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Jamarius Burton

Shockers Back on the Road Thursday at UCF

2/11/2020 11:18:00 PM

WICHITA STATE (17-6, 5-5) at UCF (13-10, 4-7)
THURSDAY, FEB. 13, 2020 | 6:01 P.M. CT (7:01 P.M. ET)
ORLANDO, FLA. / ADDITION FINANCIAL ARENA (10,000)
TV: ESPN2 (WatchESPN)
RADIO: KEYN 103.7 FM (GoShockers.com/Listen)
SERIES: WSU leads 4-0 (1-0 at UCF)
LAST: Jan. 25, 2020 in Wichita (WSU, 87-79)
 
>>> The Wichita State Shockers (17-6, 5-5) travel to Orlando Thursday evening to take on the UCF Knights (13-10, 4-7) at Additional Financial Arena.
 
>>> Thursdsay's matchup airs nationally on ESPN2 with streaming available through the ESPN App, accessible on computers, smart phones, tablets and devices to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider. Dave LaMont and Mark Adams have the call.

>>> Mike Kennedy and Bob Hull describe the action on KEYN 103.7 FM and online at goshockers.com/listen. Kennedy, who is now in his 40th year as Voice of the Shockers, will call is 1,251st consecutive game (not including exhibitions).
 
>>> Catch the Gregg Marshall Show on Monday nights throughout the season. Join Marshall and host Mike Kennedy LIVE from 6-7 p.m. at A.J.'s Sports Grill at The Alley, or listen on KFH (97.5 FM / 1240 AM). The show is rebroadcast in a television format Mondays at 9 p.m. on YurView Kansas (Cox 2022). Upcoming Show Dates:  February 17, 24
 
>>> In partnership with the American Cancer Society Coaches vs. Cancer, Wichita State will take the court in pink jerseys, shorts and shoes for its Feb. 20 home game against the USF Bulls. Shocker fans are encouraged to show their support by dressing the part. Limited edition pink t-shirts are available now for just $12 at Shocker Store locations inside the Rhatigan Student Center, Braeburn Square and Charles Koch Arena or online at ShockerStore.com.
 
 
OPENING TIPS:
  • The Wichita State Shockers (17-6, 5-5) travel to Orlando Thursday evening to take on the UCF Knights (13-10, 4-7) at Additional Financial Arena.
  • In WSU's only other visit (Mar. 1, 2018) UCF's A.J. Davis banked in a three at the buzzer to force overtime, but the 11th-ranked Shockers survived, 75-71.
  • WSU has won all four meetings with UCF since joining the conference. The teams had never met prior to 2018.
  • WSU defeated the Knights 19 days ago in Wichita -- 87-79. Dexter Dennis scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half to go with 11 rebounds.
  • Since beating UCF, the Shockers have dropped three-straight against the league's top-three teams. Two of them came on last-second shots. Feb. 1 at Tulsa, WSU fell 54-51 on Elijah Joiner's three-point buzzer-beater. Five days later, Jarron Cumberland's three-point play with 3.5 seconds to go lifted Cincinnati to an 80-79 win.
  • The Shockers experienced the opposite extreme in last Sunday's 76-43 setback at No. 25 Houston. WSU shot 26.4% and made just 2-of-24 from three-point distance in its most-lopsided loss since 2003.
  • WSU ranks among the national leaders in offensive rebounding (27th, 12.61), turnover margin (31st, +3.0), and field goal percentage defense (36th, .396). KenPom rates the Shocker defense 18th in defensive efficiency.
  • Thursday's game qualifies for Quadrant II status (road games vs. teams ranked 76-135 in the NCAA NET ratings). The Shockers are 7-6 in Q-I and Q-II contests. Last year 34 teams had a winning record in Q-I/II games while playing at least 10. All 34 of those teams made the NCAA tournament. Four had NET ratings of 50-or-higher: Seton Hall (57), Minnesota (61), Arizona State (63) & St. John's (73).
  • Jamarius Burton is two assists shy of 200. He'd be just the sixth Shocker to hit that milestone before the end of his sophomore season, joining current NBA Shockers Landry Shamet (288) and Fred VanVleet (282). Last year Burton set WSU's rookie record with 124 dimes.
  • This is the Shockers' sixth road game in 32 days. They'll play three of their next four at home, beginning Sunday against Tulane (1 p.m. CT, CBSSN) and continuing next Thursday against USF (6 p.m. CT, CBSSN).
 
 
THE SHOCKS, IN SHORT:
  • For Wichita State, "youthful" and "successful" have not been mutually exclusive traits. One of the nation's 25 least-experienced rosters (all but three scholarship players are underclassmen) has already matched its 2018-19 regular season win total (17).
  • Last year, the rebuilding Shockers missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011 but rode a second-half surge to 22 wins and the NIT semifinals. Seven of the top-nine scorers from that team are back, joined by the highest-rated recruiting class in head coach Gregg Marshall's 13-year tenure.
  • This season's goal: return to the NCAA tournament. The Shockers have put together an at-large quality resume that includes seven Quadrant I or II wins. Signature victories include a pair of Q-I road kills at UConn (89-86, 2ot) and Oklahoma State (80-61) as well as Q-II home wins over VCU, Oklahoma and Memphis.
  • The 2018-19 team found an identity with defense, rebounding and ball security. Those qualities still apply, but the 2019-20 backcourt has raised the bar with its ability to force turnovers.
  • KenPom rates the Shocker defense 18th nationally in efficiency (up from 44th last year). WSU has held 16 of its 23 opponents under 40% from the field.
 
