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Craig Porter Jr.

Shockers Get Back to Work Saturday Against UCF

1/28/2021 10:46:00 PM

UCF (4-6, 2-5 American) at WICHITA STATE (8-4, 4-2)
SATURDAY, JAN. 30, 2021 | 3:05 P.M. CT
WICHITA, KAN. / CHARLES KOCH ARENA
TV: ESPNU
RADIO: KEYN 103.7 FM (GoShockers.com/Listen)
SERIES: WSU leads 5-0 (3-0 in Wichita)
LAST: Feb. 13, 2020 in Orlando (WSU, 75-58)
 
 
COACHES vs. CANCER:
As part of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Coaches vs. Cancer Week, WSU staff will wear sneakers to show their support and raise awareness for the livesaving work of the American Cancer Society. Learn more at coachesvscancer.org.
 
TICKETS:
Charles Koch Arena will be at 20 percent capacity for Saturday's game (2,100 fans). Single-game tickets are not available.
 
#WATCHUS:
The game will air on ESPNU with Robert Ford and Tim Welsh on the call. ESPNU 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. Division I college basketball's longest-tenured duo, Mike Kennedy (pbp) and Dave Dahl (analyst) are in their 40th season together on radio. Kennedy is in his 41st season as Voice of the Shockers 
 
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: Feb. 1.
 
 
OPENING TIPS:
  • The Wichita State Shockers look to shake off the rust from a long layoff Saturday when they take on the UCF Knights at Charles Koch Arena (3:05 p.m. CT).
  • Four of the Shockers last eight conference games have been postponed due to COVID-19 cases at opposing schools. That includes back-to-back dates with South Florida (Jan. 24) and at Cincinnati (Jan. 27).
  • The Shockers last played nine days ago at Memphis and will be in action for only the second time in 17 days.
  • WSU opens up a three-game homestand after playing four of its first six conference games on the road.
  • WSU has won its last six conference home games going back to last February.
  • WSU is 22-7 in AAC home games since joining the league, including 3-0 against UCF.
  • The Shockers are 5-0 overall against UCF and swept last year's series, 87-79 in Wichita and 75-58 in Orlando.
  • Per KenPom's strength of schedule metric, just two teams nationally have faced a tougher collection of opposing defenses than WSU: Maryland and UCF (1st).
  • Overall, WSU (36th) and UCF (5th) have played two of the nation's toughest schedules, according to the NCAA's NET formula.
  • UCF snapped a five-game losing streak on Wednesday, defeating visiting East Carolina, 71-64.
  • The Shockers are looking to bounce back from a 72-52 loss at Memphis on Jan. 21, during which they missed 21 of 23 threes.
  • Tyson Etienne is looking to become the fastest Shocker to 100 career threes. Landry Shamet owns the current mark (50 games). Saturday is Etienne's 44th.
  • Etienne (16.7 ppg) ranks third on the AAC scoring chart and has topped 20 points on five occasions.
  • UConn transfer Alterique Gilbert is two steals shy of 100 for his career.
  • Morris Udeze has scored in double-figures in three straight games and is averaging 11.4 points on 71% shooting in the month of January (22-of-31).
  • On a per-40-minute basis, Ricky Council is the AAC's fifth-leading scorer (20.9 ppg) and fourth-leading rebounder (12.6).
  • WSU ranks among the top-25 nationally in field goal percentage defense (25th, .393) and is on pace to set a school record for 3-point percentage defense (.293).
  • The Shockers average a league-low 16.3 fouls and draw an average of 19.2 (second only to Temple).
 
 
STUFF ABOUT STUFFS:
  • The Shockers have dunked at least once in every game this year and in 20-straight going back to last season. That's the fourth-longest such streak in school history.
  • WSU's 3.17 dunks-per-game is just ahead of the school-record pace set by the 1981-82 Shockers. That group, which included future NBA players Antoine Carr, Cliff Levingston, Xavier McDaniel and Greg Dreiling, averaged 3.10.
  • Morris Udeze has dunked a team-high 17 times. His 1.42-per-game average would be the highest since Carr's senior year (1.45 in 1982-83).

