MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE (1-9) at WICHITA STATE (5-4)
Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022 | 7:02 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan./ Charles Koch Arena
 
TV: ESPN+ w/ Shane Dennis & Bob Hull
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM (Goshockers.com/Listen) w/ Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
Live Stats: shockerstats.com
Series: First Meeting
 

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TICKETS:
Fans can purchase tickets online at goshockers.com/Tickets, by phone at 316-978-FANS (3267), or in person at the Shocker Ticket Office, open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on game days beginning 90 minutes before tipoff.
 
PROMO: AEROSPACE NIGHT
To celebration Wichita's place as the Air Capital of the World,  local aeorospace industry workers can purchase tickets at a special discount rate. Use the promo code AIRCAPITAL at bit.ly/wsupromo to redeem.
 
WATCHUS:
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 for the ESPN+ app are $9.99 monthly or $99.99 annually and can be packaged with Hulu and Disney+ streaming services. Visit plus.espn.com for more information.
 
LISTEN:
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 42nd season together on radio. Kennedy is in his 43rd season as Voice of the Shockers. Pregame coverage begins one hour before tipoff.
 

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OPENING TIPS:

• Wichita State continues its homestand Tuesday night against the Delta Devils of Mississippi Valley State inside Charles Koch Arena.
• This is the first-ever meeting between the programs.
• The Shockers look to ride momentum from Saturday's 81-63 victory over Longwood. Jaron Pierre Jr. led the way with 20 points and WSU held one of the nation's best shooting teams 14 percentage points below its season average (.359).
• Junior wing Jaykwon Walton scored 18 points (7/8 FG, 3/4 3pt) and grabbed eight boards to earn a spot on the American Athletic Conference weekly honor roll.
• 11 of the 13 Shockers who have seen action this year are newcomers (two redshirts from 2021-22 plus nine transfers).
• The Shocker defense has been good from the get-go, holding opponents to 36.7% from the field and 26.5% from deep. Both marks rank 12th nationally. Through nine games, Alcorn State (45.5%) and Mizzou (42.3%) are the only foes that have broken the 40% barrier.
• After a slow start, the offense is also beginning to gel. Over the last four games, WSU is averaging 74.5 points (up from 62.0 in the first five) while shooting 49.1% as a team (39.9%) and 35.5% from deep (25.5%).
• Senior point guard Craig Porter Jr. – one of just two returners from last year's active roster – leads the team in points (13.8), rebounds (6.8), assists (3.9), steals (1.8) and blocks (2.0, No. 32 nationally).
• Walton (13.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg) has made the biggest impact among the new additions. His .542 three-point percentage (13-of-24) is tops in the AAC among players averaging at least two attempts-per-game.
• Over this four-game stretch Pierre and Gus Okafor have emerged as additional scoring threats, averaging 13.3 and 11.5 points respectively.
• Quincy Ballard didn't take a shot in 18 minutes against Longwood but still made a profound impact. The Lancers shot 24.1% with the 7-footer patrolling the paint. Ballard had more blocks (5) then Longwood did two-point baskets (3-of-16).

 

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ON THIS DATE: DEC. 13
The Shockers haven't played on this date since 2014 but are 13-8 all-time.
1969 – 24 hours after falling to K-State in Manhattan, WSU got its revenge in a return game at Levitt Arena. Greg Carney supplied 30 points in a 77-73 win.
1980 – Cliff Levingston scored 22 of his 29 points in the second half to help WSU overcome a seven-point halftime deficit for an 82-63 win over Louisiana Monroe.
1986 – Dwight Praylow sat the entire first half gainst unbeaten K-State after skipping the team's pregame meal, but he didn't miss when it mattered most. His three-point play with two seconds to play gave the Shockers a 63-60 win at sold out Levitt Arena.
2014 – Led by Ron Baker's 19 points, 11th-ranked WSU motored past host Detroit, 77-68, in its final Bracket Busters return game.
 

