphis (73-57).
  • This is ECU's second visit to Wichita. The other came last March – a 72-55 Shocker win on senior night.
  • WSU was picked fourth out of 12 teams in October's conference preseason poll. ECU was 11th.
  • ECU's four-game winning streak is its best since December, 2013. Sophomore Jayden Gardner – the AAC's leading scorer at 20.7 ppg – is the only scholarship holdover from last year's Pirate roster.
  • The Shockers have won five-in-a-row. Their last (and only loss) came Nov. 27 in the Cancun Challenge final to West Virginia (currently No. 16 in the AP Poll).
  • WSU knocked off some holiday rust with an 84-66 win over Abilene Christian on Sunday. Point guard Grant Sherfield (the AAC's Freshman of the Week) was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field and logged a double-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and three steals.
  • WSU ranks among the top-25 nationally in scoring margin (21st, +15.1) and field goal percentage defense (25th, .381).
  • WSU is riding an 11-game home winning streak (10 at CKA), last losing Feb. 25 of last year against Memphis.
  • WSU began the week at No. 10 in the NCAA's NET ratings. The Shockers are 4-1 in Quadrant I and II games. Saturday's game with Ole Miss (3 p.m. CT, ESPNU) begins a stretch of five-straight games that would currently be classified as Q1 or Q2 contests.
 

WHAT A DECADE!
  • Sunday's win over Abilene Christian closed out a wildly successful decade for Wichita State:
  • The Shockers' .789 winning percentage ranked fifth nationally behind Gonzaga, Kansas, Duke and Kentucky.
  • From Jan. 1, 2010 through Dec. 31, 2019, WSU posted a record of 280-75.
  • WSU's single-season victories record prior to 2010 was 27. From 2010-19, the Shockers averaged 28.0 wins-per-calendar-year.
  • Including downtown games, the Shockers' .897 home winning percentage was the nation's seventh-highest. From Jan. 1, 2010 to Dec. 31, 2019, WSU won 148 of its 165 home games. Nearly two-thirds of those dates (105) drew capacity crowds.
  • From 2010-19, Shocker players combined for 28 all-conference honors.
  • 31 Shockers moved on to play professionally, including five in the NBA.
  • On Monday, Ron Baker (2012-16) and Fred VanVleet (2012-16) were among the 25 players named to the Lute Olson All-Decade Team.
  • The Shockers won five regular season conference titles (2012, 14-17) and two conference tournament crowns (2014, 17).
  • WSU reached the NIT or NCAA tournament in every year and earned 18 postseason wins.
  • During a run of seven-straight NCAA tournaments (2012-18), the Shockers won 10 games and earned trips to the 2013 Final Four and 2015 Sweet 16.
  • WSU won the 2011 NIT Championship and advanced to the tournament semifinals in 2019.
 

THE SHOCKS, IN SHORT:
  • WSU is out to a 11-1 start, which includes a 3-1 record against "Power 5" teams: vs. South Carolina (W), vs. West Virginia (L), at Oklahoma St. (W), Oklahoma (W).
  • 10 of the 13 Shocker scholarship players are underclassmen, though many of them gained valuable experience during last year's run to the NIT semifinals.
  • KenPom's advanced metrics rate the Shocker defense 12th nationally in efficiency. WSU has held 10 of its 12 opponents under 40% from the field. Foes are shooting just 41.3% from inside the arc (No. 15 nationally).
  • Only two teams have topped 70 points against the Shockers this year: West Virginia (75 points) and Oklahoma (75).
  • Sophomore guard Erik Stevenson leads the team in points (12.6), steals (1.7) and minutes (28.2) and is WSU's third-leading rebounder (5.2). He's topped 20 points on two occasions this year.
  • Junior forward Trey Wade is the team's top rebounder (6.9). He has three games with 10+ boards and a pair of double-doubles.
  • 6-11 center Jaime Echenique -- the team's lone senior -- missed the first four games with a fractured hand but has averaged 10.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks since returning on Nov. 23. He's dunked at least once in each of his eight games and has a team-high 12 for the year.
  • Echenique continues to ramp up his court time, which is good news for the Shockers. Sunday's ACU game marked the third time that Echenique has topped 20 minutes in the box score. On a per-40-minute basis, Echenique leads the team in plus-minus (+25.8), points (23.3), rebounds (12.2) and blocks (3.1).
  • Freshman guard Tyson Etienne (11.2 ppg) began the week ranked 15th nationally (and second among freshmen) in three-point percentage. He's nailed a team-high 31 triples with 47.0% accuracy this year, and his 2.6 threes-per-game are second on the AAC leaderboard.
  • Freshman guard Grant Sherfield led or shared high-scoring honors for the Shockers in four of their five December games. For the month, he averaged a team-high 13.0 points on 52.6% shooting (5-of-10 from three) and nailed 20-of-22 free throws.
  • Sophomore Jamarius Burton is No. 2 on the AAC leaderboard and No. 70 nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio. He's averaging a team-high 4.0 assists for the year.
  • The Shockers opened the 2018-19 campaign at 8-11 but are 25-5 since.
  • Last year's team didn't win its 11th game until Feb. 6. This year's squad beat that mark by 41 days (Dec. 29).
  • The Shockers have recorded double-digit non-con wins for the tenth time in Marshall's 13 seasons.
  • WSU went the entire month of December without a loss (5-0). It was the first unblemished month for a Shocker team since February, 2017 and the 11th overall under Gregg Marshall.
 

