[6] WICHITA STATE (21-14) at [1] INDIANA (19-15)
NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT | QUARTERFINALS
TUE. MAR. 26, 2019 | 6:01 P.M. CT (7:01 ET)
BLOOMINGTON, IND./ ASSEMBLY HALL
TV: ESPN
RADIO: KEYN 103.7 FM
SERIES: TIED 1-1 | WINNER TO NEW YORK; SEMIFINALS
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TUNE IN:
***Watch the game on ESPN with Bob Wischusen (pbp) & Dan Dakich (analyst).
***Listen on KEYN 103.7 FM. Mike Kennedy, now in his 39th season as "Voice of the Shockers," is joined by Bob Hull. Coverage begins an hour before tipoff with the INTRUST Bank Pregame Show.
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OPENING TIPS:
***A trip to New York is on the line Tuesday night when No. 6 seed Wichita State travels to No. 1 Indiana for an NIT quarterfinal matchup at Assembly Hall. The 6 p.m. CT tip airs on ESPN.
***The winner advances to next Tuesday's semifinal round at Madison Square Garden to face either Lipscomb or NC State.
***This is the Shockers' third NIT road game in seven days after wins at No. 3 Furman (76-70) and No. 2 Clemson (63-55).
***A win over Indiana would make WSU the first team ever to sweep the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 seeds in regional play. The Shockers are also looking to become just the sixth team to reach New York with three road wins.
***WSU is looking to become just the fourth school to win NIT championships in consecutive appearances after winning it all in 2011. The Shockers' seven-straight NIT wins is tied for the eighth-longest streak in the event's 82-year history.
***WSU is 1-1 all-time against Indiana (1-0 under
Gregg Marshall). The Shockers won an NCAA first round matchup in 2015 on their way to the Sweet 16. WSU lost to Indiana in the 1989 Hoosier Classic in Indianapolis. This will be its first trip to Bloomington.
***Wednesday's 76-70 first round victory at Furman was Marshall's 500th career victory. Marshall is one of just 10 coaches to hit that number by end of his 21st season.
***The Shockers never trailed in Sunday's 63-55 second round victory at Clemson. The host Tigers attempted 31 free throws to WSU's 10 but shot just 28.3%, including 2-of-14 from deep.Â
Jaime Echenique (18 points) and
Markis McDuffie (16) led the Shocker scoring, and
Samajae Haynes-Jones (10 pts, 10 reb)added a double-double.
Dexter Dennis chipped in nine points and a team-high 11 boards. The Shockers never trailed.
***This is WSU's 11th consecutive postseason appearance. The streak began with a 2009 CBI bid and continued with NIT's in 2010 and 2011, followed by a run of seven-consecutive NCAA tournaments.
***WSU is one of only eight programs that have reached the 20-win mark in every season since 2010.
***WSU returned 11.2% of minutes from 2018 (fifth-fewest in D-I). McDuffie is the lone Shocker with prior postseason experience.
***The rebuilding Shockers were 8-11 (1-6 in American play) in late January but have since won 13 of their last 16 games.
***WSU's stated postseason goal is to "bring Markis home." Reaching the NIT semifinals in New York would be a homecoming for McDuffie, who grew up across the river in Paterson, N.J.
***A second team All-AAC pick, McDuffie's 18.3 points-per-game is the highest Shocker scoring average of the Marshall Era. McDuffie ranks 13th on WSU's all-time scoring list (1,492). His 154 free throws, 79 three-pointers and 639 points all rank among the top-five on WSU single-season lists. In Sunday's win, McDuffie broke Randy Smithson's school record for total minutes (1,161 and counting).
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THE SERIES WITH INDIANA:
***WSU and Indiana meet for just the third time. The series is tied 1-1. This is the Shockers' first ever visit to Bloomington.
***The teams last played in the 2015 NCAA Tournament when the Shockers (seeded seventh) upended the 10th-seeded Hoosiers, 81-76, in Omaha, Neb. WSU's All-American point guard Fred VanVleet (27 points) outdueled Indiana's Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell (24 points). Ron Baker added 15 points and
Zach Brown chipped in 11 points and eight boards for WSU, which upset Kansas two days later to reach the Sweet 16.
***The only other game came on Dec. 27, 1989 in Indianapolis when 10th-ranked Indiana thrashed the Shockers, 75-54, in the first round of the Hoosier Classic.
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MATCHUP MASHUP:
***WSU and head coach
Gregg Marshall are 1-0 against Indiana's Archie Miller. The Shockers defeated Miller's Dayton Fliers in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, 64-58. It was Miller's final game at UD before accepting the Indiana job.
***The 2017 NCAA Tournament also marked WSU's last appearance in the state of Indiana. The Dayton game and the second round contest against Kentucky both took place in Indianapolis at BankersLife Fieldhouse.
***WSU first-year assistant
Lou Gudino is a University of Indiana alumnus. He has the scout for Tuesday's game.
