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Dexter Dennis

Shockers Look to Continue Winning Ways Tuesday at UCF

2/7/2022 1:22:00 PM

WICHITA STATE (12-8, 3-5 AAC) at UCF (11-8, 2-5 AAC)
Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022 | 8 p.m. CT (9 p.m. ET)
Orlando, Fla. | Addition Financial Arena
 
Tickets: UCFKnights.com
TV: ESPNU w/ Kevin Brown & Mark Adams
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM (GoShockers.com/Listen) w/ Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
Live Stats: ShockerStats.com
Series: WSU leads 8-0 (3-0 in Orlando); Last: Jan. 26, 2022 in Wichita (WSU, 84-79)
 
 
TELECAST:
The game will air on ESPNU with Kevin Brown (PxP) and Mark Adams (Analyst) on the call.
Fans with ESPN2 in their cable/satelite 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. 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:
  • The Wichita State Shockers look to continue their new-found momentum Tuesday in Orlando, Fla. against a UCF team that's out for revenge.
  • WSU holds an 8-0 series lead over the Knights (all since 2018).
  • The Shockers have won all three visits to Addition Financial Arena but needed overtime in 2018. Last February, they survived 61-60 after Darius Perry's last-second jumper missed the mark.
  • Less than two weeks ago in Wichita, WSU defeated UCF, 84-79, behind Ricky Council IV's 31 points.
  • The victory was a turning point for the defending AAC champions, who were 0-4 to start conference play but have now won three of their last four.
  • Council and Tyson Etienne scored 20 points-each on Saturday as WSU handed red-hot SMU just its second loss since November, 72-57.
  • UCF suffered through a cold shooting night on Saturday hitting just 30% from the field and 13-of-25 at the foul line in an 88-60 loss at Memphis.
  • The Knights are 9-3 at home this year and will play four of the next five on their home floor, beginning Tuesday.
  • The Shockers won road games at 2021 NCAA tournament participants Missouri and Oklahoma State during the non-conference but have lost each of their first two AAC trips. Three others have been postponed.
  • A dominant defensive effort against SMU helped push the Shockers in the top-20 in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency rankings.
  • WSU ranks among the national leaders in three-point field goal percentage defense (33rd, .299) and blocks (29th, 5.0).
  • Etienne, the AAC preseason player of the year, averages a team-high 14.7 points and ranks third on the conference leaderboard in three-pointers (2.84). Saturday marked his 18th career 20-point game -- most by a Shocker in more than two decades.
  • Craig Porter Jr. leads the team in assists (3.3) and has a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He's blocked at least one shot in 11-straight games.
  • Morris Udeze (11.0 ppg) ranks seventh on the AAC rebounding chart at 6.1-per-game.
  • Council (11.3 ppg) is the league's highest-scoring reserve (starts in less than 25% of games). He's made back-to-back appearances on the AAC's weekly honor roll.
 
 
LAST TIME ON SHOCKER BASKETBALL:
Feb. 5, 2022 in Wichita (WSU 72, SMU 57)
  • Tyson Etienne and Ricky Council scored 20 points-each to propel WSU past SMU.
  • The Shockers used an 18-2 first-half run to build a 32-13 lead after 13 minutes of play. They were up 16 at halftime and by as many as 21 early in the second half.
  • SMU capitalized on an eight-minute WSU field goal drought to claw within 10 points with 7:10 to play, but Council helped restore order with 10 points in the final 6:30, capped by a steal and hammer dunk.
  • The second-year guard finished 6-of-9 from the field and 7-for-7 at the foul line to go with seven rebounds and three steals. Etienne hit four threes.
  • Craig Porter Jr. stuffed the box score with a team-high eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.
  • WSU shot 37% from three and knocked down 18-of-20 free throws. SMU shot 36.5% from the field (5-of-20 from deep) and made 14-of-21 at the stripe.
  • The Shockers won the turnover battle 17-12, helped by 10 steals. Dennis (three steals) limited SMU point guard Kendric Davis, the league's leading scorer, to a season-low eight points on 1-of-7 shooting and ended his string of 18-straight double-digit scoring games.
  • Marcus Weathers led the Mustang scoring and rebounding with 14 and eight respectively.
  • The teams met for the first time in nearly two years after six-straight postponements due to COVID or weather. WSU posted its fifth-straight series win.
 
