>>> Wichita State clashes with rival Tulsa in an American Athletic Conference matchup at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon inside Charles Koch Arena.
>>> Tickets are still available through the Shocker Ticket Office (316-978-FANS) and online at GoShockers.com/Tickets.
>>> Coach
Gregg Marshall is teaming up with Coaching for Literacy to help raise awareness about the problem of illiteracy in America and to provide support for young children struggling to read. Coaches on both benches will wear green ties, lapel pins and wristbands on Saturday. Wichita State fans are encouraged to support the cause by pledging a donation for every Shocker assist over the next four games. Funds raised will benefit area youth through Wichita's Fundamental Learning Center. To make a pledge, visit www.pledgeit.org/shockersforliteracy.
>>> Watch the game on ESPNU with Matt Schick (pbp) and Sean Harrington.
>>> 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 Yur-View.com/Kansas. REMAINING SHOW DATES: Feb. 4, 11, 18, 25 & March 11
OPENING TIPS:
***This is meeting No. 129 all-time in a series that began in 1931.WSU and Tulsa were Missouri Valley Conference rivals from 1945-96... The Shockers hold a 67-61 lead (38-23 in Wichita) and have won four-straight and 10 of the last 11... WSU swept last year's home-and-home (72-69 at TU and 90-71 at CKA). Both games were played in front of capacity crowds. The Shockers will pay a return visit to the Reynolds Center on Wednesday, Feb. 20.
***
Gregg Marshall is 8-1 vs. Tulsa. His .889 series winning percentage is tops among WSU coaches in the modern era (1945-Pr.).
***WSU has won six-straight against Tulsa in Wichita. TU's last win came in December, 2001).
***WSU and Tulsa have played two of the nation's most-challenging schedules. The Shockers ranks eighth nationally in strength of schedule, per NET, and Tulsa ranks 33rd. No American school has played more Quadrant I and II games this year than the Shockers (13) and Hurricanes (12).
***Both sides are coming off of feel-good wins on Wednesday night that snapped three-game losing streaks. Tulsa hammered Memphis, 95-79, behind 25 points and one SportsCenter Top-10 dunk from DaQuan Jeffries. WSU bounced SMU, 85-83, on
Samajae Haynes-Jones' layup with 1.0 second to go (also an SC Top-10).
***Tulsa has more free throw makes (377) than the Shockers have attempts (350). The Hurricanes rank sixth nationally in both categories and toe the line an average of 24.7 times a night. Jeffries paces the points (18.3), rebounds (5.7), blocks (27) and steals (26).
***Five Shockers scored in double-figures in the SMU win. Haynes-Jones's shot was the first home "buzzer-beater " by a Shocker in nearly 10 years (game-winning basket in the final five seconds). He and
Erik Stevenson shared the team-lead with 17 points each.
***WSU forward
Markis McDuffie has scored at least eight points in all 20 games and topped 20 on eight occasions. He's the conference third-leading scorer at 18.5 points-per-game. Wednesday night he moved into the top-25 on WSU's career scoring chart (1,222 points).
***6-11 center
Jaime Echenique is the team's leading rebounder (5.5) and ranks fourth on the AAC blocks chart (1.5). He swatted a career-high five shots against SMU.
TRENDING:
***The Shockers have committed just 13 turnovers in their last two outings. They had been averaging 14.0 turnovers-per-game prior to that.
***
Erik Stevenson shook off his shooting slump Wednesday, hitting 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. ***Coming into the night, the freshman had connected on just 4-of-26 (.154) from deep over the nine previous games (Dec. 19–Jan. 26).
***Against SMU, five Shockers finished in double-figures for the first time this year. It happened five times last year and 11 the season prior. WSU won all 17 games.
***WSU has faced six of the nation's top-25 scoring defenses this year: Houston (6), Cincinnati (9), VCU (20), Baylor (22), UCF (24), Southern Miss (25).
***
Samajae Haynes-Jones' game-winning reverse-layup came with exactly 1.0 second on the clock. It marked only the fourth time in the Charles Koch Arena Era that the Shockers have hit a game-winner with less than five seconds remaining. Toure' Murry did it twice as a freshman, nailing two-point jumpers to knock off Missouri State (Feb. 10, 2009; 62-61) and Evansville (Jan. 25, 2009; 51-50). On Feb. 14, 2006, Matt Braeuer beat Creighton with a three-pointer in overtime, 62-61. All three of those shots came with no time left.
***WSU has shot a combined 47.4% in four conference homes games, compared to 36.6% in four road contests.
SHOCKERS ON THE LEADERBOARDS:
***
Jaime Echenique ranks among conference's top-10 in blocks (4th, 1.45) and field goal percentage 7th, .528.
***
Markis McDuffie ranks among the top-10 in scoring (3rd, 18.5), free throw percentage (7th, .813), 3-point percentage (9th, .386) and 3-pointers (6th, 2.5).
***
Jamarius Burton is shooting 88.9% from the free throw line in conference play. Just three AAC players have been better.
