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AAC Trophy at Dickies Arena

AAC First Round Preview: Tulsa (Mar. 9)

3/8/2023 11:40:00 AM

(6) WICHITA STATE (16-14, 9-9) vs. (11) TULSA (5-24, 1-17)
American Athletic Conference Championship | First Round
Thursday, Mar, 8, 2023 | 6 p.m. CT
Fort Worth, Texas | Dickies Arena
 
Tournament Central: theamerican.org/mbb
TV: ESPNU w/ Kevin Brown & Perry Clark
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM (goshockers.com/listen) w/ Mike Kennedy, Dave Dahl & Bob Hull
Series: WSU leads 76-63
 
 
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL:                                                      
For tickets, schedules, bracket, program, rosters, stats and more, visit TheAmerican.org/MBB.
 
TELECAST:
All 10 tournament games will be on the ESPN family of networks. Thursday's WSU-Tulsa contest airs air on ESPNU with Kevin Brown (PxP) and Percy Clark (Analyst) on the call. Fans with ESPNU in their cable/satelite/streaming package can also stream live and on demand via the ESPN App.
 
SHOCKER RADIO:
Listen live on KEYN 103.7 FM and online at GoShockers.com/Listen as college basketball's longest-tenured tandem, Mike Kennedy (pbp) and Dave Dahl (analyst), describe the action alongside Bob Hull. Kennedy and Dahl have been calling games together since the 1980-81 season. Pregame coverage begins one hour before tipoff.
 
 
OPENING TIPS:
  • The Wichita State Shockers are in Fort Worth, Texas this weekend for the American Athletic Conference Championship at Dickies Arena.
  • The sixth-seeded Shockers will open against No. 11 Tulsa on Thursday (6 p.m. CT, ESPNU). The winner moves on to face No. 3 Tulane in Friday's quarterfinal round (no earlier than 8 p.m., ESPNU).
  • Picked eighth in the preseason after losing over 80% of its points and minutes, WSU exceeded expectations with a 9-9 record and a sixth-place finish. The Shockers finished strong with victories in five of their last eight, capped by Sunday's 20-point home win over USF.
  • This is WSU's fifth AAC tourney. No Shocker team has made it past semifinal Saturday in this event.
  • WSU won four MVC tournament crowns (1985, 87, 2014, 2017). Notably, the first two came against Tulsa on its home floor.
  • WSU and Tulsa also met in the last year's first round. The 10th seeded Hurricane pulled a 73-67 upset.
  • Prior to that one-and-done performance, Shocker teams had won at least one game in 12 straight conference tourneys and reached 11 straight semifinals.
  • This is matchup No. 140 in a series that began in 1931. The teams were MVC rivals in the from 1945-96.
  • WSU is looking to sweep three games from Tulsa for only the second time in school history (1987-88).
  • In six AAC seasons, WSU has an 11-2 record against Tulsa. That includes of a sweep of this year's regular season series. On Jan. 14 in Wichita, the Shockers rallied from 16 down in the second half to win 73-69. On Feb. 5 in Tulsa, WSU led wire-to-wire in an 86-75 victory.
  • Point guard Craig Porter Jr. was named third team all-conference on Wednesday. The versatile 6-2 senior averaged 13.4 points during the regular season and ranked among the league leaders in blocks (2nd, 1.6), assists (5th, 4.5), steals (10th, 1.5), rebounds (12th, 6.3).
  • Porter is the only player in the nation ranked in the top-100 in both blocks (56th, 1.6) and assists (81th, 4.5).
  • Leading scorer Jaykwon Walton (14.0 ppg) has missed the last two games due to illness. He's topped 20 points on six occasions this year.
  • In AAC games James Rojas ranks among KenPom's league leaders in defensive rebound % (2nd, 24.0), free throw rate (2nd, 80.5), fouls drawn-per-40 (4th, 5.8), steal % (5th, 3.4) and true shooting % (8th, 60.8).
  • WSU is 8-5 away from Wichita (vs. 8-9 in Wichita)
  • WSU ranks 23rd nationally in field goal percentage defense, limiting foes to 40.4% shooting.
 
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...                                                                     
•          Make them 17-14.
•          Move them into Friday's quarterfinal round against No. 3 seed Tulane (no earlier than 8 p.m. CT, ESPNU).
•          Give them at least one victory in four of their five AAC tournament appearances and make them 5-4 all-time.
•          Give them a three-game sweep of Tulsa for just the second time (1987-88).
•          Up their all-time series lead to 77-63 with wins in 20 of the last 23 meetings.
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
•          Drop them to 16-15.
•          Be their second straight AAC first-round exit at the hands of Tulsa.
•          Make them 11-3 vs. Tulsa in the AAC era (0-2 in AAC tournament games).
•          Narrow their all-time series lead to 76-64.
•          Be less good than a win.
 
