[6] WICHITA STATE (22-14) vs. [5] LIPSCOMB (28-7)
NATIONAL INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT | SEMIFINALS
TUES., APR. 2, 2019 | 6 P.M. CT (7 P.M. ET)
NEW YORK, N.Y./ MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
TV: ESPN
RADIO: KEYN 103.7 FM // WESTWOOD ONE
SERIES: FIRST MEETING
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>>> Watch the game on ESPN with Bob Wischusen (pbp) & Fran Fraschilla (analyst).
>>> Listen on KEYN 103.7 FM. Mike Kennedy, now in his 39th season as "Voice of the Shockers," is joined by Dave Dahl. Coverage begins an hour before tipoff with the INTRUST Bank Pregame Show.
>>> Lance Medow and Jon Crispin describe the action on Westwood One radio affiliates across the country. For a complete list, visit westwoodonesports.com/stations.
>>> For behind-the-scenes coverage from New York, follow the Shockers on social media (@GoShockers and @GoShockersMBB) and use the hashtag "watchus."
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OPENING TIPS:
***Wichita State travels to world-famous Madison Square Garden in New York City for an NIT Semifinal matchup with Atlantic Sun co-champion Lipscomb (6 p.m. CT, ESPN).
***This is the first men's basketball meeting between the schools.
***The winner advances to Thursday's championship game against either TCU or Texas (6 p.m. CT, ESPN).
***This is WSU's second semifinal in 13 NIT appearances.
***The Shockers won it all in 2011 and are looking to become just the fourth team in the event's 82-year history to capture titles in consecutive trips. Penn State did it last year. WSU's eight-straight NIT wins is tied for the sixth-longest streak all-time.
***The Shockers' 2011 championship was a springboard for seven consecutive NCAA Tournament bids (2012-18). They've reached the postseason in each of the last 11 years.
***The Shockers scored three road wins in seven days at No. 3 Furman (76-70), No. 2 Clemson (63-55) and No. 1 Indiana (73-63), becoming the first team in NIT history to sweep the top-three seeds in its region in the way to New York City.
***WSU held its three NIT regional foes to an average of 62.7 points on 36.7% shooting -- tops among the 32 teams in the field.
***WSU's first round win at Furman was head coach
Gregg Marshall's 500th career victory. Marshall is one of just 10 coaches all-time who have hit that mark before the end of their 21st season.
***WSU returned just three lettermen and 11.2% of its minutes from last year (fifth-fewest nationally). The rebuilding Shockers are 14-3 since Jan. 30 on the heels of an 8-11 start.
***The only Shocker with prior postseason experience, senior forward
Markis McDuffie, averaged a team-high 18.3 points this year on his way to second team all-conference honors. In the quarterfinal win at Indiana, McDuffie became just the 13th Shocker to cross the 1,500-point threshold.
***For the Shockers, Tuesday marks day No. 148 the 2018-19 season. WSU will play in April for only the second time in school history. On Apr. 6, 2013, the Shockers faced Louisville in the Final Four. WSU's Nov. 6 opener this year was also the earliest in school history – by three full days.
***Marshall's oft-stated goal for the Shockers this postseason was to "bring Markis home." Mission accomplished. Win or lose, the Shockers' senior leader will finish his career just across the river from his hometown, Paterson, N.J.
***Wichita State is one of just four programs that have won 22+ games in each of the last 10 seasons, along with Duke, Kansas and Gonzaga.
***Six former Shockers have spent time on New York Knick rosters.
Three of them played for Marshall: Toure' Murry, Cleanthony Early and Ron Baker. Two others, Dave Stallworth and Nate Bowman, were teammates on the Knicks' 1970 NBA championship team.
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A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…
…  move them into the NIT championship game for just the second time in 13 appearances.
…  make them 23-14 (15-3 since Jan. 30).
…  give them nine-straight NIT wins -- tied for the third-longest streak in the event's 82-year history.
… make them the second AAC school to reach the title game, joining 2014 runner-up SMU.
… make WSU 12-11 in NIT play (9-1 under Marshall).
… make WSU 20-9 in postseason play under Marshall.
…  make them 1-0 vs. Lipscomb.
…  make them 3-4 all-time at Madison Square Garden.
…  make Marshall 503-195 (.721) in 21 seasons
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A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
… end their season at 22-15.
… be just their fourth loss since January.
… be their first NIT loss since 2010, snapping an eight-game streak that began in 2011.
… make them 0-1 all-time vs. Lipscomb.
… sink them to 11-12 in 13 NIT trips.
… be less good than a win.
