Tweet
USF (7-15, 2-8 AAC) vs WICHITA STATE (12-9 3-6 AAC)
WSU -13.5
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2022 | 7:00 PM CT
WICHITA, KANSAS| CHARLES KOCH ARENA
TV: ESPNU With Mike Couzens & Mark Enthusiadams
RADIO: KEYN 103.7 FM https://www.radio.com/keyn/listen
SERIES: Wichita State leads 6-1 (3-0 in Wichita)
LAST MEETING: March 12, 2021 in Fort Worth, Dickies Arena (WSU, 68-67)
GAME NOTES:
- Still reeling from its latest heartbreak, Wichita State goes on the rebound in 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.
Comment