PERSONNEL IN A NUT SHELL:
  • Seven Shockers average between 7.6 and 11.5 points-per-game.
  • Leading scorer Erik Stevenson (11.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg) has come off the bench in each of the past five games. The 6-3 sophomore leads the team in steals (38) and has twice earned AAC player of the week honors.
  • WSU's lone senior -- 6-11 center Jaime Echenique -- averages 11.3 points and is the best rebounder (6.4) and shot-blocker (24). He has four double-doubles.
  • Sophomore Jamarius Burton (10.1 ppg) can play point guard or wing, as needed. He tops the team in assists (3.4) and minutes (27.0).
  • 6-foot-6 forward Trey Wade -- a JUCO transfer from South Plains (Texas) College -- has been an impactful addition at the four-spot, averaging 7.6 points and 5.8 boards.
  • A couple of four-star freshman guards have helped elevate the Shocker backcourt. Energetic shooting guard Tyson Etienne (9.6 ppg) is threatening WSU's freshman records with a team-high 47 threes on 39.5% accuracy and 31 steals. Combo guard Grant Sherfield (8.5 ppg) has been the team's other primary point guard and a reliable scorer off the bench.
  • Sophomore Dexter Dennis (8.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg) -- WSU's most-athletic and versatile defender -- has logged time on the wing and as a stretch-four. The 2019 AAC all-freshman pick is starting to regain his form. He's scored in double-figures in four of his last five games and has hit at least one three-pointer in nine-straight.
  • The Shockers are deep in the post with Echenique backed by 6-9 sophomore Morris Udeze (4.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg) along with 7-foot junior Asbjørn Midtgaard and 6-9 sophomore Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler.
  • Three other true freshmen are on the roster: Forward DeAntoni Gordon (15 games) and point guard Noah Fernandes (16) have shown flashes of potential. 6-10 forward Josaphat Bilau is redshirting. 
 
SCOUTING UCF:
  • UCF has reached the postseason in two of the last three years. The Knights won 24 games and advanced to the 2017 NIT semifinals. Injuries took their toll in 2018, but UCF bounced back to earn an NCAA at-large berth in 2019.
  • UCF lost much of its fire power from a year ago. Seniors B.J. Taylor and Tacko Fall graduated, and Aubrey Dawkins (son of head coach Johnny Dawkins) declared for the NBA draft.
  • UCF was picked ninth out of 12 teams in the American preseason poll.
  • The Knights (13-10) are 120th in the NCAA's NET ratings and 119th in KenPom's effieciency index. 
  • Collin Smith is the team's leading scorer. The 6-foot-11 junior forward is averaging 12.2 points – up from 8.0 a year ago – and is the team's second-leading rebounder at 6.1-per-game.
  • Junior guard Cesar DeJesus has also taken on an expanded role this season. He's averaging 10.8 points in just under 28 minutes – up from 3.4 points and 11 minutes in 2018-19.
  • Alabama graduate transfer Dazon Ingram – a 6-6 guard -- averages 9.4 points and tops the chart in rebounding (7.4), assists (3.8), steals (21 and minutes (29.5).
  • True freshman guard Darin Green Jr. has connected on a team-high 47 three-pointers with 39.5 percent accuracy. He's 22-of-43 over his last seven games, including a 4-of-8 performance in the first go-around against the Shockers.
 
THE SERIES:
  • UCF was one of four American foes that WSU had ever faced prior to its 2017-18 conference debut (along with ECU, Tulane and USF).
  • The Shockers are 4-0 against the Knights (1-0 in Orlando) and have scored at least 75 points in all four matchups 
 
MATCHUP MASHUP:  
  • Gregg Marshall is 5-1 vs. UCF. He faced the Knights twice at Winthrop, going 1-1. On Dec. 2, 1998 (just his fifth game as a head coach), Marshall's Eagles fell 79-57 in Orlando. A year later – Nov. 23, 1999 – he defeated UCF, 87-54, in a return game at Winthrop Coliseum.
  • Marshall is 4-1 vs. Johnny Dawkins. In March, 2009, Dawkin's Stanford team defeated the Shockers, 70-56, in the CBI quarterfinals to end WSU's first postseason bid under Marshall. Dawkins' 14-point win remains the lopsided victory by a road team in the Marshall Era.
  • WSU is 3-6 in Orlando under Marshall, having gone 1-2 in the 2008 Old Space Classic and 0-3 in the 2015 AdvoCare Invitational. Both were played at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. The Shockers defeated Temple but lost to No. 21 Houston in the semifinals of the 2018 AAC tournament, played at the Amway Center.
  • Dazon Ingram twice beat the Shockers while playing for Alabama. He recorded eight points, five assists and four rebounds in 25 minutes in the fifth-place game at last season's Charleston Classic. As a true freshman in 2015-16, he started against the Shockers in an Advocare Invita-tional matchup in Orlando and put up 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes.
 
