MEMPHIS (16-11, 8-6) at WICHITA STATE (13-12, 6-7)
SATURDAY, FEB. 23, 2019 | 7:05 P.M. CT
WICHITA, KAN. / CHARLES KOCH ARENA (10,506)
TV: ESPN2
RADIO: KEYN 103.7 FM / GOSHOCKERS.com/LISTEN
SERIES: TIED 11-11 (WSU LEADS 7-3 IN WICHITA)
Â
 >>> Head coach
Gregg Marshall takes aim at his 300th Shocker win on Saturday evening when Wichita State plays host to the Memphis Tigers at 7 p.m. inside Charles Koch Arena.
>>> Single-game seats are available, including $15 general admission tickets, online at GoShockers.com/Tickets or through the Shocker Ticket Office at 316-978-FANS.
>>> Watch the game on ESPN2 with Kevin Brown (pbp) and Mark Wise (analyst).
>>> 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 6 p.m. with the INTRUST Bank Pregame Show.     Â
Â
OPENING TIPS:
***WSU has won five of its last six following a 1-6 conference start.
***Already the school's all-time wins leader, Marshall (299-110, .731 in 12 seasons at WSU) needs just one more victory to reach 300. He's eight wins shy of 500 for his career.
***The teams have split 22 meetings all-time. The Shockers are 7-3 in Wichita, however this will be Memphis' first visit in 43 years. The Tigers were one of two 'road-only' opponents last year (along with ECU). On Jan. 8, 1976, the Shockers tamed the Tigers 81-70 in a non-conference matchup at then-Henry Levitt Arena.
***WSU is looking to avenge a Jan. 3 loss to the Tigers at FedExForu, (85-74) in the conference opener for both sides. Kyvon Davenport scored 25 points to lead Memphis.
Markis McDuffie put up 19 for the Shockers, who were outscored 25-6 at the foul line.
***WSU tied a single-game school record with 15 threes (on 33 attempts) in Wednesday's 81-60 win at Tulsa.
Dexter Dennis tied a freshman record with six threes en route to a game-high 18 points.
Jamarius Burton handed out 10 assists --Â most by a Shocker freshman in 46 years.
Samajae Haynes-Jones scored 17 points on five triples. WSU posted a 24:8 assist-to-turnover ratio. The win boosted the Shockers 21 spots in the NCAA's NET ratings to No. 95.
***WSU is rebuilding this year behind 10 newcomers but has faced one of the nation's toughest schedules (No. 22, per NET and No. 25, per RPI). As of Thursday, the Shockers had played a league-best 15 Quadrant I or II games, ahead of Houston (14), Tulane (13) and Tulsa (13). Saturday will be WSU's 16th.
***The Shockers are 9-3 at home this year (8-3 at Charles Koch Arena). They're 80-6 at the Roundhouse over the last six seasons. Going back nearly 15 years, arena attendance has topped the 10,000-mark at 223-consecutive regular season games.
***Senior
Markis McDuffie (team-high 18.3 ppg) has scored at least eight points in every game this year and has eclipsed 20-points in five of the last six Shocker home games. Wednesday night he moved into the top-20 on WSU's career scoring chart (1,310) ahead of Warren Armstrong Jabali and P.J. Couisnard.
***
Jaime Echenique is the team's leading rebounder (5.8) and shot blocker (1.6). He's rejected a league-best 27 shots in 13 American games. Echenique's streak of 10-consecutive games with a block is tied for the fifth-longest in school history – two shy of
Shaquille Morris' Marshall Era standard, set last year.
***Burton (3.0 apg) is on track to be the first Shocker freshman in 32 years to lead the team in that category.
***In five February games, Dennis has averaged 10.6 points, 6.6 rebounds on 16-of-31 three-point shooting (.516). Sunday's double-double (14 pts, 13 reb) was the first by a Shocker freshman since 2008 and WSU's highest rookie rebound total in 17 years.
Â
THE SERIES WITH MEMPHIS:
***This is the 23rd meeting all-time. Each side has won 11 times. The teams have also split their split two American Era meetings (both in Memphis).
