UNI Panthers (16-9, 6-7)
at
Wichita State Shockers (20-4, 11-2)
Tickets
7 p.m.
Wed., Feb. 8, 2012
Charles Koch Arena (10,506)
Radio: KNSS 1330 - Mike Kennedy/Bob Hull
TV: MVC-TV - Kevin Kugler/Rich Zvosec
Quickly... Wichita State plays host to UNI in the second meeting between the two teams this season. WSU has already completed the MVC home-and-home series against Bradley, SIU, Evansville and Indiana State.
-WSU has six players who average between 8.8 and 14.5 points a game. Garrett Stutz is at the top of the list with 14.5 points a game after averaging 24.8 points over the last four games.
-WSU is the winner of 10-of-11 and 18-of-20, including two eight-game win streaks this season. WSU's longest win streak under head coach Gregg Marshall was nine games during the 2009-10 season.
-WSU is 12-1 at home, with the only loss a MVC home game, 68-61, to Creighton. A year ago, WSU lost four games in Charles Koch Arena. Nine times has WSU lost only one game at home, with the last time 2009-10. Prior to that it was 1987-88.
-WSU has a plus-14.6 point margin of victory (9th in NCAA on Feb. 5) and a plus-6.1 rebound margin (26th in NCAA on Feb. 5).
- WSU has played only eight true road games (7-1: 1-non-con/7-MVC). Its only true non-conference road game was at Tulsa Dec. 7, where it won, 77-67. WSU was 9-2 in true road games in 2010-11.
-Wichita State is 16-3 on the road since the beginning of 2010-11.
-Senior center Garrett Stutz sat out the SIU game Jan. 21 after playing through the pain Jan. 18 at UNI with a back injury, but scored 23, 27, 25 and 24 points, respectively, since sitting out.
-This week WSU was 31st with 31 points in the AP poll and 38th with five points in the ESPN poll.
-WSU will close the regular season with three of six games at home,while the road schedule includes the Feb. 18 Bracketbuster at Davidson.
After Today... WSU travels to No. 17/15 Creighton at 4 p.m., Sat., Feb. 11. The game can be seen on ESPN2.
On 20 Win-Seasons... With Wednesday's win, WSU reached a 20-win season for the 14th time in history, and the third-straight time. The Shockers set the school record with 29 wins a year ago. WSU has won 20 games in back-to-back seasons eight times, including three stretches of three-straight 20 win seasons. WSU last won at least 20 games for three-straight seasons from 2003-04 to 2005-06 with 21, 22 and 26, respectively.
Stutz Earns POW... Garrett Stutz averaged 24.5 points and 13.0 rebounds in WSU's two wins last week, and for his effort was named the MVC Player-of-the-Week. His 24 points against Indiana State pushed him past the 1,000-point mark for his career, while his 15 rebounds against the Sycamores helped him to his eighth double-double of the year.
For the week, he shot 57 percent (17-30) from the field and 82.4 percent (14-17) from the line. At Missouri State, he had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and against Indiana State he had 24 points and 15 rebounds.
41 Becomes 41st...No. 41 Garrett Stutz became the 41st Shocker to reach 1,000 career points with his 24-point out-put against Indiana State on Saturday. His 1,016 points now ranks 38th, while he needs six points to reach 37th and Ron Heller's 1,022 from 1958-61.
He Does It all... Senior Toure Murry is on pace to reach the Top 10 in WSU career scoring, and is already there in games played, three-pointers, free throws made, assists and steals. He is currently 13th on the WSU scoring chart with 1,436 points, needing 109 to reach 10th and Greg Carney's 1,545 from 1967-70. He also ranks second in steals behind Jason Perez (222/1996-00) with 167, seventh in three-pointers with 132, fifth in assists with 391, ninth in free throws with 352, and fourth in games played with 130.
Stutz Doubles Up... Garrett Stutz picked up his seventh and eighth double-doubles of the season last week with 25 points and 11 rebounds at Missouri State, and 24 points and 15 rebounds against Indiana State.
On UNI... Wichita State won the first meeting this season, 71-68, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Jan. 18.