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WSU IN THE NIT:
***Wichita State is in the quarterfinals for only the second time in 52 years.
***The 2011 Shockers defeated College of Charleston at home, then became the first Shocker team to win an NIT game in New York when they defeated both Washington State and Ala-bama for the title.
***WSU played in New York a total of four times before the NIT switched to campus sites. The Shockers twice lost in the first round (1954, 1962) and twice lost in the quarterfinals after earning first round byes (1963, 1966).
***A win over Indiana would move WSU into the semifinals for just the second time in 13 NIT appearances.
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WICHITA STATE IN THE NIT:Â Â
***This is Wichita State's 13th NIT appearance. The Shockers are 10-11 all-time, with five of those wins coming in their last appearance (2011) when they won the title.
***WSU's win at Furman marked just the fourth time in 13 NIT trips that the Shockers have advanced in the bracket. They went one-and-done in each of their first six appearances between 1954 and 1984. WSU went 1-1 in 1989, 2-1 in 2005 and 5-0 in 2011.
***WSU's win at Furman was only its second NIT road victory in six tries. They've won back-to-back now, with the other coming in overtime at Virginia Tech.
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Gregg Marshall is coaching in his third NIT (2009, 2010, 2011), tying Ralph Miller (1954, 1962, 1963) and Mark Turgeon (2003, 2004, 2005) for the most in Shocker history. Marshall has a 7-1 career NIT record.
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PICKING UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF:
***Wichita State (the 2011 champion) is looking to become just the fourth school to win titles in consecutive appearances. St. John's (1943 & '44), South Carolina (2005 & '06) and Penn State (2009 & '18) are the others.
***With its first and second round victories, WSU has now won seven-staight NIT games -- tied for the eighth-longest in the event's 82-year history. A win at Indiana would tie for the sixth-longest.
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Longest NIT Winning Streaks (All-Time):
10 -- South Carolina (2005, 2006)
10 -- Penn State (2009, 2018)
9 – Ohio State (1986, 1987)
9 – Memphis (2001, 2002, 2005)
9 – Michigan (2004, 2006)
8 – Dayton (1962, 1968)
8 – Purdue (1974, 1979)
7 – Wichita State (2011, 2019)
7 – St. John's (1943, 1944)
7 – Fresno State (1983, 1985)
7 – Nebraska (1996, 1997)
7 – Uconn (1988, 1989)
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THE AMERICAN IN THE NIT:
***Two American Athletic Conference schools are in the 2019 NIT field. No. 3 seed Memphis defeated Loyola in the first round before falling at No. 2 Creighton Friday.
***Since the league's formation in 2013-14, a total of 13 AAC schools, including WSU, have participated in the NIT. 2014 runner-up SMU has the conference's best finish to-date. WSU is the fourth AAC school to reach the quarterfinal round. Each of the three previous teams – SMU (2014; Runner-Up), Temple (2015; Semifinals) and UCF (2017; Semifinals) – won their quarter-final games and advanced to New York.
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NIT FIRST AND SECOND ROUND LEFTOVERS:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
***WSU's first two NIT opponents were less than 35 miles apart, yet the team returned to Wichita for 48 hours in between wins at Furman (Greenville, S.C.) and Clemson (Clemson, S.C.). The Shockers flew directly from Clemson to Bloomington, Ind. on Sunday evening.
***In last Wednesday's win at Furman,
Markis McDuffie supplied 20 points. Centers
Jaime Echenique and
Asbjørn Midtgaard combined for 25 points and 20 rebounds in 40 minutes. Tied with 4:00 to play, the Shockers came away with field goals on five-straight possessions then went 4-of-4 at the foul line to put the game on ice.
***Sunday at Clemson, Echenique scored a team-high 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting and added two blocks and three steals. McDuffie chipped in 16 points.
Samajae Haynes-Jones (10 pts, 10 reb) netted his second double-double of the season, and
Dexter Dennis narrowly missed one his own with nine points and 11 boards... WSU held Clemson to 28.3 percent from the field, including 2-of-14 from three... Clemson rallied late to cut a 13-point Shocker lead to three with less than a minute to go, but Haynes-Jones nailed a step-back three ahead of the shot clock buzzer to put WSU up 61-55 with 30 seconds to play.
***Sunday's win was WSU's first over an ACC opponent since the 2011 NIT when the Shockers won in overtime at top-seed Virginia Tech. It snapped a five-game skid that included losses to Notre Dame in the 2015 Sweet 16 and the 2017 Maui Invitational title game, as well as to Miami in the 2016 NCAA second round.
***McDuffie is averaging a team-high 18.0 points in the two NIT games. He's played 75 of a possible 80 minutes.
***Echenique has returned to form after a disappointing AAC Tournament weekend. He's averaging 17.0 points and 6.0 rebounds while hitting 15-of-18 shots from the field (.833). He's 13-of-15 from inside the arc (.857).
