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Etienne vs Arizona

Shockers Prep for Late-Night Matchup with UNLV

11/20/2021 5:05:00 PM

WICHITA STATE (3-1, 0-0 AAC) vs. UNLV (3-1, 0-0 MWC)
Roman Main Event | 3rd-Place Game
Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021 | 11 p.m. CT (9 p.m. PT)
Las Vegas, Nev. | T-Mobile Arena (18,000)
 
Tickets: tmobilearena.com or axs.com
TV: ESPN2 w/ John Schriffen & Robbie Hummel
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM (GoShockers.com/Listen) w/ Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
Live Stats: ShockerStats.com
Tournament Hub: romanmainevent.com
Series: WSU leads 3-1; Last: Dec. 9, 2016 in Wichita (WSU, 56-50)
 
 
OPENING TIPS:
  • Wichita State looks to finish its Vegas weekend on a winning note Sunday when its takes on UNLV in the Roman Main Event third-place game (11 p.m. CT, ESPN2).
  • In Friday's semifinal round, the Shockers fell 82-78 in overtime to Arizona. WSU trailed by 16 early in the second half but battled back to briefly take the lead. Tyson Etienne scored 24 of his game-high 27 points after halftime, including a three with 13 seconds left to force OT, but the Wildcats opened the extra period on a 9-0 run.
  • UNLV (3-1) hung tough with fourth-ranked Michigan but suffered its first loss of the year, 74-61. Bryce Hamilton scored 21 points to pace the Rebels.
  • WSU and UNLV meet on the hardwood for the first time in six years. The teams played twice in Wichita during the previous decade as part of a challenge series between the Mountain West and the Missouri Valley Conference. The Shockers won both matchups and lead the all-time series, 3-1.
  • WSU is still looking for its first-ever win in Las Vegas (0-4 in three separate trips).
  • WSU forced a season-high 22 turnovers against Arizona -- three nights after getting 20 against Tarleton State. It's the first time in seven years that the Shockers have induced 20+ turnovers in consecutive games. WSU forced 20 against New Mexico State in the 2014-15 season opener and 24 more in a neutral site win over Memphis (Nov. 18, 2014).
  • The Shockers have won the turnover battle in all four games and are +4.8 for the year.
  • WSU ranks among the top-25 nationally in three-point field goal defense, holding opponents to 24.1%. The Shockers have held each of their last three under 20%.
  • WSU has played in 8 of the last 9 NCAA tourneys and returns three starters from a team that won the AAC regular season title and earned a spot in the First Four.
  • WSU (.373) and UNLV (.371) both rank among the bottom-25 nationally in field goal percentage. As of Saturday, 70 teams are shooting under 40% for the year. 12 of them, including the Shockers and Rebels, have winning records.
  • Etienne, the team's leading scorer at 15.7 points) reached the 20-point mark Friday for the 13th time in his three-year Shocker career.
  • 6-5 defensive ace Dexter Dennis (10.0 ppg) is the team's leading 6.5 rebounder and shot-blocker (1.5).
 
 
THE SERIES vs. UNLV:
  • The Shockers hold a 3-1 mark against UNLV. Two of those previous wins came against nationally-ranked Runnin' Rebel squads.
  • WSU won a pair of MVC-MWC Challenge Series matchups in Wichita over the previous decade:
  • On Dec. 4, 2011, WSU upset the 18th-ranked Runnin' Rebels, 89-70, at Charles Koch Arena behind 31 points on 8-of-9 three-point shooting from Joe Ragland.
  • Four years later, the Shockers won a defensive battle, 56-50, led by 17 points from senior All-American Fred VanVleet. WSU went on to lead the nation in scoring defense that year (59.0 ppg allowed).
  • The Shockers also upset a UNLV team ranked 16th in the polls during the 1977-78 season at Levitt Arena. Cheese Johnson sank 11-of-14 shots, including all six in the second, for 29 points and WSU held UNLV star Reggie Theus to 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting.
  • Despite losing Theus to the NBA Draft, UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian got revenge the following year at the soldout Las Vegas Convention Center. Brett Vroman (25 pts, 17 reb) and Tony Smith (20) paced the Rebels while Johnson (21) and Steve Kalocinski (20) topped the Shockers, who led 47-46 at halftime but were outscored 65-42 the rest of the way.
SCOUTING THE RUNNIN' REBELS:
  • Hometown UNLV is making its second appearance in the Main Event after winning the 2017 title.
  • The Rebels (10-15, 8-10 MWC, NCAA NET: 189 last year) are under new management with head coach Kevin Kruger, who was promoted last spring after T.J. Otzelberger's departure for Iowa State.
  • UNLV returns just one starter from last year: leading scorer Bryce Hamilton, who puts up 17.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.3 steals in 2020-21. He's averaging 18.0 points-per-game so far in 2021-22.
  • UNLV added nine transfers, including a pair from the University of Texas: 6-6 Donovan Williams in the only other Rebel in double-figures currently at 11.3 points on 6-of-15 three-point shooting. Royce Hamm Jr. (8.8 ppg) is the team's leading rebounder (12.8) and shot-blocker (2.3).
  • The Rebels are picked seventh out of 11 teams in the Mountain West Conference preseason poll.
MATCHUP MASHUP:
  • The 2014 Shockers were 34-0 on Selection Sunday, becoming the first school since 1991 UNLV to take an undefeated record into the NCAA tournament.
  • WSU and UNLV are on a short list of programs that have employed two generations of head coaches within the same family. Kevin Kruger's father, Lon Kruger, coached the Runnin' Rebels from 2004-11. Gene Smithson led the Shockers from 1978-86 and his son Randy Smithson guided the ship from 1996-00.
  • Junior guard Josh Baker spent the past two years at Hutchinson Community College, less than an hour from Wichita.
  • Like the Shockers, UNLV grinded out three tightly-contest home wins before jumping into tournament play. The Rebels dispatched Gardner-Webb, California and North Dakota State by a combined total of 11 points.
 