Since then, UNI has gone 3-2 including a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer by junior guard Anthony James to give UNI a 65-62 win over No. 13-ranked Creighton on Feb. 4 in the McLeod Center. James scored a team-high 16 points, including 14 in the second half.
UNI is 12-0 this season when holding the opposition to 62 points or less. UNI held both opponents this past week to less than 62 points in scoring two wins over Southern Illinois (58-49) and Creighton (65-62)
Head coach Ben Jacobson is in his sixth season at the helm of the Panther program with a career mark of 125-66.
Gregg Marshall is 4-6 against UNI, while UNI head coach Ben Jacobson is 7-5 all-time vs. Wichita State.
WSU-UNI Series...UNI leads the all-time series vs. Wichita State, 24-20, and has won five of the last seven matchups in Koch Arena. UNI has also won 10 of the last 15 games. WSU will be looking to sweep the regular season series vs. UNI for only the second time in 20 home-and-home matchups. The other sweep was during the 1997-98 season, while UNI has swept the regular season series vs. the Shockers on four occasions.
UNI and Wichita State have split the regular season series 14 times.
MVC Wildcard TV Weekend... The Missouri Valley Conference has selected the Drake at Wichita State men's basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 25, to complete the league's Wildcard Weekend on FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports Indiana, FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX College Sports, Comcast SportsNet Chicago and the ESPN family of networks.
Bracketbusting... Wichita State will travel to play Davidson College on Saturday, Feb. 18, at noon eastern time in Charlotte, North Carolina in the 10th annual Sears BracketBusters event, and the contest will be televised live on either ESPN or ESPN2.
The Shockers are one of 26 teams selected to be a part of the BracketBusters event on the ESPN family of networks. Drake, Creighton, Missouri State and Northern Iowa are the other Missouri Valley Conference schools to be selected for a televised game ESPNU's 2012 BracketBusters Selection Show.
Reaching 100...WSU Head Coach Gregg Marshall won his 100th game at WSU with the defeat of Evansville Jan. 25th. In five seasons as the Shockers head coach he has a record of 102-59. With the win, he became just the fourth coach in WSU history to win 100 games. He is currently fourth on the all-time wins list behind Mark Turgeon (128). Of the four coaches, he is the second-fastest behind Gene Smithson to 100.
2011-12 is Gregg Marshall's fifth season as the Shockers' head coach. He brought WSU from 11 wins in his first season, to a school-record 29 and an NIT championship last season. Marshall has a 296-142 career record and is 102-59 at WSU.
Reaching for 300... Gregg Marshall is four wins from 300 for his career, and carries a 296-142 career record and is 102-59 at WSU.
Last Time Out...Wichita State senior center Garrett Stutz picked up his eighth double-double of the season and became the 41st Shocker to reach 1,000 career points Saturday as he led the Shockers to a 71-66 win against Indiana State at Charles Koch Arena.
Stutz led all players with 24 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and a career-high five blocks in the Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball game in front of a crowd of 10,458.
The Shockers improved to 20-4 overall and 11-2 in Valley play, tying Creighton at the top of the league standings.
Indiana State fell to 14-10 overall and 5-8 in the conference, ending a three-game winning streak. Jake Odum led the Sycamores with 21 points and Myles Walker had eight rebounds for Indiana State.
Eighth Double-Double... Garrett Stutz picked up six of his eight double-doubles of the season during Valley play. At Bradley, he had 14 points and 10 rebounds, at Evansville he had a career-high 29 points and 10 rebounds and against Illinois State he had 12 points and 10 rebounds. He also had 16 points and 13 rebounds against the Braves in Wichita, 25 points and 10 rebounds at Missouri State and 24 points and 15 rebounds against Indiana State. His non-conference double-doubles came against Colorado (14-11) and Temple (13-11).
Margin and D Fence...WSU leads the Valley-only stats in scoring margin at plus-12.0, allowing just 64.3 ppg and in field goal percentage defense at 40.1.
Charity Stripe... In its last nine games, WSU is 164-of-205 (80.0) from the free throw line. Murry has been clutch for the Shockers at the line, in his last 13games, he knocked down 50-of-60 (83%) and is 26-for-31 (84%) in the last five.