 
THIS DATE IN SHOCKER HISTORY: FEB. 8
1966 – WSU snaps No. 3 Loyola Chicago's 14-game win streak, 92-84, inside the Roundhouse. The Shockers rallied from a 10-point deficit in the first half behind Warren Armstrong's 25 points and 18 rebounds and Kelly Pete's 19 points and 10 boards.
 
 
TRENDING:
  • The Shockers are 5-0 in games where Ricky Council IV is their leading scorer. He's done it three times in the last four games to earn back-to-back weeks on the AAC honor roll. Over that four-game span he's scored 68 points on just 34 shots (helped by a 26-for-31 performance at the foul line) and is averaging 26.4 points-per-40-minutes. 

Council's Last IV Games:
Jan. 26 – UCF (W, 84-79) – 31 points in 30:49 – 6/10 FG, 16/20 FT
Jan. 29 -- at Tulane (L, 66-67) – 6 points in 22:42 – 3/8 FG, 0/0 FT
Feb. 1 – TULSA (W, 58-48) – 11 points in 17:50 -- 4-7 FG, 3-4 FT
Feb. 5 – SMU (W, 72-57) – 20 points in 26:32 -- 6-9 FG, 7-7 FT
TOTALS -- 68 points in 97:53 -- 19-34 FG (.559), 26-31 FT (.839)

  • WSU's two best scorers this year, on a per-minute basis, have been bench players. Council and freshman center Kenny Pohto each average 17.9 points-per-40.
  • WSU has won back-to-back for the first time since Dec. 11 and 14 when they defeated Norfolk State and Alcorn State in succession. A win at UCF would match their season-long winning streak.
  • Saturday against SMU marked the sixth time this season that the Shockers have forced double-digit steals.
  • In conference play, WSU is shooting a league-best 79.1% from the foul line. The Shockers' season percentage (74.6) is almost seven percentage points ahead of last year's pace (68.0).
  • KenPom rates the Shocker defense 20th nationally in efficiency. WSU is holding opponents to low shooting percentages (30th in effective field goal percentage, 45.8%) and generating turnovers (55th, 21.2%) and blocks (24th, 14.0) at a high rate.
  • WSU has held 11 of its 20 opponents to less than 40% from the field, including each of the last three: Tulane (.390), Tulsa (.327) and SMU (.365).
 
 
SHOCKER BLOCK PARTY:
  • Not many point guards double as a rim-protector, but that's what Craig Porter Jr. brings to the table. His streak of 11-straight games with a block is one of the seven-longest by a Shocker in the last 40 years. 

WSU Players // Consecutive Games with a Block // 1980-Pr.:
25 -- Antoine Carr (6-9, F, 1980-81)
24 -- Antoine Carr (6-9, F, 1982-83*)
14 -- Jaime Echenique (6-11, C, 2018-19)
12 -- Shaquille Morris (6-8, C, 2017-18)
11 -- Claudius Johnson (6-6, F, 1990-91)
11 -- Jaime Echenique (6-11, C, 2020-21)
11 -- Craig Porter Jr. (6-2, PG, 2021-22)
* = Streak began previous season

 
 
THREES COMPANY:
  • Tyson Etienne (181 career threes) and Dexter Dennis (163) are both in the top-10 on WSU's career triples list and could both shoot their way into the top-5 by the end of the year.
  • Etienne has connected on at least one triple in 17-straight games. That's the sixth-longest streak in school history. 

WSU Career Leaders // 3-Point Field Goals:
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.) – 181
t7. Conner Frankamp (2015-18) -- 164
t7. Dexter Dennis (2018-Pr.) -- 164
9. Markis McDuffie (2015-19) -- 160
10. Landry Shamet (2015-18) – 159

 
 
THE SERIES vs. UCF:
  • The Shockers are 8-0 against the Knights. They've won all five meetings in Wichita and are 3-0 in Orlando. The schools had never met prior to 2017-18 when WSU joined the American Athletic Conference.
  • The Shockers swept last year's series but by the slimmest of margins. On Jan. 30 in Wichita, they overcame an eight-point deficit with less than 4:00 to play to win in overtime (93-88). Less than two weeks later in Orlando, WSU survived, 61-60, after Darius Perry's potential game-winning jumper missed the mark.
  • Two of the eight games have gone to overtime. In addition to last year's thriller at Charles Koch Arena, the teams played bonus basketball during the Mar. 1, 2018 clash in Orlando when UCF's A.J. Davis banked in a three-pointer at the buzzer to end regulation. The 11th-ranked Shockers regrouped for a 75-71 victory.
 
