SMU (13-6, 4-2) at WSU (8-11, 0-6) GAME THREAD

[forevershockerfan]

SMU goes 8 deep solid led by talented guards Zhuric Phelps 14.7 ppg and Chuck Harris 13.1 ppg. Their 6 losses were all to excellent teams. They beat ECU by 11 who the Shockers just lost to. N. Texas just beat them 68-66.

The Shocks must go inside out with patience and keeping turnovers to a mild roar. 16 % on multiple 3 pointers won't work.

It's past time for the Shocks to learn how to win again. It was around this time the Shocks started on a better path of winning last Season. Time to jump off the turnip truck of this losing streak. GO SHOCKS!!!

[wichshock65]

OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State and SMU tip off in the regular season for the final time as American Athletic Conference members Sunday afternoon on ESPN2.
• Wichita State is 17-13 all time when playing on Jan. 28.
• The Shockers lead the series with SMU, 11-6. The Shockers have won seven straight over the Mustangs, including two wins last season by a combined four points.
• SMU is 13-6 overall and 4-2 to begin conference play. The Mustangs had their three-game win streak snapped on Thursday, falling at North Texas, 68-66.
• Wichita State is coming off an eighth straight loss after falling at home to East Carolina on Wednesday, 54-52.
• The 8-game losing streak is the longest since Wichita State dropped 11 in a row during Mark Turgeon's first season in 2000-01.
• The Shockers are 0-6 to begin conference play for the first time since 2008-09. That team also lost its first six league games.
• Quincy Ballard ranks 13th nationally in blocks (46). He had tied a career-high with 7 vs. East Carolina on Jan. 24. Ballard has 14 games with multiple blocks.
• Ballard has scored 10 or more points in four of the last eight games. He had three total in the first 11 games of the season. In the last eight games, he's 30-for-37 (81.1%) from the field.
• Wichita State posted a winning non-conference record for the 26th consecutive season, and has the league's eighth-best NET ranking.
• Per KenPom the American Athletic Conference is ranked the 9th best conference in the NCAA.
• Wichita State returns only 20.3 percent of its scoring from a season ago, having lost its top four scorers. Pohto is the only returner to average more than 4.0 points per game. Craig Porter Jr., James Rojas, Gus Okafor and Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandlerexhausted their eligibility, and four others exited via the transfer portal.

SCOUTING SMU
• Led by second year head coach Rob Lanier, SMU enters the matchup at 13-6 and 4-2 in league play. Just over halfway through the season, the Mustangs have already surpassed their win total from a season ago when they finished 10-22 overall. SMU needs one more conference win to match last year's total (5-13 in 2023).
• Lanier has more than 30 years of experience as a collegiate coach, including eight seasons as a head coach. His teams have made 12 NCAA Tournaments and earned 19 total postseason bids. Those teams also have five conference titles, three regular season championships and two tournament crowns.
• Like Wichita State, SMU embarked on a foreign tour this past summer. The Mustangs went on a 10-day trip to Spain, going 3-0 with games in Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona. The team visited several historic sites including Madrid's Mercado de San Miguel, Plaza Mayor and Royal Palace as well a tour of Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, the home of Real Madrid, the Port of Valencia and a tour at La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.
• SMU was picked one spot ahead of Wichita State in the Preseason American Athletic Conference Coaches Poll at 7th.
• The Mustangs are led by Preseason American Athletic Conference Second Team selection Zhuric Phelps who scores a team-high 14.7 points per game. Phelps adds 4.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.9 steals a game. His 1.9 steals per contest rank 5th in the AAC.
• Phelps has scored 10 or more points in all but three games, including four games of 20-plus.
• Chuck Harris is second on the team in scoring at 13.1 per game and adds 3.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists. Harris is connecting on 42.7% of his three-point attempts and 82.5% of his free throws.
• Samuell Williamson leads the Mustangs in rebounding at 7.3 per game to go with 9.1 points. He's coming off back-to-back games with a double-double against Temple and Tulsa.
• At just 6-foot-6, forward Keon Ambrose-Hylton is shooting 67.7% from the field and scoring 8.1 points.
• Tyreek Smith leads SMU with 28 blocks to go with 7.5 points and 5.9 rebounds on 60.9% shooting from the field.
• B.J. Edwards has dished out a team-best 69 assists, but only scores 4.5 points a game. His 2.76 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks second in the AAC.
• SMU is among the nation's elite on the defensive end of the floor. The Mustangs rank 3rd in the nation in three-point percentage defense (26.5%) and field goal percentage defense (37.4%), 9th in scoring defense (62.7) and 20th in blocks per game (5.2). They lead the AAC in assists per game, field goal percentage defense, rebound margin, offensive rebounds per game, scoring margin and three-point defense.
• On the offensive end, SMU averages 75.7 points per game on 45.7% shooting and 34.7% on three-point attempts. The Mustangs hand out 15.8 assists per game and post an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.34.