On Stutz' Steppin' Out... The senior center has scored double-figures in 11 of the last 13 games he played, and has moved up to seventh in the Valley with his 14.1 ppg. He had a career-high 29 points in the win at Evansville. That effort eclipsed his previous career-high of 24 points in the NIT semi-final against Washington State.
Balanced Scoring...Six Shockers are scoring 8.8 points per game or more led by Stutz' 14.5. Ragland is running a close second behind him at 12.5 ppg. Murry (12.4), Carl Hall (9.3), Ben Smith (8.8) and David Kyles (8.8) are next. The six are helping the Shockers score 77.8 ppg, which is second behind Creighton in the MVC.
Balanced Rebounding...Led by Garrett Stutz' 8.0 rebounds a game, which is fourth in the Valley, and backed by Carl Hall's 5.5 a game, the majority of rebounding is also spread between the same group between 8.0 and 2.8 a game.
Balanced Minutes...Even the Shockers' minutes are balanced with seven players averaging between 28.7 minutes and 23.2 minutes a game.
Winning Percentage Climbing... Wichita State endured a six-game losing streak during the 2008-09 season, but finished 11-6 down the stretch. Overall since that streak, including this season's 20-4 start, head coach Gregg Marshall is 85-28 in his last 113 games for a 74 percent winning percentage.
Marshall Loves the 80s... Gregg Marshall is 78-4 in his career when his teams score 80 or more points, which includes a 24-1 record in the last four-plus seasons at WSU. He is also 15-0 when his teams have scored 90-plus points in his 14-plus seasons as a head coach. In 2010-11, WSU was 7-0 when scoring more than 80 points, and was 3-0 when scoring more than 90.
In 2011-12, he is 9-1 when scoring more than 80, 3-0 when scoring 90 or more, and 1-0 when scoring more than 100.
Stutz' Rebounding Up... Senior Garrett Stutz averaged 3.5 rebounds a year ago, but is grabbing the boards at a greater pace in 2011-12. Through 23 games he has played, he is averaging 8.0 boards a game. He had a career-high 15 against Indiana State in Wichita, and has had nine double-figure rebounding games, including seven in Valley play.
Attack the Boards... Since Gregg Marshall arrived, WSU has out-rebounded 127-of 161 opponents, which includes all but three opponents in 2011-12. WSU carried a plus-8.4 rebound margin a year ago, which ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA all season. WSU is currently at plus 6.5 a game after out-boarding which is 23rd.
More Career Record Lists... Senior David Kyles ranks sixth with 143 three pointers. In addition, senior Garrett Stutz ranks seventh in blocks with 93.
Ragland Tearing it Up... Joe Ragland, who scored a career-high 31 points against UNLV earlier this season, scored in double figures eight-straight games, but broke the streak with just six points at Evansville. He bounced back with 20 points at SIU to total 16 double-figure scoring games this season, including five of the last six games he's played.
Hall Heats Up December... Carl Hall has 12 double-figure scoring games, including a stretch that spanned the month of December where he scored seven-of-eight double-figure games and averaged 12.6 ppg. On Dec. 31, he also scored a team-high 17 points against No. 21 Creighton. He also had a career-high 13 rebounds. Against Bradley, he had 10 points and eight boards in only 19 minutes of play.
Triple OT... The three-overtime loss to Drake was just the fourth triple-overtime game in Shocker history. WSU has now played in two, three-overtime games in the past two seasons as it won against Indiana State, 93-83, on Jan. 22, 2011.
Bench Gets Some PT... With Garrett Stutz out with injury to his back, all 12 remaining players saw game action against SIU, and all 12 scored. That included all five freshman, who scored at least three points, led by freshman Jake White. He led them with 10 points and eight rebounds against SIU in 17 minutes of play. He also shot 57 percent (4-7) from the field.
Orukpe Steps In... With senior center Garrett Stutz out with a back injury against SIU, junior center Orukpe filled in well. He played 22 minutes, scored five points, grabbed a career-high nine rebounds, blocked four shots and dished out two assists with no turnovers.
