Basketball: Bradley @ Wichita State (Pre-game)

On Wednesday night the Shockers and Bradley will meet for both teams second conference game of the season. The Shox are coming off a 68-56 loss to preseason favorite Creighton. Whiel Bradley is coming off a big 79-63 win over Southern Illinois. Both teams would like to pick up a big win early in the season to gain momentum.

SCOUTING THE BRADLEY BRAVES

As a team Bradley has struggled to find healthy players. Theron Wilson, also recruited by WSU, leads the team in scoring with 13.8 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game. Sam Maniscalco leads the team with 42 assits on the season and also averages 11.8 points per game. Dodie Dunson leads the team in the 3 point percentage, at 37.7% and has hit 20 3's on the season. The Braves are an average team on the board keeping their season stats about even. Bradley is good at stealing the ball, they have 14 more steals than their opponents. David Collins leads the team in blocks with 19, he could certainly play an impact down low against the Shox. The three big impact players for the Braves are Maniscalco, Wilson, and Dunson, they lead this BU team and if WSU can shut them down then they will have a good shot at a win.

MATCH-UPS

Point Guard: Clevin Hannah (5'11, 155) will match-up against
Shooting Guard: Toure' Murry (6'3, 185) will match-up against
Small Forward: AJ Hawkins (6'5, 202) will match-up against
Power Forward: Ramon Clemente (6'6, 220) will match-up against
Center: Garrett Stutz (7'0, 235) will match-up against

BREAK OUT PLAYER - AARON ELLIS

Aaron seems hungry to get better and earn some respect from the fans and I think this game he breaks out and plays a role in this game. Ellis picked up some lose balls and had a good look at the basket, it's just a matter of time until this kid has a good game. We all know what Aaron is capable of after his 19 point, 9 rebound performance in the tournament against Indiana State. Look for Aaron to score 4 to 8 points, and grab around 5 rebounds. I sure hope this kid finds his game before he finds the door. (0 for 3, on break out picks)

SUMMARY

This is a key game for the Shox if they still have aspirations of finishing in the top half of the Valley. Bradley is coming off a huge win over the Salukis and I would like nothing more then to prove a point to this conference why we shouldn't be picked ninth. Look for Ramon to bring his intensity, something he seemed to lack on Sunday, and Clevin, Toure, and AJ will have a good night scoring the basketball. If the Shox post players don't show up we will have a tough time with the Braves but if the big guys play well the Shox could win this one in double digits. My prediction is the Shox more than likely won't win by more than 10 but it won't be real close at the end.

PREDICTION: WSU 70, Bradley 63.

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Valley Pick-Em #2

Alright so this week will have the same rules. Last week was an embarassment to all of us and just goes to show how crazy this conference this is.

Standings are to the right.

Here are my picks.

Creighton (4) @ Indiana State
Missouri State @ Drake (2)
Evansville @ Illinois State (1)
Bradley @ Wichita State (2)
Northern Iowa @ Southern Illinois (2)

Valley Pick-Em #1

Instead of doing a simple pick the winner contest like most, I'm going to spice it up. You will be rewarded with 11 points to spend each week on the Valley games. I'll show you an example below. At a minimum you can place 1 point on each game so the max you could put on a game would be 7. There will be a leader board underneath the poll each week so you can keep track of who's leading.

Make a comment below with your picks/points.

Here are my picks for this week.

Wichita State (1) @ Creighton
Southern Illinois (2) @ Bradley
Indiana State @ Northern Iowa (4)
Drake @ Evansville (1)
Illinois State (3) @ Missouri State

If you have any questions ask.

Baseball: Preview #1

Well it's almost that time of year where we start to talk college baseball. The first preseason rankings came out this week and handed the Shox a very respectable #36 ranking. After losing 7 of 8 starters in the field and all the 3 weekend starters, the Shox will have to play with a very inexperienced lineup. In the outfield the Shox will return Kevin Hall and Ryan Jones, along with Clint McKeever who will most likely cover first base. On the mound Tim Kelley and Tyler Fleming will have to lead the pitching staff. Nevertheless in the second baseball preview I will breaking down the team, this preview is mainly to break down the early schedule and such. (hears a quick peak at the first poll)



