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Gus Okafor

MBB Preview: Longwood (Dec. 10)

12/9/2022 2:55:00 PM

LONGWOOD (5-4) at WICHITA STATE (4-4)
Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022 | 3:02 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 & Dave Dahl
Live Stats: shockerstats.com
Series: First Meeting
 
 
PROMOTION:
WSU will stage its second annual Teddy Bear Toss. Fans are encouraged to bring along a stuffed toy to throw on the court at halftime. The bears will be collected and donated as holiday gifts for local children in need.
 
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.
 
WHERE TO WATCH:
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.
 
WHERE TO LISTEN:
Tune in to 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.
 
 
OPENING TIPS:
  • The Wichita State Shockers look to get back to their winning ways Saturday afternoon against the Longwood Lancers at Charles Koch Arena.
  • This is the first-ever meeting between the programs.
  • Longwood (5-4) returns four starters from its 2022 NCAA tournament team and is preseason favorite to defend its Big South Conference title.
  • The Shockers (4-4) have been off for a full week since dropping back-to-back heartbreakers to Missouri (88-84 in OT) and Kansas State (55-50). They held late leads in both games but couldn't finish.
  • Longwood ranks among the national leaders in field goal percentage (16th, .499) and three-point accuracy (30th, .389). WSU has held opponents to 38.6% from the field (14th) and 25.2% from deep (7th).
  • WSU has a KenPom top-50 defense but is still building chemistry on offense. The Shockers rank among the bottom-25 in three-point percentage (.279) and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.71).
  • 11 of the 13 players who have seen action are newcomers (two redshirts from 2021-22 plus nine transfers).
  • Senior point guard Craig Porter Jr. – one of just two returners from last year's active roster – leads the team in points (13.5), rebounds (7.0), assists (3.5), steals (1.8) and three-point field goals (1.5) and ranks among the nation's top-20 in blocks (2.25).
  • Junior wing Jaykwon Walton (12.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg) has made the biggest impact among the new additions with two 20-point games and a pair of double-doubles.
  • WSU senior forward Gus Okafor faces his former school and coach. As a freshman he helped Longwood to its first Division I postseason victory  in the 2019 CBI.
  • Okafor has played some of his best basketball of late, averaging 13.8 points and 7.0 rebounds over his last four games while shooting 7-of-13 from deep.
  • WSU is 1-3 in game decided by five points in either direction. Advanced stat guru Ken Pomeroy ranks the Shockers 333rd 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.
  • This is the first of four straight games in Wichita. WSU welcomes Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday night.
 

ON THIS DATE: DEC. 10
Shocker teams are 13-7 all-time on this date with three straight wins. The last came in 2016 when WSU defeated Oklahoma, 76-73, at Chesapeake Arena in OKC.
1963 – All-American Dave Stallworth notched his third straight 30-point game. Coming off 37 and 43-point performances against UTEP (Dec. 4) and sixth-ranked Arizona State (Dec. 7), Stallworth went for 30 on this night to key a 91-74 win over Duquesne.
1973 – Fueled by Rich Morsden's sharp shooting (14-of-18 from the field) the Shockers routed Northeastern Louisiana (now Louisiana Monroe), 96-76. Morsden finished with 32 points and 14 rebounds for WSU.
2010 – J.T. Durley scored 12 points became the 39th member of WSU's 1,000-point club in a 68-50 win over visiting Nicholls State.
 

TRENDING:
  • WSU opponents are shooting 36.8% from the field and  25.2% from three. Just 10 teams nationally have held foes to a lower effective field goal percentage.
  • WSU has held six of its eight opponents to less than 40% from the field. Alcorn State (.455) and Missouri (.423) are the exceptions.
  • WSU has held four of its first eight opponents to less than 60 points.
  • WSU has won the rebounding battle in six straight contests. Alcorn State (34-32 on Nov. 12) is the only team that has bested the Shockers on the glass this season.
  • Turnovers have haunted the Shockers, especially of late. Over the last three games, they've averaged 16.0 while forcing just 7.0 against Tarleton (12-5), Mizzou (20-8) and Kansas State (16-8).
  • Prior to their rough second half against Kansas State last Saturday, the Shockers had topped the 50% mark in five straight halves.
  • The Shockers are 23-2 under Isaac Brown when scoring 70+ points in regulation and 23-6 when out-shooting their opponent from the field.
 