Valley Margins...The 43-point win over SIU was WSU's second-biggest in an MVC game. This season's team has accounted for three of WSU's top seven margins of victory in a MVC game. WSU's 39-point win at Bradley on Dec. 28 was the largest win margin on the road for the WSU.
Historic Numbers... In the first Valley game this season, WSU handed Bradley its worst home loss in 108 seasons of basketball and its worst loss in 60 MVC seasons. WSU defeated Bradley by the largest margin in the 126-game series and won by its largest margin in an MVC road game. WSU defeated Bradley by 39 in the first meeting and by 37 Jan. 13 in Wichita.
50-Point Wins... With the 94-44 win against Chicago State, Wichita State collected its eighth 50-plus win in history, and its fourth since 1980. WSU's largest margin of victory was March 6, 1907 when it defeated Sterling, 99-31, while its last 50-plus win was a 102-46 win (56) on Dec. 17, 2006. The 49-point win against Newman (102-53) ranks ninth in history.
Getting Votes...Wichita State received votes in the Dec. 12, Dec. 19 and 26, Jan. 16th and 23rd AP polls, and the Dec. 26, Jan. 9, Jan. 16 and Jan. 23rd ESPN/USA Today polls. In the Jan. 23 poll, WSU was 31st with 28 points in the AP poll and 39th with 29 points in the ESPN poll. This week, WSU was 30th with nine points in the AP poll and 33rd with seven points in the ESPN poll.
On the 16th, WSU was 36th with three points in the AP poll and 34th with 13 points in the ESPN poll. On Dec. 12, WSU was 40th with one point. On Dec. 19, WSU was 33rd, and Dec. 26 WSU was 33rd. WSU was 40th in the Dec. 26 USA Today poll and 36th in the Jan. 9 and 12th polls.
Life on the Top 25 Edge... Prior to late December, the Shockers were last receiving votes on Feb. 14, 2011 when they were 32nd in AP poll. Here is a look back at life on the edge in 2010-11:
•Feb. 7, 27th in AP Poll/32nd in ESPN/USA Today poll.
•Jan. 31, 38th in AP/43rd in ESPN/USA Today poll.
•WSU did not receive votes for the week of Jan. 24.
•Jan. 17, 39th in ESPN/USA Today/43rd in AP poll.
•Jan. 10, 42nd in ESPN/USA Today/44th in AP poll.
•Jan. 3, 31st in ESPN/USA Today and 33rd in AP poll.
•Dec. 27, 35th in ESPN/USA Today and 37th in AP poll.
•Dec. 20, 40th in the ESPN/USA Today poll.
•Dec. 3, 40th in ESPN/USA Today and 39th in the AP poll.
•Nov. 29, 39th and 42nd in the two polls, respectively.
•Nov. 22, 34th in the getting votes in both.
•Nov. 15, 33rd in both polls released.
•WSU's votes put them at No. 32 in the Preseason ESPN Top 25 listing.
Last Ranking and 2009-10 Getting Votes...Prior to the 2010-11 season, WSU received votes in the Feb. 8, 2010 AP Top 25 poll, which marked the fourth week in the 2009-10 season. WSU also had five points in the Feb. 1, 2010 AP Top 25 poll. Earlier in 2009-10, WSU also received votes in both the Dec. 21 and Dec. 28 AP Top 25 polls. WSU also got one point in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll Dec. 28. Prior to that, WSU last received votes on Jan. 8, 2007.
WSU was last ranked Dec. 25, 2006 (16th in the AP after a season high of 8th). WSU's highest ranking was No. 1 for two games in 1964-65. WSU has six times played the No. 1 team in the country.
Friday the 13th Win... Friday's game was the first Wichita State game on Friday the 13th since the 1980-81 season. WSU defeated Southern University, 95-70, on March 13, 1981 in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The game was played at Levitt Arena.
Century Mark.. With the 102-53 win against Newman, the WSU reached the Century mark for the first time under head coach Gregg Marshall. WSU last reached 100 points during 2006 against Maryland-Baltimore County.
Oklahoma Ben... Oklahoma City native senior Ben Smith bested his career-high by five when he scored 22 points against Chicago State on 8-of-11 shooting from the field, which included 3-of-6 from the arc.