- GAME 1 - The Shox will open the season up in Fort Myers, Florida against the Temple Owls of the A-10 conference. The Owls finished the season last year 27-29 with what looked like a very easy schedule. Yet for a young and inexperienced Shocker team they could prove to be difficult to beat. Nevertheless I think the Shox start off with a win.
Chance at winning: Wichita State 85% Temple 15%
- GAME 2 - In game 2 of the Gulf Coast Tournament the Shox will face the host Eagles. FGCU is coming off a successful 38-15 season and was one of the last teams left out of the tournament. This game will definitely be a huge test for the Shox and I would be very surprised if they win by more than a few runs. This game should tell us a lot about a young team.
Chance at winning: Wichita State 50% Florida Gulf-Coast 50%
- GAME 3 - Central Michigan looks like a team very similar to Temple in talent. The Chippewas posted a 29-27 record in the MAC last year. This is another game the Shox should win and hopefully will be 2-0 at this point and will be ready to bring home the Gulf Coast Tourney trophy.
Chance at winning: Wichita State 85% Central Michigan 15%
- GAMES 4-6 - North Dakota State is coming off a 15-30 season and shouldn't prove as much of a challenge for the Shox. This was the same team that the Shox took 4 from last year at Eck. I would be suprised to not see a sweep in this one.
Chance at winning: Wichita State 95% North Dakota State 5%
- GAMES 7-8 - BYU is coming off a lackluster season where they posted a 22-36 record overall. The Cougars of the Mountain West Conference though won't be an easy task for the Shockers. At the most BYU maybe takes a game from the Shox but there is also a chance we may get a sweep.
Chance at winning: Wichita State 75% BYU 25%

Next week's preview will include: TCU, Kansas, Pepperdine, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and Long Beach State.

Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas!
-shockers02

Gregg Marshall's Coaches show recap (12-23-2008)

• Talked about Garrett a little bit. Marshall mentioned that Garrett is the most polished big man he has coached. Says Garrett came in weighing at 219 pounds, and has been up to 246, but now he is at 235 due to the grind of the season.
• Talked about Creighton a little bit. Coach Marshall sounded a little worried that a perimeter lock down defender hasnt stepped up. He said he doesnt know who our lock down defender is, and hopes one steps up.
• Said alot of the kids that arent getting a lot of minutes need to get better in practice, he says he cant just put them in a game to grow him in, because that puts the game on line.

Basketball: North Dakota @ Wichita State (Post-game)

66
51
The Shockers picked up there third straight win tonight against North Dakota, 66-51 inside Charles Koch Arena. WSU was led in scoring by senior Ramon Clemente who had 13 points and 8 rebounds. Ramon was a beast on both sides of the court tonight showing just how much heart he has, it is a true honor to watch this kid play. The first half looked something like you might see in a pick-up where the rim is tilted one way and there's no backboard, it was 23 to 16 at half. The Shox finally caught fire scoring 44 second half points behind 3 three's from Reggie Chamberlain, the player of the game.

Ramon, AJ, and Reggie all scored in double figures tonight and led the way for the Shox. Ramon was a big help with the full-court pressure. Reggie opened up the zone in the second half with his 3's. And AJ was good going to the rim. Finally tonight produced 2 quality dunks. The first was an alley-oop from Reggie to Ramon, which Ramon slammed down with 1 hand. The second was a 360 dunk by AJ with about 30 seconds to play, boy that kids got hops (maybe an understatement)! Toure' Murry turned in a solid performance with 9 points, an assist, and a steal. Durley had 9 points to go along with 5 rebounds. Mantas, Clevin, and Garrett each scored 4 and David Kyles knocked down a free-throw. The Shox recorded there second highest number of blocks tonight, with 6. The low point tonight though was the Shox only out rebounding North Dakota by 1.

Some nice guests we're in attendance tonight, 3 star and Arizona State transfer Johnny Coy was at the game , along with Freshmen phenom Perry Ellis. It feels good to finally be back above 500 and we will certainly get a big test on Sunday at Creighton. This will be the kids first tough road game (sorry but Tech and TCU had terrible crowds). Don't expect the Shox to win this game and they shouldn't, a win though would be HUGE. Hopefully we we're just saving up some 3's from the last 2 games to drop them all on Creighton, that would be nice. I'm a little tired tonight so I decided to shorten the summary up a bit, but thanks for reading!

