In Game The TBP Official In Game Thread: Bulls at Wichita State- ESPNU

[MikeG]

Game 25
 

South Florida Bulls (7-15, 2-8) vs Wichita State Shockers (12-9, 3-6)

 

       vs.  

Saturday, February 12  8:00 PM EST

Wichita, Kan. Charles Koch Arena
TV: ESPNU

Radio: USF Bulls Unlimited

25th scheduled game- (1 cancelled, 2 postponed/rescheduled for COVID19)

Edited February 11, 2022 by MikeG

[MikeG]

Shockers Set for Saturday Night Fight with USF

2/10/2022 4:44:00 PM

  SOUTH FLORIDA (7-15, 2-8 AAC) at WICHITA STATE (12-9, 3-6 AAC)
Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022 | 5:05 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena (10,506)
 
Tickets: 316-978-FANS or goshockers.com/tickets
TV: ESPNU w/ Mike Couzens & Mark Adams
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM (GoShockers.com/Listen) w/ Mike Kennedy & Dave Dahl
Live Stats: ShockerStats.com
Series: WSU leads 6-1 (3-0 in Wichita); Last: Mar. 12, 2021 in Fort Worth (WSU, 68-67)
 

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TICKETS:
Purchase online at goshockers.com/tickets or through the Shocker Ticket Office at 316-978-FANS. Seats are available for all remaining games.
 
DOUBLEHEADER SATURDAY:
Fans can use their men's basketball tickets for free admission to the women's game against SMU (2 p.m. Saturday).
 
FIGHTING 4 LITERACY:
WSU hosts its fourth-annual #Fight4Literacy Game presented by International Paper. Shocker coaches will wear green pins and wristbands to help promote childhood reading. Fans can join the effort to help local kids become better readers. Just $10 provides two books to a kid in Wichita. Learn more at fightforliteracygames.org.
 
TELECAST:
The game will air on ESPNU with Mike Couzens (PxP) and Mark Adams (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. 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.
 

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OPENING TIPS:

• Still reeling from its latest heartbreak, Wichita State goes on the rebound in a Saturday-night date with the South Florida Bulls at Charles Koch Arena.
• Four of the Shockers' nine conference games have been decided in the final 60 seconds. All four have been losses, including Tuesday night's 71-66 setback at UCF. Behind 26 points from Tyson Etienne, the Shockers closed a 16-point second-half deficit down to two, but couldn't complete the comeback.
• Last-minute magic was a Shocker specialty in 2021 when they won the AAC title. That run included an overtime victory over USF in Tampa and a one-point win over the Bulls in the AAC Quarterfinals.
• The Shockers swept all three meetings last year to improve to 6-1 all-time against USF. Their lone series loss came in January, 2019 in Tampa.
• WSU is 3-0 against the Bulls in Wichita, all by double digits. In last year's regular season finale the Shockers clinched their first AAC title with an 80-63 triumph.
• Due to the unbalanced schedule, this will be the only regular season meeting between the teams in 2021-22.
• USF is 2-8 in league play, and Saturday marks the halfway point in a grueling stretch of seven games in 17 days. This the Bulls' third game this week, and they'll play three more next week.
• USF has defended well (69th in KenPom's defensive efficiency rankings) but struggles to score, ranking among the bottom-3 nationally in points (57.1), field goal percentage (.377) and three-point percentage (.235).
• KenPom rates the Shocker defense 20th. WSU is holding foes to low percentages (34th in effective field goal %), creating turnovers (57th in turnover %) and blocking shots (27th in block%) with great consistency.
• Etienne, the AAC preseason player of the year, averages a team-high 15.3 points and ranks second on the conference leaderboard in three-pointers (2.95). He's topped 20 points in three of the last four games.
• Craig Porter Jr. leads the team in assists (3.3) and steals (26) and has a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Morris Udeze (11.0 ppg) ranks eighth on the AAC rebounding chart at 6.1-per-game.
• Ricky Council IV (11.0 ppg) is the league's highest-scoring reserve (starts in less than 25% of games). He's made back-to-back AAC honor roll appearances.
• Dexter Dennis could be an early front-runner for AAC Defensive Player of the Year after holding two of the league's top-5 scorers to single-digit last week.

