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Craig Porter Jr.

Shockers Return to Roundhouse Saturday vs. Norfolk State

12/10/2021 2:54:00 PM

NORFOLK STATE (9-2, 0-0 MEAC) at WICHITA STATE (6-2, 0-0 AAC)
Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021 | 6:01 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena (10,506)
 
Tickets: GoShockers.com/Tickets or 316-978-FANS (3267)
TV: ESPN+ w/ Steve Strain & Bob Hull
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM (GoShockers.com/Listen) w/ Mike Kennedy & Dave Dahl
Live Stats: ShockerStats.com
Series: First Meeting
 
PROMOTION:
  • Fans are encouraged to bring a new or gently-used stuffed animal for a halftime "Teddy Bear Toss."  The toys will be donated to children at a local hospital.
  • Fans can use their men's ticket for free admission to Saturday's 2 p.m. women's game against Grambling State.
 
OPENING TIPS:
  • Wichita State plays the first of four-straight at Charles Koch Arena, Saturday evening against Norfolk State.
  • The Shockers are looking to bounce back from last Saturday's 65-59 loss to Kansas State at INTRUST Bank Arena. Morris Udeze scored a season-high 19 points.
  • This is WSU's first appearance at the Roundhouse since a Nov. 16 win over Tarleton State (a span of 25 days).
  • The Shockers have won 12-straight at CKA, last losing Dec. 12, 2020 to Oklahoma State.
  • Norfolk State, the defending MEAC regular season and tournament champion, is out to its best start in 25 years at the Division I level (9-2).
  • This is the first-ever meeting between the schools, however they have crossed paths recently. The Spartans and Shockers played back-to-back games at the First Four last spring inside Purdue's Mackey Arena.
  • WSU is 2-0 against 2021 NCAA tournament teams after road wins at Mizzou and Oklahoma State. The Shockers will face a fourth (North Texas) on Dec. 18.
  • The NCAA released its first batch of NET rankings earlier this week. WSU is one of five AAC squads currently ranked in the top-65: Houston (3), Cincinnati (40), WSU (62), Memphis (64) & UCF (65). That's good news for the Shockers' postseason resume. Ten of WSU's 18 AAC games currently fall into the all-important Quadrant I or II range.
  • KenPom rates the Shockers 31st nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency. 19.1% of opponent possessions end in turnovers (36th nationally). Foes are shooting just 25.9% from three (16th) and less than 40% overall.
  • WSU has yet to allow more than 70 points in regulation. The closest so far has been Arizona, which managed 69 points through 40 minutes. The Wildcats are averaging a nation-best 91.6 points for the year.
  • Preseason AAC Player of the Year Tyson Etienne (15.6 ppg) has a pair of 20-point games under his belt.
  • Udeze (10.3 ppg) has reached double-figures in three-straight. He was named to this week's AAC Honor Roll.
  • Qua Grant looks to become the first Shocker newcomer since Aubrey Sherrod (1981-82) to record a steal in each of his first nine games in a WSU uniform.
  • Grant and assistant coach Tyson Waterman both celebrate birthday's on Saturday.
 

LAST GAME:
Dec. 5 at INTRUST Bank Arena | K-State 65, WSU 59
  • Morris Udeze scored a season-high 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting, but WSU otherwise struggled to put the ball in the basket in its first meeting with KSU since 2003.
  • Markquis Nowell scored 16 points for K-State, including a deep three that broke a 54-all tie with 1:35 to go.
  • WSU saw a 12-game Wichita winning streak snapped and lost downtown for the first time since 2017.
  • Tyson Etienne added 11 points but made just 4-of-20 from the field, including 1-of-11 from three.
  • WSU shot 35.2% to KSU's 33.9. The Shockers had won 36-straight when out-shooting their opponent, last losing Jan. 19, 2019 to Cincinnati.
  • K-State committed just seven turnovers to WSU's 14. Shocker opponents had averaged 17.7 coming in.
  • The Wildcats limited the Shockers to just three second-chance points on six offensive rebounds.
  • WSU enjoyed a fast start, building leads of 11-2 and 17-5 at the 12:15 mark of the first half. KSU responded with a 12-0 run and took a 32-30 lead into halftime.
  • WSU jumped back out to a seven-point lead near the 14:00-mark but went scoreless over the next 7:00.
  • The lead changed hands four more times. Ricky Council IV made a short pull-up jumper for a 51-50 Shocker lead with just under 4:00 showing and tied the game at 54 on a three-pointer with 2:02 to go. Nowell responded with a deep three then added a pair of free throws on the next trip. Mark Smith iced it with a steal and transition dunk.
 