Player of the Game: Reggie Chamberlain (11 pts, 2 ast, 1 reb, 1 stl)

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Basketball: North Dakota @ Wichita State (Pre-Game)

The Shockers will take on North Dakota tomorrow to end a 3-game home stand. WSU is coming off a close 58-53 win over the Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona. While North Dakota is coming off a 38 point loss to the hands of Wisconsin-Green Bay. This will be the Shox second to last non-conference home game for the season, the other one being the Bracketbuster game in February.

THE HISTORY

• The Shockers and North Dakota have never met in a collegiate basketball game.
• North Dakota is currently classified as D-2 but will join D-1 next year.

The University of North Dakota is a public university located in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The Schools original mascot colors are green and pink, though they are rarely used. UND's hockey teams both compete in Division 1 for the sport, while all other athletic teams compete as a Division 2 team. North Dakota has a student attendance just over 12,500. It was pretty tough to put up famous alumni because most of UND's famous alumns are hockey stars. Notable alumni; Phil Jackson (lakers coach) and several NHL players.

SCOUTING THE NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING SIOUX

On the season North Dakota is 6-4 with wins over UMKC, Bemidji State, Illinois Institute of Technology, Wisconsin-Parkside, Valley City State, and Dickinson State. They hold losses to UNI, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Montana, and Southwest Minnesota. Overall North Dakota is a solid D-2 team. There top scorer is senior guard Daniel Harkins who is averaging 12.6 points per game. Travis Bledsoe and OJ Harrison also average in double figures. UND holds 12 more blocks and 20 more steals than there opponents on the season. For the season the Sioux are shooting over 40 percent from behind the arc, mainly because Travis Bledsoe is 22 of 41 on the year from three. Though they are shooting a low 63.8 percent from the line. UND sticks to a solid 8-man rotation with 2 other guys that receive some playing time. North Dakota looks like a team that can beat you from the outside if they get hot.

MATCH-UPS

Sorry not enough data to put this together for this game.

BREAK OUT PLAYER - AARON ELLIS

Ellis will have an advantage over a small North Dakota team who's guards will be 6'5 at the tallest. Ellis should be able to will his way down low for some easy buckets. Look for Aaron to rebuild his confidence against a lackluster team. Expect anywhere from 4 to 12 points most of them coming in the paint and somewhere around 5 boards.

SUMMARY

North Dakota is a small team that shoots the three very well. Players like Aaron Ellis and Garrett Stutz should be able to have big games against the Sioux. The only threat would come if UND is absolutely blazing from behind the arc which they can do, Bledsoe is shooting over 50% on the year from back there. Though I think the Shox will have there way with the soon to be D-1 team rather easily. The Sioux will be tired and frustrated not a good recipe for good shooting. To me the Shox win by at least 10 and if they play well could win by let's say 35.

PREDICTION: WSU 80, North Dakota 60.

Thanks for reading
-shockers02

Basketball: Northern Arizona @ Wichita State (Post-Game)

58
53
The Shox picked up there second straight win tonight against Northern Arizona inside Koch Arena by a score of 58-53. A three pointer by Josh Wilson cut the lead to 1 with 34 seconds to play. Then on the play of the night, Toure' Murry threw a full-court pass to AJ Hawkins who was intentionally fouled. AJ went to the line and sank a free-throw, followed by 2 free-throws from Clevin. The Shox secured a 58-53 to move to 5-5 on the season with a home match on Monday against the North Dakota Fighting Sioux.

Player of the night tonight was Ramon, who grabbed 14 boards and scored 12 points. Ramon wanted the ball more than anyone out there and it showed the whole game. Durley and Clemente we're a big part of a 20 plus rebounding margin for the Shox who also grabbed 14 offensive boards compared to NAU's 3. To me rebounding won the game for the Shox tonight when the shots weren't falling the Shox we're crashing the boards and getting second chance looks.

Clevin Hannah had a solid effort with 12 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds. AJ looked good driving to the bucket, he had 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. Durley came up with 7 points and 9 boards. The freshmen however weren't very successful tonight. Garrett had 4 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Toure had 3 points, 2 rebounds, along with a block and steal. I predicted earlier that the player of the game would be Graham Hatch, I was far off. Graham seemed slow on defense and his only points came off a three in the firs half. Graham's line was 3 points, and 2 assists in 19 minutes.