 
THE SHOCKS, IN SHORT:
  • A massive offseason overhaul made for a challenging regular season, but Wichita State finds itself peaking at just the right time.
  • With just two holdovers from the 2021-22 active roster, third year head coach Isaac Brown spent the first half of the season rebuilding the team's chemistry and culture from scratch. 11 of the 13 Shockers who have seen action are newcomers (two redshirts + nine transfers).
  • Defensively, the Shockers have kept opponents off kilter with a mixture of man-to-man and shape-shifting zone defenses. They rank among the nation's top-25 in field goal percentage defense (23rd, 40.4%)
  • The Shockers ranked among the nation's worst offenses in November and December, shooting low percentages while playing at a plodding pace, but they've developed a new identity in the second half of the year, averaging 77.0 points in the last 15 games (up from 64.5).
  • Brown tightened his rotation to a core group of players and has found ways to capitalize on their unique set of skills, playing inside-out in the half court while punishing opponents in transition.
  • No skillset is more unique than that of 6-2 senior point guard Craig Porter Jr. The third team all-conference pick is a deadly iso scorer and leads the team in rebounds (6.3), assists (4.5), blocks (46) and steals (43).
  • The only other holdover, 6-11 sophomore Kenny Pohto has come on strong in the second half, averaging 10.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and more than a block and steal-per-game during conference play. His basketball IQ and passing touch (2.5 apg in AAC play) have been one of the keys to WSU's scoring revival.
  • 6-7 wing Jaykwon Walton is former top-100 recruit who started his career at Georgia. The junior is the team's leading scorer (14.0 ppg) and an unselfish one at that. Per KenPom, his usage rate is fourth-highest on the team and his 64.6% true shooting percentage ranks among the top-40 nationally.
  • WSU has had its share of tough guys in recent years, but there's perhaps none tougher than Alabama grad transfer James Rojas (10.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg). The 6-6 forward is a play-maker on both ends of the court with a nack for scoring and drawing fouls in around the basket.
  • Southern Miss transfer Jaron Pierre Jr. (10.5 ppg) came in with a shooter's mentality but has played himself in major minutes by evolving into a defensive stopper, often guarding the opponent's biggest threat.
  • WSU leans heavily on the starting five but has gotten key contributions from its bench throughout the year.
  • Sophomore shooting guard Xavier Bell -- a Wichita native who played the last two years at Drexel -- gives the team another perimeter threat.
  • Walk-on Melvion Flanagan has been a surprise at point guard, alternating with Shammah Scott for backup minutes behind Porter.
  • Southeastern Louisiana grad transfer Gus Okafor and redshirt freshman Isaac Abidde have both logged time at the 4-spot behind Rojas.
  • At center, WSU has been without 7-foot eraser Quincy Ballard since December due to a lingering back injury but has benefited from the return of fifth-year senior Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler, who transferred to Omaha in 2021-22 but rejoined last summer as a walk-on. Brown awarded him a scholarship at semester.
  • Another impact guard, Colby Rogers, is on the roster but sitting out under NCAA transfer rules. A year ago at Siena he ranked among the nation's top-10 in 3-point percentage and was second team all-league.
 
 
MASTER OF ALL TRADES       
  • Craig Porter Jr.'s 81 career blocks are now the most ever by a Shocker guard, ahead of Ron Baker (76 from 2012-16).
  • Porter became the first player in program history to log at least six assists in six straight games (Feb. 5-26). He banked 43 dimes with just 14 turnovers in that stretch (3.07 A:TO).
  • In addition to his triple-double at Tulane on Feb. 26, Porter has two games with 5+ blocks and two more with 5+ steals.
  • Porter played limited minutes behind Gilbert in his first season (2020-21) but still on track to finish among the school's career top-10 in blocks-per-game (4th, 1.11), steals-per-gane (8th, 1.23) and assists-per-game (8th, 3.42). He would be the only player in WSU history with that combo.
  • Sunday against USF, Porter became the 24th Shocker to reach 250 career assists.
 
