Wichita State looking to bounce back; Set eyes on Tigers
Wichita State center Shaquille Morris holds up a three after a teammate made a three point basket during the first half against the UCF Knights at Koch Arena.
After picking up their third conference loss, Wichita State still has some things they need some time “getting used to.” One of those things happens to be The American’s physicalness.
Head coach Gregg Marshall said one of the main differences he sees about The American is the amount of toughness each team has not only in players, but coaches as well.
“It’s a very physical brand of basketball, but when I came to the Missouri Valley from Winthrop, I thought it was a very physical brand of basketball and it took some getting used to” Marshall said. “I’ve said it all along, there are great coaches. You’re not going to out-coach these guys.”
He also said one thing that stands out about The American is how many potential NBA players are in the conference.
Wichita State center Shaquille Morris shoots over UCF forward Rokas Ulvydas during the second half at Koch Arena.
“Every team has a guy that can really go off on you…potential NBA guy. You have to be ready to play,” Marshall said. “If you hit the snooze too many times on one of these teams, you’ll get an L.”
The Shockers just so happened to “hit the snooze button” too many times in Thursday’s overtime loss to Temple.
Despite facing adversity, Wichita State is looking to bounce back Tuesday as they hit the road again to play Memphis.
Memphis’ head coach Tubby Smith is among nine active Division I coaches who have won an NCAA title.
Smith led the Kentucky Wildcats to the NCAA Championship in the 1997-98 season, which happened to be his first season with the team.
Smith is in just his second season with the Tigers after coming from Texas Tech.
The Tigers are 14-9 overall and 5-5 in The American, and have only dropped two games at home this season. They are currently coming off of a 3-point loss to ECU.
Memphis’ guard, Jeremiah Martin hit five threes and dropped 33 points in their most recent game against The Pirates.
Martin averages 35.4 minutes per game, where he averages 19.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, and four assists per game.
The Tigers average 70.4 points per game with a 0.1 scoring margin. They average 12.7 assists per game with 13.7 turnovers. Their rebounding margin is a 2.3 averaging 35.7 rebounds per game.
The Shockers have a 13.6 scoring margin and a 10.5 rebounding margin. Wichita State averages 19 assists per game with 12.1 turnovers per game.
Tipoff is at 8 p.m. and will be broadcasted on CBS Sports.
Aliyah Funschelle was a sports reporter covering men's basketball for The Sunflower. She studied sports management at Wichita State, and worked as a Campus...
