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Trey Wade

Shockers Take Momentum into Memphis

1/19/2021 11:11:00 PM

WICHITA STATE (8-3, 4-1) at MEMPHIS (6-5, 2-2)
THURSDAY, JAN. 21, 2021 | 6:01 P.M. CT
MEMPHIS, TENN. / FEDEXFORUM (20% Capacity; 3,500)
TV: ESPN2
RADIO: KEYN 103.7 FM (GoShockers.com/Listen)
SERIES: MEM leads 13-12 (9-3 in Memphis)
LAST: Mar. 5, 2020 in Memphis (MEM, 68-60)
 
 
#WATCHUS:
The game will air on ESPN2 with Kevin Brown and Dan Dakich on the call. ESPN2 subscribers can stream live and on demand via the ESPN App. 
 
SHOCKER RADIO:
Listen live on KEYN 103.7 FM and online at GoShockers.com/Listen with Mike Kennedy and Bob Hull. Pregame coverage begins one hour prior to tipoff.
 
FOLLOWUS:
For behind the scenes coverage of Wichita State men's basketball, follow @GoShockers and @GoShockersMBB on Twitter and Instagram.
 
THE ISAAC BROWN SHOW:
Join Kennedy and interim head coach Isaac Brown LIVE from 6-7 p.m. every Monday throughout the season at A.J.'s Sports Grill at The Alley, or listen to the show on KFH (97.5 FM / 1240 AM). The show is rebroadcast in a television format Mondays at 9 p.m. on Yurview (Cox HD 2022 in Kansas and online everywhere at YurView.com/Kansas. Next Show: Jan. 25
 
 
OPENING TIPS:
  • Wichita State returns to action Thursday night when it takes on the Memphis Tigers.
  • For the first time in a month, FedExForum will allow fans -- up to 20% of arena capacity (about 3,500).
  • WSU (8-3, 4-1) has won seven of its last eight. Its only losses have come to teams that are currently ranked (Houston & Mizzou) or receiving votes (Oklahoma St.).
  • This is the Shockers' first action in eight days. Sunday's game was postponed due to a COVID-19 case within the SMU program. It will be made up Feb. 15 in Dallas.
  • WSU is coming off a 72-53 home win over Tulsa (Jan. 13). Morris Udeze and Tyson Etienne each scored 20 points, and the Shockers hit 11 threes while holding the visitors to 33% from the field.
  • Udeze (the AAC Player of the Week) has scored 38 points over his last two games on 14-of-19 shooting (.737). He tallied 18 in the Shockers' 82-76 win over Cincinnati (Jan. 10) and set career-highs with 20 points and eight rebounds against Tulsa.
  • WSU will try to beat the Tigers on their home floor for the first time since Feb. 2018.
  • The teams split last season, with each holding serve at home. The Tigers won 68-60 on Mar. 5, 2020.
  • Memphis leads the all-time series 13-12 (9-3 at home).
  • Memphis enters the week ranked among the national leaders in blocks (12th, 5.4) and steals (9th, 9.4).
  • The Shockers are among the nation's best at avoiding those outcomes. KenPom rates WSU 18th in block percentage (foes block just 5.5% of their shots) and 24th in turnover percentage (15.5-per-100-possessions).
  • WSU is holding opponents to 38.7% from the field this year (19th in D-I), including 27.2% from three (12th).
  • Etienne is the conference's second-leading scorer (17.9). He's topped 20 on five occasions, including four of the last six games.
  • Etienne entered the week as one of just 30 players averaging at least 3.0 threes-per-game. He's drilled 33 in 11 contests and is on pace to shatter Landry Shamet's school record (2.53 in 2018).
  • UConn transfer Alterique Gilbert ranks among the conference's top-10 in both assists (3.6) and steals (1.5). He had a season-high eight dimes vs.Tulsa.
  • Udeze now ranks among the league's top-10 in field goal percentage (2nd, .585), free throw percentage (7th, .818) and blocks (t-7th, 1.0).
  • The Shockers are 3-1 in true road games with wins at Tulsa, South Florida and Ole Miss. Their lone loss came at Houston.
 