 
AMERICAN TOURNAMENT ODDS & ENDS   
  • The 11 American Athletic Conference schools slug it out this weekend for an automatic bid to next week's NCAA Men's Basketball Championship.
  • Each of the top-five seeds receive first-round byes. The other six will compete Thursday for the three remaining quarterfinal spots.
  • This is the ninth go-around for this event. SMU (2015 & 2017), Cincinnati (2018 & 2019) and Houston (2021, 2022) have combined to win six of the last seven titles.
  • Two-time defending champ Houston has made four-straight title game appearances (2018-19, 21-22) while Memphis has made four consecutive semifinals.
 
 
DICKIES ARENA:
  • This is the third go-around for Dickies Arena as tournament host.
  • The $540 million facility opened in November, 2019.
  • It seats approximately 13,300 for basketball and -- at the time of its construction -- featured North America's largest 360-degree screen: 105 feet across (longer than the width of the court) and 26 feet tall.
  • The arena made its debut as an NCAA tournament host in 2022 with first and section round action and launched the two eventual national finalists. No. 1 seed Kansas downed Texas Southern and Creighton while No. 8 UNC knocked off Marquette and No. 1 Baylor.
 
 
FORT WORTH NOTING:         
  • WSU's campus is 363 miles away (or a little over five hours by car) from Dickies Arena. Other area schools: SMU (40 miles), Houston (268), Tulsa (310) and Memphis (496).
  • WSU has had a handful of Fort Worth natives over the years, including one of its all-time greats, Nate Bowman. The 6-10 center out of Kirkpatrick High School teamed with Dallas native Dave Stallworth to lead the Shockers to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 1964, Six years later, they joined forces again on the New York Knicks' 1970 NBA Championship squad.
  • The Shockers are 1-3 all-time in Fort Worth with a 2008 loss to TCU and a 1-2 AAC tournament mark.
 
 
WICHITA STATE IN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS: 
  • Just three active Shockers have competed in an AAC tournament for a combined 57 minutes. Kenny Pohto is the only current WSU player who clocked minutes in last year's first round loss to Tulsa.
  • WSU won 12 straight conference tournament openers (2009-21) and appeared in 11 straight semifinals (2010-21) before stumbling in last year's first round.
  • From 1977 to 2017, WSU competed in 38 Missouri Valley Conference tournaments, going 35-34 with seven finals appearances and four titles (1985, 1987, 2014 and 2017). Notably, the first two came at the expense of Tulsa on its home floor.
  • This is WSU's fifth go-around in the AAC tournament. The Shockers are 4-3 with three semifinal appearances.
 
 
WATCH YOUR SIX:     
  • The Shockers are a No. 6 seed for the second time in the AAC. It worked out well in 2019 with WSU bouncing ECU and Temple on the way to the semifinals. However, prior to that, Shocker teams were winless in five MVC tournament go-arounds on the No. 6 line.
  • No. 6 seeds are 8-0 in AAC tournament openers and 12-8 overall. UConn (2015) and Memphis (2016) both reached the title game from the 6-line.
  • No. 6 seeds also have a winning record in the quarterfinal round, toppling the No. 3 seed in five of the eight years.
  • WSU has made 24 semifinal appearances across the MVC and ACC, but 23 of them have come as a top-4 seed. The 2019 Shockers are the lone exception.
 
 
OTHER TOURNEY TRENDS    
  • No. 1 seeds are 5-3 in semifinals games and 4-1 in the championship.
  • Play-in teams are a respectable 6-18 in quarterfinal games. No. 1 seeds are 8-0, No. 2 seeds are 7-1 (the lone loss coming in 2016 when No. 10 Tulane upset No. 7 UCF and No. 2 Houston before bowing to Memphis). Last year Memphis became the first No. 3 seed to make it to Sunday. Prior to that, No. 3's were a combined 2-7.
  • The quarterfinal matchups between Nos. 4-5 has been a toss-up (4-4). No. 5 Cincinnati reached the title game in 2021 and No. 5 UConn won the whole thing in 2016.
  • UConn is the only No. 4 to reach the title game. The Huskies were runner-up in 2014 but went on to win the national championship three weeks later.
  • No. 7 seeds are 3-5 in first-round matchups with three straight losses and 0-3 in the quarterfinal round.
 
 
YEAR-BY-YEAR IN THE AAC TOURNAMENT 
 
2022 -- Fort Worth, Texas -- No. 7 Seed -- 0-1, First Rd.
With starting point guard Craig Porter Jr. out due to injury, the Shockers were sent home packing by a Tulsa team they had swept during the regular season. The 10th-seeded Hurricane closed the first half on a 14-3 run to go up double-digits and held on from there.
 
