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Erik Stevenson

Shockers Gear Up for Road Test Sunday at Oklahoma State

12/6/2019 9:59:00 PM

-/rv WICHITA STATE (7-1) at rv/25 OKLAHOMA STATE (7-1)
SUNDAY, DEC. 8, 2019 | 1 P.M. CT
STILLWATER, OKLA. / GALLAGHER-IBA ARENA (13,611)
TV: ESPNU (ESPN App)
RADIO: KEYN 103.7 FM (GoShockers.com/Listen)
SERIES: OSU LEADS 30-9 (15-3 in STILLWATER)

>>> The Wichita State Shockers (7-1) travel to Stillwater, Okla. to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys (7-1), Sunday afternoon inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.
>>> Tickets are still available for the WSU's 10th annual downtown game, next Saturday, Dec. 14 (5 p.m.) at INTRUST Bank Arena against the Oklahoma Sooners. To purchase, call 855-755-SEAT, log on to selectaseat.com or visit the Select-A-Seat Box Office at INTRUST Bank Arena.
 

OPENING TIPS:
  • Sunday's visit to Stillwater marks Wichita State's only true road game of the non-conference slate and kicks off a four-year series against the Cowboys.
  • It also opens up a challenging three-game stretch for WSU against teams that are receiving votes in the national polls. The Shockers are set to host Oklahoma (Dec. 14) and VCU (Dec. 21) in the coming days.
  • OSU ranks No. 25 in the most recent USA Today Coaches Poll. WSU received four votes.
  • Both sides are tops at getting stops. KenPom rates WSU 13th and OSU 16th nationally in defensive efficiency.
  • The Shockers will look to score back-to-back wins over the Cowboys for only the second time in series history. OSU leads 30-9 (15-5 in Stillwater). WSU's 78-66 victory on Dec. 9, 2017 (keyed by 30 points from Landry Shamet) was the school's first at GIA in 60 years.
  • WSU closed the 2018-19 season with six-consecutive road wins. That streak is now tied with VCU for the nation's third-longest behind UNC (10) and Gonzaga (9).
  • Since the 2013-14 season, WSU's .789 (56-15) road winning percentage is second only to Gonzaga.
  • WSU routed Central Arkansas on Thursday, 95-69. Grant Sherfield scored a season-high 15 points, and the Shockers tallied 16 steals and forced 30 Bear turnovers. Both stats are Marshall Era bests and rank among the top-5 in school history.
  • The Shockers rank among the national leaders in turnover margin (t-12th, +6.3) and A:TO ratio (14th, 1.44).
  • Leading scorer (13.5) and assist man (3.4) Erik Stevenson ranks seventh nationally in A:TO ratio (4.50).
  • Ten Shockers are clocking double-digit minutes and eight of them are averaging at least 6.5 points.
  • On the heels of an 8-11 start to the 2018-19 season, the Shockers have since won 21 of their last 26 contests.
  • Gregg Marshall again has one of the nation's youngest teams – 10 of his 13 scholarship players are underclassmen – but many are battle tested after a run to the 2019 NIT semifinals. The Shockers played in seven-straight NCAA tournaments between 2012 and 2018, advancing the 2013 Final Four. 
SCOUTING THE COWBOYS:
  • Oklahoma State returns all five of their end-of-the-year starters from a team that finished 12-20, yet ranked 72nd in the NCAA's Final NET ratings.
  • Big 12 coaches picked the Cowboys to finish sixth out of 10 teams in the league's preseason poll.
  • OSU (7-1) won its first seven games before falling at home to Georgetown on Wednesday night, 81-74.
  • The Cowboys won the NIT Pre-Season Tipoff in Brooklyn, defeating Syracuse (86-72) and Ole Miss (78-37).
  • OSU entered the weekend ranked 11th nationally in field goal percentage defense. Opponents are shooting just 35.8% for the year, including a dismal 25.4% from beyond the arc (8th nationally).
  • Individual defensive standouts include a pair of sophomores. 6-foot-10 forward Yor Anei ranks 12th nationally in blocks-per-game (3.13) and 6-4 guard Isaac Likekele ranks ninth nationally in steals (2.86).
  • Five Cowboys are averaging in double-figures, led by senior guard Lindy Waters III (14.0).
  • Likekele (13.7 ppg) paces the team in assists (5.0) and has more steals (20) than turnovers (15).
  • An honorable mention preseason All-Big 12 pick, Anei (11.8 ppg) is OSU's top rebounder (6.6) and ranks second nationally in block percentage, per KenPom. He's swatted at least one shot in 25-straight games.
MATCHUP MASHUP:
  • Oklahoma State is WSU's closest Division I neighbor. Stillwater is roughly 120 miles from Wichita. A large contingent of Shocker fans made the two-hour trek to Gallagher-Iba in 2017 and likely will again on Sunday.
  • WSU plays a total of 11 regular season games against teams currently ranked in KenPom's top-50. From that group, OSU is the highest-rated at No. 26. The Shockers' best win to-date was over South Carolina (No. 102) on a neutral floor in Cancun. Their lone loss came to West Virginia (No. 34) in the Cancun Challenge title game
  • The Shockers are facing their second of three Big 12 opponents this year (WVU was the other).  Oklahoma visits Wichita next Saturday for a game at downtown INTRUST Bank Arena.
  • Gregg Marshall is 7-6 against Big 12 teams in 13 seasons at WSU, including 1-1 against OSU.
  • Marshall is 1-0 against OSU's Mike Boynton.
  • WSU is looking to win consecutive games against OSU for only the second time in series history. The last time it happened there was a 35-year gap in between games. Following WSU's win in the 1965 Midwest Regional Final, the teams didn't meet against until 1990 when Eddie Sutton and Mike Cohen revived the series. Which makes for a nice segue...
  • On this date – Dec. 8, 1990 – Wichita State defeated Oklahoma State, 72-69, at Levitt Arena behind John Cooper's 21 points on 5-of-6 three-point shooting.
  • Cooper currently works for Boynton as a special assistant on the OSU staff. Cooper played four seasons at WSU (1987-91) and helped the Shockers to a 1988 NCAA tournament appearance followed by a trip to the 1989 NIT. He's 32nd on WSU's all-time scoring chart: with 1,163 career points.
  • Other familiar faces on the OSU staff include Barry Hinson, who is in his first season as an analyst. He faced the Shockers 32 times as head coach at Missouri State and Southern Illinois.