SCOUTING THE PIRATES:
  • ECU was picked 11th out of 12 teams in the AAC preseason poll, edging out Tulane.
  • 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Jayden Gardner was named preseason second team all-conference after earning unanimous all-freshman team status in 2019.
  • ECU (10-21, 3-15 AAC) finished 11th last year in the league standings.
  • A revamped Pirate roster includes 13 newcomers. Gardner is the only scholarship player still on the roster.
  • ECU comes in riding a four-game winning streak – its longest since December, 2013.
  • Gardner has scored at least 20 points in five-straight games and is averaging 20.7 points and 9.2 rebounds. He also ranks among the conference leaders in offensive rebounds (3.1), minutes (32.2), and FG% (.584).
  • KenPom ranks Gardner fifth nationally in fouls drawn and 26th in free throw rate. His 88 free throw makes and 118 attempts both lead the nation (as of Sunday).
  • A pair of JUCO transfers are also scoring in double figures: sophomore guard Tremont Robinson-White (10.7) and junior guard Tyrie Jackson (10.6).
  • The Pirates have gotten key contributions from some of their freshman, as well. 6-foot-6 forward Brandon Suggs is putting up 9.6 points-per-game, and point guard Tristen Newton is averaging 8.6 points and team-best 3.7 assists with a 2.18 A:TO ratio.
  • The Pirates are 6-0 this year when holding their opponent to less than 40% from the field. They're 0-7 when foes shoot 40% or better.
  • Helped by Gardner's propensity for getting to the line, ECU ranks among the national leaders in free throw makes (230) and attempts (314). The Pirates are shooting .732 as a team from the stripe.
  • ECU is shooting just 28.7% from beyond the arc, compared to 48.6% from inside it.
  • Joe Dooley is in his second and seventh year coaching ECU. He led the program from 1995-99 and returned in 2018. In between, he spent 10 seasons as a Kansas assistant under Bill Self (2003-13) before guiding Florida Gulf Coast to five-straight 20-win seasons (2013-18).
 

