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Rojas vs. Tulsa

AAC Quarterfinal Preview: vs. Tulane (Mar. 10)

3/10/2023 11:53:00 AM

(6) WICHITA STATE (17-14) vs. (3) TULANE (19-10)
American Athletic Conference Championship | Quarterfinals
Mar. 10, 2023 | No earlier than 8 p.m. CT
Fort Worth, Texas | Dickies Arena
 
Tournament Central: theamerican.org/mbb
TV: ESPNU & ESPN+ w/ Kevin Brown & Perry Clark
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM (goshockers.com/listen)
Series: WSU leads 7-3
 
 
OPENING TIPS:
  • Wichita State and Tulane meet for the third time this season Friday night in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Championship at Dickies Arena.
  • The sixth-seeded Shockers used a big second half to dispatch No. 11 seed Tulsa, 81-63, in Thursday's first round. Craig Porter Jr. handed out a career-high 11 assists in 28 turnover-free minutes and was one of five Shockers who scored in double-figures. WSU made 17 of its first 21 shots to start the second half and expanded a five-point halftime lead to as many as 26.
  • WSU and No. 3 seed Tulane split two regular season games with each side winning on the other's home court. Two weeks ago in New Orleans, the Shockers pulled out a 73-66 victory  over the Green Wave behind Porter's first career triple double (15 pts, 10 reb, 10 ast) avenging a Jan. 25 overtime loss in Wichita.
  • The WSU-Tulane winner will take on the survivor of No. 2 seed Memphis and No. 7 UCF in Saturday's semifinal round (4 p.m. CT, ESPN2).
  • WSU has won six of its last nine games. Picked eighth in the preseason after losing over 80% of its points and minutes, the team exceeded expectations with a 9-9 record and a sixth-place finish.
  • WSU is 5-4 in AAC tournament games, including 3-0 in quarterfinal matchups.
  • The Shockers reached the semifinals in three of their four previous appearances but have never played on Sunday. This is their first time facing Tulane in this event.
  • WSU won four tournament crowns in the Missouri Valley Conference (1985, 87, 2014, 2017).
  • Porter was named third team all-conference on Wednesday. The versatile 6-2 senior averaged 13.4 points during the regular season and ranks among the league leaders in blocks (3rd, 1.5), assists (5th, 4.6), steals (8th, 1.5), rebounds (12th, 6.2).
  • Porter is the only player in the nation ranked in the top-100 in both blocks (59th, 1.5) and assists (64th, 4.7).
  • Porter's double-double in the first round was his fourth of the year and second of the point-assist variety.
  • Leading scorer Jaykwon Walton (13.9 ppg) missed the last two games of the regular season due to illness but put up 11 points on 3-of-5 three-point shooting Thursday in his return to the lineup.
  • WSU has topped 50% shooting in four straight and seven of its last nine games.
  • WSU ranks 22nd nationally in field goal percentage defense, limiting foes to 40.4% shooting.
 
 
THE SERIES WITH TULANE:
  • WSU leads 7-3 (4-2 in Wichita and 3-1 in New Orleans.
  • The teams have never met on a neutral court.
  • The Shockers won each of the first six series meetings before suffering a pair of one-point losses last season.
  • The teams split the 2022-23 regular season with each winning on the other's home court.
  • Tulane has made large comeback bids in each of the last four meetings.
  • Jan. 25 in Wichita, the Green Wave battled back from an 18-point first half deficit in an eventual 95-90 overtime win. They trailed by 13 at the break and was eight with as little as 2:41 to go.
  • Feb. 26 in New Orleans, the Shockers led by 17 points late in the first half. Tulane closed the gap to three just before halftime and was within a point midway through the second half before WSU answered with a game sealing run.
  • In 2021-22, the Wave rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to win in Wichita. In New Orleans, they trailed by nine points with 3:38 to play but finished on a 10-0 run.
 
 
SCOUTING TULANE:
  • Head coach Ron Hunter notched his 500th career win in the regular season finale. A quarterfinal victory would give Tulane its first 20-win season since 2012-13.
  • All five starters are back from a Green Wave team that reached last year's semifinals at the No. 5 seed before falling to eventual champion Houston.
  • The trio of Jalen Cook (first team), Jaylen Forbes (second) and Kevin Cross (third) earned all-conference honors for the year in a row. They combined to average 54 points during the regular season.
  • Tulane plays an up-tempo style (third nationally in possessions-per-game, according to KenPom) and relies on a matchup zone defensively. The Wave are the league's highest-scoring team at 80.8 points and rank among the NCAA leaders in free throw makes (16th, 16.7) and percentage (9th, .782).
  • Cook (20.4 ppg) and Forbes (18.8 ppg) are the AAC's second and third-leading scorers. Both averaged better than 20-a-game in league play. Forbes has connected on 83 threes on 39% accuracy and averages 5.3 free throw attempts, while Cook tops the assist chart (5.0). The 6-foot-7 Cross averages 14.6 points and a team-best 6.4 rebounds along with 4.2 assists.
  • Four Tulane players are clocking upwards of 32 minutes-per-contest, led by Sion James' AAC-best 37:00.
  • Tulane doesn't waste much energy on the boards (-6.7 rebounding margin is the nation's fifth-worst) but makes up for it with a strong turnover margin (+3.6 turnover margin is 19th-best).
 