 
SCOUTING NORFOLK STATE:
  • Norfolk State finished 17-8 and claimed the MEAC regular season and tournament titles. The Spartans defeated Appalachian State by a point in the NCAA First Four before falling to eventual national-runner-up Gonzaga in the Round of 64.
  • It was the first NCAA appearance for NSU since 2012 when it upset No. 2 seed Mizzou as a No. 15 seed.
  • NSU has appeared in eight of the last nine postseasons with the only miss coming 2018. The Spartans followed up their 2012 NCAA success with an NIT bid in 2013 followed by four-straight CITs (2014-17). The returned to the NIT in 2019 and upset Alabama in the first round.
  • NSU returns just one full-time starter from last year, third team All-MEAC selection Joe Bryant Jr. The 6-foot-1 junior is averaging a team-high 14.5 points and has been almost automatic at the foul line (44-of-47, .936). He scored a season-high 28 on 16-of-16 free throw shooting in the Nov. 13 win over Tennessee State.
  • Seven Spartan regulars are averaging 7.0-or-more points.
  • 6-8 junior forward Kris Bankston played sparingly in three seasons at Little Rock but has flourished for NSU, averaging 11.6 points on 76% shooting. He's the team's top rebounder at 6.6-per-contest.
  • 6-2 sophomore Christian Ings, a two-year starter at Rider, is chipping in 10.7 points and leads the team in steals (1.5) and assists (2.6).
  • 6-2 redshirt junior Jalen Hawkins is an explosive scorer off the bench, averaging 10.6 points in less than 20 minutes. He scored 24 in the Spartans' First Four win.
  • The Spartans are in action for the first time since last Saturday's buzzer-beater loss at Hampton. Russell Dean sank an off-balance 30-footer at the horn for a 58-57 Pirate victory.
  • NSU's only other loss came Nov. 21 at Xavier.
  • NSU (9-2) is out to its best 11-game start since moving to Division I (1997-98).
  • Heading into the weekend, NSU's nine victories are tied for second-most nationally behind 10-0 San Francisco.
  • The Spartans are limiting opponents to 62.5 points and outscoring them by an average of 14.9.
 
MATCHUP MASHUP:
  • WSU plays three of its next four games against HBCU's, continuing Tuesday with Alcorn State and Dec. 22 against Prairie View A&M.
  • WSU has faced 16 of the 23 HBCUs at some point, and Norfolk will make 17. The Shockers are a combined 26-1 with the lone loss coming to Hampton during the 2000-01 season. That Hampton team famously went on to upset No. 2 seed Iowa in the NCAA tournament.
  • NSU's ninth-year head coach Robert Jones and WSU's Isaac Brown followed similar paths. Both were assistants for six years at their current schools before being elevated to interim head coach. Jones took over at NSU on April 15, 2014 after the departure of Anthony Evans for FIU. Both coaches had their interim tags removed in February after successful starts.
 
 
ON THIS DATE: DEC. 11
  • Somewhat surprisingly, the Shockers haven't played a game on Dec. 11 since 2004 (a 90-86 win at Providence). They're 9-10 all-time on that date.
  • Junior guard Qua Grant and assistant coach Tyson Waterman were both born on this day.
  • 1961 – 6-foot-10 Gene Wiley tallied 15 blocks – still the school record – and added 12 points and 13 rebounds to record the first "triple-double" in Shocker history. He did it three more times that season.
  • 1967 – Behind 33 points, 21 rebounds and 12 assists from Warren Armstrong, the Shockers handled Arizona State, 122-105.
  • 1982 – Host WSU let a 21-point first half lead slip away but still managed to defeat UAB in overtime, 89-88.  The Shockers shot 64.8 percent from the field but committed 33 turnovers – 21 of them in the first half, which allowed the Blazers to take a 45-all tie into halftime after trailing 36-15 early. Aubrey Sherrod scored 27 points and Zarko Durisic added 24 points and 14 boards, including the go-ahead free throw with 21 seconds to play in overtime.
 
 
TRENDING:
  • WSU has yet to allow more than 70 points in regulation. The closest so far has been Arizona – currently the nation's highest-scoring team at 91.6 points – which managed 69 points in 40 minutes.
  • Speaking of Arizona, the Wildcats' four-point overtime win over the Shockers is by far their closest scrape through the first month. UA leads the nation in scoring margin (+32.1). It's next-closest battle was an 18-point win over then-No. 4 Michigan.
  • WSU is shooting just 39.4% for the year (323rd out of 350 Division I teams). Of the 37 schools that are under 40%, WSU (6-2) and Presbyterian (6-4) are the only ones with winning records.
  • Tyson Etienne ranks 27th nationally in minutes-per-game (36:05). No Shocker has averaged that many over a full season since L.D. Swanson (38.4) in 1995.
  • Etienne is averaging 16.0 field goal attempts-per-game. Since the addition of the shot clock in 1986, just one other Shocker has averaged more over a full season -- Maurice Evans put up 22.6 points on 16.4 field attempts during the 1998-99 season.
  • Offenses tend to look much better when the shots are falling. Two of the Shockers' best three-point shooters over the past two seasons, Etienne and Dexter Dennis, have struggled through the first month. Etienne (38% over his first two years) is connecting at a .286 clip. Dennis (.358 over his first three seasons) is shooting just .235 from deep.
  • Qua Grant has at least one steal in each of the first eight games. He's the first Shocker to do that since Ron Baker (2013-14). If Grant registers a steal against Norfolk State, he'd be the first WSU newcomer in 40 years to tally a steal in each of his first nine contests. Aubrey Sherrod, a McDonald's All-American out of Wichita Heights, did it in 10-straight to open the '81-82 season.
 