THE SERIES VS. SMU
• This is meeting No. 18 in the series. Wichita State leads 11-6 with seven straight wins.
• Wichita State is 6-2 all-time against SMU in Wichita with back-to-back-to-back wins. The Mustangs upset the seventh-ranked Shockers in 2018 in a showdown between future NBA guards Shake Milton and Landry Shamet. Wichita State won the following year on a last-second shot. SMU's 2022 visit was its first in three years, due to a combination of unbalanced schedules and COVID-19 cancelations. The Shockers won by 15.
• The Shockers are 4-4 in Dallas. They lost four non-conference games at Moody Coliseum between 1956 and 1995 but have won all four visits since joining the American.
• The series' most-important game took place on a neutral floor in Manhattan, Kan. in the 1965 Midwest Regional Semifinal. Behind 31 points from Kelly Pete, the Shockers knocked off SMU 86-81 on their way to the FInal Four.
• Wichita State's move to The American ended a 22-year series hiatus. The teams split a four-game non-conference series from 1993-96.
• This marks the final regular season meeting as AAC members with SMU departing this summer for the ACC.

RECORD BOOK WATCH
• Quincy Ballard is on pace to shatter the single season school record for field goal percentage.
• Through 19 games Ballard is shooting 70.9% (61-for-86) from the field. The current school record is 61.6% by Steve Grayer set in 1987-88.
• That number would rank 2nd nationally but to qualify players must average 5 FGM per game. Currently Ballard is at 3.3 FGM per game.
• On the defensive end, Ballard is trending towards a top five season blocking shots. He's currently third on the single season blocks per game list.
• Ballard needs just 5 blocks to move into the top 10 on the single season total blocks list.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...
... Make them 9-11 this season.
... Make them 1-6 in AAC play.
... Snap an eight-game losing streak.
... Make them 18-13 all time on Jan. 28.
... Give Paul Mills 115 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,666-1,256 all time.
... Make them 12-6 vs. SMU all time.
... Be their 8th straight win over the Mustangs.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...
... Make them 8-12 this season.
... Drop them to 0-6 in AAC play.
... Be their ninth straight loss - the longest since 2000-01.
... Make Paul Mills 8-12 as Wichita State head coach.
... Drop them to 17-14 all time on Jan. 28.
... Drop their record to 1,665-1,257 all time.
... Make them 11-7 all-time vs. SMU.
... Snap a 7-game win streak vs. the Mustangs.

[C0|dB|00ded]

So jealous of SMU lol. It burns white HOT in me. Talk about the smartest, LUCKIEST move in the history of realignment. From the Big SWAC to the ACC? You're ****ing kidding me right? Winning the lottery.

Just imagine home-and-homes every year with Duke, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Pitt, etc. every year. It would be worth $100M easy. Total basketball orgasmia.

From home-and-homes with ECU to Duke. SMU just dunked on all the AAC folks that headed to the Big12 Leftover Conference.

[ShockerFever]

And they’ll likely be an ACC doormat. But you’re right, at least they get to play the cool kids.

[C0|dB|00ded]

And they’ll likely be an ACC doormat. But you’re right, at least they get to play the cool kids.

Two or three wins over doormat status gets you into the NCAA many years. At least they are giving themselves a shot. We are just shitting our pants while picking our noses. And we're embarrassing our former alumni greats. We've got an NBA All-Star in the league and he can't even mention his former school without turning red. Let's just shut sports down.

[Atxshoxfan]

And they’ll likely be an ACC doormat. But you’re right, at least they get to play the cool kids.

It's about football, where smu puts out a decent product year in and year out. Their basketball will gain in that league because of their football and playing in the ACC

[forevershockerfan]

Y'all don't suppose the Shocks and the Chiefs could both win tomorrow?

[pinstripers]

Y'all don't suppose the Shocks and the Chiefs could both win tomorrow?

I ****ing hope not. And I hate the Ravens

[Maizerunner08]

Like the Chiefs or not, attendance tomorrow is likely going to be the worst of the season with them playing at the same time.

[Stickboy46]

Two or three wins over doormat status gets you into the NCAA many years. At least they are giving themselves a shot. We are just shitting our pants while picking our noses. And we're embarrassing our former alumni greats. We've got an NBA All-Star in the league and he can't even mention his former school without turning red. Let's just shut sports down.

[pinstripers]

ZERO

[shockrah]

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[Speed]

so... how many wins do we need to seal an at-large?

[WuDrWu]

so... how many wins do we need to seal an at-large?

A-10 leading Richmond 69 #16 Dayton 65 for a nice little #Net boost. At large alive.

[WuDrWu]

The #Road begins tomorrow.