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Morris Udeze Tipoff

Shockers Ready for Rematch with UCF

2/9/2021 12:15:00 PM

WICHITA STATE (11-4, 7-2) at UCF (5-9, 3-8)
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 10, 2021 | 6:01 P.M. CT (7:01 P.M. ET)
ORLANDO, FLA. | ADDITION FINANCIAL ARENA
TV: ESPN+
RADIO: KEYN 103.7 FM (GoShockers.com/Listen)
SERIES: WSU leads 6-0 (2-0 in Orlando)
LAST: Jan. 30, 2021 in Wichita (WSU, 93-88 ot)
 
 
TICKETS:
Tickets are available at UCFKnights.com.
 
#WATCHUS:
The game will air on ESPN+ with Austin Lyons and Mike O'Donnell on the call. ESPN+ subscribers can stream live and on demand via the ESPN App. Subscriptions for the ESPN+ app are $5.99 monthly or $49.99 annually and can be packaged with Hulu and Disney+ streaming services.
 
SHOCKER RADIO:
Listen live on KEYN 103.7 FM and online at GoShockers.com. Division I college basketball's longest-tenured duo, Mike Kennedy (pbp) and Bob Hull (analyst). Kennedy is in his 41st 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. 15.
 
 
OPENING TIPS:
  • The Wichita State Shockers are in Orlando Wednesday to take on the UCF Knights in an American Athletic Conference matchup at Addition Financial Arena.
  • WSU is 6-0 all-time against UCF, including 2-0 in Orlando. In their most-recent visit (Feb. 13, 2020), the Shockers jumped out to a 33-13 lead on the way to a 75-58 victory.
  • This is the second meeting in 12 days between the teams. Jan. 30 in Wichita, Tyson Etienne scored 29 points and WSU erased an eight-point deficit in the last four minutes of regulation for a 93-88 overtime win.
  • The victory over UCF started a three-game winning streak for the Shockers who have since defeated Tulane (75-67) and Temple (70-67).
  • WSU (7-2 American) is tied with first-place Houston (10-2) in the loss column but must make up three victories on the Cougars. The teams go head-to-head Feb. 25 in Wichita.
  • Etienne made his fifth AAC Honor Roll appearance on Monday. He's also the league's two-time Player of the Week. Etienne's seven total awards are the most by a Shocker in a single season, edging out Landry Shamet (six in 2017-18).
  • Etienne is the conference's leading scorer (18.1) and ranks among the top-25 nationally in three-point baskets (3.1). He's scored at least 20 points in three-straight games and in 7-of-10 dating back to Dec. 22.
  • UConn transfer Alterique Gilbert (9.7 ppg) leads the team in assists (3.8) and steals (1.5).
  • Dexter Dennis, who celebrated his 22nd birthday Tuesday, is one of the nation's best defenders. He scored 10 points on just three shots in Sunday's win over Temple.
  • Over his last six games, junior forward Morris Udeze is averaging 13.3 points on 71.7% shooting.
  • Freshman guard Ricky Council IV has been one of the league's most-impactful bench players. He's averaging 18.7 points and 11.7 rebounds-per-40-minutes.
  • WSU has held 22 of its last 23 opponents under 50% from the field.  UCF's 57.4% effort on Jan. 30 is the lone exception.
  • The Shockers rank 27th nationally in field goal percentage defense and have held seven of their last 11 foes under that standard -- including Tulane (.308) and Temple (.385) back-to-back.
  • The Shockers are also holding opponents to 27.9% from three-point range -- 10th-best nationally. In AAC play, only Memphis (.611 on Jan. 21) has made more than a third of its tries from beyond the arc.
  • WSU is 6-1 this year in games decided by five points or less, including 2-0 in overtime.
  • Wichita State is The American's western-most outfit, and UCF (Orlando, Fla.) is the Shockers' second longest trip (1,114 miles as the crow flies). Only Temple (Philadelphia) is farther (1,198).
 