ACCESS DENIED:
***
Jaime Echenique has blocked 16 shots in eight conference games -- tied with Tacko Fall (UCF) and Nysier Brooks (Cincinnati) for the league lead.
***13 of Echeninique's team-high 29 blocks have come in the last five games. He had four in the Jan. 16 win over UCF and five in the Jan. 30 victory against SMU.
***Echenique has blocked at least one shot in 17 of the 20 games this year, including an active run of five-straight.
SUPER MARKIS SWEEP:
***
Markis McDuffie entered the week third on the conference scoring chart (18.5) and No. 88 nationally.
***Just six Shockers all-time have won conference scoring crowds, and the last came 19 years ago. Jason Perez averaged an MVC-best 20.2 points in 2000.
American Athletic Conference Scoring Leaders (as of Feb. 1, 2019)
18. 8 -- Jayden Gardner (ECU)
18.6 -- Jalen Adams (UConn)
18.5 --
Markis McDuffie (Wichita St.)
18.4 -- Jarron Cumberland (Cincinnati)
18.4 -- Jahmal McMurray (SMU)
MATCHUP MASHUP:
***On this date, 35 years ago (Feb. 2, 1984), WSU's Karl Papke hit a driving layup down the lane with just under 10 seconds left to lift the Shockers to a 66-64 upset of 10th-ranked Tulsa in Wichita. Tulsa came in with a 17-1 record.
***The Shockers are 4-0 when attempting more free throws than the oppositon (5-11 when they don't).
***Tulsa ranks seventh nationally in free throw attempts.
***WSU sits among the top-50 in most fouls-per-game (20.1).
***The Shockers are winless (0-7) when being outrebounded, compared to 9-4 when finishing even-or-better on the boards.
***Tulsa has the league's worst rebounding margin (-4.0, 313th nationally).
***Tulsa great Shea Seals is a member of the Hurricane coaching staff. He went 8-0 against the Shockers as a player (1993-97) and led the scoring for the Hurricanes in seven of those games.
WSU-TULSA SERIES NOTABLES:
***Wichita State and Tulsa square off for the 129th time since 1931. Tulsa is WSU's third-most-played opponent behind Drake (151) and Bradley (142). Saturday's meeting will be the 62nd in Wichita.
***The Shockers lead the all-time series 67-61 and have won 10 of the last 11, dating back to December, 2003. Prior to that, Tulsa had dominated with 13-straight wins between 1993 and 2002.
***The Shockers and Golden Hurricane were conference rivals in the Missouri Valley from 1945 to 1996. Following Tulsa's MVC exit, the schools played 14 non-conference games over a 21-year span.
***WSU swept the series last year... In the first meeting (Jan. 13, 2018) Tulsa had a three-pointer in the air ahead of the final buzzer that would have forced overtime, but the fifth-ranked Shockers survived, 72-69…. WSU won the rematch in Wichita, 90-71, with 28 assists.
Austin Reaves hit his first seven three-point attempts to open the game.
***WSU has won 7 of the 10 overtime meetings in the series (2-2 in Wichita, 5-1 in Tulsa).
***
Gregg Marshall is 8-1 against Tulsa (4-1 vs. Frank Haith).
***Only Ralph Miller (16-11) and Harry Miller (9-5) have posted more series wins.
IN WICHITA // WSU, 38-23
***The Hurricanes last won in Wichita on Dec. 8, 2001 (82-76). The Shockers have won the last six home meetings (five of them at Charles Koch Arena).
***The Shockers have won two-third of the games played in the Roundhouse (Dec. 1955 to Present), 32-16.
IN TULSA // TLS, 35-28
***The Shockers have a losing record in Tulsa but are 4-3 at the Reynolds Center (now in its 21st season of use).
NEUTRAL SITES // TLS, 3-1
***Tulsa has won three of the four neutral court matchups. WSU's lone victory came in the 1988 MVC Tournament. Tulsa picked up a pair of Arch Madness wins in the 1990s and edged the Shockers in the 1958 All-College Tournament in Oklahoma City.
MEMORABLE MOMENTS:
***Though the series dates back over 88 years, the rivalry really heated up in the early 1980s when Gene Smithson's Shocker teams battled Nolan Richardson's Tulsa squads for MVC supremacy. Three of WSU's all-time greats played during the "MTXE" Era (after Smithson's trademark slogan, Mental Toughness eXtra Effort): Cliff Levingston, Antoine Carr and Xavier McDaniel. Tulsa countered with a fearsome full-court press and the likes of Paul Pressey, Mike Anderson and Steve Harris.
***In 1984, WSU's Karl Papke hit a driving layup down the lane with just under 10 seconds left to lift the Shockers to a 66-64 upset of 10th-ranked Tulsa in Wichita.