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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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WSU-LIPSCOMB MATCHUP MASHUP:
***This is only the second time that WSU has faced an Atlantic Sun team under
Gregg Marshall. The Shockers defeated 2018 A-Sun champion Florida Gulf Coast last year in a non-conference game at Charles Koch Arena.
***In the four decades since the NIT expanded to 32 teams, just seven schools have reached New York by winning all three games on the road. WSU and Lipscomb are both on that list.
***Lipscomb averaged a tournament-best 89.7 points in NIT regional play while hitting 51.9% from the field. The Shockers have the tournament's top statistical defense, holding their three foes to an average of 62.7 points on 36.7% shooting.
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SCOUTING LIPSCOMB:
***The Bisons (28-7, 14-2) shared the Atlantic Sun regular season title but lost to co-champion Liberty in the tournament final. They've won 18 of their last 21 games and have nation-best 14 true road wins this year.
***Seeded No. 5 in its region – Lipscomb won NIT road games at No. 4 Davidson (89-81), No. 1 UNC Greensboro (86-69) and No. 2 NC State (94-93) to reach New York.
***In the NC State game, Garrison Mathews scored 44 points (a D-I era school record) on eight three-pointers, and Kenny Cooper sank the game-winning basket with 1.7 seconds to play.
***The Bisons rank among the national leaders in scoring offense (7th, 84.0), scoring margin (8th, +13.9), assists (7th, 17.6) and field goal percentage (15th, .486).
***Mathews is the Atlantic Sun's leading scorer at 20.6 points-per-game. He's hit 110 three-point field goals this year (14th nationally, as of Thursday) with 41.0% accuracy. Mathews has connected on a three in 46-straight games, going back to last year. His 2,429 career points are the most by a Lipscomb player in two decades at the D-I level.
***Cooper leads the team in assists (4.3) and steals (67).
***Rob Marberry ranks 11th nationally in field goal percentage (.627),
***Lipscomb played in last year's NCAA Tournament after winning the A-Sun Tournament title. As a No. 15 seed, the Bisons fell to No. 2 North Carolina in the first round (84-66).
***Prior to 2018, Lipscomb's only other D-I postseason appearance came in the opening round of the 2006 NIT when it lost at UTEP (85-66).
***Lipscomb – located in Nashville, Tenn. -- appeared 14 times in the NAIA Tournament and won the 1986 national title. The school began its transition to NCAA Division I status in Sept. 1999.
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GOING THE EXTRA MILES:
***This is the Shockers' ninth trip (and 11th game) on the east coast this season.
***In addition to NIT matchups at Furman (Greenville, S.C.) and Clemson (Clemson, S.C.), the Shockers played American Athletic Conference contests at USF (Tampa, Fla.), UConn (Storrs, Conn.) and ECU (Greenville, N.C.). During the non-conference, WSU played three games in the Charleston Classic (Charleston, S.C.), a neutral site contest at the U.S.Naval Academy (Annapolis, Md.) and a road game at VCU (Richmond, Va.).
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SHOCKER NIT TRENDS:
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Markis McDuffie is averaging a team-high 19.0 points in NIT play. He's twice topped 20 points -- at Furman (20) and at Indiana (21) -- while playing 112 of a possible 120 minutes.
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Jaime Echenique is averaging 12.7 points, 7.7 rebounds on 69.6% shooting in NIT action. He finished with a double-double (16 pts, 10 reb) at Furman, scored a team-high 18 points at Clemson, and logged his seventh double-digit rebounding performance of the year at Indiana (2 pts, 11 reb).
***In three NIT contests,
Samajae Haynes-Jones is averaging a team-third 10.3 points and 6.0 rebounds. He's 10-for-10 at the line.
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Dexter Dennis has nine blocks in his last two games. Six of them came in the first half of the Indiana game. Prior to that, the freshman had blocked just nine shots all season. Dennis is 7-of-15 from deep (.467) on the expanded NIT arcs, helped by his 5-of-7 performance at Assembly Hall.
***After hitting just over 31% from long range leading up to the tournament, the Shockers have actually had better success from 20-inches farther back. They're shooting at a .343 clip (24-of-70) in three games using the experimental three-point line. Of the 16 squads that have played multiple NIT games, only three exceeded their pre-tournament averages: WSU, Arkansas (38.3%>34.2%) and Lipscomb (46.5% > 37.1%).
***WSU's platoon of centers (Echenique/Midtgaard/Poor bear-Chandler) averaged 20.0 points, 15.0 rebounds, 2.7 blocks in the three wins on 25-of-35 shooting (.714).