 
ROAD WARRIORS:
  • WSU has been one the nation's best road teams over the last decade. Its .750 road winning percentage since the start of the 2011-12 season trails only to Gonzaga.
  • The Shockers have won 14 of their last 20 in enemy territory going back to February, 2019.
  • Wichita State is 17-13 in AAC road games in four seasons since joining. The Shockers are one of only three teams, along with Cincinnati (20-10) and Houston (19-11) that have a winning conference road record in that span.
 
 
TRENDING:
  • WSU has played the nation's 23rd-toughest schedule, according to KenPom. NCAA NET rates is 32nd.
  • Per KenPom, just three teams (UCF, Penn State and Kansas) have played a tougher collection of defenses than the Shockers. Thursday will be their seventh against a KenPom top-50 defense (Memphis is 11th).
  • The American entered the week with eight of the nation's top-61 teams in field goal percentage defense, including WSU (20th, .387) and Memphis (42nd, .395).
  • Against Tulsa, Morris Udeze became the third Shocker to reach the 20-point plateau this year, joining Tyson Etienne (5x) and Ricky Council IV.
  • The Shockers have outscored their opponents by a team-best 17.7 points-per-40-minutes with reserve center Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler on the floor.
  • WSU is averaging a league-best 73.6 points in American Athletic Conference play while holding opponents to 37.7% from the field and a league-low 26.0% from three-point range. 
  • The Shockers are 4-1 in close games (decided by five points in either direction).
  • WSU is the only team in The American (and one of only 20 nationally) that haven't had a double-double this season. Trey Wade has come the closest so far with nine points and 10 rebounds at Ole Miss.
 
 
POWERED BY TYSON:
  • Tyson Etienne is averaging an American-best 22.5 points in January. He's topped 20 points in three of the four games since the calendar flipped to 2021.
  • Etienne is averaging a conference-best 20.8 points on the road. In those games, he's sinking 3.2 threes-per-game while shooting over 40% from beyond the arc.
  • Etienne has been the conference's top scorer at 18.0 points-per-game, and his 35.2 minutes-per-game is second only to UCF's Darin Green Jr. (35.6). 
  • Etienne has scored 25+ in each of the last three Shocker road games: Dec. 22 at USF (25), Jan. 2 at Ole Miss (career-high 29) and Jan. 6 at Houston (25).
  • Etienne is 11 points shy of 500 for his career and is on pace to get there Thursday night (his 43rd career game). Only eight Shocker underclassmen have reached that milestone faster. Six of them are currently in the top-10 on WSU's all-time scoring list. The other two left WSU early but went on to enjoy long NBA careers. 

Fastest Shocker Underclassmen to 500 Points:
< 30="" --="" cleo="" littleton="" (debut="" in="" 1951)="" –="" currently="">st on all-time scoring list (2,147)
32 -- Cliff Levingston (1979) – 14th (1,471)
33 -- Antoine Carr (1979) -- 4th (1,911)
37 -- Maurice Evans (1997) -- 46th (1,007)
39 -- Randy Burns (2001) -- 9th (1,599)
40 -- Jason Perez (1996) -- 6th (1,839)
41 -- Aubrey Sherrod (1981) -- 7th (1,765)
42 -- Jamar Howard (2001) -- 10th. (1,571)
43 -- Landry Shamet (2015) -- 914
43 -- Jamie Arnold (1993) -- 42nd (1,046)
44 -- Toure' Murry (2008) -- 12th (1,539)
45 -- Ron Baker (2012) -- 8th (1,636)
46 -- Xavier McDaniel (1981) -- 2nd (2,152)
46 -- Sasha Radunovich (1985) -- 15th (1,436)
^ Etienne has 489 points heading into his 43rd game.
< =="" littleton="" is="" the="" only="" shocker="" to="" reach="" 500="" as="" a="" freshman.="" he="" scored="" 555="" in="" 30="" games.="" box="" scores="" are="" not="" available="" for="" that="">

 
 
POWERED BY TYSON II:
  • Last Wednesday's game against Tulsa was Tyson Etienne's 42nd in a Shocker uniform. His 95 threes are the most ever by a WSU player at that stage.
  • In 2018, Landry Shamet became the fastest Shocker to reach 100 threes, doing so in his 50th game. Etienne is on pace to get there in 44. 

