SIU looks to bounce-back from their home loss to Austin Peay against Wichita State on Saturday.
Meet the Shockers:
The Shockers are on their 3rd coach since leaving the Missouri Valley going from Gregg Marshall to Issac Brown to now Paul Mills. Mills was a long-time assistant for Scott Drew at Baylor before getting the Oral Roberts head coaching job in 2017. In his 4th season with the Golden Eagles, Mills led their #15 seed team to the Sweet 16 beating #2 Ohio State and #7 Florida before losing to #10 Arkansas. Last season, Mills led Oral Roberts to a 30-5 overall record and they went a perfect 18-0 in the Summit League. Mills was successfully able to recruit players like Max Abmas out of high school and combine him with transfers like 7-5 Arkansas transfer Connor Vanover.
Coming into this season, the Shockers were picked 8th of 14 in the American Athletic Conference preseason coaches poll. Wichita State is 289th in the country in minutes continuity from last year (24.0%) but 95th in the country in D-1 experience (2.21 years). The Shockers are 39th in the country in average height (78.2"). Wichita State plays at the 52nd fastest tempo in the country (72 possessions per game). They're 86th in the country in average possession length on the offensive end (16.4 seconds) and 73rd in the country in average possession length on the defensive end (16.6 seconds).
Wichita has wins over #162 Kenpom-ranked Lipscomb, #148 Western Kentucky, and #95 Richmond this season. They have losses to #60 Liberty, #77 Missouri, and #114 South Dakota State. They have a mutual opponent in #200 Saint Louis who they beat 88-69.
The Shockers have made their name on the defensive end this year, they're 78th in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency (99.8). The Shockers are 39th in the country in 3 point % against (29.1%), 77th in the country in 2 point % against (46.6%), and 35th in the country in effective field goal % against (45.3%). Wichita is also 41st in the country in block % (13.4%) and 29th in the country in offensive rebounding % against (24.5%). If there's been a problem this year for Wichita State, it's been turning teams over on the defensive end. The Shockers are 356th in the country in turnover % on the defensive end (12.9%) and 322nd in the country in steal % on the defensive end (7.0%).
It's been a shooting struggle for the Shockers on offense. They're 244th in the country in 3 point % (31.4%) and 205th in the country in effective field goal % (49.5%). Wichita has been really good at grabbing offensive rebounds as they're 89th in the country in offensive rebounding % (32.8%). They're also good at limiting turnovers, they're 99th in the country in turnover % (16.4%).
The leading scorer for the Shockers is 6-4 Junior Colby Rogers averaging 17 points per game. Rogers started his collegiate career at Cal Poly where he was their 2nd leading scorer in each of his 2 seasons there. Rogers then spent a year at Siena where he was named to the 2nd team all-MAAC leading the team in scoring. This season, Rogers is 463rd in the country in 3 point % (25-66, 37.9%) and 449th in the country in turnover rate (11.8%).
The leading rebounder for Wichita State is 6-10 Junior Kenny Pohto averaging 7.9 rebounds per game. Pohto was a 3 star recruit out of Wichita and chose the Shockers over offers from Nebraska and Wisconsin. Pohto has started 40 of 41 games the last 2 years. He's 291st in the country in offensive rebounding % (9.3%), 496th in the country in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (4.5), and 366th in the country in free throw rate (41.0%).
The leader in assists and steals for the Shockers is 6-5 Junior Harlond Beverly averaging 3.8 assists per game and 1.8 steals per game. Beverly was a 4 star recruit out of Montverde Academy in Florida and chose Miami over offers from Georgia, Alabama, Baylor, and Creighton among others. Beverly started 21 of 91 games in his 4 seasons at Miami before transferring to Wichita State this Summer. This season, Beverly is 465th in the country in assist rate (19.3%), 405th in the country in free throw rate (39.7%), and 181st in the country in steal % (3.5%).
Other players to watch out for on the Shockers includes a familiar name in 6-6 Senior Dalen Ridgnal, who spent last season at Missouri State. Ridgnal started at JUCO Cowley College before transferring to Georgia, where he started 1 game in his 1 year there. He started 11 games at Missouri State last season. Ridgnal is 387th in the country in offensive rebounding % (8.3%), 127th in the country in defensive rebounding % (22.7%), and 279th in the country in block % (4.2%). The leader in minutes and possessions for the Shockers is 6-2 Junior Xavier Bell. Bell spent 2 seasons at Drexel and is in his 2nd year at Wichita State. He's currently 2nd on the team in scoring averaging 14.4 points per game. 6-11 Junior Quincy Ballard was a 3 star recruit out of high school and spent 2 seasons at Florida State before transferring to Wichita State. He's 38th in the country in 2 point % (26-36, 72.2%) and 23rd in the country in block % (10.3%).
Links:
Please win so I can forget about Austin Peay.
I would expect Hensley to get all of Ebube's minutes moving forward.
I would be very surprised if they play Hensley given he would lose a year of eligibility even if the ruling is reversed after the 14 day stay. The only way I see him playing is if he doesn't want to attend school more than this year and next. He has 2 years of eligibility left.I would expect Hensley to get all of Ebube's minutes moving forward.
Posted this in the roster thread, but seems like the prospect of punishment is now off the table, and the floodgates are open:
Wichita State is favored by 4, over/under is 141
The line is currently WSU -4. Pretty surprised by that as I GUESSED it would be 6. While this always gives the hindsight (but only when we win) posters ammo, I'm going to just say that if you take the "fan out of the equation", this is seems like a good betting opportunity.
I don't care if we don't win another game all year I just want to beat the Suckers.
Saluki Insider? I barely know her!
Let’s goooo. I want this win.
Proud Saluki, living and working in Kansas State territory. 🤔