***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.). After the victory at Clemson the Shockers flew directly to Bloomington, Ind. and tipped two nights later against Indiana.
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WSU IN THE NIT:
***Wichita State makes its sixth NIT trip to New York. Four of them came before the NIT expanded to campus sites. The Shockers twice lost in the first round (1954, 1962) and twice lost in the quartefinals (1963, 1966) after earning first round byes.
***The 2011 Shockers were the first to win at MSG, defeating both Washington State and Alabama for the title.
***This is Wichita State's 13th NIT appearance. The Shockers are 11-11 all-time, with eight of their wins coming in its last two trips.
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Gregg Marshall is coaching in his third NIT (2010, 2011, 2019), tying Ralph Miller (1954, 1962, 1963) and Mark Turgeon (2003, 2004, 2005) for the most in Shocker history. Marshall has an 8-1 career NIT record.
***WSU 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.
 WSU's eight-game NIT winning streak is tied for the sixth-longest in the event's 82-year history. ***A win over Lipscomb would tie for third-longest.
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Longest NIT Winning Streaks (All-Time):
1. South Carolina (2005, 2006) -- 10Â
1. Penn St. (2009, 2018) – 10 (Active)
3. Ohio St. (1986, 1988) -- 9Â Â
3. Memphis (2001, 2002, 2005) -- 9Â Â
3. Michigan (2004, 2006) -- 9
6. Wichita St. (2011, 2019) – 8 (Active)
6. Dayton (1962, 1968) -- 8
6. Purdue (1974, 1979) -- 8
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THE AMERICAN IN THE NIT:
***Two American Athletic Conference schools made the 2019 NIT field. No. 3 seed Memphis defeated Loyola in the first round before falling at No. 2 Creighton.
***Since the league's formation in 2013-14, a total of 13 AAC schools, including WSU, have participated in the NIT.
***WSU is the fourth AAC school in the conference's six seasons to reach New York. Temple (2015) and UCF (2017) fell in the semifinals. 2014 runner-up SMU owns the league's best finish to-date.
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YOUTH SERVES:
***
Jamarius Burton's 1.86 assist-to-turnover ratio is the highest ever for a Shocker true freshman.
***Burton needs two assists to tie and three outright break WSU's freshman record. His 123 dimes are second only to Joe Griffin (125 in 1986-87).
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WSU Freshman Season Records // Total Assists:
1. Joe Griffin (1986-87) -- 125
2. Jamarius Burton (2018-19) -- 123
3.
Landry Shamet (2016-17) -- 117
4. Bob Trogele (1975-76) -- 103
5. Fred VanVleet (2012-13) -- 89
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TRENDING:
***The 2018-19 Shockers have attempted 867 threes, breaking the school record set by last year's team (787).
***Tuesday will be the Shockers' 37th game – tied for the second-most in school history. The 2011 NIT champs were 29-8. WSU's 2013 Final Four team played 39 times.
***WSU played 10 of its 33 regular season and conference tournament games against NCAA tournament teams, defeating Baylor and UCF at home and Temple on a neutral floor. 11 of the Shockers' 14 losses came to teams that qualified for the NCAA or NIT.
***The Shockers have shot 40% or less in 18 of their 36 games this year. They're a respectable 9-9 in those instances. Last year they failed to top 40% on just two occasions.
***WSU shot 65.6% from the foul line in non-conference games (289th nationally). Since Jan. 1, WSU is shooting 76.0% at the stripe.
***Among Shockers with at least 50 field goals made,
Asbjørn Midtgaard's .655 shooting percentage is the second-highest season mark in school history.
***Midtgaard is 41-of-60 (.683) since. Jan. 30. The team is 14-3 in that stretch.
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20-WINS... AGAIN!
***The Shockers reached the 20-win plateau for a 10th-straight year in the first round 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 (Active):
30 -- Kansas
23 -- Duke
22 -- Gonzaga
15 -- North Carolina
14 – Kentucky
12 – St. Mary's
11 – Vermont
10 – Wichita State
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THE GREGG HOUDINI:
***Wichita State's postseason run is remarkable in light of how it started the year. Following back-to-back road losses at USF (Jan. 22) and UConn (Jan. 26), the Shockers were 8-11 (1-6 AAC). A buzzer-beating victory over SMU on Jan. 30 was the turning point in the year. The Shockers have since won 14 of their last 17.
***WSU (22-14, 10-8) finished sixth in the four-bid American Athletic Conference and became the first AAC team to finish with more than seven conference wins following a 1-6 start.
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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 now 11-straight postseason appearances.