***WSU is 7-3 against the Tigers in Wichita, though the last visit came on Jan. 8, 1976 when the building was known as Henry Levitt Arena. Cal Bruton played all 40 minutes and dished out 12 assists, Robert Gray (24 points), Robert Elmore (19 points) and Bob Trogele (13) combined for 56 points in an 81-70 Shocker victory.
***WSU is 3-8 all-time in Memphis, 1-1 at FedExForum , after losing their most recent visit on Jan. 3.
***The teams played 11 times from 1968-73 during Memphis' brief stop in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Tigers won 6-of-11 MVC games between the teams.
Â
LAST MEETING:
JAN. 3 @ FEDEXFORUM | MEMPHIS, 85-74
***In the conference opener for both sides Memphis built a 12-point halftime lead on its way to victory.
***The Tigers hit 50% of their shots to WSU's 39.4% and outscored the, by 19 at the foul line. Memphis was also +4 in turnovers (15-11) and +6 on the glass (35-29).
***Kyvon Davenport paced Memphis with 25 points.
***
Markis McDuffie scored 19 points for WSU.
***
Samajae Haynes-Jones added 15 points, six assists.
***
Ricky Torres dished out a season-high eight assists in 23 turnover-free minutes.
***
Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler saw extended action in the absence of
Morris Udeze (shoulder) and made the most of the opportunity. He scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half and played a career-high 22 minutes.
***The Shockers shot made 10 threes but needed 33 attempts to get there. Haynes-Jones' 12 attempts tied for the third-most ever by a Shocker individual.
***WSU shot 100% at the foul line, albeit on just six attempts. Memphis went to the line 31 times and sank 25.
***The Tigers outscored the Shockers, 44-26 in the paint and 20-11 off turnovers.
***WSU led 20-16 near the 7:30-mark of the first half but was outscored 28-12 over the remainder of the half. The Shockers rallied several times in the second half but could no closer than four points.
Â
MEMORABLE SERIES MOMENTS:
***In the first-ever meeting (Feb. 7, 1959), Ron Heller hit a jumper in overtime to lift the Shockers to a 95-92 win in Wichita.
 ***On Jan. 13, 1968, helped by big plays from forwards Ron Washington and Warren Armstrong (Jabali). WSU fought off Memphis State's second-half comeback bid for a 77-69 victory in the first Missouri Valley Conference meeting between the schools. Memphis was coached at the time by Moe Iba, son of Oklahoma State legend Henry Iba.
***On Jan. 30, 1969, Greg Carney's jumper with six second left gave WSU a 71-69 home victory.
***On Dec. 30 1974, Calvin Bruton, playing with a leg cast to protect torn ligaments in his right foot, scored 18 points to lead WSU to an upset at No. 16 Memphis, 95-91.
***On Feb. 7, 1983, the Tigers (led by Keith Lee and Andre Turner) downed WSU (led by Antoine Carr and Xavier McDaniel), 85-73. It was one of just three losses for the 1982-83 Shockers, who finished 25-3 but were ineligible for postseason. It would be more than 31 years before the teams met again on the hardwood.
***On Nov. 18, 2014, preseason No. 11 WSU won a neutral site game at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., 71-56. All-American Ron Baker led the scoring with 21 points.
***On Feb. 6, 2018, the Shockers won their FedExForum debut and the first American Athletic Conference era meeting, 85-65.
Austin Reaves (22) and
Landry Shamet (20) both topped 20 points, and
Darral Willis Jr. (13 pts, 12 reb) added a double-double.
Â
SCOUTING MEMPHIS:
***Memphis is in its first season under Penny Hardaway. He starred for the Tigers in the early 90s before launching a 14-year NBA career.
***Memphis was picked fourth in the AAC preseason poll and landed one first-place vote.
***Jeremiah Martin was named first team preseason all-conference by the league's coaches.
***Memphis is coming off a 102-76 win over Tulane on Wednesday. Martin set a new conference single-game scoring mark with 43 points on 15-of-24 shooting, to go with eight assists, seven rebounds, five steals. Memphis was +21 on the boards.
***Memphis has the league's top scoring attack. The Tigers' 82.1 points per game isn't far from the league-record pace set by the 2017-18 Shockers (82.8).