2021 – Fort Worth, Texas - No. 1 - 1-1, Semifinals
WSU won the regular season crown but still had work to do on its NCAA tournament resume. The Shockers avoided a quarterfinal-round disaster against No. 8 seed South Florida, overcoming a 12-point deficit in the final 12:00 to win 68-67. Tyson Etienne scored 20 points and Morris Udeze made a game-saving defensive play, drawing a charge in the lane with four seconds left… WSU's magic ran out the following day in a 60-59 semifinal loss to No. 5 Cincinnati. Alterique Gilbert scored a game-high 14 points but missed a 30-footer at the buzzer… A tense 27 hours followed, but WSU landed on the right side of the NCAA bubble.
 
2020 – Fort Worth, Texas – No. 4 -- Canceled
The Shockers trounced Tulsa in the regular season finale to lock up the No. 4 seed and the final first-round bye. Bracketologists were divided over the Shockers' position on the NCAA bubble but all agreed that WSU would need a win (or possibly two) to make the field. We'll never know. The AAC tournament was called off on the morning of the first round over COVID-19 concerns.
 
2019 – Memphis, Tenn. – No. 6 – 2-1, Semifinals
A young WSU team played its best basketball down the stretch (finishing 10-8 after a 1-6 conference start) and continued that trend in Memphis with two wins as the No. 6 seed and a near upset of No. 2 Cincinnati in the semifinals. After making short work of No. 11 ECU in the first round (73-57), WSU rode the hot hand of Markis McDuffie (34 points) to an 80-74 win over No. 3 Temple. On semifinal Saturday, the Shockers rallied from a 13-point second half deficit to tie the game at 63, but the 25th-ranked Bearcats scored a layup and a free throw in the final 30 seconds to escape, 66-63. The tournament run was enough to land WSU one of the last-remaining NIT spots, and the Shockers made good with three postseason wins and a trip to New York.
 
2018 – Orlando, Fla. – No. 2 – 1-1, Semifinals
The Shockers came within a shot of winning the AAC regular season title and suffered more heartache in their first AAC tournament. Landry Shamet scored 24 points on 6-of-8 three-point shooting to lead an 89-81 quarterfinal win over No. 7 seed Temple, but WSU struggled to contain Houston's Rob Gray (33 points) in the semifinals, losing a 77-74.
 
 
SCOUTING TULSA:
  • Tulsa is in its first season under Eric Konkol, who posted six 20-win seasons during a seven-year run at Louisiana Tech and guided the Bulldogs to a spot in the 2021 NIT semifinals.
  • Konkol inherited a Tulsa team that lost three of its top-four scorers from a year ago. The Hurricane (5-26, 1-17) have dropped 11 straight coming in. Their lone conference victory came Jan. 21 against Tulane  (81-79 in OT).
  • Tulsa is averaging a league-low 65.4 points and surrendering a league-high 77.3.
  • Leading scorer Sam Griffin (15.2 ppg) has missed the last three games. Per KenPom, when Griffin is on the floor he takes over a third (33.4%) of the team's shots (14th nationally).
  • 6-9 sophomore Bryant Selebangue (12.7 ppg) has been an impacful addition to the front court out of Florida Southwestern State College. He leads the AAC in rebounding (9.3) and double-doubles (11).
  • 6-1 Chicago State transfer Brandon Betson (9.8 ppg) is a three-point sniper, knocking down 2.1-per-game at a 41.4% clip.
 
 
MATCHUP MASHUP  
  • WSU's first-year strength and conditioning coach Ryan Horn worked with the men's basketball team at Tulsa from 2011-14 under Danny Manning.
  • Tulsa guard Sterling Gaston-Chapman is a Wichita  area native and 2021 Campus High School graduate.
 
 
THE SERIES:
  • The Shockers lead the series, 76-63, and have won 19 of the last 22. They're 11-2 in the AAC era.
  • Tulsa is WSU's third-most-played opponent behind Drake (151) and Bradley (142). This is meeting No. 140 in a series that began in 1931. The teams were rivals in the Missouri Valley Conference from 1945-96 before reuniting in the AAC in 2017.
  • WSU and Tulsa split six MVC tournament meetings. The Shockers won the two biggest, upsetting top-seeded Hurricane squads in the 1985 and 1987 championship games in Tulsa.
  • Including non-conference games, the teams have met at least once in each of the last 13 seasons going back to 2010-11.
  • Since joining the AAC, WSU has faced Tulsa more times   than any other foe. This is the 14th meeting in six years.
  • Eric Konkol is 20th-different Tulsa coach that WSU has faced in the series, while Isaac Brown is WSU's 15th.
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