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MILESTONES:
***
Markis McDuffie (660 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 Records // Total Points:
1. Xavier McDaniel (1984-85) -- 844
2. Dave Stallworth (1963-64) -- 769
3. Markis McDuffie (2018-19) -- 660
4. Maurice Evans (1998-99) -- 632
5. Xavier McDaniel (1983-84) -- 619
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***McDuffie has attempted a school-record 240 three-point field goals this year, breaking Ron Baker's mark (209 in 2014-15).
Samajae Haynes-Jones has attempted 209 threes -- tied for second with Baker.
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WSU Single-Season Records // 3-Point Attempts:
1. Markis McDuffie (2018-19) -- 240
2.
Samajae Haynes-Jones (2018-19) -- 209
2. Ron Baker (2014-15) -- 209
3. Sean Ogirri (2005-06) -- 206
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***McDuffie's 83 three-point field goals are third on WSU's season chart. He needs one more to match
Landry Shamet (84; 2017-18) for second and eight to match Sean Ogirri's record (91 in 2005-06).
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WSU Single-Season Records // 3-Point Field Goals:
1. Sean Ogirri (2005-06) -- 91
2.
Landry Shamet (2017-18) -- 84
3. Markis McDuffie (2018-19) -- 83
4. Ron Baker (2014-15) -- 80
5. David Kyles (2010-11) -- 75
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***McDuffie has made 157 free throws this year. That total is fourth on the season list and the most by a Shocker in 55 years.
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WSU Single-Season Records // Free Throws Made:
1. Cleo Littleton (1954-55) -- 220
2. Dave Stallworth (1963-64) -- 203
3. Dave Stallworth (1962-63) -- 165
4. Markis McDuffie (2018-19) -- 157
5. Cleo Littleton (1952-53) -- 155
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***McDuffie (1,513 career points) needs just 26 more to catch Toure' Murry for 12th on WSU's career scoring list and 32 to match Greg Carney for 11th. He would need to average 29.0 points over the next two games in order to break into the top-10.
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WSU All-Time Scoring List:
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.) -- 1,513
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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MARSHALL ONE OF THE FASTEST EVER TO 500:
***
Gregg Marshall needed just 695 games to record 500 wins – tied with former Tulsa and Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson for the 22nd fastest in NCAA history. The very next name on the list is one of his boyhood idols, former South Carolina coach Frank McGuire who recorded his own 500th win in game No. 699.
***Marshall is one of only 10 coaches in history to record his 500th win before the end of his 21st season.
***Marshall has 16 seasons of 20+ wins (15th best among active coaches).
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Fastest Coaches to 500 (by number of seasons):
1. Mark Few (Gonzaga) -- 18th
2. Roy Williams (Kansas, UNC) -- 19th
3. John Calipari (UMass, Memphis, Kentucky) -- 20th
3. Bill Self (ORU, Tulsa, Illinois, Kansas) -- 20th
3. Jerry Tarkanian (Long Beach St., UNLV) -- 20th
6. Gregg Marshall (Winthrop, Wichita St.) -- 21st
6. Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) -- 21st
6. Bob Huggins (Walsh, Akron, Cincy, K-State, W. Va .) -- 21st
6. Tom Izzo (Michigan St.) -- 21st
6. Billy Donovan (Marshall, Florida) -- 21st
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MARSHALL MILESTONE:
***
Gregg Marshall's .720 career winning percentage ranks 12th among active Division I coaches.
***There are now 29 active D-I head coaches in the 500-win club, and 24 of them have logged at least 500 of their victories at the D-I level.
***Marshall is one of just nine active coaches with 500+ wins (while coaching a D-I school) and a winning percentage of .700-or-higher.
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Active Coaches with 500+ Wins & .700+ Winning Percentage:
.824 -- Mark Few (567-121)
.789 -- Roy Williams (871-233)
.773 -- John Calipari (707-208)
.767 -- Mike Krzyzewski (1131-343)
.763 -- Bill Self (680-211)
.723 -- Tom Izzo (604-231)
.720 -- Gregg Marshall (502-195)
.711 -- Jim Boeheim (946-385)
.704 -- Bob Huggins (860-362)
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WICHITA STATE IN THE NIT:
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1954 // Ralph Miller // 0-1, Round of 12
Led by All-American and 2,000-point scorer Cleo Littleton, the Shockers made their first major postseason appearance of the modern era.
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1962 // Ralph Miller // 0-1, Round of 12
1963 // Ralph Miller // 0-1, Quarterfinals
Prior to earning their first NCAA bid in 1964 and reaching the 1965 Final Four, the Shockers played in back-to-back NIT's. All-American Dave Stallworth was the leading scorer in close losses to Dayton and Villanova.
