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BKC - Wichita St vs University of Houston
For Houston Athletics

Shockers Back Home Wednesday to Face Tulane

1/11/2022 4:34:00 PM

TULANE (6-7, 3-1 AAC) at WICHITA STATE (9-5, 0-2 AAC)
Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022 | 7:02 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena (10,506)
 
Tickets: 978-FANS (3267) or GoShockers.com/Tickets
TV: ESPN+
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM (GoShockers.com/Listen) w/ Mike Kennedy & Dave Dahl
Live Stats: ShockerStats.com
Series: WSU leads 6-0 (4-0 in Wichita); Last: Mar. 3, 2021 in New Orleans (WSU, 78-70)
 
 
TICKETS:
Purchase online at goshockers.com/tickets or through the Shocker Ticket Office at 316-978-FANS. Seats are available for all remaining games.
 
TELECAST:
The game will air on ESPN+ with Shane Dennis (PxP) and Bob Hull (Analyst) on the call.
ESPN+ subscribers can stream live and on demand via the ESPN App.
Subscriptions  are $6.99 monthly or $69.99 annually and can be packaged with Hulu and Disney+.
 
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 41st season together on radio. Kennedy is in his 42nd season as Voice of the Shockers. Pregame coverage begins one hour before tipoff.
 
 
OPENING TIPS:
  • After opening conference play against two of The American's preseason front-runners, Wichita State goes to battle Wednesday against an unexpected contender.
  • Picked in a tie for 9th in the preseason poll, Tulane is out to a 3-1 start that includes wins over Memphis and Cincinnati. The lone loss came at ECU in overtime.
  • WSU is 0-2 after setbacks vs. Houston and Memphis -- picked first and second respectively in preseason.
  • Tyson Etienne (11 points) and Dexter Dennis (10) led the scoring in Saturday's 76-66 defeat at UH. The Cougars converted 14 WSU turnovers into 26 points.
  • WSU swept last year's home-and-home with Tulane and leads the series 6-0.
  • WSU is 27-8 in AAC home games since joining the league, including 4-0 vs. Tulane.
  • KenPom rates the Shocker 31st nationally in defensive efficiency and among the top-50 defenses in effective field goal % (44th, 49.8), turnover % (33rd, 22.3), three-point field goal % (25th, 28.6) and block % (37th, 13.6).
  • The Shockers are 6-0 when they score at least a point-per-possession (which is roughly the national average). They're 3-5 when they don't.
  • Defensively, WSU has held 10 of its 14 foes under a point-per-possession, going 8-2. They're 1-3 when surrendering more. UH (1.12) set a season-high Saturday.
  • Etienne is the team's leading scorer at 14.6 points. He has 12 steals in his last four contests.
  • Etienne (158 career three-pointers) needs one more to match Landry Shamet for eighth on WSU's all-time triples list. He's two back of Markis McDuffie for seventh and six behind Conner Frankamp for sixth.
  • Dennis has played in 99 games and made 49-consecutive starts heading into Wednesday night. He and Morris Udeze (36-straight starts) have been in the starting lineup for every game the past two seasons.
  • Udeze (11.2 ppg) is the Shockers' leading rebounder at 5.5-per-game.
  • Dennis, the team's defensive ace, has scored in double-figures in five of his last six games.
  • Craig Porter Jr. leads the team in the rare combo of assists (3.0) and blocks (1.08). Over his last five games, Porter has a 4.20 assist-to-turnover ratio (21 A, 5 TO).
  • The schedule hasn't offered the Shockers much of an opportunity to get into a groove. Wednesday marks the first time since Dec. 22 that they've played a game on less than seven days' rest. WSU faced Memphis after 10 days off (Christmas + ECU postponement) and had one of its two mid-week byes leading into the UH game.
 