Wichita State All-Time // Consecutive Games with a Dunk:
36 -- 12/13/1980 to 12/27/1981
29 -- 1/18/1992 to 1/16/1993
24 -- 3/15/2019 to 1/18/2020
20 -- 2/13/2020 to Present

 
 
POWERED BY TYSON:
  • Tyson Etienne is averaging an American-best 18.6 points in the month of January. He's topped 20 points in three of the five games.
  • Etienne has played 85.9% of the team's minutes this year -- most by a WSU player over 20 years. By contrast, no Shocker clocked more than 65% last season.
  • Etienne is 8 points shy of 500 for his career and is on pace to get there on Saturday (his 44th career game). In the 50 years of freshmen eligibility, just 11 other Shocker underclassmen have reached 500 in 44 games or less.

Fastest Shocker Underclassmen to 500 Points // 1972-Pr.:
32 – Cliff Levingston (Debut: 1979)
33 – Antoine Carr (1979)
37 -- Maurice Evans (1997)
39 -- Randy Burns (2001)
40 -- Jason Perez (1996)
41 -- Aubrey Sherrod (1981)
42 -- Jamar Howard (2001)
43 -- Landry Shamet (2015)
43 -- Jamie Arnold (1993)
44 -- Toure' Murry (2008)
45 -- Ron Baker (2012)
46 -- Xavier McDaniel (1981)
46 -- Sasha Radunovich (1985) 

  • In 2018, Landry Shamet became the fastest Shocker to reach 100 threes, doing so in his 50th game. Etienne (95 threes) is on pace to get there in 45.

Fastest Shockers to 100 Career Threes:
50th – Landry Shamet (12/19/2017 vs. Arkanansas 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 is averaging 2.75 threes-per-game and is on track to shatter Landry Shamet's school record, set three years ago.

WSU Season Records // 3-Point Field Goals-Per-Game:
Tyson Etienne (2020-21)  -- 2.75
1. Landry Shamet (2017-18) -- 2.53
2. Sean Ogirri (2005-06) -- 2.60
3. Maurice Evans (1998-99) -- 2.46
4. Terrell Benton (2001-02) -- 2.36
5. Ron Baker (2014-15) -- 2.29

 
 
MO MAKES HIS MARK:
  • Morris Udeze ranks among the league's top-10 in field goal percentage (2nd, .597), free throw percentage (6th, .794) and blocks (7th, 0.9). His field goal percentage would be one of the three-highest in school history.

WSU Single-Season Records // Field Goal Percentage (Min. 3.0 FGM/Game):
.616 – Steve Grayer (1987-88) – 133/216
.605 – Claudius Johnson (1991-92) – 89/147
.597 – Morris Udeze (2020-21) – 43/72
.595 – Henry Carr (1986-87) – 131/220
.593 – Xavier McDaniel (1982-83) – 223/376
.590 – Neil Strom (1974-75) – 102/173

 
 
SCOUTING UCF:
  • Now in its fifth year under Dawkins, UCF (16-14, 7-11 American last season) was picked eighth in the AAC preseason poll.
  • Per KenPom, the Knights (4-6, 2-5 in 2020-21) have played the nation's fifth-toughest schedule and no team has played a tougher collection of opposing defenses.
  • Wednesday's win over ECU snapped a five-game slide. At No. 149, ECU was the lowest-rated opponent that the Knights have faced this year. Saturday's game at WSU will be their eighth game (out of 11 total) against a KenPom top-100 foe.
  • UCF owns two of the league's best non-conference wins, defeating Auburn in its season-opener then upsetting No. 15 Florida State on the road.
  • Four Knights are scoring in double-figures, led by 6-5 senior Brandon Mahan (14.4) and 6-4 sophomore Darin Green Jr. (12.9).
  • Mahan (18-of-40, .450) and Green (24-of-58, .414) are two of the conference's deadliest three-point shooters, however the rest of the teams is shooting just 26.8 percent from long range (26-of-97).
  • Mahan is 17-of-19 at the foul line. His percentage (.895) ranks among the top-30 nationally (among players who are averaging at least 2.5 makes-per-game).
  • The Knights lost a key cog in mid-October when Collin Smith opted out for the season. The 6-11 forward was the Knight's leading scorer and rebounder in 2019-20.
  • Newcomers have helped fill the void:
  • Louisville graduate transfer Darius Perry is averaging 12.3 points.
  • 6-6 freshman wing Isaiah Adams – Florida's Mr. Basketball last year – is averaging 10.8 points and leads the conference in steals (1.8-per-game).
  • Oregon transfer C.J. Walker – a former top-25 recruit in the Class of 2019 --  averages 5.2 pts, 4.4 rebounds and ranks second on the AAC blocks chart (1.5).
 