The Shockers did a good job of getting Josh Wilson out of the game he only played 22 minutes due to early foul trouble. He eventually fouled out of the game. Matt Johnson led the Jacks with 13 points and Shane Johannsen added 10. Northern Arizona shot an atrocious 10 of 21 from the line which probably ended up costing them the game. NAU however shot a decent 5 of 14 from behind the arc.

Tonight the Shox found a way to win the game with solid rebounding and decent inside presence with Ramon and JT. The guards faded sometimes but Clevin and AJ had some bright spots. I think it's good that this team got this game out of the way and can say it survived a tough test due to finals and such. WSU will be back in action on Monday against North Dakota. Oh and by the way we're back to 500.

Player of the Game: Ramon Clemente (12 pts, 14 reb, 5 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl)

Surprise of the Game: AJ Hawkins (15 pts, 4 reb, 2 blk, 2 stl)

Thanks for reading
-shockers02

Basketball: Northern Arizona @ Wichita State (Pre-game)

Wichita State will play there 2nd game in a 3-game home stretch Saturday night at Koch Arena. The Shox (4-5) are coming off an impressive 12 point win over Gardner-Webb in which the team had solid contributions from many players. Northern Arizona will come to town as a part of a return game from the bracketbuster last year. The Lumberjacks (2-5) have posted wins this season over Haskell College and Utah Valley State. Though there 5 losses include, Utah Valley State (they've played twice), UNLV, California Riverside, North Dakota State, and Arizona. This should be a win for the Shockers and look for them to get some revenge on NAU.

THE HISTORY

• WSU is 2-1 all-time against Northern Arizona. The Shockers lost last years meeting 85-75 in Flagstaff.
• WSU is 5-2 all-time against Big Sky opponents.
• WSU has only play 3 of the 9 teams in the Big Sky Conference.
• Coach Marshall is 0-1 against the Big Sky and Northern Arizona so far at Wichita State

Northern Arizona University is a public university located in Flagstaff, Arizona. They have an enrollment just short of 21,400. The institution was formed on September 11th, 1899. It was really a struggle to find a good history about NAU. Notable alumni; Lopez Lomong ('08 olympic usa flag bearer).

SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA

NAU is 1-6 on the season against Division-1 opponents, with there one win against Utah Valley State. The Lumberjacks are coming off a 9 point loss at Stanford, a pretty competitive game. Serbia native Zarko Comagic is their leading scorer with 11.7 points per game. Senior Matt Johnson is next with 11.2 per game. NAU is very spread out scoring wise so far this season. No Lumberjack is averaging more than 5 and a half boards per game. So far though they have out rebounded their opponents by 3 boards per game. Senior Josh Wilson leads them in assists, with 37 on the season. Sophomore center Shane Johannsen leads the team with 10 blocks so far on the season. As a team NAU has 83 steals compared to there opponents 59, a very impressive number. From behind the arc though they are shooting 30.9% compared to there opponents 39%. The Lumberjacks like to spread out there minutes more than 10 players average 10 minutes or more. As a team NAU is shooting a weak 57.3% from the line. The Lumberjacks have yet to win a game on the road this season.

MATCH-UPS

Point Guard: Clevin Hannah (5'11, 155) will match-up against senior Josh Wilson (6'2, 205). Wilson is an average scorer but can kill you with assists.
Shooting Guard: Toure' Murry (6'3, 185) will match-up against Matt Johnson (6'2, 175). Johnson is a good scorer and a decent threat from behind the arc.
Small Forward: AJ Hawkins (6'5, 202) will match-up against Cameron Jones (6'4, 180). AJ will need to play him tough behind the arc, Cameron is 10-21 on the year from 3 point land.
Power Forward: Ramon Clemente (6'6, 220) will match-up against Zarko Comagic (6'7, 225). Ramon needs to grab at least 10 boards in this game.
Center: Garrett Stutz (7'0, 235) will match-up against Shane Johannsen (6'7, 225). Shane is a quality shot blocker.

BREAK OUT PLAYER - GRAHAM HATCH

In the last few games Graham hasn't played as big of a role as he was playing when the season started. Graham only a sophomore is a leader on this team because of his maturity. NAU isn't good at perimeter defense and will give up a good amount of open threes, this will give Graham just the game he needs. Look for him to hit 2 or 3 open threes and finish with anywhere from 8 to 15 points.