LAST GAME:
Jan. 8, 2022 at Houston | #12 HOU 76, WSU 66
  • No. 12 Houston held off WSU's late charge to extend its home winning streak to 34 games.
  • The Cougars converted 11 of WSU's 14 turnovers into points (26 total).
  • Tyson Etienne (11 points) and Dexter Dennis (10) paced WSU, which who saw its four-game road winning streak snapped.
  • UH's Josh Carleton led the way with 22 points and 12 rebounds and Jamal Shead tallied seven assists and four steals, including a game-changer with 4:00 left that snapped a 9-0 WSU run.
  • The Shockers had clawed to within six and had a chance to make it a one-possession game. Instead Shead jumped a perimeter pass and turned it into a layup on the opposite end.
  • Carlton converted a three-point play on the next trip down to ice the game for Houston.
  • Monzy Jackson added nine points and a team-high eight rebounds off the bench for WSU, and Craig Porter Jr. paired eight points with a team-best four assists.
  • WSU shot 40.4% and sank 14-of-17 free throw tries. Houston finished at 45.3% and knocked down 12-of-17 freebies.
  • The Cougars won the battle of the boards, 40-35, and turned 17 offensive rebounds (10 of them by Carleton) into 19 points.
  • UH opened the game on an 8-0 run and never trailed.
  • WSU is 0-5 at Houston since joining the AAC including 0-4 at the Fertitta Center.
 
 
ON THIS DATE IN SHOCKER HISTORY (JAN. 12):
1954 – Out to a 14-1 start, Coach Ralph Miller's Shockers earned their first-ever national ranking, debuting at No. 11 in the Associated Press Poll.
1983 -- A national audience on a new cable TV startup called TBS watched Xavier McDaniel grab 22 rebounds in a 92-74 romp over Tulsa. Antoine Carr scored 26 points, while fellow Wichita native Ricky Ross finished with 16 points, six rebounds and six steals for the Canes. It was win No. 3 for the Shockers in a 17-1 romp through the MVC regular season.
2011 -- WSU won in Omaha for the first time since 1992, defeating Creighton 68-54 to snap a 17-game losing streak on the Bluejays' home floor. J.T. Durley paced WSU with 15 points, and the Shockers held freshman All-American Doug McDermott to seven points.
2018 -- In the first AAC era meeting between the longtime rivals, fifth-ranked WSU staved off Tulsa, 70-67, at the Reynolds Center to improve to 5-0 in conference play. Landry Shamet shared high scoring honors for the Shockers with 16.
 

THE SHOCKERS ARE...
... 9-1 when opponent assists <>
... 0-4 when opponent assists > turnovers.
... 3-0 when assists > turnovers.
... 6-1 when outshooting the other team (15-1 IB era).
... 5-1 when they have a higher 3-point % (21-4 IB era).
... 7-1 when out-rebounding their opponent (15-1 IB era).
... 6-1 when they commit fewer fouls (17-6 IB era).
 
 
SCOUTING TULANE:
  • After piecing together transfer-heavy rosters in each of his first two seasons, third-year head coach Ron Hunter has the luxury of experience and continuity in his third go-around with the promise of even better things to come.
  • Tulane's roster includes 10 holdovers (three of them starters) from last year's team, which finished 10-13 (4-12 AAC). Eight of the 10 rotation players are listed as freshmen or sophomores.
  • The Green Wave were picked to finish 11th during the preseason but are out to a 3-1 start (their best since the 2014-15 season). Their lone loss came in overtime at East Carolina.
  • 6-5 sophomore Jaylen Forbes was a third team all-conference pick last year after transferring from Alabama. He's averaging 15.6 points and 2.7 threes on 38% accuracy.
  • Hunter upgraded at the point guard spot with 6-foot LSU transfer Jalen Cook, who ranks second on the AAC leaderboard at 19.4 points-per-game.
  • Improved three-point shooting has helped key Tulane's turnaround. The Green Wave shot 29.8% from three last year (319th nationally). This year they're connecting on a conference-best 36.7% from beyond the arc (including 39.4% in AAC play.
  • Forbes (2.7 threes on 38% accuracy), Cook (2.3 threes, 45%) and second-year freshman Jadan Coleman (14-for-29) have all been deadly from deep.
  • 6-8 sophomore forward Kevin Cross has progressed in his second year after transferring from Nebraska. He averages 14.0 points and is the team's leading rebounder (6.0) and shot-blocker (12).
  • Tulane has taken good care of the ball, averaging just 11.8 turnovers. The Green Wave rank among the top-50 nationally in turnover margin (+3.3).
  • Hunter (27 wins shy of 500 for his career) keeps opposing offenses off-balance with a matchup zone that requires precision ball-movement. Per KenPom, over 64% of opponent baskets come with an assist.
  • Opponents have had success on both the offensive and defensive glass. Tulane ranks among the bottom-10 nationally in rebound margin (-7.7) and offensive rebounds (6.9) and is last in the league in both offensive (.205) and defensive (.672) rebound percentage.
 