***WSU got the last laugh in its final game against Richardson in the 1985 MVC Tournament Championship – Mar. 9, 1985 at the Tulsa Convention Center. Senior All-American Xavier McDaniel scored 34 points on 15-of-19 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Shockers past No. 17 Tulsa, 84-82. McDaniel led the nation in scoring and rebounding that year.
***Despite coaching changes on both sides, the rivalry continued. On Mar. 4, 1987, WSU again stunned top-seeded Tulsa with a 79-74 overtime win in the conference title game. The '87 MVC Tournament was the first with a three-point line, and the Shockers took full advantage of the new rule, knocking down 8-of-10 from beyond the arc.
***On Feb. 27, 1988, Joe Griffin's corner three -- in the air just before time expired -- forced double-overtime, where the Shockers claimed a 79-78 victory.
***The Golden Hurricane dominated the 1990s, winning 16-of-17 meetings between 1991 and 2002. Following Tulsa's exit from the MVC in 1997, the teams played regularly in the non-conference.
***
Gregg Marshall revived the series in the 2010 after a six-year gap, and the teams have met at least once in each of the last 10 seasons.
***After WSU's Charles Koch Arena renovation, the balance of power shifted dramatically. On Dec. 20, 2003 (CKA's inaugural season), the Shockers stopped a 13-game losing streak against Tulsa with a 66-58 victory. That started a run of seven-straight Shocker wins.
GOOD AND TWENTY:
***In January, McDuffie enjoyed a run of four-straight 20-point games. Three of them came against Houston, Cincinnati and UCF -- the AAC's top-3 scoring defenses.
***McDuffie's eight total 20-point games this season are tied for third-most in the conference.
***McDuffie's eight 20-point games are third-most by a Shocker in the last 20 seasons. Only Cleanthony Early (10 in 2013-14) and Jason Perez (17 in 1999-00) have posted more in that span.
1,000 FOR McDUFFIE (AND COUNTING):
***
Markis McDuffie is the 47th member of WSU's 1,000-point club. He reached the mark in his 100th game (Dec. 8, 2018 at Okla.) and is on pace to finish the regular season with 1,407 points -- 16th all-time.
McDuffie on Wichita State's All-Time Scoring List:
20. P.J. Couisnard (2004-08) -- 1,303 (+81)
21. Warren Armstrong (1965-68) -- 1,301 (+79)
22. Joe Stevens (1955-58) -- 1,295 (+73)
23. Gus Santos (1983-87) -- 1,278 (+56)
24. Paul Guffrovich (1987-91) -- 1,247 (+25)
25.
Markis McDuffie (2015-Pr.) -- 1,222
26. Steve Grayer (1985-89) -- 1,221
MORE McDUFFIE MILESTONES:
***
Markis McDuffie is two steals shy of 100 for his career. He'd be just the 16th Shocker to do it.
***McDuffie needs 22 rebounds to hit the 500-mark.
***Only seven players in program history have recorded the combo of 500 rebounds AND 100 career steals: Cheese Johnson (1975-79), Xavier McDaniel (1981-85), Jason Perez (1996-00), Jamar Howard, (2001-05), P.J. Couisnard (2004-08), Toure' Murry (2008-12) and Ron Baker (2012-16).
***McDuffie ranks 18th on WSU's all-time three-point field goal chart. He's on pace to eventually break into the top-10.
***McDuffie has hit at least one three-pointer in 11-straight games (a career-best).
McDUFFIE A TRIPLE THREAT:
***McDuffie is sinking 2.45 threes-per-game. Just three Shockers have averaged more over a full season:
Landry Shamet (2.63 in 2018), Sean Ogirri (2.60 in 2006) and Maurice Evans (2.46 in 1999).
***McDuffie is on pace to end the regular season with 74 total triples, which would be the fifth-highest single-season total in school history.
***Each of the top-13 on WSU's career three-point field goal list are guards. McDuffie needs just five more to match Rob Kampman (130 from 2001-05) for the most by a non-guard.
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…
… make them 10-11 with back-to-back wins.
… up their American mark to 3-6.
… make them 8-3 at home this year (7-3 at CKA).
… give them four-straight over Tulsa (11th in 12 tries)
… make them 68-61 vs. Tulsa (39-23 in Wichita).
… make Marshall 9-1 vs. Tulsa (5-1 vs. Haith).
… give WSU seven-straight home wins vs. Tulsa.
… move Marshall to within 10 wins of 500 for his career (490-192) and within four of 300.
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
… drop their record to 9-12 (2-7 American).
… make them 7-4 at home this year (6-4 CKA).
… be just their seventh at CKA in six seasons (78-7).
… be Tulsa's first win at post-renovation CKA ('03-Pr)
… narrow WSU's series lead to 67-62.
… be less good than a win.
UP NEXT:
***The Shockers go back out on the road Wednesday to face ECU in Greenville, N.C. The 6 p.m. CT tip airs nationally on ESPNEWS.
***WSU hosts Tulane next Saturday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. Single-game seats are still available, online at GoShockers.com/Tickets or through the Shocker Ticket Office at 316-978-FANS.