MATCHUP MASHUP:
  • This is the fifth chapter of the "War on I-35 to I-435 to I-70 to I-77S to US-52S to I-40E to I-264E." Wichita and Greenville, N.C. are separated by 1,300 miles; drivable in 20 hours (plus stops).
  • The Shockers have led by double-figures at halftime in all four meetings. All four wins have come by at least 16 points. In addition, WSU has out-rebounded ECU by double-digit margins in all four encounters.
  • ECU is one of four American rivals that WSU had never faced prior to joining the league (along with UCF, USF and Tulane).
  • Gregg Marshall is 7-0 against ECU. His Winthrop teams swept three non-conference meetings with ECU in the mid-2000's. Marshall is 4-0 at Minges Coliseum (2-0 as WSU coach).
  • Marshall is 4-0 against Dooley. In December, 2017, Dooley's final FGCU put a scare into the 11th-ranked Shockers at CKA, leading by seven points with 13:00 to go. WSU recovered to win 75-65.
  • ECU's youth movement is reminiscent of the Shockers' overhaul prior to the 2018-19 season. KenPom ranks WSU (17th) and ECU (22nd) as two of the nation's least- experienced teams in terms of minutes/class makeup.
  • Between the two teams, just two players have logged time in all four WSU-ECU games. Junior center Asbjørn Midtgaard and junior walk-on Jacob Herrs.
  • WSU sophomore Jamarius Burton is a Charlotte, N.C. native who led Independence High to a Class 4A state title in the spring of 2018. Charlotte and Greenville are separated by roughly 250 miles.
  • Former Shocker Gabe Blair – a starter on the 2011 NIT Championship team – played his first two collegiate seasons at ECU before transferring to WSU.
  • Wichita State University's new president, Dr. Jay Golden, served as vice chancellor for research at East Carolina University from June, 2017 through December, 2019.
 

WSU vs. ECU in 2018-19:
 
Mar. 14, 2019 | Memphis, Tenn. | WSU, 73-57
  • Markis McDuffie scored 15 points on 11-of-12 foul shooting to lead the sixth-seeded Shockers past No. 11 seed ECU in the first round of the AAC tournament… Jaime Echenique (14 points, nine rebounds), Dexter Dennis (13 points) and Asbjorn Midtgaard (10 points, seven boards) also finished in double-digits… The Shockers led 39-27 at the break and by 26 near the 12:00-mark before resting the regulars… WSU outscored ECU 14-2 off turnovers and 23-4 on second-chances, helped by 17 offensive rebounds. WSU was +12 on the glass. Its three centers combined for 27 points, 18 rebounds and two blocks… Jayden Gardner led ECU with 16 points and six boards.
Mar. 5, 2019 | Wichita, Kan. | WSU, 72-55
  • Using depth and defense, the Shockers overcame a cold shooting performance to win on senior night… Markis McDuffie scored 16 points, Dexter Dennis had 10 points and eight rebounds and Asbjørn Midtgaard tacked on 11 points, six boards and three blocks… Isaac Fleming had 17 for ECU and Rico Quinton posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds… WSU shot 39% but held ECU to 36% on 3-of-15 three-point shooting and out-rebounded the Pirates 47-37… WSU used a 14-4 surge to go up 32-18 late in the first half and led comfortably the rest of the way.
Feb. 6, 2019 | Greenville, N.C. | WSU, 65-49
  • Samajae Haynes-Jones hit his first seven shots on his way to a team-high 18 points, and WSU outrebounded ECU by 19 to pick up its first true road win of the season… Markis McDuffie added 14 points and recorded his 100th career steal. Asbjørn Midtgaard grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds (five of them on the offensive end) to go with six points, and Jaime Echenique provided eight points and 10 boards…. The Shockers won despite shooting just 39.7% thanks to a gritty defensive effort. They held ECU to 34.6%... The Shockers led 34-20 at halftime and extended the margin to as many as 21 points late in the second half.
 

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD….
... make them 12-1 with six-straight wins.
... make them 1-0 in AAC play (25-12 since joining).
... give them 12-straight home wins (11 at CKA).
... make them 5-0 all-time vs. ECU (2-0 in Wichita).
... make Marshall 8-0 career vs. ECU.
... make them 1-0 in conference play for the 10th consecutive season.
... make them 80-29 in January under Marshall.
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
... drop them to 11-2 and end a 5-game win streak.
... make them 0-1 in conference for the first time since the 2009-10 season (MVC).
... snap an 11-game home win streak (10 at CKA).
... be their first home loss since Feb. 23 (Memphis).
... be their first ever to ECU (4-1).
... be Marshall's first-ever to ECU (7-1).
... be just their 12thsetback in Wichita in the last nine seasons (125-12).
... be less good than a win.
 

UP NEXT:
Wichita State hosts Ole Miss on Saturday afternoon (3 p.m. CT, ESPNU) as part of a scheduling alliance series between the American Athletic Conference and the SEC. WSU makes a return trip to Oxford, Miss. in 2019-20.
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