[6] WICHITA STATE (20-14, 10-8 American) at [2] CLEMSON (20-13, 9-9 ACC)

National Invitation Tournament Second Round

Sunday at 1:05 p.m. CT (2:05 ET) in Littlejohn Coliseum, Clemson, S.C.

Telecast: ESPN (WatchESPN) w/ Mike Morgan & LaPhonso Ellis

Shocker Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM w/ Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull

Tournament Central: NCAA.com/NIT  |  Live Stats: StatBroadcast 

 

OPENING TIPS

• Wichita State is back on the road for second round action in the 2019 National Invitation Tournament. Sunday’s 1 p.m. CT tipoff against the host Clemson Tigers airs nationally on ESPN.
• A Shocker win would move them into next week’s quarterfinals (Tuesday or Wednesday night) and set up a third-consecutive road game at either top-seed Indiana or No. 5 seed Arkansas.
• WSU and Clemson have never met on the hardwood.
• First and second round sites, Greenville, S.C. and Clemson, S.C., are separated by just 32 miles of road, but WSU elected to return to Wichita for 48 hours in between games. Prior to its appearance in November’s Charleston Classic, WSU had never played a game in the Palmetto State. Sunday marks the Shockers’ third trip this season and second in less than week.
• In Wednesday’s 76-70 first round victory at Furman, Markis McDuffie supplied 20 points. Centers Jaime Echenique and Asbjørn Midtgaard combined for 25 points and 20 rebounds in 40 minutes. Tied with 4:00 to play, the Shockers came away with field goals on five-straight possessions then went 4-of-4 at the foul line to put the game on ice.
• The win at Furman was Gregg Marshall’s 500th. He’s 500-195 (.719) in 21 seasons, including 306-112 in 12 years at WSU (.732). Marshall was born in South Carolina and earned his first 194 wins at nearby Winthrop University in Rock Hill.
• This is WSU’s 11th consecutive postseason appearance. The streak began with a 2009 CBI bid and continued with NIT’s in 2010 and 2011, followed by a run of seven-consecutive NCAA tournaments.
• WSU is looking to become just the fourth school claim titles in consecutive NIT appearances after winning it all in 2011.
• Wichita State is one of only eight programs that have reached the 20-win mark in every season since 2010.
• The Shockers returned 11.2% of minutes from last year (fifth-fewest in Division I), and McDuffie is the lone WSU player with postseason experience.
• The rebuilding Shockers were 8-11 (1-6 in American play) in late January but have since won 12 of their last 15 games.
• WSU’s stated postseason goal is to “bring Markis home.” Reaching the NIT semifinals in New York would be a homecoming for McDuffie, who grew up across the river in Paterson, N.J.
• A second team All-AAC pick, McDuffie’s 18.3 points-per-game is the highest Shocker scoring average of the Marshall Era.  McDuffie ranks 13th on WSU’s all-time scoring list (1,483) and needs just 17 more points to become the 14th 1,500-point scorer in Shocker history. His 156 free throws, 76 three-pointers and 623 points all rank among the top-five on WSU single-season lists.
• If McDuffie clocks at least 32 minutes on Sunday, he’ll break WSU’s season record for total minutes. Randy Smithson played 1,148 minutes for the 1981 Elite Eight Shockers. McDuffie (1,117) averages a team-high 33.0 minutes-per-game.

SCOUTING CLEMSON

• Clemson ranks No. 30 in KenPom – second-highest currently among the non-NCAA Tournament teams, trailing only Texas (28). The Tigers were No. 35 in the final NET rankings.
• The Tigers have reached the postseason five times in Brad Brownell’s nine seasons, including a string of three-in-a-row. Last year Clemson reached the NCAA’s Sweet 16 as a No. 4 seed after posting wins over New Mexico State and Auburn. The Tigers fell to top-seed and eventual Final Four participant Kansas in Omaha, 80-76.
• This is Clemson’s third NIT under Brownell. The Tigers reached the semifinal in 2014 and lost in the first round in 2017.
• This is Clemson’s 17th NIT all-time. The Tigers have reached the semifinals three times with a pair of runner-up finishes but have never won the tournament. Only New Mexico (19) and Manhattan (18) have made more NIT appearances without winning a title.
• Clemson’s first round victory was likely bittersweet for Brownell. It came over his former school, Wright State, over his former protégé, Billy Donlon. Brownell led the Raiders to four 20-wins seasons from 2006-10 before accepting the Clemson job.
• Clemson ranks 24th nationally in scoring defense (64.0) and 30th in field goal percentage defense (.406). KenPom ranks the Tigers No. 12 in defensive efficiency – tops among non-NCAA Tournament qualifiers.
• Clemson is 14-4 at home this year (8-1 vs. non-conference opponents). The Tigers’ only non-conference home loss came against Nebraska on Nov. 26 (68-66).
• Marcquise Reed, a 6-foot-3 fifth-year senior leads the team in points (19.5), assists (3.1) and steals (63) while pulling down 5.7 rebounds-per-contest. Reed entered the weekend ranked 27th nationally in steals-per-game (2.1) and is the ACC’s free throw percentage leader at .845.
• Elijah Thomas (13.0 ppg) is the team’s leading rebounder (7.8) and shot-blocker (72). He ranks among the top-25 nationally in blocks and has nine double-doubles.
• Senior point guard Shelton Mitchell (11.5 ppg, 32.8 mpg, team-high 95 assists) did not play against Wright State.