***The Tigers play at a turbo-charged pace. KenPom ranks them fifth nationally in tempo at 75.0 possessions-per-game.
***Memphis ranks among the national leaders in forced turnovers (17.0) and steals (8.5). The Tigers had 12 steals against the Shockers in the Jan. 3 meeting.
***Martin ranks among The American's top-five in steals (2nd, 2.4), points (3rd, 18.3) and assists (4th, 4.5).
***Kyvon Davenport averages 14.0 points-per-game and ranks fourth on the conference rebounding chart (7.1) and sixth in field goal percentage (.525)
***Raynere Thornton is 10th at 6.4 rpg.
Â
MATCHUP MASHUP:
***Four AAC players, including Jeremiah Martin and
Markis McDuffie, are averaging 18+ points.
***Memphis is 6-1 in conference home games but just 2-5 on the road. Victories came at ECU (Feb. 13) and Tulane (Jan. 13).
***
Gregg Marshall is 2-2 against Memphis (2-1 as WSU head coach). On Jan. 8, 2006, Winthrop lost to John Calipari's fourth-ranked Tigers, 73-63 at FedExForum.
***The last rookie head coach to win at Charles Koch Arena was Nevada's David Carter in the 2010 NIT. Johnny Dawkins did it the previous year with Stanford in the 2009 CBI.
***WSU redshirt freshman
Rod Brown is a Memphis native. He played three seasons with current Tiger freshman Tyler Harris at Cordova High School… In 2016, Brown earned all-tournament honors after helping the Wolves (30-4) reach Tennessee's Class AAA state semifinals for the first time in school history… In 2017 Brown averaged 21 points and 14 rebounds to help Cordova (24-8) to a regional title. He was voted MVP of the district and regional tournaments.
***WSU senior
Samajae Haynes-Jones and his Hutchinson CC team defeated an Eastern Florida State team led by Kareem Brewton Jr. in the 2017 NJCAA national championship game. Haynes-Jones was a second-team All-American, and Brewton landed first team honors.
***Tiger freshman Alex Lomax originally signed with the Shockers in the Fall of 2017. Marshall granted Lomax his release last spring after Hardaway's hiring at Memphis.
***The Shockers return to FedExForum in less than three weeks for the American Athletic Conference Tournament.
Â
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…
… be
Gregg Marshall's 300th as Shocker head coach.
… move Marshall to within six wins of 500 overall.
… make them 14-12 with wins in 6 of their last 7.
… make them 7-7 in American play after a 1-6 start.
… make them 13-3 at home this year (12-3 at CKA).
… make them 12-11 vs. Memphis (8-3 in Wichita).
Â
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
… drop their record to 13-13 (6-8 American).
… be just their seventh CKA loss in six years (80-7).
… give Memphis a 12-11 lead in the all-time series.
… be Memphis' first Wichita win since 1975.
… be less good than a win.
Â
UP NEXT:
WSU hosts UConn for an early 6 p.m. CT tip. The game will air nationally on ESPN2.
Â
Â
RECORD BREAKING NIGHT AT TULSA:
***Wichita State tied a single-game school record for three-point field goals Wednesday night at Tulsa, hitting 15 on 33 attempts. The mark was originally set in 2003 then matched twice by the 2016-17 Shockers.
***WSU made seven triples in the first half to build a 14-point halftime lead and protected it by hitting eight more down the stretch.
***It was just the fifth time this year that the Shockers have hit 10+ threes in a game. Their previous season-high was a 12-for-22 effort against Providence in the Veteran's Classic.
Â
WSU Single-Game // 3-Point Field Goals
15/24 – Md. Eastern Shore (11/20/2016)
15/30 – Northern Iowa (1/4/2003)
15/33 – at Tulsa (2/20/2019)
15/34 – South Dakota St. (12/22/2016)
14 – 4x, Last: UConn (2/10/2018)
13 – 13x, Last: Savannah St. (11/28/2017)
Â
***
Dexter Dennis tied a WSU freshman record with six threes. He was 4-for-5 in the first half and knocked down two more within the first five minutes of the second half. Dennis' next (and last) attempt didn't come until the final minute.
***Five other freshmen, most recently
Landry Shamet, have knocked down six threes in a game.