SUMMARY

Northern Arizona is a team that likes to spread out it's minutes and basically just play who is hot at the moment. The pose scoring threats in Matt Johnson and Zarko Comajic. They don't posses any real height so Garrett might be able to get some easy buckets inside. From the results I've seen I'm not impressed with NAU. There one win (D-1) was a 1 point home win against Utah Valley State. They are 0-5 on the road and haven't finished closer than within 6 on the road which was their season opener. The Shox are going to want some revenge, they remember last year and how we got our ass handed to us from a no-name team from a mountain in Arizona. If the wood cutters stay within 10 I will be suprised but they Shox really aren't the team to win by more than 20 (our offense isn't that good). Look for a low scoring game and the Shox to shoot a good amount of threes.

Quick note: Northern Arizona was the first team to ever play in Koch Arena.

PREDICTION: WSU 70, Northern Arizona 55.

Weekly Player Analysis

• Ramon Clemente- Continues to be the leader of the team, with his toughness and his will to never quit attitude. He averaged 5.5 points and 9 rebounds this week against TCU and Gardner Webb. Ramon's stats wont be anything special, but he just brings the extra stuff each and every night hes on the floor.
• Clevin Hannah- Had a little bit of a strange week. He got shut down against TCU, where he only got 2 points of 1 of 8 shooting and 1 assist. He had a better showing against Gardner Webb where he had 12 points and 3 assist in 16 minutes, which was due to alot of foul trouble. For the week he averaged 7 points and 2 assist. I would like to see Clevin get those assist numbers up.
• AJ Hawkins- I thought AJ looked like the most improved player on the team this week. He wasn't so hesitant and he drove to the basket under control. He averaged 10.5 ppg this week, as he shoot 4 for 8 from the 3 point line.
• Toure Murry- The freshmen sensation keeps up his hopes for MVC freshmen of the year. At TCU he scored 10 points off 4 of 12 shooting. Then on Friday night against Gardner Webb, he looked nothing like a freshmen, as he scored 19 points, 6 assist, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals. For the week he averaged 14.5 points and 4.5 assist per game.
• JT Durley- I think Durley struggled a little bit against TCU, but answered that game with one of his better games of his shocker career against Gardner Webb. It wasnt just his offense, it was his defense and hustle that really got me a excited. This week JT averaged 8 points and 6 rebounds for the week.
• Garrett Stutz- Garrett continues to be a work in progress. He does do alot of things well, but he needs to work on some things. He got pushed around a little bit against Gardner Webb. For the week Garrett averaged 7 points and 3 boards a game.
• Reggie Chamberlain- Reggie played his best game of the season last Friday night. With starting pg Clevin Hannah in major foul trouble throughout the game, Reggie had to handle the fort and I think he did a great job at that. Reggie ended up with 5.5 point and 1.5 assist for the week. Reggie continues to be one of the Shockers better 3 point options, as he has made 41% from the strip.
• Mantas Giskenas- Mantas did not play against TCU. But played pretty well on Friday night. He had 4 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assist. I think the warm up bike on the sideline helped him get warmed up prior to entering the game.

Johnny Coy

To some of you this name might sound familiar or probably very familiar. Back in 2007 the Shox we're heavy on 6'8 Small Forward Johnny Coy from St. Joseph's, Missouri. Coy is a scout and rivals 3 star, is the #139 player in the class of '08 according to Rivals along with being the #23 best Small Forward in the class. Scout ranks him #26 at his position. That's a pretty nice resume right there.

Many believe Coy's decision came down to three schools; Arizona State, Creighton and Wichita State. The Sundevils won him over in the end but only for a season. Coy made visits to both Creighton and Wichita State. However there appears to be interest from other schools in the area like Drake, UMKC, Mizzou, Missouri State, and possibly Kansas. One article stated that current Drake coach Mark Phelps recruited him to Arizona State.

Coy has stated though that he would like to be a two-sport athlete, playing both basketball and baseball. He wants to go somewhere within three hours of home (check). He wants to go somewhere to play basketball and baseball (big check). Most of the pieces in this puzzle are fighting together. Coy would also be eligible to play next season due to transfer hardship rules.