LAST MEETING WITH UCF | Jan. 25, 2020 | WSU, 87-79
  • Dexter Dennis scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half to go with 11 rebounds to lead WSU past UCF. He was 4-of-8 from three-point range.
  • Grant Sherfield finished with 14 points and matched his person-best with six assists. Jaime Echenique added 14 points and seven rebounds to go with 11 points from Erik Stevenson and 10 from Trey Wade.
  • A pair of reserves, Darin Green Jr. (18 points) and Tony Johnson Jr. (16), led the visitors.
  • WSU banked 20 assists on 24 baskets, outrebounded UCF by 17 and outscored them 19-3 on second-chances.
  • The teams combined for 68 free throws -- 46 of them in the second half. WSU tied its season-high with 42 attempts and made 29 of them. UCF finished 23-of-26.
  • UCF committed only seven turnovers and outscored the Shockers 23-7 on fast break points, helped by 10 steals.
  • WSU led by as many as 16 points late in the first half, but UCF whittled the margin to nine at the intermission, helped by Johnson's full-court buzzer beater.
  • The Shockers seemed poised to break it open on a handful of occasions, only for UCF to reel them back in. The Knights pulled to within four points near the midway point of the second half. Dennis answered with a deep three to key a 7-0 run. UCF connected on six threes over the final 10:00 to keep things tight, but the Shockers countered with 20 free throw makes. 
 
MAKING UP FOR LOSS TIME:
  • WSU has a three-game losing streak for only the ninth time in 13 seasons under Gregg Marshall. Four of those streaks came during his first season-and-a-half.
  • The Shockers endured a four-game skid in late-December and early-January of last season and dropped three-straight in late January. After the latter, they pulled together to win 14 of their last 18.
  • That's a running theme for Marshall teams. Losing streaks have often been followed with great success stories. Prior to last season the last Shocker team to drop three-in-a-row was the 2015-16 squad, which went 0-3 in the AdvoCare Invitational while playing without Fred VanVleet but captured 15 of the next 16 after his return and later beat Vanderbilt and Arizona in the NCAA tournament.
  • The 2012-13 squad, which was ranked No. 15 before dropping three-straight conference games to Indiana State, Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois, played in the Final Four less than two months later.
  • The freshman-heavy 2008-09 Shockers had skids of three and six games but won nine of their last 13 regular season games and went on to earn postseason bid. 

WSU's three-game losing streaks under Gregg Marshall:
6 – Dec. 28 to Jan. 11, 2009 – Won 9 of its next 12 and earned a CBI bid.
6 – Jan. 8 to Jan. 26, 2008 – Marshall's first season
4 – Dec. 22 to Jan. 12, 2019 – Ended streak with a home win over UCF; NIT semifinalist
4 – Feb. 13 to Feb. 23, 2008 – Marshall's first season
3 – Jan. 19 to Jan. 26, 2019 – Won their next four games and 11 of next 13.
3 – Nov. 26 to Nov. 29, 2015 – VanVleet injured; Won 15 of next 16; NCAA Rd. of 32
3 – Jan. 29 to Feb. 5, 2013 – Won next five games; Reached Final Four
3 – Nov. 30 to Dec. 8, 2008 –Marshall's first season
3 – Feb. 1 to Feb. 9, 2020 -- 

 
TRENDING:
  • Sunday's game is the last in a stretch of 10-straight games against KenPom top-100 defenses.
  • Nine of the 12 AAC teams rank among the top-100 in KenPom's adjust defensive efficiency measurement. WSU (18) and UCF (86) are joined by Memphis (14), UConn (31), Houston (34), Cincinnati (40), Temple (49), Tulsa (63) and USF (64).
  • Jaime Echenique has been playing at an all-conference level for the better part of the last month. In his past seven games he's averaging 13.1 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 25.6 minutes.
  • WSU is 2-5 over its last seven games. In that stretch the Shockers have shot just 35.6% from the field, including 25.7% from three, and are averaging just 60.0 points (down from 77.6 during their 15-1 start). WSU has a negative assist-to-turnover ratio (77A, 88 TO) over its past seven games. Opponents have hit 43.2% of their shots (up from the 38.2% they shot in the first 16 games of the regular season).
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD….
... stop a three-game slide.
... make them 18-6 (6-4 American).
... up their road record to 4-3 with wins in 10-of-13.
... give them a season sweep of UCF.
... make them 5-0 all-time vs. UCF.
... make Marshall 6-1 vs. UCF (5-1 vs. Dawkins).
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
... be their fourth-straight and sixth in eight games on the heels of a 15-1 start.
... drop them to 17-7 (5-6 American).
... be their first series loss to UCF in five encounters.
... make them 3-4 in true road games.
... be less good than a win.
 
 
UP NEXT:
The Shockers return home Sunday to face the USF Bulls (1 p.m. CT, CBSSN).
 
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