TULANE (4-17, 0-9) AT WICHITA STATE (11-11, 4-6)
SATURDAY, FEB. 8, 2019 | 7:05 P.M. CT
WICHITA, KAN. / CHARLES KOCH ARENA (10,506)
TV: ESPNU
RADIO: KEYN 103.7 FM (GOSHOCKERS.COM/LISTEN)
>>> After picking up its first true road win, Wichita State -- winners of three-straight -- plays host to Tulane at 7 p.m. Saturday night inside Charles Koch Arena, Home of Devlin Court.
>>> Watch the game on ESPNU with Kevin Brown (pbp) and Mark Wise.
>>> 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.
>>> 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 YurView.com/Kansas. Remaining Dates: Feb. 11, 18, 25 & Mar. 11
>>> Single-game seats are still available, online at GoShockers.com/Tickets or through the Shocker Ticket Office at 316-978-FANS.
>>>
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. Wichita State fans are encouraged to support the cause by pledging a donation for every Shocker assist over a four-game stretch from Feb. 2 to Feb. 17. Funds raised will benefit area youth through Wichita's Fundamental Learning Center. To make a pledge, visit
www.pledgeit.org/shockersforliteracy.
OPENING TIPS:
***This is the second meeting all-time between the programs. WSU won the series debut last year in Wichita, 93-86. Playing without
Landry Shamet (illness), the Shockers got 25 points from
Shaquille Morris. Tulane's Melvin Frazier (selected 35th overall by the Orlando Magic last spring) scored 22 points for Tulane. The Green Wave's 86 points tied for the most by a visiting team since CKA's 2003 renovation (WSU also defeated Temple 93-86 last year).
***WSU makes its first-ever visit to Tulane's Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse for the regular season finale on Mar. 9.
***The Werner Ladders Naismith Coach of the Year trophy will be on display before and during Saturday's game up on the main concourse.
Gregg Marshall won the award in 2014 after leading the Shockers to a 35-1 finish. The WSU-Tulane matchup pitts a former NCAA coach of the year (Marshall) against a former NBA Coach of the Year (Mike Dunleavy Sr.).
***Tulane has lost 11-straight and is in search of its first AAC win. Samir Sehic is the conference's third-leading rebounder (7.8) and has collected seven double-doubles. Sophomore Caleb Daniels' 15.6 points-per-game ranks second among AAC underclassmen.
***WSU downed ECU on Wednesday night, 65-49, for its first road win of 2018-19.
Samajae Haynes-Jones hit 7-of-9 shots (2-of-2 from deep) for 18 points, and
Markis McDuffie added 14.
Asbjørn Midtgaard grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds,
Jaime Echenique snagged 10, and the Shockers whipped the Pirates on the glass, 46-27. WSU held an opponent below 50 points for the first time this year, limiting ECU to 34.6% shooting and just one second-chance point.
***WSU is 7-3 this year at Charles Koch Arena (8-3 overall in Wichita). Defensive numbers have been fairly consistent for the Shockers, but they average nearly 10 points more at the Roundhouse (74.7) than at other venues (64.9).
Erik Stevenson has the biggest individual splits (10.1 ppg, 36.0% at CKA / 4.7 ppg, 17.8% 3pt in all other games).
***The Shockers are 4-1 in conference games when banking more assists than turnovers (the only loss came at Memphis) but 0-5 when turnovers outnumber assists. Over the last three games, they've posted a 46:26 ratio (1.77) .
***WSU swept The American's weekly awards on Monday.
Markis McDuffie took home Player of the Week honors for the second time and point guard
Jamarius Burton became the Shockers' first Freshman of the Week since joining the conference last year.
***McDuffie is the league's leading scorer at 18.6 points. Wednesday night's 14-point effort was his 20th double-figure scoring game of the year. His 129 career three-pointers ranks 15th all-time and is one shy of Rob Kampman (a 6-8 stretch-four who played at WSU from 2001-05) for the most by a non-guard.
CRUSHING FEBRUARY:
***No one loves February more than Wichita State fans. Over the last six Februarys (2014-19), the Shockers lead the college basketball world in both wins (39-3) and winning percentage (.929).