 
MINI WHEATS:
  • Craig Porter Jr. has 16 blocks over his last five games.
  • The 6-foot-2 Porter entered the weekend as the American Athletic Conference leader in total blocks (18) and blocks-per-game (2.25). Nationally, there are 19 players averaging more, but they're all 6-foot-7 or taller.
  • Porter has scored at least nine points in all eight games. That's a mark he had hit just 10 times in his first two seasons as a Shocker (44 games).
  • WSU has had five different leading scorers in the first eight games. Gus Okafor became the latest on Nov. 26 with a 27-point effort against Tarleton State. He joins Porter, Jaykwon Walton, Xavier Bell, Kenny Pohto.
  • Okafor is the third Shocker to top 20 points this year, along with Walton (twice) and Porter.
  • Walton (119.6) and Okafor (114.7) have been WSU's most efficient offensive players, per KenPom.
  • Walton has had made at least half of his shots in each of the last five games.
  • Shammah Scott saw little court time in the first five games (roughly 8.0 mpg) while backing up Porter at the point, but Brown has been experimenting with ways to get both of his point guards on the floor at the same time. Scott's minutes have jumped to 23.3 over the last three games. He logged a career-high 31 minutes last Saturday at K-State. In that three-game span he's averaging 6.3 points and 3.0 assists.
 
 
SCOUTING LONGWOOD:
  • The Lancers made their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance in 2022 after sweeping the Big South regular season and tournament titles. They fell to No. 3 seed Tennessee in the first round.
  • Longwood was one of college basketball's most-improved programs last year, jumping from 12-17 in 2020-21 to 26-6 during the 2021-22 season.
  • Longwood has appeared in three postseason tournaments under fifth-year head coach Griff Aldrich, having also earned berths to the 2019 and 2021 CBI tournaments.
  • Prior to taking the Longwood job, Aldrich was an assistant at UMBC in 2018 and was part of the school's historic 16-over-1 upset of Virginia in the NCAA tournament.
  • The Lancers lost their top scorer, Justin Hill (14.2 ppg, 4.1 apg) to Georgia but not much else.
  • Four starters return, including senior wings Isaiah Wilkins and DeShaun Wade.
  • The 6-foot-4 Wilkins, who started his career at Virginia Tech and Wake Forest before earning first team All-Big South honors last year at Longwood, shares the team scoring lead at 11.0 points-per-game.
  • Wade (10.8 ppg) is a three-point sniper, averaging 2.3 per-game on 48.8% accuracy.
  • To replace Hill, Longwood has turned to Southern Miss transfer Waylyn Napper (11.0 ppg, 3.2 apg) and sophomore returner DA Houston (6.6 ppg, 3.4 apg, 3.43 A:TO Ratio).
  • Four Lancers are averaging in double-figures and nine are putting up at least 5.0 points. The team ranks ninth nationally in bench scoring (35.11 ppg).
  • Longwood ranks among the national leaders in field goal percentage (16th, .499) and three-point accuracy (30th, .389).
  • Longwood transitioned to NCAA Division I in 2004 and is in its 11th season as a member of the Big South.
  • Longwood's most-notable men's basketball alumnus is Jerome Kersey who played 17 years in the NBA (1984-2001) and was a member of the 1999 San Antonio Spurs NBA Championship team. During his senior season at Longwood, Kersey led the nation in rebounding (14.2 rpg) and was an NCAA Division II All-American. His jersey is retired and Longwood's basketball court is named in his honor.
 
 
MATCHUP MASHUP:
  • WSU senior Gus Okafor played his freshman season at Longwood under Griff Aldrich. He averaged 3.3 points and 2.3 rebounds in 10.4 minutes and helped the Lancers to their first postseason victory as a Division I program – a 90-68 win over Southern Miss in the first round of the 2019 CBI.
  • WSU's Jaron Pierre Jr. played alongside Longwood's Wayln Napper last season at Southern Miss.
  • Longwood's DeShaun Wade faced the Shockers as a freshman at East Carolina during the 2018-19 season. He logged an assist and a rebound in five minutes of action in WSU's 65-49 win at Minges Coliseum (Feb. 6, 2019).
  • Longwood is one of four first-time Shocker opponents on this year's schedule. WSU defeated Richmond and Grand Canyon in November and will take on Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday night.
 
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD….  
... Make them 5-4 and snap a two-game slide.
... Make them 3-0 this year against first time foes (Richmond, Grand Canyon) with one more on the way Tuesday (Mississippi Valley State).
... Up their home record to 3-2.
... Make them 9-0 all-time against current members of the Big South Conference.
 
 
UP NEXT:  MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE
Tuesday, Dec. 13 | 3 p.m. CT | ESPN+
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
  • 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.
  • George Ivory – the school's all-time assist leader – begins his first full season as head coach at his alma mater.
  • 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.
  • Delta Devil opponents averaged 83.0 points last season (second-most nationally).
 
 
AND THEN: vs. 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 two setbacks came at the hands of OSU in 2016.
  • The Cowboys return four starters, including All-Big 12 guard Avery Johnson Jr. and conference co-defensive player of the year Moussa Cisse.
  • The Shockers' 60-51 win over the Cowboys last season marked their third straight victory at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
  • OSU, however, 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.).
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