WICHITA STATE (13-9, 4-6 AAC) at CINCINNATI (16-9, 6-6)
Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022 | 6:01 p.m. CT (7:01 p.m. ET)
Cincinnati, Ohio | FifthThird Arena (12,012)
 
Tickets: gobearcats.com
TV: ESPN2 w/ John Schriffen & Tim Welsh
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM (GoShockers.com/Listen) w/ Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
Live Stats: ShockerStats.com
Series: UC leads 26-13 (13-4 in Cincinnati); Last: Jan. 16, 2022 in Wichita (UC, 61-57)
 
TELECAST:
The game will air on ESPN2 with John Schriffen (PxP) and Tim Welsh (Analyst) on the call.
Fans with ESPN2 in their cable/satellite package can stream live and on demand via the ESPN App.
 
SHOCKER RADIO:
Listen live on KEYN 103.7 FM and online at GoShockers.com/Listen with Mike Kennedy (now in his 42nd season as Voice of the Shockers) and Bob Hull (analyst). Pregame coverage begins one hour before tipoff.
 

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OPENING TIPS:
Wichita State returns to FifthThird Arena for the first time in two years this Thursday night for an American Athletic Conference clash with the Cincinnati Bearcats.
A WSU win would be its first AAC road win of the year (currently 0-3) and its first in three visits to FifthThird.
WSU is 2-8 vs. UC since joining the AAC, but six of their losses were one-possession games within the final minute.
UC won the first meeting (Jan. 16 in Wichita) by a count of 61-57. David DeJulius scored 18 points to lead the Bearcats, including the go-ahead basket with 2:18 to play. Filling in for starting point guard Craig Porter Jr. (health & safety protocol), Tyson Etienne led WSU with 15 points and six assists. The loss dropped the Shockers to 0-4 in league play.
Since that day, the Shockers' fortunes have taken a turn for the better with wins in four of their last six. Over that span, they're is shooting 37.3% from deep (up from 30.7%). Etienne (15.7) and Ricky Council IV (15.2) have carried the scoring load.
KenPom rates the Shocker defense 25th in adjusted efficiency. WSU is holding foes to low percentages (31st in effective field goal %), creating turnovers (54th in turnover %) and blocking shots (27th in block%) with great consistency.
Etienne, the AAC preseason player of the year, averages a team-high 15.1 points and ranks second on the conference leaderboard in three-pointers (2.9). He's topped 20 points in three of the last four games.
Etienne needs just 31 more points to reach 1,000 for his career. Teammate Dexter Dennis is 52 points away (more on page 9).
Craig Porter Jr. ranks among the league leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio (4th, 1.94), assists (8th, 3.5), blocks (9th, 1.05) and steals (15th, 1.40).
Porter is one of just five Division I players who are currently averaging more than 3.0 assists, 1.0 block and 1.0 steal-per-game (full list on page 4).
Morris Udeze (11.0 ppg) is one of eight AAC players who are averaging at least 6.0 rebounds-per-game.
Ricky Council IV (11.3 ppg) is the league's highest-scoring reserve (starts in less than 25% of games).
WSU is one of 10 schools with a trio of players all averaging at least a block (Udeze, Dennis, Porter).
 

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ON THIS DATE IN SHOCKER HISTORY: FEB. 17         
1954 – WU is formally invited to compete in the NIT. It's the school's first modern postseason berth.
2013 – In what is often referred to as  "the Kung Fu Fighting Game," WSU pulled off an improbable come-from-behind victory at Illinois State -- down 7 with 40 seconds left -- helped by a flagrant foul call against the Redbirds' Jackie Carmichael, who kicked WSU's Tekele Cotton while grabbing a defensive rebound. Cleanthony Early made two technical free throws, then Demetric Williams and Early made back-to-back threes.
 

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THE SHOCKERS ARE...
... 13-2 when opponent assists < or="">
... 0-7 when opponent assists > turnovers.
... 8-3 when outshooting the other team (17-3 IB era).
... 8-0 when holding their opponent under 60 points.
... 5-9 when surrendering 60+ points.
 