SCOUTING UCF:
  • In an off-season that saw record numbers of college basketball transfers, UCF kept its roster largely intact. Sixth-year head coach Johnny Dawkins returned all five starters from last year's squad, which finished sixth in the AAC regular season and reached the conference tournament quarterfinals (11-12, 8-10).
  • UCF has dropped three of its last four to dip to 5-6 in AAC play.
  • The Knights are 9-3 at home this year with wins over Michigan and Memphis.
  • Darin Green Jr. is the team's leading scorer (13.7 ppg) and a dangerous shooter (league-best 2.9 threes on 40% accuracy).
  • He's joined in the backcourt by a couple of super seniors.
  • Former Louisville transfer Darius Perry (11.3 ppg) is averaging 4.7 assists and 1.6 steals in his second go-around with UCF.
  • 6-foot-5 wing Brandon Mahon averages 10.1 points and 1.7 steals.
  • 6-8 forward C.J. Walker, a former top-25 recruit in the Class of 2019, has taken a step forward in his second season after transferring from Oregon. He's averaging 8.0 points and shares the team rebounding lead (5.8) with 6-11 UNLV transfer Cheikh Mbacke Diong (7.1 ppg, 1.5 bpg).
  • The Knights have additional depth with 6-6 Tyem Freeman (an NJCAA First Team All-American at Indian Hills CC) and four-star freshman point guard Darius Johnson.  Freeman is shooting almost 65% from the field is limited action. Johnson has expanded his role over the last month, averaging 8.2 points in AAC play.
 
MATCHUP MASHUP:
  • In five career games against UCF, Morris Udeze is averaging 11.4 points on 71% shooting (24-of-34). Udeze was 8-for-9 with 18 points in WSU's overtime win in Wichita on Jan. 30, 2021 and added 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the rematch in Orlando.
  • Fourth-year guard Dexter Dennis has made six career starts against UCF and averaged 12.3 points, 7.8 rebounds in 33.0 minutes.
  • WSU is 8-1 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% accuracy.
 
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD….
... Make them 13-8.
... Make them 4-5 in AAC play after an 0-4 start.
... Up their road record to 3-2 (8-4 under Brown).
... Make them 9-0 against UCF (4-0 in Orlando).
... Make them 7-0 in February games under Brown.
... Make them 5-0 on Tuesdays (7-0 under Brown) with 11-straight victories going back to 2019-20.
 
A SHOCKERS LOSS WOULD...
... Drop them to 12-9 (3-6 AAC).
... Snap a seven-game February winning streak dating back to 2020.
... Be their first to UCF (8-1) and their first in four trips to Addition Financial Arena.
... Be less good than a win.
 
 
UP NEXT:
  • Wichita State is back home next Saturday, Feb. 12 against the South Florida Bulls (7 p.m. CT, ESPNU). Reserve your seats by calling 316-978-FANS or logging on to goshockers.com/tickets.
  • This will be the lone regular season meeting, due to the league's unbalanced schedule.
  • The Shockers defeated the Bulls three times in 2020-21 and lead the all-time series 6-1.
  • On Dec. 22, 2020 in Tampa, USF erased a five-point deficit in the final five seconds of regulation, but WSU prevailed 82-77 in overtime. Tyson Etienne le the way with 25 points.
  • On Mar. 6, 2021 in Wichita, WSU locked up the AAC crown with an 80-63 win.
  • Six days later (Mar. 12, 2021) in the AAC quarterfinals, WSU won a much tougher test, 68-67. Etienne scored 20 points, including two free throws with eight seconds left to put the Shockers in front, and Morris Udeze made a game-saving defensive play when he drew a charge in the lane with four second remaining.
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