 

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ON THIS DATE IN SHOCKER HISTORY: FEB. 12         
1955 – Senior All-American Cleo Littleton dropped 30 points at Houston to become the first major college player from west of the Mississippi River to score 2,000 career points.
1981 – Though the Levitt Arena scoreboard was inoperable, it was evident which side was winning. Helped by 20 points from Antoine Carr, the Shockers pummeled defending MVC champion Bradley, 87-65, to take a two-game in the standings at 10-1.
1983 – WSU tied a school record with 10 dunks – five of them by All-American Xavier McDaniel – in a 111-96 win over Indiana State.
 

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TRENDING:

• WSU stands 3-6 at the traditional halfway point of the conference schedule. In AAC history, just two teams have finished over .500 after starting 3-6 or worse. WSU (2019) and UConn (2020) both opened 3-6 and finished at 10-8.
• Craig Porter Jr.'s 34 minutes against UCF were a new career-high. He finished with 14 points and five assists.
• Porter is one five AAC players averaging at least 3.0 assists with a better-than-2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• UCF's 11 threes and 29 attempts were both season-highs for a Shocker opponent. WSU has held foes to 30.4% from deep this year.
• WSU outscored its opponent in the second half for the just the second time in nine conference games. Tulsa (29-18) was the other. The Shockers have held a halftime lead in five of the nine contests.
• The Shockers will play three-straight Quadrant I games, beginning Thursday at Cincinnati (No. 71 in Thursday's NCAA NET rankings) and continuing at home Feb. 20 against Houston (3) and on the road Feb. 27 at Memphis (58).
• Tyson Etienne is averaging 2.95 threes-per-game. That's just five-thousandths of a point off his school-record pace from last year when he knocked down 2.955-per-contest to break Landry Shamet's season mark (2.63).
• Etienne is also on pace to break Shamet's career record (2.24). Etienne has knocked down an average of 2.55-per-game over his three seasons.
• Etienne has topped 20 points in three of his last four games. Over that stretch, he's knocked down 19-of-45 from deep (.422).
• Those are 19 threes are tied for the second-most ever by a Shocker in a four-game stretch. Sean Ogirri made 19 late in the 2005-06 season, capped by a 6-for-10 effort against Seton Hall in the NCAA tournament. Maurice Evans set the record in 1998-99 with 22.
• Tuesday at UCF, Etienne became the eighth different Shocker to take a turn as leading rebounder this season. His seven boards were a season-high.
• WSU has won its last three home games. In parts of five seasons since joining the league, the Shockers are 30-10 against AAC foes inside the Roundhouse.
• In conference play, WSU is shooting a league-best 78.8% from the foul line. The Shockers' season percentage (74.6) is almost seven percentage points ahead of last year's pace (68.0).
• WSU has held of half of its opponents (11 of the 21) to less than 40% from the field.
• The Shockers have held double-digit leads in five of their nine losses this year; three of them in conference play. They led by nine (11-2) in the early stages of Tuesday's game at UCF.
• 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).
• Etienne has connected on at least one triple in 18-straight contests. That's the sixth-longest streak in school history.
• Etienne (186 career threes) is sixth and Dexter Dennis (167) seventh on WSU's career three-point chart. Etienne needs just 10 more to catch Jason Perez (196 from 1996-00) for fifth, 11 to match Terrell Benton for fourth (197 from 1998-2002) and 14 to reel in Sean Ogirri for third (200 from 2004-07).
• Much like the groundog, Dennis has traditionally slumbered through the first three 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 games. That trend continues in 2022 where Dennis is 6-for-14 (.429) after hitting just 27% through the first three months.

 

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SCOUTING USF:

• Veteran head coach Brian Gregory led USF to 24 wins and the 2019 CBI title but battled injuries in each of the next two seasons. Roster turnover is his latest challenge in year No. 5.
• The Bulls lost seven transfers, including David Collins (a 1,500-point scorer and the AAC's all-time leader in free throw makes and attempts) and oft-injured forward Alexis Yetna (2019 AAC Freshman of the Year),
• The Bulls defend at a high level (69th in KenPom's defensive efficiency rankings) but are still developing chemistry on the offensive end (348th out of 358 teams) with 10 newcomers, including seven four-year transfers.
• Three of the top-four scorers are returning players:
• 6-4 guard Caleb Murphy (a 2021 AAC All-Freshman pick last spring) leads the team in points (11.9), assists (3.1) and minutes-per-game (31.6).
• 7-footer Russel Tchewa, is averaging 6.4 points and a team-best 5.2 rebounds in his second season after transferring from Texas Tech.
• 6-5 sophomore wing Jamir Chaplin has contributed 9.2 points and 4.6 rebounds.
• Among the most-impactful of USF's 10 newcomers has been 6-4 George Marson transfer Javon Greene (9.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg). The super senior leads the conference in steals (1.9) and hit a go-ahead three with 20 seconds remaining in USF's 52-49 win over Temple on Monday.
• USF is the nation's third-lowest scoring team (57.0) ahead of only Eastern Illinois (56.2) and IUPUI (51.7) but has limited opponents to 64.3 points (third-best in the conference and 55th-best nationally).
• Tempo plays part in those low point totals -- the Bulls are among the bottom-50 in possessions-per-game, per KenPom – but mostly the Bulls just haven't made shots. USF is the nation's worst three-point shooting team, by percentage (.235) and ranks second-to-last in threes-per-game (4.0) and overall field goal percentage (.377). Its .651 free throw percentage is also among the bottom-20.

 
MATCHUP MASHUP:

• South Florida's strength of schedule, per NCAA NET, leads the AAC and ranks 54th nationally. UCF (81st) and WSU (82nd) rank second and third,.
• WSU sophomore Tyson Etienne and USF Sophomore Russell Tchewa spent the 2018-19 school year together at Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut.

 

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LAST SEASON vs. USF:
Dec. 22, 2020 in Tampa (WSU, 82-77 ot)
WSU fell apart in the closing seconds of regulation but picked up the pieces in overtime to finish off USF… Tyson Etienne scored 25 points for WSU which improbably squandered a five-point lead in the final five seconds of regulation but got five points-each from Etienne and Craig Porter Jr. in overtime to secure its second straight true road win to start conference play… David Collins paced USF with 17 points, five assists and three steals. His four-point play with 4.8 seconds to go cut a five-point Shocker lead to one. After WSU made 1-of-2 free throws on the opposite end Collins sprinted to the far corner and was fouled on an off-balance three-point try. He made his first and third free throw tries to force OT… WSU trailed by 13 early and managed only 22 points in the first 20 minutes, but more than doubled its production over the next 20 with 48 points on 50% shooting… The teams combined to shoot 74 free throws with the Shockers converting 22-of-33 to USF's 27-of-41.
 
Mar. 6, 2022 in Wichita (WSU, 80-63)
Tyson Etienne hit six threes on his way to 21 points and Wichita State clinched its first American Athletic Conference regular season title… Dexter Dennis and Morris Udeze joined him in double-figures with 14 and 12 respectively… The game was tied at 26 near the 3:00-mark, but WSU – which had missed all five three-point attempts up to that point – connected 10 times over the next 18:00… The Shockers finished the first half on a 12-2 run. Etienne's triple sent WSU into the half up 38-28… Etienne and Gilbert made consecutive threes to grow the lead to 18. The Shockers led by as many as 28 with 5:33 to play after another 13-2 run… Michael Durr led USF with 18 points and nine boards and David Collins scored his 1,500th career point.
 
Mar. 12, 2022 in Fort Worth (WSU, 68-67)
WSU trailed by 12 with just over 12:00 to play but battled back to win its AAC quarterfinal opener… Tyson Etienne scored a game-high 20 points, Alterique Gilbert added 12 points and Morris Udeze grabbed 11 rebounds… Etienne made two free throws with eight seconds left to put WSU in front by a point, and Udeze drew a charge on the other end to deny the Bulls a potential game-winning shot with four seconds to play… Michael Durr paced USF with 13 points…. USF out-shot (45-38%) and out-rebounded (41-33) the Shockers, but WSU finished +8 on turnovers (12-4), committing just one after halftime… USF jumped out to leads of 13-2 and 23-13 in the first half. WSU answered with a 17-2 push and led by five points near the 4:00-mark, before USF finished the half on a 14-0 run. The Bulls expanded a 41-32 halftime lead to 55-43 with 12:26 to play… Dexter Dennis made a three and Gilbert nailed back-to-back from deep. The last cut the USF lead to one, 65-64, with 5:08 to go. That was the last Shocker field goal of the day… WSU outscored USF 4-2 over the final 5:08, generating defensive stops on six of the Bulls' last seven possessions… The Shockers extended their winning streak to eight but lost the following day to Cincinnati in the semifinal round.
 