TRENDING:
WSU's Ricky Council IV (20.5 points-per-40) and CIncinnati's duo of David DeJulius (22.6) and Jeremiah Davenport (20.7) have been three of the league's four most-productive scorers during conference play.
 
AAC Leaders // Conference Games Only // Points-Per-40-Minutes:
22.6 -- David DeJulius (Cincinnati)
22.3 -- Josh Carlton (Houston)
20.7 -- Jeremiah Davenport (Cincinnati)
20.5 -- Ricky Council IV (Wichita St.)
20.3 -- Marcus Weathers (SMU)
 
WSU has held of half of its opponents (11 of the 22) to less than 40% from the field. UC has held 14 of its 25 foes under 40.
The Shockers are 6-0 when Council is their leading scorer. He's done it in four of the last six games.
Craig Porter Jr. leads the team and ranks among the league leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio (4th, 1.94), assists (8th, 3.5), blocks (9th, 1.05) and steals (15th, 1.40).
Porter is one of just five Division I players who are currently averaging at least 3.0 assists, 1.0 block and 1.0 steal-per-game. That list also includes Tulane's Kevin Cross. Just one player in AAC history has done it over a full season (Memphis' Dedric Lawson in 2016-17).
 
NCAA Division I // Players Averaging 3.0 APG & 1.0 SPG & 1.0 BPG:
Craig Porter (Wichita State) -- 3.5 apg, 1.4 bpg, 1.1 spg       
Kevin Cross (Tulane) -- 3.5 apg,  1.0 spg, 1.1 bpg      
Vince Williams (VCU) -- 3.4 apg, 1.6 spg, 1.0 bpg     
David Roddy (Colorado St.) -- 3.1 apg, 1.1 spg, 1.2 bpg        
Jalen Slawson (Furman) -- 3.9 apg, 2.0 spg, 1.8 bpg 
Data Source // College Basketball Reference Play Index // As of 2/16/22
 
P.J. Couisnard is the only other Shocker to pull off the 3-1-1 combo, doing so in 2006-07. The versatile, 6-4 wing is also the only WSU player to lead the team in all three categories in the same season, doing so for the 2005-06 Sweet 16 Shockers.
Tyson Etienne is averaging 2.90 threes-per-game. That's just five-hundredths of a point off his school-record pace from last year (2.95) when he broke Landry Shamet's season mark (2.63).
Etienne is also on pace to break Shamet's career record (2.24). He's knocked down an average of 2.54-per-game over his three seasons.
Etienne has topped 20 points in three of his last five games. Over that stretch, he's averaged 17.8 points knocked down 21-of-54 from deep (.388).
In the last two seasons, Etienne has 17 games with 20+ points. That's tied with Tulane's Jaylen Forbes for the most among AAC players.
In conference play, WSU is shooting a league-best 78.5% from the foul line. The Shockers' season percentage (74.6) is well ahead of last year's pace (68.0).
WSU has outscored just two of its 10 conference opponents in the second half but have held a halftime lead in six of the 10 contests.
The Shockers have held double-digit leads in five of their nine losses this year; three of them in AAC play. One of those came in the last meeting with Cincy.
Feb. 20 in Cleveland Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet will be the first Wichita State alumnus to appear in an NBA All-Star game since Xavier McDaniel (1988).
 
TYSON 3333333333333333333TIENNE:
Tyson Etienne has connected on at least one triple in 19-straight contests. That's the sixth-longest streak in school history.
 
WSU All-Time // Consecutive Games w/ a 3-Pointer:
40 -- Conner Frankamp (1/1/2017 to 1/28/2018)
29 -- Landry Shamet (12/17/2016 to 11/22/2017)
27 -- Ron Baker (11/18/2014 to 2/22/2015)
25 -- Ron Baker (4/6/2013 to 2/5/2014)
21 -- Terrell Benton (2/2/2019 to 11/19/2019)
19 -- Tyson Etienne (11/16/2021 to  Current)
 
THREES COMPANY:
Tyson Etienne (188 career threes) and Dexter Dennis (171) are both in the top-10 on WSU's career triples list and could both shoot their way into the top-5 soon.
 