***WSU has won eight-straight February games going back to last year.
Most February Wins // Last Six Seasons (Feb. 2014-19):
1. Wichita State – 39-3 (.929)
2. Villanova – 37-6 (.860)
3. Vermont – 35-5 (.875)
4. Kansas – 35-9 (.795)
5. Gonzaga – 34-7 (.829)
MARSHALL MILESTONE:
***
Gregg Marshall is three wins shy of the 300-mark as Shocker head coach and needs just nine more to hit 500 for his career.
***Marshall (491-192, .719) is one of just 10 active head coaches with 400+ Division I wins and .700+ winning percentage.
NOW THAT'S MORE LIKE IT:
***Poor shooting, silly fouls, costly turnovers and inconsistent rebounding -- weaknesses that plagued the Shockers during a 1-6 conference start have morphed into areas of strength during the team's three-game winning streak.
Category: Last 3 Games // First 7 AAC Games
Record: 3-0 // 1-6
Point For: 76.3 // 65.1
Points/Possession: 1.18 // 0.95
Scoring Margin: +9.7 // -8.6
Field Goal %: .441 // .410
3-Point %: .351 // .289
Rebound Margin: +8.7 // -1.7
Turnovers: 8.7 // 14.6
A:TO Ratio: 1.77 // 0.84
TO Margin: +2.0 // -2.6
Fouls: 14.7 // 22.0
Opp. FT Attempts: 17.0 // 26.3
TRENDING:
***Sophomore 7-footer
Asbjørn Midtgaard is averaging 4.8 point and 4.1 rebounds in 15.3 minutes over his last eight games. Prior to that, he had put up 1.0 points, 0.8 rebounds in 3.6 minutes over the first 14 games of the year. In two of them he did not see action.
***The Shockers ranked second nationally in rebound margin last year. While this year's group hasn't been quite as strong in that department, Wednesday's +19 rebounding performance at ECU was WSU's best in an American Athletic Conference game since joining the league (topping a +18 effort at SMU last February).
***Last Saturday marked just the third time this year that the Shockers have outscored an opponent in both halves. They did it again Wednesday at ECU and have now tipped the scales in five-straight periods going back to halftime of the SMU game.
***Marshall is pleased to be seeing more "Shocker box scores." WSU is learning to win games with more than just streaky shooting. The Shockers were out-shot in each of their two home wins last week but fared well in the turnover and rebounding battles (two staples of past Shocker teams). They hoisted 18 more shots than Tulsa on Saturday to overcome the Hurricanes' 53 percent shooting night and led by double-digits most of the way at ECU, despite shooting less than 40 percent.
***The Shockers are learning to defend without fouling. In last Saturday's win over Tulsa they committed a season-low 14 fouls. They had just 15 at ECU on Wednesday.
***
Erik Stevenson has six steals in the last two games. His career-high four-steal performance against Tulsa was the most by a Shocker this year.
***
Jamarius Burton has 17 assists over the past three games with just three turnovers (5.67 ratio). He sat much of the game at ECU with foul trouble but still finished with a team-best four helpers in 15 turnover-free minutes.
***Burton now owns the team's assist lead outright. Notably, in the 46+ years since freshmen gained NCAA eligibility (1972-73), just two freshmen have led the team in assists over a full season: Joe Griffin (1987) and
Landry Shamet (2017). The latter was a redshirt rookie.
***The Shockers have committed just 34 turnovers in their last four outings (8.5-per-game). They had been averaging 14.0 turnovers-per-game prior to that.
***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 eight of the nation's top-50 scoring defenses this year: Houston (6), Cincinnati (10), VCU (16), UCF (24), Southern Miss (30), Baylor (31), Davidson (36) and USF (41).
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 .755 in American play.
***
Markis McDuffie has reached the 22-game mark, matching his total from last year's injury-plagued junior season. He's been a far more productive player in this current 22-game stretch, totaling 410 points (compared to 186 last year).
***McDuffie's three-point shooting numbers have improved across the board, and partial credit goes to former teammate
Landry Shamet. McDuffie studied Shamet's picturesque shooting form and has worked on staying upright and in rhythm with his jumpers. McDuffie is shooting .376 from distance this year (compared to .339 last year), despite taking two-and-a-half times more attempts (141; up from 59).