 

MATCHUP MASHUP

• For the 12th time in 35 games, WSU will face an opponent that ranks among the nation’s top-40 in field goal percentage defense. Clemson foes are shooting just 40.6% for the year (30th nationally). The Shockers faced Cincinnati (No. 30) three times, Tulsa twice (40) and played once each against Houston (1), VCU (6), UCF (13), Oklahoma (24), Southern Miss (25) and Davidson (36).
• Marshall was born in Greenwood, S.C. (64 miles from Clemson) and spent nine years as head coach at Winthrop University in Rock Hill. As was the case in Charleston and Greenville, he’ll have a large cheering section of friends and family for Sunday’s game. Both of his parents were able to attend his 500th win at Furman.
• This is the Shockers’ eighth trip (and 10th game) on the east coast this year. In addition to the NIT and opener at Furman and American Athletic Conference contests at USF (Tampa, Fla.), UConn (Storrs, Conn.) and ECU (Greenville, N.C.), WSU played three games at the Charleston Classic (Charleston, S.C.), a neutral site contest in Annapolis, Md., and a road game at VCU (Richmond, Va.).
• Shocker legend Xavier McDaniel attended Wednesday’s win over Furman. The Columbia, S.C. native attended A.C. Flora High School before signing with Gene Smithson. In 1985 he became the first player in NCAA history to lead the nation in scoring and rebounding.
• Both sides reached the 20-win plateau with first round NIT wins.
• WSU has lost its last five games against ACC schools, including back-to-back NCAA Tournament setbacks against Notre Dame (2015 Sweet 16) and Miami (2016 Round of 32). ***Their last win against an ACC foe came under similar circumstances – Mar. 20, 2011 — in overtime at Virginia Tech in the second round of the NIT.
• Marshall is 1-3 in his career against Clemson. All four took place at Littlejohn Coliseum during his days at Winthrop. The teams met four-consecutive years from 1999-00 to 2002-03. Marshall led the Eagles a 66-61 upset on Dec. 18, 2001. It was Winthrop’s first-ever victory over Clemson in seven tries.
• Brownell and Marshall’s coaching trees share a common branch. Current College of Charleston head coach Earl Grant worked under Marshall for six years (2004-07 at Winthrop and 2007-10 at WSU) before joining Brownell’s original Clemson staff (2010-14). In 2014, Grant was named head coach at C-of-C.
• Former Evansville head coach Marty Simmons is in his first year as an assistant coach at Clemson. Simmons and Marshall arrived at their respective stops in the same year (2007-08) and went head-to-head 21 times from 2007-17.
• WSU senior Samajae Haynes-Jones and Clemson redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Xavier Kelly were high school teammates at Wichita East High School. The pair helped lead the Aces to a state hoops title in Kansas’ largest classification (6A) during Haynes-Jones’ senior year (2015). The state tournament took place at WSU’s Charles Koch Arena.
• Clemson coach Brad Brownell never coached in the Missouri Valley Conference but has ties to some names that might be familiar to long time Shocker fans. His first jobs as an assistant came under Jim Crews at Evansville (1991-92) and under Royce Waltman at the University of Indianapolis. Waltman went on to coach 10 years at Indiana State, where he eventually hired a young assistant named Lou Gudino. Crews helped Evansville transition to the MVC four years later.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…

… move them into the NIT quarterfinals for the fourth time in 13 trips with a road game at either top-seed Indiana or No. 5 Arkansas. Time and date TBA.

…  make Marshall 501-195 (.720) in 21 seasons

…  make them 21-14 with wins in 13 of their last 16.

…  give them seven-straight NIT wins.

… make WSU 10-11 in NIT games (3-4 on the road).

… make WSU 18-9 in postseason play under Marshall.

… make them 6-7 this year in true road games with wins in six of their last seven.

…  make them 1-0 all-time vs. Clemson.

… make Marshall 2-3 vs. Clemson.

 

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…

… end their season at 20-15.

… be just their fourth loss since January.

… be their first NIT loss since 2010, snapping a six-game streak that began in 2011.

… make them 0-1 all-time vs. Clemson.

… make Marshall 1-4 all-time vs. Clemson.

… sink them to 8-13 in 13 NIT trips (2-5 on the road).

… be less good than a win.