HOME IS WHERE THE HEAT IS:
  • WSU has won its last 12 games at Charles Koch Arena, dating back to last December. The last defeat came Dec. 12, 2020 against Oklahoma State.
  • WSU has won 62 of its last 65 non-conference games at CKA. Two of those losses came last December (Mizzou and OSU) when crowds were limited by COVID-19 restrictions. The other came against Louisiana Tech in the 2019-20 season opener.
 
GREAT OUT OF THE GATE:
  • Isaac Brown's start stacks up well with some of the best in the game. Just seven active head coaches have higher career winning percentages at the D-I level.

Active NCAA Division I Coaches // Career Winning % at D-I Level; Min 30 Games)
Mark Few (Gonzaga) – 637-127 (.834)
Bill Self (Kansas) – 736-224 (.767)
Mike Krzyzewski (Duke) – 1177-362 (.765)
John Calipari (Kentucky) – 749-232 (.764)
Chris Jans (NM State) – 123-39 (.759)
Eric Musselman (Arkansas) – 164-53 (.756)
Brian Dutcher (San Diego St.) – 102-34 (.750)
Isaac Brown (Wichita St.) – 22-8 (.733)
Terrance Johnson (Texas St.) – 24-9 (.727)
Tony Bennett (Virginia) – 370-140 (.725)

 
THREES COMPANY:
  • Dexter Dennis and Tyson Etienne are both rocketing up WSU's all-time three-point field goal list.
  • Dennis (149) needs one more three to become just the 10th player in Shocker history with 150 career triples. If he does it Saturday, he'll tie Jason Perez for the seventh-fastest to that milestone.
  • Tyson Etienne is 11th on the career list. His 145 threes are the most ever by a Shocker through 60 games -- 18 more than Landry Shamet (127).
 
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS:
  • In the first three seasons since the NCAA Selection committee's switch to the Quadrant system (2018-19 to 2020-21), WSU teams went a combined 39-2 in Q3 & Q4 games. The only losses came to Louisiana Tech in the 2018-19 season opener and to Cincinnati in the 2021 AAC tournament semifinals.
  • Saturday's game fall into the high Q4 range. WSU is 4-0 this year in Q4 contests and 0-0 in Q3 matchups.
 
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD….
... Improve their record to 7-2.          
... Guarantee a winning non-conference record for the 23rd consecutive season.
... Make them 3-0 against 2021 NCAA tournament teams (Also won @ Mizzou and @ Oklahoma St.).
... Make them 107-10 in non-conference regular season games at CKA since its 2003 renovation (.915).
... Extend their Roundhouse winning streak to 13 -- tied for the 10th-longest in the building's 66 seasons.
... Give them a 1-0 lead in the all-time series.
... Up Isaac Brown's record to 24-7 in parts of two seasons (the best 31-game start in the program's modern era).
 
A SHOCKERS LOSS WOULD...
... Drop them to 6-3 with back-to-back losses.
... Give them consecutive regular season losses for the first time since a three-game skid in early February, 2020 (@ Tulsa, Cincinnati, @ Houston).
... Be their first at the Roundhouse since Dec. 12, 2020 against Oklahoma State and end a 12-game win streak.
... Be just their 11th non-conference regular season loss at CKA since its 2003 renovation (106-11).
... Give Norfolk State a 1-0 series lead.
... Be less good than a win.
 
 
UP NEXT:
  • The Shockers continue their December homestand with dates against Alcorn State (Tuesday, Dec. 14, 7 p.m.), North Texas (Saturday, Dec. 18, 3 p.m.) and Wednesday, Dec. 22 (6 p.m.). Tickets are still available for all three dates.
  • WSU won its only other meeting with Alcorn (pronounced ALL-corn) back in 2009 (87-52).
  • Prairie View is the defending SWAC champion. WSU has won all three series matchups, most recently in 1999.
  • Future AAC rival North Texas comes to Wichita on Dec. 18. The Mean Green upset Purdue to reach the second round of last year's NCAA tournament. The two former Missouri Valley Conference rivals (1957-75) last played in 1982.
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