 
MATCHUP MASHUP:
  • WSU is 5-1 vs. UCF coach Johnny Dawkins. Dawkin's Stanford team defeated the Shockers, 70-56, in the 2009 CBI quarterfinals.
  • UCF 's Brandon Mahan played for WSU assistant Billy Kennedy at Texas A&M during the 2018-19 season. Mahan made 20 starts, averaged 5.9 points and connected on 43 treys with 38.4 percent accuracy.
  • Three Marrieta, Ga. natives will share the floor on Saturday. WSU's Trey Wade and Trevin Wade both attended South Cobb High School. UCF's Darius Perry -- who is a year younger than Trey and a year ahead of Trevin -- went to Wheeler High.
  • VCU transfer Sean Mobley faced the Shockers during the 2018-19 season (Dec. 22, 2018 in Richmond). He tallied four points, four rebounds and two assists in 20 minutes off the bench in a 70-54 Ram victory.
  • The Shockers used fast starts to sweep last year's home-and-home. They built a 33-17 lead late in the first half in Wichita and held on for an 87-79 victory. Three weeks later in Orlando, they used first-half runs of 15-2 and 14-0 to go up 33-13 in an eventual 75-58 win.
  • The Shockers dominated the boards in those two games, out-rebounding the Knights by an average of 17.0. They were especially good on the defensive glass, grabbing nearly 87% of UCF misses.
  • Dexter Dennis has played some of his best basketball against UCF. In three career meetings, he's averaging nearly a double-double (11.0 points, 9.5 rebounds).
  • UConn faced UCF seven times over Alterique Gilbert's four seasons (2016-20), but Gilbert was injured for all but two of those games. He has yet to make an appearance at Addition Financial Arena. In his most-recent  encounter with UCF (Feb. 26, 2020 in Hartford) Gilbert came off the bench with six points and five assists in 26 turnover-free minutes to help the Huskies to an 81-65 win.
  • 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). WSU is a combined 18-1 against those four teams with the lone loss coming two years ago at USF.
  • WSU has faced a frightening collection of defenses this year. Three of their five January games have been against top-20 defenses, according to KenPom's defensive efficiency metric: Ole Miss (20th), Houston (3rd) and Memphis (5th).
 
 
THE SERIES WITH UCF:
  • The Shockers are 5-0 against the Knights and have scored at least 75 points in all five matchups.
  • WSU has won all three meetings in Wichita and is 2-0 against UCF in Orlando.
  • This is the first of two games in 12 days between the teams. WSU makes a return visit to Addition Financial Arena on Feb. 10.
  • The Shockers swept last year's home-and-home series, winning 87-79 in Wichita (Jan. 25, 2020) and 75-58 in Orlando (Feb. 13, 2020).
Jan. 25, 2018 (Wichita) | #17 WSU 81, UCF 62
Conner Frankamp extended his school-record streak of consecutive games with a three-pointer to 40 (it ended three days later in a win over Tulsa), in a 21-point Shocker win… Bumped from the starting lineup, eventual first team all-conference pick Shaquille Morris came off the bench for 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting to help the Shockers stop a two-game slide in the first-ever meeting between the teams… Helped by Morris' cameo, WSU reserves accounted for 50 of the team's 81 points… WSU outrebounded UCF 48-38 and turned 13 offensive rebounds into 21 second-chance points… The Shockers committed a season-low six turnovers… Rashard Kelly grabbed 10 rebounds in 17 minutes… UCF played its second game without 7-foot-6 center Tacko Fall, who would miss the remainder of the year with a shoulder injury.
 
Mar. 1, 2018 (Orlando | #11 WSU 75, UCF 71 (ot)
UCF banked in a buzzer-beater three to extend the game, but WSU kept its conference title hopes alive by winning in overtime. The Shockers stayed within a game of Cincinnati going into the season finale… Shaquille Morris led WSU with 19 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Conner Frankamp scored 11 of his 16 points after halftime, and Landry Shamet added 14 points and six assists… A.J. Davis was the hero for UCF with 31 points and 14 rebounds in 43 minutes. He hit 6-of-9 threes. B.J. Taylor tacked on 23 points with five assists… Down 66-63 with 17 seconds to play, UCF's Taylor missed a game-tying three, but the rebound trickled through several Shocker hands to Davis on the perimeter. The senior's desperation heave from the right wing glanced off the backboard and through, tying the game with 0.7 seconds showing.
WSU regrouped to outscore UCF 9-5 in the five-minute overtime period.
 