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1966 // Gary Thompson // 0-1, Quarterfinals
A year removed from the Final Four, WSU lost an overtime thriller to NYU in the NIT quarterfinals. Six-foot-2 Warren Armstrong (Jabali) delivered one of the great postseason stat lines in Shocker history with 24 points and 24 rebounds
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1980 // Gene Smithson // 0-1, Round of 32
The Bookends, Antoine Carr and Cliff Levingston, led WSU to the 1981 Elite Eight, but their first taste of postseason came as freshmen in the NIT. Despite Levingston's 24 points, nine boards, WSU lost at home to UTEP.
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1984 // Gene Smithson // 0-1, Round of 32
After a two-year ban, WSU returned to the postseason, but Xavier McDaniel's double-double (16 pts, 10 reb) wasn't enough to win at Michigan. A year later, McDaniel led the nation in scoring and rebounding and led the Shockers to their first MVC Tournament championship.
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1989 // Eddie Fogler // 1-1, Round of 16
The Shockers were one-and-done in each of their first six appearances from 1954 through 1984 before finally breaking through with a home win over UC Santa Barbara. Steve Grayer scored a team-high 18 points. They lost a few days later at Michigan State.
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2003 // Mark Turgeon // 0-1, Round of 40
Few programs have celebrated an NIT bid with more gusto than the 2003 Shockers, who ended the program's 14-year postseason drought. They by three at halftime in front of nearly 14,000 at Iowa State, but the hosts survived by hitting 7 of 12 second half threes.
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2004 // Mark Turgeon // 0-1, Round of 32
WSU hosted its first NIT game since '89 at newly renovated Charles Koch Arena in one of the loudest games in Roundhouse history. Florida State's Tim Pickett hit a circus three at the end of regulation and the visiting Seminoles survived in double-overtime.
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2005 // Mark Turgeon // 2-1, Round of 16
A senior laden team won back-to-back home games over Houston and Western Kentucky (WSU's first postseason wins since '89) but fans mostly remember the way it ended at Vanderbilt. Down two and at the free throw line, WSU intentionally missed. Jamar Howard put back the rebound for the game-tying score which seemingly sent the game to overtime. Instead, out of a timeout with 0.7 seconds left, Vandy's Corey Smith slipped behind the defense, caught an 80-foot pass mid-lane and scored ahead of the final buzzer.
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2010 // Gregg Marshall // 0-1, Round of 32
The Shockers – seeded third – went 17-0 at home during the regular season but were stunned by No. 6 Nevada in the first round.
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2011 // Gregg Marshall // 5-0, Champion
Close non-conferences losses to a pair of eventual Final Four participants (UConn and VCU) left Wichita State on the outside looking in when the NCAA Tournament brackets were announced, but the Shockers rallied in March to claim the school's first-ever postseason title.
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Marshall's deepest and most-veteran WSU team to date featured nine upperclassmen and a total of 10 players who averaged double-figure minutes and were more than happy to set their individual stats aside for the good of the group. Senior J.T. Durley was the lone Shocker to average more than 10 points.
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In their five NIT wins, the Shockers outscored opponents by an average of 15.4 points and were +8 on the boards.
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A first round matchup with Nebraska set the tone. WSU raced to a 40-20 halftime lead in an easy 76-49 victory.
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A second round game at No. 1 seed Virginia Tech proved much more difficult. Durley's three-pointer tied it with 47 seconds remaining helped force overtime. There, knotted at 76 with nine seconds to play, Joe Ragland drove the length of the floor for the winning layup.
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An upset by No. 6 College of Charleston opened the door for No. 4 seed WSU to host a quarterfinal matchup inside a sold out Charles Koch Arena. A 15-1 run turned an 11-point halftime lead into a 20-point cushion. Senior big men Durley and Gabe Blair combined for 30 points in an 82-75 win.
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From there, it was on to Madison Square Garden and the tournament semifinals, where Washington State had no answer for junior 7-footer Garrett Stutz (24 points). The Shockers stifled the Cougars, holding them to under 30% from the field while outrebouding them 52-25 on the way to a 75-44 victory.
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In the championship game, WSU's balance and depth again prevailed. Down a point with 15:00 to go, the Shockers mounted an 8-0 run to regain control. Alabama made one last charge near the 4:00-mark, but tournament MVP Graham Hatch hit back-to-back treys in a span of just over 60 seconds to lift the lead to 12 and WSU held on for a title-clinching win (66-57).