A Good Two Weeks...Joe Ragland and Carl Hall earned MVC Weekly honors for the week of Nov. 28, and followed up with good performances against Utah State and Tulsa. •Joe Ragland averaged a team-leading 15 points and shot 52.6 percent (10-19) in WSU's two wins. He scored 19 points in WSU's win against Utah State and had 11 at Tulsa. He also averaged 5.0 rebounds for the week, and 3.5 assists.
• Carl Hall averaged 11 points and 2.5 rebounds in WSU's two games. He had 11 points in each, while shooting 50 percent (8-16) for the week.
MVC Weekly Honors Swept...Joe Ragland and Carl Hall were named MVC Player and Newcomer of the Week for the week of Nov. 28-Dec. 4.
Ragland netted a career-high 31 points as WSU dismantled No. 18 UNLV Rebels, 89-70, in the MWC-MVC Challenge. For the week, he shot 77.8 percent (14-18) from the field, and 84.6 percent (11-13) from the arc in the two wins. He also made seven of his eight free throw attempts. Against UNLV, he made 9-of-12 shots, including 8-of-9 from the arc, as the first Shocker player since Paul Miller in 2006 to score more than 30 points. Against Fullerton, he had 15 points.
Hall averaged 18 points and 5.5 rebounds in WSU's two victories. He scored a career-high 19 points and had eight rebounds in WSU's win against Fullerton. He then had 17 points and three rebounds against UNLV on 70 percent (7-10) shooting.
Top 25 Foes... The win against No. 18 UNLV marked the first time Wichita State had beaten a Top 25 non-conference opponent since it took down No. 16 Texas Tech, 85-83, on December 19, 2009 inside Charles Koch Arena. The Shockers are 1-2 against the Top 25 this season with the loss to Alabama, 70-60, in Puerto Rico. WSU's second ranked loss was to No. 21 Creighton on Dec. 31.
Runnin' Down the Rebels... WSU's 89-70 win over No. 22 ranked UNLV was the most lopsided victory by a MVC school over a Top-25 team since 1999. Missouri State defeated No. 20 Tennessee by 30 points in the 1999 NCAA Tournament.
Joe vs. the Rebels From the Arc... Senior Joe Ragland came one three-pointer from tying the Shocker record for treys in a game with the eight he had against UNLV. The eight tied with Maurice Evans' eight against Illinois State on Dec. 12, 1998. Jason Perez holds the record with nine against Missouri State on Jan. 2, 2000. The 12 treys WSU made as a team was tied for fourth.
Topping a Top 25: UNLV... Joe Ragland netted a career-high 31 points as WSU dismantled No. 18 UNLV Rebels, 89-70, in the MWC-MVC Challenge.
The win marked the first time WSU had beaten a ranked non-conference opponent since it took down No. 16 Texas Tech, 85-83, on December 19, 2009. It was the first meeting between the Shockers and UNLV since January 10, 1979.
Ragland was one of four Shocker players to hit double-digits, as guard Toure' Murry, and big men Hall and Stutz followed suit. Hall finished with 17, Stutz with 13 and Murry with 11 to go along with his team-high eight assists. Ragland and David Kyles led the Shockers with five rebounds apiece.
Going Downtown... Wichita State won its second-ever game in downtown Wichita's INTRUST Bank Arena, but UAB Head Coach Mike Davis would have still played there than inside Charles Koch Arena. After Friday's 68-46 loss, Davis said, "It would have been 40 over at Koch Arena. I'm glad we played here instead of over there, because if we couldn't handle this situation, it would have been really crazy." The Shockers also won a year ago against Tulsa, which was the first-ever collegiate basketball game held at the new INTRUST Bank Arena, 82-79.
INTRUST Standout...Garrett Stutz scored 17 points in WSU's win against UAB on 70 percent shooting. He was 7-of-10 from the field in just 17 minutes of play, and also made 3-of-4 free throws. He also had three rebounds in minutes limited due to the nature of the 68-46 win.