WSU Career Leaders // 3-Point Field Goals Made:
1.Randy Burns (2001-05) -- 248        
2.Ron Baker (2012-16) -- 242
3.Sean Ogirri (2004-07) -- 200           
4.Terrell Benton (1998-02) -- 197      
5.Jason Perez (1996-00) -- 196          
6.Tyson Etienne (2019-Pr.) -- 188      
7.Dexter Dennis (2018-Pr.) -- 171     
8.Conner Frankamp (2015-18) -- 164
9.Markis McDuffie (2015-19) -- 160  
10.Landry Shamet (2015-18) -- 159  
 
Much like the groundog, Dennis slumbers through the early months of the season before busting out in February. In his first three seasons, he averaged 2.4 threes on 42.5% accuracy in February/March/April. That trend continues in 2022 where Dennis is 10-for-21 (.476) after hitting just 27% through the first three months.
 
LOVIN' FEBRUARY:
WSU is 7-1 in February games under Isaac Brown, continuing a tradition of late-season excellence. Since 2012, WSU's .835 February winning percentage (66-13) is the third-highest in Division I.
 

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SCOUTING THE BEARCATS:
Cincinnati is in its first year under head coach Wes Miller, who is coming off a successful run at UNCG that included five-straight 20-win seasons.
UC opened conference play with wins in four of its first six but has since dropped four of six to fall back to .500.
The Bearcats are cramming 10 games into a 26-day stretch (Feb. 6 to Mar. 3) to end the season. Thursday game is one of two that they'll play on just 48 hours rest. The others are separated by no more than 72 hours.
UC went 10-3 in non-conference play and earned a signature non-conference victory on Nov. 22 when it took down Illinois on a neutral floor (71-51).
The Bearcats are winning games with a mixture of defense and ball-security.
KenPom rates them among the top-10 nationally in effective field goal percentage defense (9th, 43.9) and two-point field goal defense (9th, 42.9%). They're turning the ball over on just 15.6% of their possessions (29th) and average only 10.8-per-game.
Shooting has not been a Bearcat strength. They lead the league in three-point attempts (25.6) but rank ninth in accuracy (.318).
The three returning starters from last year's squad (which finished 12-11, 8-6 AAC and upset top-seed WSU to reach the conference tournament final) form this season's nucleus:
6-7 junior wing Jeremiah Davenport is the leading scorer (13.6 ppg) and rebounder (5.3 rpg) and is averaging 2.71 threes (AAC #6) on 38% accuracy.
6-0 senior guard David DeJulius (14.6 ppg) is in his second season after transferring from Michigan.
Junior guard Mika Adams-Woods (8.2 ppg) leads the conference and ranks 18th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.76). He has 80 assists (3.6 apg) with just 29 turnovers.
A pair of transfers round out the starting-five:
6-5 John Newman III (Clemson) averages 6.4 ppg and leads the team with 27 steals.
6-11 super senior Abdul Abo (Mississippi State) ranks third on the conference leaderboard in blocks (1.58).
 
MATCHUP MASHUP:
First-year UC assistant Chad Dollar was a member of the Wichita State coaching staff in 2010-11 and helped the Shockers win the NIT Championship with a 29-8 record.
When Dollar left Arkansas State in the spring of 2010 to join Gregg Marshall's WSU staff, head coach John Brady replaced him with a guy named Isaac Brown.
Prior to catching on with Brady, Dollar was a member of Billy Kennedy's first staff at Murray State (2006-07).
Wes Miller is the eighth different Cincinnati head coach that the Shockers have faced and the third in the AAC era.
The new Cincinnati support staff includes Topeka native and former Kansas Jayhawk walk-on C.B. McGrath as a special assistant.
UC's John Newman III was a member of the Clemson team that WSU defeated in the second round of the 2019 NIT. Newman played 27 minutes off the bench and collected four points and a pair of steals.
 