Â
WSU Freshmen; Single-Game // 3-Point Field Goals:
6/6 – Chad Elstun – Northern Iowa (2/11/1993)
6/7 – Paul Guffrovich – Grambling (12/12/1987)
6/9 –
Dexter Dennis – at Tulsa (2/20/2019)
6/10 – Chad Elstun – Southern Illinois (2/20/1993)
6/10 – Maurice Evans – Southern Illinois (2/23/1998)
6/10 –
Landry Shamet – South Dakota St. (12/22/2016)
Â
***
Jamarius Burton became just the second WSU freshman to record 10 assists in a game. The other came more than 46 years ago. Cal Bruton had 12 against Saint Louis on Jan. 25, 1973. Five others have banked nine dimes, including Fred VanVleet.
Â
WSU Freshmen; Single-Game // Assists:
12 -- Cal Bruton – Saint Louis (1/25/1973)
10 --
Jamarius Burton – at Tulsa (2/20/2019)
9 -- Cal Bruton – West Texas St. (2/8/1973)
9 -- Bob Trogele – Bradley (2/5/1976)
9 -- Joe Griffin – at Mississippi St. (12/10/1986)
9 – Jason Perez – Southern Illinois (2/17/1997)
9 – Fred VanVleet – Drake (2/13/2013)
Â
BIG HELP:
***WSU's three-headed center monster --
Jaime Echenique, Asbjorn Midtgaard and
Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler -- has been effective of late.
***The trio combined for 17 points, 25 rebounds (13 of them offensive) and six blocks in 40 minutes last Sunday at Cincinnati. The group was excellent defensively, holding the Bearcats to just 18 points in the paint and less than 28% shooting inside the arc. The Shockers outrebounded Cincinnati 30-14 in the second half, helped by 13 offensive boards.
***Wednesday at Tulsa the group totaled 21 points, six rebounds and six blocks in 40 minutes.
Â
TRENDING:
***
Jaime Echenique is just the 13th Shocker to swat 40-or-more shots in a single-season.
**
Jamarius Burton's 74 assists are the most by a Shocker true freshman since Fred VanVleet (89 in 2012-13). All-time just three Shocker freshmen have finished with more than 100 assists: Joe Griffin (125 in 1987),
Landry Shamet (117 in 2017) and Bob Trogele (103 in 1976).
***
Markis McDuffie has scored at least 20 points in five of the last six home games (15 vs. SMU on Jan. 30). He's averaged 22.5 points in WSU's six conference home contests with five games of 20-or-more.
***McDuffie is shooting a league-best 87.5% (42-of-48) from the foul line since the start of conference play. He's 18-for-19 in February.
***WSU shot 65.6% from the free throw line in non-conference play (289th out of 353 D-I teams) but has hit a league-best .764 in American play. Unfortunately, they're averaging league-low 15.3 attempts.
***The Shockers are 6-1 in conference games when banking more assists than turnovers but 0-6 when turnovers outnumber assists.
Â
ACCESS DENIED:
***
Jaime Echenique has blocked a league-best 27 shots in WSU's 13 conference games.
 24 of Echeninique's team-high 40 blocks have come in the last 10 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 22 of the 25 games this year, including an active run of 10-straight. He began the year with another 10-game streak.
***The list of double-digit block streaks by Shockers is a short one. In the last 40 years, just six individuals have done it. Echenique and Antoine Carr are the only repeat names.
Â
Consecutive Games with a Block (Since 1980):
25 -- Antoine Carr (1980-81)
24 -- Antoine Carr (1982-83*)
12 --
Shaquille Morris (2017-18)
11 -- Claudius Johnson (1990-91)
10 --
Jaime Echenique (2018-19) – Active, Jan. 16 to Pres.
10 -- Cliff Levingston (1980-81)
10 -- Ehimen Orukpe (2012-13)
10 --
Jaime Echenique (2018-19) -- Nov. 6 - Dec. 15
*= Streak began the previous season
Â
THE GREGG HOUDINI:
***Wichita State is showing signs of life after a 1-6 start to conference play. A win on Saturday would make them 7-7 with four games to go.
 In the American Athletic Conference's first five seasons, no team has finished with more than seven wins following a 1-6 start and none have earned higher than a No. 8 seed in the conference tournament.