Here's what I think it comes down to. WSU and of course Creighton. The Jays have a solid basketball program and a decent baseball program. WSU has an uprising basketball program (that has been good) and a prestigious baseball program. If Drake had a baseball team I'd say they'd be the favorite right now but they don't, too bad. UMKC doesn't have a diamond team either. That leaves maybe Mizzou or KU. He wouldn't get to play at KU and they reportedly weren't very interested in Coy in the first place. Mizzou is a possibility but it doesn't appear he had serious interest in them before.

Could this be the first Top 150 player to come to Wichita State in the last decade?

Rivals Profile

Scout Profile



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Around The Valley (12/13-12/14)

Saturday
40-72 (F)
Western Kentucky @ Evansville: Game of the weekend right here. The Aces (6-1) are trying to make a statement and appoint their arrival to the conference against the Hilltoppers (5-2). WKU is fresh off an impressive four-game winning streak against Southern Illinois, Louisville, Georgia, and Tulane. The Hilltoppers are perhaps one of the hottest teams in the country right now and should be too much for the Aces to handle. Evansville is coming off close wins over both Ball State and Eastern Illinois. My prediction is WKU will just be too much for E-ville, 82-70 Hilltoppers.
RPI: Western Kentucky (22) Evansville (18)
65-74 (F)
Northern Iowa @ Wyoming: Northern Iowa (5-4) will continue their 2-game road swing today against the Wyoming (6-1) Cowboys. The Panthers are coming off an embarassing 19 point loss to the hands of Iowa on Tuesday. Wyoming however is coming off a 7 point win at Loyola-Marymount. There one loss was a one-point heartbreaker at Boise State. Also notable is Sean Ogirri will be playing for Wyoming in this game, he is averaging 14.1 points per game and attempts 8.4 threes per game. Wyoming wins by 5 or more.
RPI: Northern Iowa (191) Wyoming (202)
62-76 (F)
Indiana State @ #14 Purdue: The struggling Sycamores will travel to play #14 Purdue today in an in-state rivalry. Indiana State (1-7) coming off a 1-2 record at the Marques Maybin Classic will have to bring their A game to stay with the Boilermakers. Purdue (7-2) has 2 losses on the season so far to Duke and Oklahoma. Purdue will be tough to guard considering they have 6 players averaging 8 points or more per game. If Indiana State stays withing 20 consider it a moral victory.
RPI: Indiana State (256) Purdue (104)
66-64 (F)
Stephen F. Austin @ Drake: Stephen F. Austin (5-2) is coming off an impressive 112-111 win over North Dakota State (no typo). It appears the Lumberjacks are a team that can score which may cause some problems for the Bulldogs. Drake (8-2) is coming off a solid 9-point win over Georgia Southern yesterday. This will be the Hy-vee Classic Tournament Finale. I have to take Drake in this one by about 10.
RPI: Stephen F. Austin (190) Drake (122)
66-85 (F)
Northern Colorado @ Creighton: Creighton (6-2) will put their three game winning streak on the line tonight against Northern Colorado. The Bluejays have won two impressive games in a row against St. Joseph's and Dayton. Tad Boyle's Northern Colorado team is no joke anymore, they have posted wins over Denver and Texas State along with close losses to Oregon, Colorado State, Air Force, and San Diego State. The Bears get solid scoring from 4 different players each averaging in double figures. Creighton wins by 10 to 20.
RPI: Northern Colorado (287) Creighton (70)
46-63 (F)
Central Arkansas @ Missouri State: Tonight we have a match-up of two Bears, the Bears of Central Arkansas and the Bears of Missouri State. Central Arkansas (4-3) has posted to wins over Division-1 schools and has lost to Northwestern, Vandy, and South Dakota State. Missouri State is coming off a close 3 point loss at Tulsa. The Bears have found scoring this season form freshman Kyle Weems, who stands at 10.1 points per game. I like Mo State in this one by at least 10.
RPI: Central Arkansas (235) Missouri State (58)
Sunday
10-14 (1st)
Southern Illinois @ Nevada: In Sunday's highlight game, Southern Illinois (3-4) will travel to Nevada (4-4) to take on the Wolfpack. Nevada is coming off a 95-39 win over Sonoma State. The Wolfpack have wins over Montana State, Oregon State, and Colorado State so far this season. Southern is coming off a disappointing lost by 2 to Charlotte. This will be part of a 2-game road stretch for the Salukis. This game is a toss-up, whoever plays their better game will win.
RPI: Southern Illinois (236) Nevada (200)
62-75 (1st)
SE Missouri State @ Bradley: Bradley (4-4) will host the Redhawks of SE Missouri State (2-7) on Sunday afternoon. The Redhawks will come in losing 4 straight to the hands of teams like Oakland, Austin Peay, and Western Illinois. Bradley is coming off 2 straight losses as well to Butler and #13 Michigan State. The Braves have continued a balanced scoring effort with 4 players scoring in double-figures for the season. Bradley wins this one by at least 10.
RPI: SE Missouri State (309) Bradley (66)
70-76 (F)
Morehead State @ Illinois State: Illinois State (8-0) will put their perfect record on the line Sunday against Morehead State (3-6). The Redbirds are coming off a 13 point win over Bowling Green. All but two of ISU's games have been at home. Morehead State is fresh off a 3-game winning streak against Central Florida, Tennessee-Martin, and Murray State. The Eagles are lead in scoring by Senior Leon Buchannan. Redbirds continue their winning ways with a 20 point win.
RPI: Morehead State (264) Illinois State (113)