 
TEMPLE LEFTOVERS:
Dexter Dennis' 10 points came on just three shots.  -- fewest by a double-digit scorer since Dec. 22, 2015. WSU tied a school record for free throw attempts that day against Nevada (62). Zach Brown went 1-for-1 from the field but still managed 13 points on 11-of-12 free throw shooting. Fred VanVleet was 1-for-3 from the field but 10-of 12 at the stripe for 13 points.
 
 
RANDOM KNOWLEDGE:
  • Three of the Shockers' four losses have come to teams currently ranked in the top-25 (No. 8 Houston, No. 10 Missouri and No. 23 Oklahoma State.
  • The Shockers are 1-3 in Quadrant I games and 2-1 in Q-II opportunities. Wednesday night's game falls into Quadrant II (road games against teams ranked 76-130).
  • WSU is 6-0 in Q-III and Q-IV games.
  • The Shockers have done an excellent job of avoiding "bad losses" on their team sheet. They were a combined 29-1 in Q-III and IV games during the first two years of the NCAA NET ranking system (2018-19 & 2019-20) with the lone loss coming in the 2018-19 home opener against Louisiana Tech.
  • In conference play, the Shockers are averaging league-high 73.1 points, ahead of Houston (72.8) and Memphis (70.4), and also have the an AAC-best 1.14 assist-to-turnover ratio.
  • WSU hasn't shot the ball well this year but atones with  timely offensive rebounds, good ball control, and by getting to the foul line:
  • The Shockers rank among the top-40 nationally in offensive rebounds-per-game (12.33). 
  • Per KenPom, WSU ranks among the top-20 in turnover percentage (just 15.6-per-100 possessions).
  • The Shockers average a league-high 16.2 points-per-game off of free throws (No. 22 nationally) and attempt an average of 23.4 (16th).
 
 
MOURNING LEW HILL            :
  • Lew Hill, a Wichita State alumnus and current head coach at UT-Rio Grande Valley, passed away on Feb. 7 at the age of 55.
  • A former JUCO standout, Hill played at WSU for coaches Gene Smithson (1985-86) and Eddie Fogler (1987-88) with a medical redshirt in between.
  • He led both teams in steals, and was the second-leading scorer for the 1988 NCAA Tournament team, earning second team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors while averaging 13.1 ppg and 1.6 steals. He shot .548 from the field that year, including .446 from three.
  • Hill was a Division I assistant for 25 years at South Alabama, Southeast Missouri State, East Carolina, Texas A&M, UNLV, and Oklahoma, the last 12 with Lon Kruger at UNLV and Oklahoma, then became the head coach at UTRVG in 2016 where he won 20 games in during the 2018-19 season.
 
 
MILESTONE WATCH:
  • Dexter Dennis has sole possession of 19th on WSU's career triples list (124). He needs just one more to catch Graham Hatch and Dwight Praylow (125) for 17th.
  • Etienne is now in the top-25 on WSU's career three-point list (108). He's tied with Kyle Wilson and Tekele Cotton (108) for 23rd.
  • Trey Wade scored his 500th career point on Sunday (which includes his freshman year at UTEP).
  • Alterique Gilbert's next three-pointer will be his 100th career.
 
 
THE SERIES:
  • The Shockers are 6-0 against the Knights and have scored at least 75 points in all six matchups.
  • WSU has won all four meetings in Wichita and is 2-0 against UCF in Orlando.
  • The teams meet for the second time in 12 days. The Shockers won in overtime on Jan. 30 in Wichita, 93-88, behind 29 points from Tyson Etienne.
  • That was the second time in six meetings that the pair have played bonus basketball. WSU won its first visit to Orlando on Mar. 1, 2018, 75-71.
  • 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).
 