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LAST TIME ON SHOCKER BASKETBALL:
Dec. 10 (Wichita) | WSU 81, Longwood 63

• Jaron Pierre Jr. scored season-high 20 points and walk-on Melvion Flanagan added 14 for the Shockers, who made a season-high 13 three-point field goals.
• Jaykwon Walton added 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds, while Craig Porter Jr. (16 points) matched his career-high with seven assists.
• Nate Lliteras scored 11 points to pace defending Big South champion Longwood, which entered the day ranked 16th nationally in field goal percentage (.499) but finished at .359.
• The Shockers were in dire straits midway through the first half after Porter picked up two quick fouls and the Lancers raced to a nine-point lead.  In need of a spark, Brown turned to Flanagan – a Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College transfer who hadn't seen action in more than a month – and Pierre – who sat the entirety of last weekend's game at Kansas State. Over the next 23 minutes, the Shockers exploded for 68 points (31 of them by Pierre and Flanagan) on 12-of-20 three-point shooting.

 
SCOUTING MVSU:

• Located in Itta Bena -- a small town in the heart of the Mississippi River Delta -- Mississippi Valley State has an enrollment of just over 2,000 students.
• George Ivory – the school's all-time assist leader (547) and a SWAC Hall of Famer – begins his first full season as head coach after shepherding the team through the last three games of the 2021-22 campaign as the interim.
• Prior to MVSU, Ivory led the program at Arkansas-Pine Bluff for 13 seasons (2008-21), highlighted by a 2010 NCAA tournament appearance.
• Ivory inherits a team that finished 2-26 last year and was 355th out of 358 Division I schools in the NCAA NET rankings (ahead of Eastern Illinois, Delaware State and IUPUI).
• 6-foot-3 graduate student Terry Collins -- who played his junior college ball just up the road at Independence (Kan.) -- is the team's leading scorer (16.5) and rebounder (4.7). He's averaging 2.6 threes on 36.6% accuracy and has converted 86.7% of his free throws (39-of-45).
• MVSU is 352nd out of 363 teams in the NCAA NET Rankings. The Delta Devils have played the nation's 22nd toughest schedule, according to NET four Quadrant I opponents (Mississippi State, Baylor, Yale and Mizzou).
• MVSU played an up-tempo style last year under former head coach Lindsey Hunter (27th nationally in possessions-per-game according to KenPom) and as a result surrendered 83.0 points-per-game (second-most nationally).
• Ivory has slowed the pace considerably this year. The Devils are now 324th in tempo and are surrendering 77.2-per-game (compared to 90.6 during last year's non-conference slate).
• Consequently, the Devils are also the nation's lowest-scoring team (53.4) and rank near the bottom in scoring margin (351st, -23.8), three-point attempts (351st, 13.5), rebound margin (350th, -8.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (350th, 0.5).
• MVSU has a trailblazer in Trasity Totten – a former Arkansas Pine-Bluff and Grambling standout -- who becomes the SWAC's first female assistant men's basketball coach.
• MVSU won its only home game of the year on Nov. 18 against North Alabama. Tuesday night marks the sixth in a stretch of 11-straight road games, although this will be the team's first action since Dec. 3 (10 days). The Devils will continue on to Tulsa (Dec. 16), TCU (Dec. 18) and Tulane (Dec. 21) before a long holiday break.

 
MATCHUP MASHUP:

• MVSU is the last of four first-time opponents on WSU's non-conference schedule. The Shockers are 3-0 with wins over Richmond, Grand Canyon and Longwood.
• WSU has faced 18 of the 23 Division I HBCU's at some point in its history, and MVSU will make 19. Only Alabama State, Bethune Cookman, Morgan State and North Carolina A&T remain.
• MVSU is one of three SWAC opponents on WSU's non-conference schedule. Defending champion Alcorn State stunned the Shockers back on Nov. 10 and preseason favorite Texas Southern is due in next Thursday. MVSU was picked last out of the 12 teams in the SWAC preseason coaches poll.