 
MATCHUP MASHUP:
  • Forbes reached double-figures in 14 of Tulane's 16 AAC games last year. The two exceptions came against WSU and Dexter Dennis, who limited him to a combined 14 points on 1-of-22 shooting (0-for-12 from three).
  • Tyson Etienne has averaged 18.0 points on 13-of-23 three-point shooting in three career meetings with Tulane. That includes a pair of 20-point performances.
  • Dennis has also shot well against the Green Wave, knocking down 12-of-25 from deep in five career games, including a buzzer-beater his freshman year.
  • Etienne (28.4) and Tulane's Jalen Cook (30.0) are two of the top-3 in shot percentage (percentage of a team's shot a player takes when he's on the court). Tulsa's Sam Griffin leads the league at (31.4).
  • WSU coach Isaac Brown's hometown (Pascagoula, Miss.) is less than two hours from New Orleans along the Gulf Coast. He finished his collegiate career in upstate Louisiana, helping ULM to the (1993) NCAA tournament as a senior.
  • Assistant coach Billy Kennedy has even deeper Louisiana ties. He was on staff at Tulane during the 1989-90 season and helped head coach Perry Clark restart program after a four-year absence. Kennedy played and later served as head coach at Southeastern Louisiana.
  • Tulane assistant Kevin Johnson worked two years under Kennedy when the latter was head coach at Centenary (1997-99).
  • Dennis (whose hometown of Baker, La. is less than 100 miles from New Orleans) is the first Louisiana native to play for the Shockers.
  • Tulane assistant Ray McCallum was head coach at Detroit from 2008-16 and twice faced the Shockers as part of ESPN's BracketBusters series.
  • Tulane was one of four American foes that WSU had never faced prior to its 2017-18 debut (along with ECU, Tulane and USF). WSU is a combined 24-1 against those four teams with the lone loss coming in 2019 at USF.
 
 
LAST MEETING WITH TULANE:
  • Playing for the first time in 13 days, WSU took care of Tulane to move within a win of the AAC title.
  • Trey Wade scored a career-high 23 points on 4-of-5 three-point shooting.
  • Dexter Dennis (20 pts, 13 reb) and Morris Udeze (12 pts, 10 reb) both added double-doubles.
  • Alterique Gilbert's 12 assists were a new career-high and the most by a Shocker in over 30 years.
  • Tyson Etienne (12 pts) had six dimes and three steals.
  • Dennis made another impressive defensive showing against Tulane's Jaylen Forbes, holding him to a season-low five points on 1-of-9 shooting.
  • Gabe Waton paced the Green Wave with14 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting.
  • WSU players were anxious to play after three-straight cancelations -- all due to COVID-19 cases at opposing schools. The Shockers showed little sign of rust, using a 10-0 run to go up 25-13 near the 8:00-mark.
  • WSU matched its season-high with 46 first-half points on eight threes and led by 13 at the intermission.
  • Tulane clawed to within five with 14:00 left but would get no closer. The lead bounced between six and 12 points for the rest of the night.
  • The Shockers hit more threes (13) and than free throws (11). They were a miserable 45.8% at the stripe but made 41.9% from distance.
  • WSU was credited a season-high 22 assists on 27 baskets and out-rebounded Tulane, 42-33.
 
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD….
... Make them 10-5 on the year (1-2 AAC).
... Up their home record to 7-3 (6-3 at CKA).
... Make them 7-0 all-time vs. Tulane (5-0 Wichita).
... Make them 5-0 vs. Ron Hunter (4-0 TLN, 1-0 IUPUI).
 
A SHOCKERS LOSS WOULD...
... Drop them to 9-6 (0-3 AAC).
... Give them their first three-game losing skid since February, 2020 (at Tulsa, Cincinnati, at Houston).
... Be their first to Tulane (6-1).
... Be their first vs. Hunter (4-1).
... Drop them to 0-3 in conference for the first time since 2018-19.
... Be less good than a win.
 
 
UP NEXT:
  • The Shockers are home again Sunday, Jan. 16 vs. Cincinnati (Noon, ESPN).
  • Tickets are available for all remaining home games by calling 316-978-FANS (3267) or by visiting goshockers.com/Tickets.
  • WSU defeated Cincinnati last year in Wichita but fell to the Bearcats in the semifinal round of the AAC tournament.
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