Murry Surges at Puerto Rico Shootout...Senior Toure Murry averaged 20.7 points a game in Wichita State's three games in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, including 17 points against Colorado, 21 against No. 15 Alabama and a career-high 24 against Temple. He shot 46.9 percent (23-49) for the three games and received votes for all-tournament team honors.
Major Streak... With the win against the Pac-12's Colorado, Wichita State improved to a seven-game win streak against teams from major conferences in Virginia (ACC), LSU (SEC), Nebraska (then-Big 12), Virginia Tech (ACC), Washington State (then-Pac-10), and Alabama (SEC), and Colorado (Pac12). The streak was broken with the loss to No. 16 Alabama in Puerto Rico.
In-Season History... Wichita State has now competed in 51 in-season tournaments dating to the 1946-47 season and carries a 73-58 record. That record includes 13 championships and eight runner-up finishes.
The Shockers' last in-season tournament title was the championship of the Cessna Classic during the 1998-99 season in Wichita. WSU has competed in an in-season tournament in seven of the last eight years, and in six-straight, skipping the 2004-05 season.
The Shockers' highest finish during that time frame is a runner-up finish in the 2003-04 Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, USVI. WSU went 2-1 a year ago in the EA Sports Maui Invitational with a loss to eventual National Champion Connecticut in the opening game. (See full tournament history on the last page.)
Home/Season Opener... WSU downed Charleston Southern, 85-57, in the Shockers' 106th season opener, and improved to 88-18 in home openers. WSU is now 78-28 in season openers no matter the location.
Newbies Against Charleston Southern... Newcomer Carl Hall scored 12 points, but also had nine rebounds in his Shocker debut. He made 5-of-9 shots, and he also picked up an assist and a block. Local product Evan Wessel two points and two assists while battling a bloody nose in 14 minutes. Junior James Anacreon scored a point, but had three rebounds in six minutes. Freshmen Tekele Cotton and Jake White added 10 and six points, respectively.
Shocker Nation... Wichita State carries a 114 regular-season game streak of more than 10,000 fans in Charles Koch Arena.
Exhibition Action...WSU cruised to an 82-43 win over Emporia State in its lone exhibition game for 2011-12. Garrett Stutz and Joe Ragland each scored 10 points for the Shockers.
Exhibition History... WSU is now 6-0 in exhibitions under Gregg Marshall and 46-10 overall in exhibition games after the win over ESU. WSU last lost an exhibition 16 exhibition games ago during the 2001-02 season to Athletes First.
Inked... Fifth-year head coach Gregg Marshall has announced the signing of Derail Green, Cleanthony Early, Fred Van Vleet and Henry Uwadiae to National Letters-of-Intent to play men's basketball beginning with the 2012-13 season.
Cleanthony Early, a 6-foot-8, 220 pound forward from Sullivan (N.Y) Community College, was the NJCAA Division III Player of the Year in 2011. He will have two seasons of eligibility at WSU.
Green, a 6-7, 190 pound forward from Houston Klein Forest, averaged 12.9 points and 6.3 rebounds a year ago as a junior.
Van Vleet, a 5-11, 175-pound guard from Rockford (Ill.) Auburn, is ranked the No. 26 point guard in the class of 2012 by Scout.com. He averaged 18.6 points and 7.5 assists as a junior.
Uwadiae (unn-waa-DEE-A), a 6-10, 210-pound center from Benin City, Nigeria by way of Evelyn Mack Academy of Charlotte, N.C., rounded out the first wave of signees.
WSU Adds Fifth Signee... Teddy Hawkins from Dayton Dunbar High School signed a letter of intent with WSU. Hawkins, a 6-foot-8, 180 pounder from is the fifth member of the WSU's Fall recruiting class.
"I'm more ecstatic now that's he's become a Shocker," Marshall said. "He is the cherry on top of arguably the best recruiting class I've ever been a part of. These five guys are really, really talented and we're very, very excited about what they bring to the table for the future."
Hawkins averaged 16.7 points as a junior, according to the Dayton Daily News, for Dunbar. He was named All-Ohio Division II and the Dayton City League Player of the Year.
"He's a 6-8 kid that can stroke it from deep," Marshall said. "He can guard. He's very, very long. Very skilled."