 
LAST MEETING WITH UCF: 
Jan. 30 (Wichita) | WSU, 93-88 (ot)
  • Tyson Etienne scored 29 points and made 5-of-10 threes, becoming the fastest Shocker to 100 career triples (44 games) in an overtime win over UCF.
  • The Shockers were unlikely victors, according to ESPN.com. The Knights' win probability topped out at 92.8% with 3:52 to play in regulation after Brandon Mahan banked in a three for a 74-66 lead. Instead WSU, answered with an 8-0 run, fueled by its full court press. 
  • WSU scored 33 points off of 23 UCF turnovers, including 11 on five giveaways in the final 3:12 of the second half.
  • UCF had an 83.4% chance at victory in overtime after going up 84-79 with 2:24 left. WSU again answered with a 7-0 run, capped by Etienne's milestone three.
  • Mahan and Jamille Reynolds scored 17-each for UCF, which shot 57.4% but missed five of its last six shots.
  • WSU shot 46.2% and knocked down 10-of-30 from three. The Shockers made seven-straight free throws during the final minute to finish up 23-of-33.
  • Five Shockers scored in double-figures. In addition to Etienne (who scored 21 of his 29 points after halftime), Morris Udeze converted 8-of-9 attempts for 18 points.  Clarence Jackson scored five of his 13 in overtime and grabbed eight rebounds. Alterique Gilbert stacked  12 points with seven assists and accounted for four of WSU's 12 steals. Dexter Dennis added 12 points of his own in 36 minutes.
  • WSU improved to 6-0 vs. UCF (2-0 in overtime).
 
 
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 second-toughest non-conference schedule and have faced the ninth-toughest overall. 
  • 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.
  • The Knights are led by 6-5 senior Brandon Mahan (14.1) and 6-4 sophomore Darin Green Jr. (12.0). Both players average over two threes-per-game.
  • Mahan ranks among the league leaders in both three-point (29-of-64, .453) and free throw (39-of-45, .867) percentage.
  • 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 12.9 points.
  • 6-6 freshman wing Isaiah Adams – Florida's Mr. Basketball last year – is averaging 9.1 points and is third on the conference's steals chart (1.6-per-game).
  • Oregon transfer C.J. Walker – a former top-25 recruit in the Class of 2019 --  averages 5.8 pts, 4.4 rebounds and ranks third on the AAC blocks chart (1.4).
 
 
MATCHUP MASHUP:
  • WSU and UCF meet for the second time this season. In part due to COVID-19 cancelations, WSU has played just one other rematch so far. The Shockers swept Tulsa (Dec. 15 at Tulsa and Jan. 13 in Wichita).
  • WSU is 6-1 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.
  • UConn faced UCF seven times over Alterique Gilbert's four seasons (2016-20), but Gilbert was injured for all but two of those games. Wednesday will be his first appearance at Addition Financial Arena.
  • 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 20-1 against those four teams with the lone loss coming two years ago at USF.
  • Per KenPom strength of schedule. UCF is one of only 10 teams nationally that have faced a tougher collection of defenses than the Shockers. Five of those teams reside in the Big Ten.
 
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ON THIS DATE:  FEB. 10
2009 -- Freshman Toure' Murry scored 23 points and hit a game-winning three-pointer with six seconds left in a 62-61 victory over Missouri State at Charles Koch Arena.
 
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...
... make them 12-4 with wins in 11 of their last 13.
... up their conference record to 8-2.
... make them 4-3 on the road but be their first win away from Wichita since Jan. 2 at Ole Miss, snapping a three-game slide.
... give them their best 10-game conference start since joining The American. The Shockers opened 7-2 in their debut season (2017-18) but dropped game No. 10 at Temple.
... increase their all-time series lead on UCF to 7-0 (3-0 in Orlando).
... give Isaac Brown the best 16-game start by a first-year Shocker head coach since Gary Thompson (13-3 in 1964-65).
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...
... drop them to 11-5 (7-3 AAC).
... snap a three-game winning streak.
... give them four-straight true road losses on the heels of a 3-0 start.
... be their first ever to UCF (6-1) and their first in three visits to Additional Financial Arena.
... be less good than a win.
 
 
UP NEXT:
  • WSU is back on the road Sunday at SMU (3 p.m. CT, ESPNU). The Mustangs are 7-4 in league play.
  • Beginning with Sunday's game, the Shockers will play four of the next five against teams with winning AAC records. Memphis (8-3), Houston (10-2) and SMU all come to Wichita in the next three weeks.
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