***WSU's platoon of centers (Echenique/Midtgaard/Poor bear-Chandler) averaged 25.5 points, 14.0 rebound, 3.0 blocks in the two wins on 22-of-27 shooting (.815).
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PLAYING FOR 'JB':
***Shocker players are sporting "JB" patches on their jerseys in honor of John Bardo, who passed away Mar. 12 at age 70. Bardo, the university's president since 2012, had been battling a chronic lung condition.
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20-WINS... AGAIN!
***The Shockers reached the 20-win plateau for a 10th-straight year with Wednesday's victory at Furman.
***Wichita State is one of just eight schools credited with winning 20+ games in every season since 2010, joined by Kansas, Duke, Gonzaga, North Carolina, Kentucky, St. Mary's and Vermont. (Note -- Louisville vacated wins from three recent seasons but would otherwise qualify, as well).
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Consecutive 20-Win Seasons:
30 – Kansas
23 – Duke
22 – Gonzaga
15 – North Carolina
14 – Kentucky
12 – St. Mary's
11 – Vermont
10 – Wichita State
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ROAD WARRIORS:
***Prior to this year, WSU had been the nation's most successful road team under
Gregg Marshall. An 0-6 start the year ate into those numbers, but the young Shockers have since won six of their last seven true road contests.
***Per Warren Nolan, WSU's five-straight true road wins is tied for the nation's 12th-longest active streak.
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MILESTONES:
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Markis McDuffie (639 total points this year) is the highest-scoring Shocker since Xavier McDaniel. He's currrently third on WSU's single-season list.
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WSU Single-Season Leaders // Total Points:
1. Xavier McDaniel (1984-85) -- 844
2. Dave Stallworth (1963-64) -- 769
3. Markis McDuffie (2018-19) -- 639
4. Maurice Evans (1998-99) -- 632
5. Xavier McDaniel (1983-84) -- 619
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***McDuffie has attempted a school-record 228 three-point field goals this year, breaking Ron Baker's mark (209 in 2014-15).
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Samajae Haynes-Jones has attempted 205 threes.
Prior to this season, only two others Shockers had taken that many in a year. Baker and Sean Ogirri (206 in 2005-06).
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WSU Single-Season Leaders // 3-Point Attempts:
1. Markis McDuffie (2018-19) -- 228
2. Ron Baker (2014-15) -- 209
3. Sean Ogirri (2005-06) -- 206
4.
Samajae Haynes-Jones (2018-19) -- 205
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***McDuffie's 79 three-point field goals are fourth on WSU's season chart. He needs one more to match Baker (80; 2014-15) for third and five to catch
Landry Shamet (84; 2017-18) for second.
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WSU Single-Season Leaders // 3-Point Field Goals:
1. Sean Ogirri (2005-06) -- 91
2.
Landry Shamet (2017-18) -- 84
3. Ron Baker (2014-15) -- 80
4. Markis McDuffie (2018-19) -- 79
5. David Kyles (2010-11) -- 75
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***McDuffie has made 154 free throws this year. That total is fifth on the season list but is essentially the modern record. Prior to 1972, free throw rules were drastically different, with players awarded a free shot after every common foul.
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WSU Single-Season Leaders // Free Throw Attempts:
1. Cleo Littleton (1954-55) -- 220
2. Dave Stallworth (1963-64) -- 203
3. Dave Stallworth (1962-63) -- 165
4. Cleo Littleton (1952-53) -- 155
5. Markis McDuffie (2018-19) -- 154
6. Jamar Howard (2003-04) -- 152
7. Cleanthony Early (2013-14) -- 151
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***McDuffie (1,492 career points) needs just eight more to become the program's 13th 1,500-point scorer.
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WSU Career Leaders // Total Points:
10. Jamar Howard (2001-05) -- 1,571
11. Greg Carney (1966-70) -- 1,545
12. Toure' Murry (2008-12) -- 1,539
13. Markis McDuffie (2015-Pr.) -- 1,492Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
14. Cliff Levingston (1979-82) -- 1,471Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
15. Sasha Radunovich (1985-89) -- 1,463Â Â Â Â Â Â
16. Fred VanVleet (2012-16) -- 1,439
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YOUTH SERVES:
***
Jamarius Burton's 1.85 assist-to-turnover ratio is the highest ever for a Shocker true freshman.
***Burton is just six assists shy of WSU's freshman record. His 119 dimes are two more than
Landry Shamet had as a redshirt rookie during the 2016-17 season and second only to Joe Griffin (125 in 1986-87).
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WSU Freshmen Single-Season // Total Assists:
1. Joe Griffin (1986-87) -- 125
2. Jamarius Burton (2018-19 ) -- 119
3.
Landry Shamet (2016-17) -- 117
4. Bob Trogele Fr. (1975-76) -- 103
5. Fred VanVleet (2012-13) -- 89
5. Bernard Jackson (1982-83) -- 89