ACCESS DENIED:
***
Jaime Echenique ranks 27th nationally in block percentage, per KenPom (9.92%). Among conference peers, Only Tacko Fall (11th, 12.05%) has been better.
***Echenique has blocked a league-high 20 shots in 10 conference games.
***17 of Echeninique's team-high 33 blocks have come in the last seven 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 19 of the 22 games this year, including an active run of seven-straight. He began the year with a 10-game streak.
MARKIS ON THE MARQUEE:
***
Markis McDuffie (18.6 ppg) entered the weekend atop the conference scoring chart by three hundredths of a point over Cincinnati's Jarron Cumberland. The league's top-four are all within three-tenths of the lead.
***It's been 19 years since WSU's last scoring champ. Jason Perez averaged an MVC-best 20.2 ppg in 2000.
American Athletic Conference Scoring Leaders (as of 2/8/19):
18.64 -- Markis McDuffie (Wichita St.)
18.61 -- Jarron Cumberland (Cincinnati)
18.35 -- Shizz Alston Jr. (Temple)
18.32 -- Jahmal McMurray (SMU)
17.95 -- Jayden Gardner (ECU)
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 1,412 points -- 16th all-time.
McDuffie on WSU's All-Time Scoring List:
15. Fred VanVleet (2012-16) -- 1,439 (+176)
16. Jamie Thompson 1964-67) -- 1,359 (+96)
17. J.T. Durley 2007-11) -- 1,327 (+64)
18. Ron Harris 1969-72) -- 1,322 (+59)
19. Paul Miller 2001-06) -- 1,317 (+54)
20. P.J. Couisnard (2004-08) -- 1,303 (+40)
21. Warren Armstrong (1965-68) -- 1,301 (+38)
22. Joe Stevens (1955-58) -- 1,295 (+32)
23. Gus Santos (1983-87) -- 1,278 (+15)
24. Markis McDuffie (2015-Pr.) -- 1,263
MORE McDUFFIE MILESTONES:
***In the first half of Wednesday night's game at ECU,
Markis McDuffie became the 16th player in Shocker history to record 100 career steals.
***McDuffie needs 12 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 A TRIPLE THREAT:
***McDuffie ranks 15th 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 13-straight games (a career-best). All-time, it's the 18th WSU streak of a dozen-or-more. If he extends it Saturday, he'd be just the 12th Shocker with a streak of 14-or-better.
***McDuffie is sinking 2.41 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 72 total triples, which would tie for the sixth-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 one more to match Rob Kampman (130 from 2001-05) for the most by a non-guard.
McDuffie on WSU's All-Time Three-Point Field Goal Chart:
10. Fred VanVleet (G; 2012-16) – 141 (+12)
11. Ryan Herrs (G/F; 1992-96) – 140 (+11)
12. Toure' Murry (G; 2008-12) – 135 (+6)
13. Rob Kampman (F; 2001-05) – 130 (+1)
13. Matt Braeuer (G; 2004-08) – 130 (+1)
15. Markis McDuffie (F; 2015-Pr.) -- 129
16. Clevin Hannah (G; 2008-10) -- 128
SCHEDULE NOTABLES:
***The rebuilding Shockers have played 13 Quadrant I or II contests this year -- tied with Tulsa for the most by an American Athletic Conference school.
***The Shockers have played the nation's 14th toughest schedule, per NET.
***Tabbed eighth in the preseason poll, the rebuilding Shockers opened American play with six of their first seven games coming against teams picked to finish in the upper-half of the standings. That stretch included four Quadrant I games and three Quadrant II contests.
***WSU is now in the last of a four-game stretch of games against teams picked seventh-or-lower. All four are Q-III or Q-IV matchups.
***The Shockers have eight games remaining in the regular season. Only one of them (Feb. 17 at Cincinnati) is against a team that currently has a winning conference record.
***The Shockers' four one-off opponents this year -- Houston, UCF, Temple and USF -- occupy four of the top-five spots in the standings.
***That's not to say the things will be easy. WSU comes back from its bye week with a stretch of five-straight QI & II games, beginning with the aforementioned trip to Cincinnati.