  • Scott Sutton is in his third year as an OSU assistant coach. During an 18-year run as Oral Roberts head coach, Sutton won two of three meetings against the Shockers. On Dec. 30, 2003, ORU became the first visiting team to win a game at Charles Koch Arena following its renovation.
  • The teams share one common opponent. OSU defeated Oral Roberts in its Nov. 6 season opener, 80-75. WSU earned a 68-59 win over ORU on Nov. 23 in Wichita.
  • OSU took care of Ole Miss on a neutral floor in Brooklyn, 78-37, in last week's NIT Season Tip-Off. The Shockers host Ole Miss on Jan. 4. as part of the American-SEC scheduling alliance.
  • OSU will face one of WSU's American Athletic Conference rivals next Sunday when it travels to Houston.
  • Junior center Asbjørn Midtgaard is the only current Shocker who saw time in the last WSU-OSU meeting. He made a 30-second cameo near the end of the first half with several of the Shocker big men in foul trouble.
  • OSU holdovers include a pair of starters in Cameron McGriff (3 points in 20 minutes) and Lindy Waters III (10 points, three steals in 30 minutes) as well as reserve guard Thomas Dziagwa who clocked nine minutes.
  • As of Dec. 4, the American Athletic Conference and the Big 12 were the only two leagues in the country that have six teams with one loss or fewer.
  • WSU led at the midway point in eight true road games last year (including six-straight to end the year) and went on to win seven of those games. The only loss came at No. 17 Houston on Jan. 12 after WSU had built a 38-33 edge.
  • In part due to lack of opportunities, the Shockers last won a road game when trailing at halftime on Jan. 29, 2017 at Bradley. Down 25-20, they outscored the Braves 44-24 the rest of the way. They're 0-7 since.
TRENDING:
  • Wichita State is 64-18 (.780) under Gregg Marshall in the month of December.
  • WSU's 8.4 three-pointers-per-game leads the American Athletic Conference. Despite a longer three-point distance, the Shockers are shooting 33.7% as a team -- up from 30.8% a year ago.
  • The five Shockers newcomers have combined to hit 38.5% from deep (35-of-91), led by Tyson Etienne (19-of-44, .432) and Trey Wade (9-of-21, .429).
  • Close to 40% of the Shockers scoring has come from non-starters. Reserves are averaging 30.1 points-per-game, compared to 46.1 from the starting-five.
  • The Shockers are outscoring opponents by an average of 24.0 points-per-40-minutes with sophomore Erik Stevenson on the floor. Jamarius Burton (22.5), Jaime Echenique (21.1) and Morris Udeze (20.4) are also north of the 20-mark.
THE SERIES:
  • This is the 40th meeting in a series that began 85 years ago (December, 1934) when first-year head coach Henry Iba swept a home-and-home from the Shockers.
  • Shockers teams are 3-14 all-time at Gallagher-Iba Arena (3-15 overall in Stillwater).
  • WSU's 2017 victory was its first since 1957 when the building was simply known as "Gallagher Hall" because future namesake Iba was still coaching. The Shockers lost four subsequent trips in 1958, 1991, 1999 and 2001.
  • OSU was a member of the Missouri Valley Conference for 31 years back when the school was known as Oklahoma A&M. The Cowboys (then the Aggies) won 19 of the 24 conference meeting against WSU (the University of Wichita) between 1945 (when the Shockers joined) and 1956 (when OSU made its exit).
  • The most important series meeting took place in the 1965 Midwest Regional Final, played at Ahearn Fieldhouse in Manhattan. The Shocker stuck with their starting five for all 40 minutes in a 54-46 victory to advance to their first ever Final Four. Kelly Pete finished with 19 points and nine rebounds to go with 12 points from Vernon Smith and 11 from Dave Leach. WSU scored on its first nine possessions to open the game, then bled the next 35 minutes of clock with slow, deliberate offense.
  • The series took a 25-year hiatus from 1965 until 1990.
  • A home-and-home series in 2016 and 2017 ended a 14-year series drought.
  • On Dec. 17, 2016 Oklahoma State handled the Shockers 93-76 at INTRUST Bank Arena in a battle of eventual NCAA tournament teams. The loss snapped a school-record 42-game non-conference home winning streak.
  • The Shockers returned the favor in December, 2017 behind Landry Shamet's career-high 30 points.
  • The teams didn't officially play last season but took part in a closed door scrimmage in Wichita during the preseason.
  • OSU will make its second appearance at INTRUST Bank Arena in December, 2020. The Shockers return to Stillwater in 2021, and OSU concludes the four-game set in 2022 with a trip to Wichita (venue TBD).
POP'N FRESHMAN:
  • Freshman Tyson Etienne is on pace to challenge a handful of Shocker freshman records:
  • He's on track to end the regular season with 73.6 total threes, which would break Landry Shamet's rookie mark (72 in 36 games) from the 2016-17 season.
  • Etienne's 2.38 threes-per-game would also break a 27-year old freshman standard established by Chad Elstun (2.19 in 1992-93), and would rank fourth overall on the program's single-season list.
  • Etienne is on pace to end the regular season with 42.6 steals, which would challenge Toure' Murry's freshman record (44 in 34 games) from the 2008-09 season.
  • Etienne shares the team lead with 11 steals against just three turnovers. Per KenPom, Etienne's turnover percentage (5.6%) ranks in the top-25 nationally.
  • KenPom also rates Etienne as one of the nation's 10-most-efficient freshmen on offense (no usage minimum). He's averaging a team-high 22.7 points-per-40-minutes.
20-APPLENTY:
  • Thursday's  win over Central Arkansas marked the 66th time in the last seven seasons that the Shockers have won a game by 20+ points. Only Gonzaga (93), Villanova (72) and Duke (70) have more in that span.
  • It was Marshall's 98th 20+ point win in 13 seasons at WSU.
HOT TAKES:
  • The Shockers finished with 16 steals in their Dec. 5 win over Central Arkansas. It was the most by a Gregg Marshall Shocker team against a Division I opponent and tied for the fourth-most in school history.