THE SERIES:
This is series game No. 40. Cincinnati leads 26-13.
The teams split last year, with WSU winning in Wichita to end a six-game series losing streak. The return trip to Cincinnati was called off due to a COVID-19 shutdown at UC, but the teams squared off in the semifinal round of the conference tournament. The Bearcats upset the top-seeded Shockers, 60-59.
WSU is 2-8 against UC in the AAC era. Seven of the 10 have been one-possession games in the final 60 seconds. Each of the last six close finishes have gone Cincinnati's way.
UC won both meetings in 2019-20 by a combined four points. Jarron Cumberland scored a three-point play with three seconds left to give UC an 80-79 win in Wichita.
UC swept all three 2017-18 matchups, capped by a 66-63 thriller in the semifinals of the 2019 AAC tournament.
Both sides went wire-to-wire in the 2017-18 national rankings and split a pair of high-stakes matchups. The Shockers ended No. 5 Cincinnati's nation-best 39-game home winning streak, but the Bearcats returned the favor in the regular season finale, defeating the 11th-ranked Shockers in Wichita to claim the AAC title outright.
 
WSU IN CINCINNATI:
WSU is 4-13 all-time in Cincinnati.
Since winning their first American era visit to Cincinnati (Feb. 18, 2018 at Northern Kentucky's BB&T Arena) the Shockers have dropped their last two (both at Fifth Third Arena).
WSU's last win on the UC campus came on Feb. 13, 1969 (the Bearcats' second-to-last year in the MVC) at the old Armory Fieldhouse. That building (located just north of Fifth Third Arena) was renovated in the 1980s and now serves as a campus rec center.
Fifth Third Arena is one of three AAC venues in which the Shockers have yet to win. They're 0-4 at Houston's Fertitta Center and 0-2 at Temple's Liarcouras Center.
 
LAST MEETING WITH CINCINNATI:
Jan. 16, 2022 in Wichita | CIN, 61-57
David DeJulius scored 18 points, including the go-ahead basket with 2:18 to play to lead Cincinnati to yet another narrow victory over the Shockers.
The Bearcats improved to 8-2 against WSU in the AAC era. Six of those wins have come down to the final minute of play.
Tyson Etienne had 14 points and six assists to lead WSU, which was playing without starting point guard Craig Porter Jr. (health & safety protocol).
Morris Udeze put up 12 points and 11 rebounds and Ricky Council IV added 11 points.
The Shockers surrendered just 12 points in the paint and out-rebounded the visitors 39-32. The Bearcats converted just 6-of-21 attempts from inside the lane but atoned by knocking down jump shot after jump shot: 6-of-10 from mid-range and 10-of-26 from three.
WSU led 42-34 with 13:56 to go after Udeze's three-point play but finished on a 5-for-20 shooting slide. UC outscored the Shockers 27-15 the rest of the way, converting 10-of-16 shots.
Etienne scored the final eight Shocker points over the last 7:28, capped by a circus layup with 2:34 to play that gave the hosts a 57-56 lead.
Cincinnati scored the last five points, beginning with DeJulius' go-ahead layup with 2:18 to play that made it a 58-57 Bearcat advantage.
The teams combined for just 23 fouls and 16 turnovers.
 

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A SHOCKER WIN WOULD….
... Make them 14-9, 5-6 in AAC play after an 0-4 start.
... Be their fifth in seven tries.
... Be their first win in three trips to FifthThird Arena and make them 2-2 vs. the Bearcats on their home floor since joining the AAC.
... Narrow UC's series lead to 26-14 (13-5 in Cincy).
... Be their first AAC road win of the year (1-3) and even their overall road record at 3-3.
 
A SHOCKERS LOSS WOULD...
... Drop them to 13-10 (4-7 AAC).
... Be their fourth-straight road loss after a 2-0 start.
... Extend Cincinnati's series lead to 27-13 (2-9 AAC era) and give the Bearcats a regular-season sweep plus three-straight series wins.
... Make them 0-3 at FifthThird Arena.
... Be less good than a win.
 

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UP NEXT:
The Shockers return home Sunday afternoon to face 14th-ranked Houston at Charles Koch Arena (Noon CT, ESPN).
Tickets are available online at goshockers.com/tickets or through the Shocker Ticket Office at 316-978-FANS.
Sunday's game is a BLACK OUT. Fans are encouraged to wear black.