Jan. 16, 2019 (Wichita) | WSU 75, UCF 67
In the lone 2018-19 meeting between the schools, Markis McDuffie scored 18 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, and the Shockers snapped the Knight's seven-game winning streak. UCF entered the day as the AAC's lone unbeaten and was receiving votes in the national polls.
WSU snapped a four-game losing streak – its longest in 10 years… Against a UCF defense that came in 12th nationally in field goal percentage defense, WSU shot a season-best 51.9% and cashed in 17-of-18 free throws… The Shockers out-rebounded the Knights 20-5 in the second half and 36-24 for the game… Seldom-used 7-footer Asbjørn Midtgaard scored six points in 16 minutes and was an effective foil for 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall… WSU led 33-25 at halftime. UCF shot 50% in the second half and nailed 6-of-9 threes to keep things interesting… Aubrey Dawkins scored 16 of his 22 points after halftime. He hit back-to-back threes to cut the margin to 47-46 with 11:00 to play… Up by two with 2:07 to go, WSU launched a 10-2 run.
 
Jan. 25, 2020 (Wichita) | WSU 87, UCF 79
Dexter Dennis scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half to go with 11 rebounds to help WSU improve to 17-3. He was 4-of-8 from three… Four other Shockers also scored in double-figures: 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 the Knights by 17 (45-28) and outscored them 19-3 on second-chance opportunities… 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.
 
Feb. 13, 2020 (Orlando) | WSU 75, UCF 58
WSU swept the season series and also snapped a three-game losing streak… Erik Stevenson scored 17 of his game-high 27 points in the first 15 minutes to help the Shockers build a 33-13 lead… WSU held UCF to 20 first-half points and used runs of 10-0 and 14-0 to pull away. UCF closed the gap to 13 at halftime and was within 10 near the midway point of the second half before another 10-0 Shocker push iced the game… Stevenson hit five threes to go with eight rebounds and five assists… Dexter Dennis grabbed a team-high nine rebounds to go with seven points and five assists… Freshman point guard Noah Fernandes made his first career start and tallied a career-high seven points and two assists in 24 minutes… Grant Sherfield handed out a team-high six assists with just one turnover… Matt Milon and Darin Green Jr. led UCF with 13 points apiece… The Shockers shot 48.1% to UCF's 31.7%. They outrebounded the host Knights by 17 (47-30) and held them to just 16 points in the paint… Reserves accounted for 45 of the Shockers's 75 points… WSU swept UCF and improved to 5-0 against the Knights since joining The American.
 
 
ON THIS DATE:  JAN. 30
1960 -- Wichita won the last of 21 MVC era matchups with Houston, 74-65, behind 23 points from Ron Heller. 
1964 – Dave Stallworth rallied the seventh-ranked Shockers past Cincinnati in exciting fashion, 62-59. Wichita trailed by three points with 29 seconds left, but Stallworth supplied two baskets and a timely steal to lead the charge.
1965 – In his final game as a Shocker, Stallworth scored 40 points to lead No. 5 WSU past Louisville, 96-76. In an emotional postgame speech, he told a capacity crowd, "It's been my pleasure playing for you."
1969 -- Greg Carney's jumper with six seconds left gave WSU a 71-69 home victory over Memphis.
2019 – Tied at 83, Samajae Haynes-Jones split two defenders for a reverse layup with 1.0 second on the clock to give WSU an 85-83 home win over SMU. The victory was a major turning point for the 2018-19 squad, which was 8-11 coming in but 14-4 thereafter en route to the NIT semifinals.
 
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...
... make them 9-4 with wins in eight of their last 10.
... up their conference record to 5-2 and move them into a second-place tie with SMU (5-2).
... make them 6-2 at home with five-straight wins.
... be their seventh straight AAC home victory dating back to Feb. 16, 2020.
... give them a 6-0 series lead on UCF (4-0 at CKA).
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...
... drop them to 8-5 (4-3 AAC).
... be their first home loss since Dec. 12, snapping a four-game winning streak.
... be their first conference home loss since Feb. 6, 2020 against Cincinnati, snapping a six-game streak.
... be their first to UCF (5-1).
... be less good than a win.
 
 
UP NEXT:
  • The Shockers continue their homestand Wednesday against Tulane (7 p.m. CT, ESPN+) and Sunday, Feb. 7 versus Temple (1 p.m. CT, ESPNU).
  • WSU won its only meeting with Tulane last year, 82-57, and is 4-0 against the Green Wave since joining The American.
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