SCOUTING TULANE:
***Tulane lost a potent scoring tandem in Cameron Reynolds (15.1 ppg) and Melvin Frazier (15.9). Reynolds graduated and Frazier left early for the NBA Draft (35th overall; Orlando Magic). Both players ranked among the league's top-five in scoring, and the duo accounted for almost 42% of the team's points.
***Tulane has lost 11-straight. Seven of those games have been on the road.
Sophomore Caleb Daniels (team-high 15.6 ppg) has shouldered more of the scoring load this year.
***Samir Sehic has seven double-doubles and ranks third on The American rebounding list (7.8).
MATCHUP MASHUP:
***A former national coach of the year meets a former NBA coach of the year.
Gregg Marshall won consensus honors in 2014 after guiding WSU to a 35-0 start. Mike Dunleavy Sr. joined the college ranks in 2016 following 17-years leading the Lakers, Bucks, Trail Blazers and Clippers. He was NBA Coach of the Year in 1999 after taking Portland to the Western Conference Finals.
***Marshall grew up rooting for the University of South Carolina, and Dunleavy was one of his favorite players.
***Tulane athletic director Troy Dannen served in the same position at Northern Iowa (one of WSU's former MVC rivals) from 2008-15.
***Three of the league's most improved players, in terms of on-court productivity, will share the floor Saturdays. Caleb Daniels appeared in 30 games off the bench last year for Tulane and averaged 6.4 points in 18.3 minutes. He's started all 20 games as a sophomore and is putting up 15.6 points in 33.5 minutes... WSU's
Samajae Haynes-Jones played in just one game after Feb. 10 last year but now rarely leaves the floor. His scoring has jumped from 5.3 points to 12.6, and he's playing a team-high 32.8 minutes (up from 11.0 last year)....
Markis McDuffie is averaging a league-high 18.6 points this year after putting up 8.5 as a junior.
***In conference play, Daniels (3.4) and WSU's
Jamarius Burton (3.3) are The American's underclassman assist leaders. Burton's 1.4 A:TO ratio is tops among the league's freshman qualifiers.
WSU-TULANE: LAST MEETING
Feb. 21, 2018 | Wichita (Charles Koch Arena)
#13 WSU 93, Tulane 86
***Playing without point guard
Landry Shamet (illness), WSU did just enough to fend off Tulane in the first-ever meeting between the programs.
***
Shaquille Morris scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Conner Frankamp and
Markis McDuffie added 18 and 15 respectively.
***WSU shot well (49%). Tulane was slightly better (51%, including 11-of-19 from three). But the Shockers outscored the Green Wave, 22-13 at the foul line.
***WSU held Tulane scoreless for more than two minutes to build a 28-19 lead on its way to a 47-31 halftime edge. Tulane put up 55 second-half points (on 61.8% shooting) and closed to within four in 4:00 to go, but the Shockers came away with points on each of their last nine possessions to close out the win.
***With Shamet out and
Austin Reaves battling foul trouble, seldom-used sophomore
C.J. Keyser answered the bell with a career-high 11 points in 19 minutes. He was 7-of-7 at the line and drove for two layups.
***Tulane's Melvin Frazier scored all 22 of his points in the second half on 10-of-15 shooting after missing all four first-half attempts.
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…
… boost them back over the .500 mark (12-11).
… make them 5-6 in AAC play after a 1-6 start.
… give them a season-best four-game win streak.
… make them 80-6 at CKA over the last six years.
… make them 2-0 all-time vs. Tulane.
… make Marshall 2-0 vs. Tulane (2-0 vs. Dunleavy).
… move Marshall to within eighth wins of 500 for his career (492-192) and within two of 300 at WSU.
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
… drop their record to 11-12 (4-7 American).
… snap a three-game winning streak.
… be just their seventh CKA loss in six years.
… tie the all-time series with Tulane at 1-1.
… be less good than a win.
UP NEXT:
***The Shockers have a full week off before next Sunday's trip to No. 25 Cincinnati.
***The game will air on either ESPN or ESPN2.
***Cincinnati (20-3, 9-1) is tied for first-place in The American standings.
***UC won the first meeting on Jan. 19 in Wichita.
***A year ago, WSU ended the Bearcat's nation-best 39-game home court winning streak.
***This will be the Shockers' first trip to newly-renovated FifthThird Arena.