Â
Gregg Marshall has performed this magic trick before with a young and inexperienced team. In 2008-09 (his second season at WSU), the Shockers endured an 0-6 start to MVC play but rallied to win eight of the next 11 on their way to a CBI bid -- the first of 10 straight postseason appearances. That team had a chance at .500 on the final day of the regular season but lost at Southern Illinois for a still-impressive 8-10 finish.
Â
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 1,401 points -- 16th all-time.
***McDuffie moved into the top-20 on Wednesday night at Tulsa. He could move as many as three more spots to No. 17 on Saturday just by matching his season average.
Â
McDuffie on WSU's All-Time Scoring List:
15. Fred VanVleet (2012-16) -- 1,439 (+129)
16. Jamie Thompson (1964-67) -- 1,359 (+49)
17. J.T. Durley (2007-11) -- 1,327 (+17)
18. Ron Harris (1969-72) -- 1,322 (+12)
19. Paul Miller (2001-06) -- 1,317 (+7)
20.
Markis McDuffie (2015-Pr.) -- 1,310
Â
LONG-DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP:
***College basketball is on pace for another record-breaking three-point season. Per KenPom, 37.7% of all field goal attempts have been from beyond the arc, breaking the record set last year (37.5), which broke the record from the year before (36.4), which broke the record from 2016 (34.4).
***Wichita State has been no exception. 38.9% of Shocker shots are three-pointers, and the team's 23.9 attempts-per-game is just ahead of last year's school record pace.
***The Shockers have hoisted at least 32 threes on five occasions this year, including twice in the last week (35 at Cincinnati and 33 at Tulsa). That had happened just four other times in school history prior to this year.
Â
KENPOM SAYS:
***
Jaime Echenique is one of just 25 players nationally with a block percentage of 10% or higher. In The American, Echenique's 10.59% is second only to Tacko Fall.
***Echenique's league-best 27.1% defensive rebound percentage ranks 32nd nationally -- and the best by any Shocker in the KenPom Era (2001-02 to Present).
***KenPom rates
Markis McDuffie as The American's fifth-most efficient offensive player among those utilitized on more than 24% of possessions.
Â
McDUFFIE A TRIPLE THREAT:
***McDuffie (135 career three-pointers) is tied for 12th on WSU's career list -- most ever by a Shocker forward or center. He needs just six more to break into the top-10.
***McDuffie is five away from Ryan Herrs -- father of current WSU sophomore guard
Jacob Herrs.
Â
McDuffie on WSU's All-Time 3-Point Field Goal Chart:
7.
Landry Shamet (2015-18) – 159 (+24)
8. David Kyles (2008-12) – 153 (+18)
9. Paul Guffrovich (1987-91) – 144 (+9)
10. Fred VanVleet (2012-16) – 141 (+6)
11. Ryan Herrs (1992-96) – 140 (+5)
12. Toure' Murry (2008-12) -- 135
12.
Markis McDuffie (2015-Pr.) -- 135Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Â
***McDuffie is sinking 2.36 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.
***McDuffie's streak of 15-straight games with a three-pointer came to an end Feb. 20 at Tulsa with an 0-for-6 effort. It was one of the nine-longest streaks in school history. McDuffie hit multiple threes in all but one of the 15 games during the streak and shot a combined 40.1% (40-of-105).
Â
SOME LINES ABOUT LINEUPS:
***Marshall used his sixth different starting-five on Wednesday night, subbing
Asbjørn Midtgaard for
Jaime Echenique and
Dexter Dennis for
Erik Stevenson. It was Midtgaard's second career start (he also started the season opener). It was Dennis' 13th start of the year but his first since Jan. 22 (as USF). Echenique had started 23-straight games.
***The shakeup worked wonders. Echenique checked in after less than 90 seconds and went on to score 14 points (his second-best effort of the conference season). Stevenson also played well, finishing with 11 points, seven rebounds in 21 minutes. He was 3-of-6 from deep after hitting just 5-of-30 attempts in the team's first eight true road games of the year. Dennis' 18 points were one shy of his season-high.
***
Samajae Haynes-Jones and
Markis McDuffie have started all 25 contests.
Â