Fastest Shockers to 100 Career 3-Pointers // All-Time:
50th -- Landry Shamet (12/19/2017 vs. ARKANSAS ST; 6:56 1h)
52nd -- Maurice Evans (2/6/1999 vs. CREIGHTON; 12:30 1h)
53rd -- Clevin Hannah (1/27/2010 vs. ILLINOIS ST.; 17:29 1h)
53rd -- Randy Burns (2/19/2003 at Drake; 1:42 2h)
55th -- Sean Ogirri (2/1/2006 vs. EVANSVILLE; 9:34 2h)
56th -- Ron Baker (11/18/2014 vs. Memphis; 13:47 2h)
^ = Etienne has hit 95 threes heading into his 43rd Career Game

 
 
A RICK ROLL:
  • Ricky Council has been an impact player for the Shockers off the bench.
  • The true freshman ranks fifth on the conference leaderboard in field goal percentage (.525) and has knocked down 6-of-11 from three.
  • If he can keep it up, Council's percentage would be the third-highest ever by a Shocker freshman behind Cliff Levingston (.546 in 1979-80) and Jamar Howard (.528 in 2001).
  • On a per-40-minute basis, Council is the AAC's third-best rebounder (12.6), trailing only Memphis' Moussa Cisse (15.5) and Houston's Justin Gorham (13.1).
  • Council's 20.6 points-per-40 ranks sixth in the AAC is tops among the league's freshman qualifiers.
 
 
AN AL POINTS BULLETIN:
  • The addition of UConn transfer Alterique Gilbert provided WSU with some much-needed experience at the point guard spot.
  • Gilbert handed out a season-high eight assists in the Jan. 13 win over Tulsa.
  • In WSU's five conference games, Gilbert has averaged 4.6 assists with a 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Those figures rank third and fourth respectively on the AAC leaderboard.
  • Gilbert is four steals shy of 100 for his career (80 at UConn and 16 at WSU).
  • Gilbert's 267 career assists are No. 2 on the AAC's active list.
 
 
MORE ON MO:
  • Junior forward Morris Udeze's shooting percentage would be the second-highest by a Shocker in the last 30 seasons (minimum 3 FGM/game) behind Ryan Martin, who finished the 2006-07 campaign at 58.8%.
  • Udeze shot just 46% at the foul line as an underclassman (32-of-69) but spent the off-season drilling on free throws. That work has paid off.
  • Udeze's 8-for-9 free throw effort against Tulsa now qualifies him for the league's free throw percentage leaderboard. He's has already matched his 2019-20 free throw total (27) on 23 fewer attempts. He shot 48.2% last season over 28 games (27-of-56).
  • Udeze is only 16 points shy of his sophomore scoring total (119). He's averaging 9.4 points – up from 4.3.
  • WSU's most-experienced big man, Udeze has started all 11 contests so far. He's averaging 11.1 points on 65% shooting in Shocker wins, compared to 4.7 points on 36% shooting in the team's three losses.
 
 
ON THIS DATE:  JAN. 21
1978 – Cheese Johnson scored 29 points  in an 87-83 upset of upset No. 16 UNLV at Levitt Arena. Reggie Theus -- the ninth overall pick in that year's draft -- led the Runnin' Rebels with 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
1980 – Freshmen bookends Antoine Carr (31 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks) and Cliff Levingston (23 points, 13 rebounds) led the Shockers past Creighton in OT, 81-77.
 
 
SCOUTING MEMPHIS:
  • Now in its third season under Penny Hardaway, Memphis is out to a 6-5 start (2-2 in conference).
  • Thursday night's game is just the second for Memphis in the month of January. The Tigers ended a 19-day layoff with Sunday's 58-57 loss at Tulsa.
  • Memphis was picked second in the AAC preseason poll, despite losing 2020 AAC player of the year Precious Achiuwa to the NBA.
  • 6-7 sophomore forward D.J. Jeffries, a former five-star recruit who missed the final month of the 2019-20 season to injury, is averaging 11.2 points and 6.2 rebounds this year.
  • A trio of highly-touted sophomore guards – Lester Quinones, Boogie Ellis and Damion Baugh – all have a year of experience under their belts, and junior Alex Lomax (3.7 apg) is one of the conference's most-experienced point guards.
  • Memphis further strengthened its core with five-star freshman center Moussa Cisse and a pair of impact transfers: Landers Nolley II and Deandre Williams.
  • Nolley (team-high 13.3 ppg this season) was an all-freshman and an honorable mention all-conference performer at Virginia Tech last year. He and Jeffries were both named preseason second team All-AAC.
  • Williams (15.2 points and 6.9 rebounds last year at Evansville) was cleared to play in mid-December and has averaged 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds over his first four games.
  • Cisse (6.4 ppg) is the team's leading rebounder (7.2) and shot-blocker (19).
  • Memphis ranks ninth nationally in steals-per-game (9.4). Five different Tigers are averaging at least a steal-per-game. The Tigers also rank 12th in blocks (5.4).
  • KenPom rates Memphis No. 12 nationally in defensive efficiency. The Tigers are the conference's fastest-paced team at 72.1 possessions.
 