 
MATCHUP MASHUP:
  • WSU's Jaron Pierre Jr. is a New Orleans native and St. Augustine High graduate. As a senior in 2020 he earned 5A first team all-state honors on a team that finished 31-2 and advanced to the Division I state title game (Louisiana's largest private school class).
  • Melvion Flanagan is from Alexandria, La. As a senior (2019-20) he led Peabody Magnet to a state title and was first team All-Class 4A.
  • WSU head coach Isaac Brown's hometown of Pascagoula, Miss. is less than two hours from New Orleans along the Gulf Coast. His finished his collegiate career in upstate Louisiana, helping ULM to the 1993 NCAA tournament as a senior.
  • Assistant coach Billy Kennedy was on staff at Tulane during the 1989-90 season and helped head coach Perry Clark restart the program after a four-year absence. Kennedy played and later served as head coach at Southeastern Louisiana.
  • A nation-best 82.0% of Tulane minutes have been clocked by returning players from last year's roster. By contrast, newcomers have logged 81.2% of the Shocker minutes.
  • WSU's James Rojas and Tulane's Jaylen Forbes were teammates at Alabama during the 2019-20 season.
 
 
WSU-TULANE IN NEW ORLEANS:
Jan. 25, 2023 (Wichita) | TLN 95, WSU 90 (ot)
  • Jaykwon Walton scored a career-high 24 points, including a game-tying three at the end of regulation, but hot-shooting Tulane prevailed in overtime.
  • Jaron Pierre Jr. added 18 points and Craig Porter Jr. (12 pts, 11 reb, 8 ast) flirted with a triple-double for WSU, which led by as many as 18 late in the first half and by eight with 2:41 to play in regulation.
  • Led by Jaylen Forbes (25 pts) and Jalen Cook (20 pts, 9 reb, 6 ast) Tulane piled up the most points by a Shocker foe since 2007 and the most by a Roundhouse visitor since 1983. 31 of them in the last 3:00 of regulation plus overtime. The Green Wave came away with points on 14 of their last 16 possessions.
  • Sion James' steal and dunk (plus an and-one free throw), put Tulane up 74-71 with 22 seconds left in regulation, but WSU tied the game with nine seconds left when Porter found Walton for a corner three.
  • WSU opened overtime consecutive turnovers before scoring on seven straight possessions. It was too late.  Tulane made 6-of-7 shots in the extra period and all seven free throws to keep the Shockers at arm's length.
  • The Wave shot 50.7% for the game. They missed their first 10 threes before connecting on 9 of their last 15.
  • The Shockers shot 44.4%, made 14-of-38 threes and logged a season-high 21 assists. They outrebounded Tulane 46-33 but lost the turnover battle 14-8 and were outscored 25-16 at the foul line.
 
 
WSU-TULANE IN WICHITA:
Feb. 26, 2023 (New Orleans) | WSU 83, TLN 76
  • Craig Porter Jr. celebrated his 23rd birthday with a triple-double and New Orleans native Jaron Pierre Jr. put on a show for a large contingent of family and friends with a career-high 28 points.
  • Porter finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists to post only the second Shocker triple-double in 50 years. Fred VanVleet had the other.
  • WSU won its fifth consecutive road game.
  • The Shockers shot 53.1%, including 45.5% (10-of-22) from deep, helped by Pierre's 5-of-12 performance.
  • James Rojas added a career-high 20 points and cleared eight rebounds.
  • Tulane's Jalen Cook scored a game-high 30 points on 8-of-15 three-point shooting. The hosts were 15-of-33 (.455) from deep.
  • In a surprising twist, WSU won the game at the line and in transition, outscoring up-tempo Tulane 19-4 on fast break points and 21-5 on free throws. The Wave had entered the day ranked sixth nationally in free throws-per-game (17.4) and No. 3 in tempo, per KenPom.
  • Tulane rallied from large deficits to win each of the three previous meetings, including an 18-point hole last month in Wichita, and nearly did so again.
  • After WSU built a 17-point first-half lead, Tulane used a 15-2 run to get within four just before the break and cut it to 69-68 near the 6:00-mark of the second half.
  • WSU held Tulane to just three baskets the rest of the way. Rojas scored eight during a 14-5 spurt that pushed the margin safely back to double-digits.
 
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…
  • Make them 18-14.
  • Move them into Saturday's semifinal round against either UCF or Memphis. Tipoff will be 30 minutes after the completion of the first semifinal game (approximately 4 p.m. CT).
  • Be their fourth semifinal berth in five AAC tournament appearances.
  • Give them three straight wins for the first time since early in the 2021-22 season.
  • Make them 8-3 all-time against Tulane with back-to-back victories.
  • Make them 6-4 in AAC tournament games.
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
  • Drop them to 17-15.
  • Be their second in three tries against Tulane this year and narrow WSU's all-time series lead to 7-4.
  • Make them 5-5 in five AAC tournament trips.
  • Be less good than a win.
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