WSU Single-Game Records: Most Steals
23 -- South Dakota (12/14/1978)
21 -- San Jose State (12/2/1978)
18 -- Abilene Christian (11/27/1981)
16 -- Central Arkansas (12/5/2019)
16 – Drake (1/28/1982)
16 -- Arkansas-Monticello (11/18/2009)

  • WSU also forced 30 Central Arkansas turnovers -- most by Shocker foe in 35 years and also among the top-5 on the program's single-game chart.

WSU Single-Game Records: Turnovers Forced
34 – Hartford (12/30/1984)
31 – Drake (1/28/1982)
31 -- Abilene Christian (11/27/1981)
30 -- Central Arkansas (12/5/2019)
30 -- South Dakota (12/14/1978)

 

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD….
... make them 8-1 on the year.
... give them seven-straight true road wins.
... make Marshall 2-1 vs. OSU (2-0 vs. Boynton).
... make Marshall 8-6 vs. Big 12 opponents.
... give WSU back-to-back wins in Stillwater for the first time ever.
... make WSU 10-30 vs. OSU (4-15 in Stillwater).
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
... drop them to 7-2.
... snap a six-game road winning streak.
... be their first road loss since Feb. 17 at Cincinnati.
... give OSU a 31-9 series lead (16-3 in Stillwater).
... make OSU 2-1 vs. Marshall.
... be less good than a win.
 

UP NEXT:
  • Wichita State hosts its 10th annual downtown game next Saturday, Dec. 14 at INTRUST Bank Arena against the Oklahoma Sooners.
  • Tickets are still available by calling 855-755-SEAT, logging on to selectaseat.com or visiting the Select-A-Seat Box Office at INTRUST Bank Arena.
  • WSU is 7-2 at INTRUST Bank Arena. One of those two losses came to the Sooners (2017).
  • The teams play for the fourth-consecutive year. WSU downed OU in 2016 in Oklahoma City but has dropped the last two.
  • The Sooners (20-14) advanced to the second round of the 2019 NCAA tournament. 
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