 
MATCHUP MASHUP:
  • Memphis point guard Alex Lomax originally signed with WSU but was granted his release after Penny Hardaway accepted the Memphis job.
  • WSU junior Dexter Dennis has averaged 13.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in four previous matchups against Memphis.
  • UConn transfer Alterique Gilbert finally faced Memphis for the first time in 2019-20 after missing five UConn-Memphis battles to injury over his first three seasons (2016-19).
  • The last three WSU-Memphis matchups have followed a similar script with the Shockers racing to large leads, only for the Tigers to claw their way back into it: WSU led 7-0 last year at FedExForum, then surrendered 13-straight on the opposite end in a 68-60 setback... Last January in Wichita, the Shockers led 12-2 and 17-4, but Memphis was within three before halftime... In Memphis' first AAC era visit to Wichita (Feb. 23, 2019), WSU led 15-4 and 23-8. Memphis sliced the deficit to 4 by halftime and took the lead with 16:58 to play.
 
 
THE SERIES:
  • This is the 26th meeting all-time. Memphis leads 13-12.
  • The teams split last year, with each holding serve at home. The Shockers won a battle of nationally-ranked teams in Wichita, 76-67. Memphis won the rematch at FedExForum, 68-60, on Mar. 5, 2020.
  • Memphis swept the 2018-19 series. The Tigers dominated the first meeting in Memphis, 85-74, and won a thriller in Wichita, 88-85.
  • The Shockers' last win at FedExForum came against Temple in the 2019 AAC quarterfinals. They went 2-1 in that event, defeating ECU in the first round and dropping a nailbiter to Cincinnati in the semifinals).
  • Their last win against Memphis at FedExForum came Feb. 6, 2018 (85-65).
  • WSU is 2-3 against Memphis in The American Era.
  • WSU is 8-4 all-time against the Tigers in Wichita but 3-9 when  facing them on their home floor.
  • WSU and Memphis played 11 times from 1968-73 during Memphis' six-year stopover in the MVC. The Tigers won six of the 11 games between the two.
 
 
MEMORABLE SERIES MOMENTS:
  • In the first-ever meeting (Feb. 7, 1959 in Wichita), Ron Heller hit a jumper in OT to lift the Shockers, 95-92.
  • 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.
  • On Jan. 30, 1969, Greg Carney's jumper with six seconds 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 in WSU's upset win 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, No. 11 WSU won a neutral site game at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, 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 Era meeting, 85-65. Landry Shamet scored 20 points.
 
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...
... make them 9-3 with wins in 3-straight and 8-of-9.
... up their conference record to 5-1.
... make them 4-1 in true road games.
... be their first at Memphis since Feb. 2018.
... make them 2-2 at FedExForum vs. Memphis and 4-3 overall (including 2019 AAC tournament games).
... tie the all-time series at 13-13 (3-3 AAC era).
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...
... drop them to 8-4 (4-2 AAC).
... give them back-to-back road L's after a 3-0 start.
... be their third-straight to Memphis at FedExForum.
... make Memphis 14-12 vs. WSU (10-3 in Memphis).
... be less good than a win.
 
 
UP NEXT:
  • Beginning Sunday against USF (5 p.m. CT, ESPNU), WSU plays four of its next five games at home.
  • The Shockers are going for the regular season sweep after its 82-77 overtime win in Tampa back on Dec. 22.
  • USF (7-5, 3-3) will end a 15-day layoff. Recent home games against ECU and Houston were postponed due to COVID-19 protocol.
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