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A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…
... Make them 13-9.
... Make them 4-6 in AAC play after an 0-4 start.
... Be their fourth-straight at home.
... Give them double-digit home victories for the 14th-consecutive season.
... Be their sixth-straight vs. USF and up their all-time series lead to 7-1 (4-0 in Wichita).
 

A SHOCKERS LOSS WOULD...
... Drop them to 12-10 (3-7 AAC).
... Snap a three-game home winning streak.
... End a six-game series winning streak vs. USF (6-2).
... Be their first to the Bulls in Wichita (3-1).
... Be less good than a win.
 

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UP NEXT:

• The Shockers are on the road for three of the next four, beginning Thursday, Feb. 17 at Cincinnati (6 p.m. CT, ESPN or ESPN2).
• Next home action is Sunday, Feb. 20 vs. the Houston Cougars (Noon CT, ESPN).

 

[MikeG]

USF travels to Wichita State on Saturday

February 11, 2022

 

 

GAMEDAY INFORMATION

University of South Florida (7-15, 2-8 AAC) vs. Wichita State (12-9, 3-6 AAC)

Saturday, February 12 | 8 p.m. ET

VENUE: Yuengling Center | Tampa, Fla.

SERIES: Wichita State leads, 6-1

TV: ESPNU

RADIO: iHeart Radio Bulls Unlimited

TWITTER UPDATES: @USFMBB

GAME NOTES: View (PDF)

 

TAMPA (February 11, 2022) – The University of South Florida Bulls continue their stretch of six games over 13 days with their lone road contest at Wichita State on Saturday night.

Both the Bulls and Shockers are coming off a loss in their last outing. Wichita State lost at UCF, 71-66, and South Florida dropped a 70-59 tilt at home to Cincinnati.

Sam Hines Jr. scored a season-high 12 points in USF's setback to Cincinnati on Wednesday. Jamir Chaplin and Caleb Murphy scored 10 points apiece. Chaplin is averaging 11.7 ppg on 49% shooting over 10 conference games to date. Murphy is the Bulls' overall leading score with 11.9 ppg. Javon Greene ranks second on the team in scoring this season (9.4).

Russel Tchewa is averaging 11.6 ppg over his last three outings and leads USF in rebounding this season (5.2).

The Bulls are looking to snap a five-game skid against the Shockers, including a 68-67 loss to Wichita State in the second round of the AAC Tournament last season. Tyson Etienne paced WSU with 20 points in that game and is the Shockers' leading scorer this season (15.3).

Saturday could be another physical low-scoring game between two strong defenses. South Florida ranks 46th in the NCAA in scoring defense (64.0) and Wichita State ranks 55th (64.3). The Bulls are averaging 57.1 ppg on offense while the Shockers are averaging 68.0.

Up Next

The Bulls return home for a three-game homestand with games next Tuesday (Tulane), Thursday (ECU) and Saturday (Tulsa).

 

[Friscobull]

Sad that I am asking this though. Why the delay in broadcast?

[Friscobull]

Did not realize we made the U, was on the plus.

[Friscobull]

Murphy with a 3, was shooting 6 percent from behind the arc prior.  Down 10-5 early. 

[bullsfan27]

Murphy with his 2nd 3 pointer of the season and bulls trailing 10-5 with about 15 minutes left in 1st. Murphy 6% on the season from downtown 

[bullsfan27]

Wichita state now up 18-6. Starting to get ugly

[Rex Havoc]

I still can’t believe we gave Gregory a contract extension. This team sucks! 

[Friscobull]

6 minutes ago, bullsfan27 said:

Murphy with his 2nd 3 pointer of the season and bulls trailing 10-5 with about 15 minutes left in 1st. Murphy 6% on the season from downtown 

Down 18-6 early, we laid down early, adios. CBG is once again putting together a clinic. Sad that the thread is only is us,unfortunately now it is only you