 
LAST TIME OUT:
Nov. 19 in Las Vegas | Main Event Semifinal | Arizona 82, Wichita State 78 (OT)
  • WSU rallied from 16 down to force overtime, but Arizona scored the first nine points in the extra period to survive a semifinal thriller at the Roman Main Event.
  • Tyson Etienne scored 24 of his 27 points after halftime, including a three with 13 seconds left to force OT.
  • Qua Grant added 13 points and six boards. Craig Porter Jr. scored nine of his career-high 11 in the first half and finished with a team-high seven rebounds.
  • Bennedict Mathurin tallied 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead UA, which made 16 of its first 28 shots but just 8-of-31 thereafter.
  • WSU forced 22 Wildcat turnovers on 11 steals but shot just 33.8% while struggling against a UA front-line that swatted away 10 shots. The Shockers tied a 24-year old school record with 39 three-point tries and made 12. They also capitalized on 20 offensive rebounds.
  • Etienne's 27 field goal attempts were the most by a Shocker since Xavier McDaniel (1985) and 15 three-point tries were one shy of the school record.
  • UA missed 22 of 27 treys but made 29-of-42 foul shots.
  • WSU trailed by as many as 16 with 12:24 remaining but launched a 17-2 run. Grant's triple tied the game with 2:09 remaining, and he sank a free throw to give WSU its only lead, 65-64, with 1:35 left. UA went up 69-66 on Tubelis' 3-point play (0:21), but Etiennes answered.
  • With both WSU centers fouled out, the scales tipped in UA's favor. The Wildcats sank 8-of-12 OT free throws.
TRENDING:
  • Dexter Dennis has blocked at least one shot in every game and in five-straight going back to last season.
  • The Shockers had been whistled for just 36 fouls in their first three games (12.0-per-game ranked 18th nationally coming into the tournament) but were whistled for 31 against Arizona.
  • WSU also entered the tournament shooting a sterling 79.2% at the foul line but connected on just 12-of-24 against the Wildcats, including 9-of-21 in regulation.
  • WSU scored 69 points in regulation and 78 total against Arizona. It marked just the second time in three seasons that the Shockers have lost while scoring at least 65 (37-2).
  • As of Saturday, Tyson Etienne ranks No. 17 nationally in minutes-per-game (37:36). Overtime Friday helped pad that total. Etienne played the entire second half, plus overtime. His only break came between the 8:03 and 6:30-mark of the first half.
  • Etienne has made at least one free throw in 27-straight going back to his freshman year (2019-20). That's the longest Shocker streak since Cleanthony Early's 27-gamer during the 2013-14 undefeated season. If Etienne connects against UNLV it would be the longest Shocker streak in nearly 18 years.
  • Dexter Dennis moved into the top-10 on WSU's career three-point chart earlier this week. Friday against Arizona he connected two more times to get to 146. He needs just five more to match David Kyles for ninth-place and 11 to catch Landry Shamet for eighth.
 
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD….
... Give them a weekend split and a third-place finish in the Roman Main Event.   
... Up their season record to 4-1.
... Give them a 4-1 lead in the all-time series with UNLV with three-straight victories.
... be their first ever in Vegas (1-4).
 
A SHOCKERS LOSS WOULD…
... Give them a fourth-place finish in the Roman Main Event (0-2).
... Lower their season mark to 3-2.
... Narrow their all-time series lead over UNLV to 3-2.
... Make them 0-5 all-time in Vegas.
... Be less good than a win.
 
UP NEXT:
  • The Shockers play a pair of true road games, beginning next Friday, Nov. 26 at Missouri (8 p.m. CT, SEC Network).
  • It's game No. 2 in a four-year home-and-home series. The Tigers won in an empty Charles Koch Arena last December, 72-62, in the first meeting between the schools since 1951.
  • WSU travels to Oklahoma State on Wednesday, Dec. 1 (7 p.m. CT, ESPN+).
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