 
TRENDING:

• WSU has been out-rebounded just once in 10 games (Alcorn State, 34-32 on Nov. 12).
• The Shockers have shot better than 50% in six of their last eight halves.
• The Shockers are 24-2 under Isaac Brown when scoring 70+ points in regulation and 24-6 when out-shooting their opponent from the field.
• 41 of the 81 Shocker points were scored by players who did not see action at Kansas State on Dec. 3 (Pierre, Flanagan, Abidde, Poor Bear-Chandler, Pohto).
• WSU is 1-3 in games decided by five points in either direction. Advanced stat guru Ken Pomeroy calls the Shockers one of the nation's unluckiest teams, and he has the data to prove it. WSU ranks 325th out of 363 teams in "Luck" -- a metric that compares a team's expected won-loss record (based on statistical performance) to its actual record.

 
MINI WHEATS:

• Melvion Flanagan's 14 points in the Dec. 10 win over Longwood are unofficially the most by a Shocker walk-on in the NCAA's 13 scholarship era.
• With a season-high 20 points against Longwood Jaron Pierre Jr. became the sixth different Shocker to take a turn as leading scorer and the fourth to reach the 20-point plateau.
• Pierre's NCAA career-high is 29 points, set last season against Rice while playing for Southern Miss. He was 10-of-23 from the field in that game (7-of-18 from three) and had five assists -- all career-highs.
• Pierre connected on his 100th career three-pointer on Saturday. Since an 0-for-8 start to the year, he's connected on at least one triple in each of his last five games. He's 10-for-29 (.345) in that span.
• Craig Porter Jr. has reached double-figure scoring in each of the last seven games -- one short of his combined total from the last two seasons.
• Porter (19/30 FG, .633) and Jaykwon Walton (18/28 FG, .643, 7/11 3pt (.636)) have been ruthlessly efficient over the past four games.
• Walton has had made at least half of his shots in each of the last six contests.
• Walton had been a good rebounder this year. He's totaled at least eight in each of the last five contest and is averaging 9.0-per-game over that span. But head coach Isaac Brown sees the capacity for more. He's encouraging Walton to become more active on the offensive glass (he has 10 offensive boards in nine games) which would put him in position for more putbacks.
• The 6-foot-2 Porter enters the week as the American Athletic Conference leader in total blocks (18) and blocks-per-game (2.00). Nationally, there are 31 players averaging more, but they're all 6-foot-7 or taller.
• With seven blocks in the past two games, Quincy Ballard has moved into the top-100 on the NCAA blocks chart. (t-99th, 1.43) He has more blocks this year (10) than field goal attempts (9).

 

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A SHOCKER WIN WOULD….

• ... Make them 6-4 with back-to-back wins.
• ... Make them 4-0 this year against first time foes (Richmond, Grand Canyon, Longwood)
• ... Up their home record to 4-2.

 
UP NEXT:  OKLAHOMA STATE
Saturday, Dec. 17 | 8 p.m. CT | ESPNU
Wichita, Kan. | INTRUST Bank Arena

• WSU is 8-3 all-time at INTRUST Bank Arena, but one of its three setbacks came at the hands of OSU.
• The Cowboys return four starters, including All-Big 12 guard Avery Johnson Jr. and conference co-defensive player of the year Moussa Cisse.
• Last season's 60-51 Shockers' win over OSU was their third straight at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
• OSU has won its last three visits to Wichita: 2002 at the Kansas Coliseum, 2016 at INTRUST Bank Arena and 2020 at Charles Koch Arena.
• Fans can purchase tickets online at selectaseat.com, by phone at 855-755-SEAT (7328), or by visiting the Select-A-Seat Box Office at INTRUST Bank Arena (M-F, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.).

 
AND THEN: TEXAS SOUTHERN
Thursday, Dec. 22 | 7 p.m. CT | ESPN+
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena

• TSU is on a short list of schools that have won a game in each of the last two NCAA tournaments.
• The Tigers have appeared in every postseason since 2014 -- a stretch that includes six NCAA tournament bids, one NIT and one CIT. They've won SWAC titles in six of the past nine years.