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Basketball: Gardner-Webb @ Wichita State (Post-Game)

76
64
If there was ever a night when the Shockers needed a win, tonight was the night and they passed with flying colors. Guards, Toure' Murry and Reggie Chamberlin we're money from behind the arc at the start of the game leading the Shox for 7 first-half threes. Murry, who scored 13 points in the first half, filled his stat sheet well tonight dishing 6 assists, grabbing 4 boards, and picking off 3 steals. JT Durley also showed upside tonight with his first double-figure scoring effort with 12 points and 8 rebounds.

Perhaps the biggest stat of the night though was G-W shooting just 11.8% from behind the arc on 2 of 17. Hannah and Chamberlin guarded Bulldog star Grayson Flittner as if he was the next president, holding him to 7 points on the night. The Bulldogs got their scoring from Auryn MacMillen (17) and Aaron Linn (17), which was expected. The Shox also continued their domination on the boards, winning that total by 7.

But how about the Shockers trying a few dunks tonight!? A few minutes into the game Hannah caught AJ running the sideline for what looked like a taylormade alley-oop, it didn't work out but AJ hit a three later in the possession. Perhaps the oddest play of the night came with 6 minutes left. Hannah stole the ball from Takayo Siddle at mid-court, dove on the floor, passed to Stutz who galloped his way to a 2-handled slam sending the crowd into a frenzy. Mantas also dunked later in the game.

The Shox just looked rejuvenated tonight with guards penetrating and big guys posting up around the lane. Durley scored in double-figures, Murry drove and created shots along with making his own, Hannah showed great leadership in the second half, and Chamberlin made key shots but most importantly held Flittner to just 7 points on 1 of 9 from the field. Mantas Griskenas put in his best performance of the year with 4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal. The Shox also recorded a season high 5 blocks on the night. All in all player of the game tonight goes to Toure' Murry. He didn't look like a freshman at all tonight and showed great potential and leadership.

If anything you can at least come away knowing tonight that we can actually make threes, nice to know. Durley can actually play defense and score efficiently. Mantas may possibly be a factor come Valley time and our guards look to be maturing really fast. Tonight was definitely a breath of fresh air and I will look forward to seeing this team in action next Saturday, hopefully the Shox will pick up 2 more wins and then it's off to Creighton

Great game tonight Shox!
Thanks for reading
-shockers02

Basketball: Gardner-Webb @ Wichita State (Pre-Game)

The Shockers will finally return home on Friday to take on the Runnin' Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb. It will mark the end of 5 straight games on the road or on a neutral court for the Shox. Gardner-Webb (2-6) is coming off a 9 point loss at Liberty on Saturday and will look to rebound with a win on Friday. Wichita State (3-5) will return home after there 3rd straight loss, this one a 9 point defeat to TCU on Monday.

THE HISTORY

• This will be the first meeting between the two teams.
• WSU is 2-0 all time against Big South opponents.
• The most recent meeting WSU and a Big South team was against Radford.
• This will be Coach Marshall's first game against a team from his former conference (though they weren't in the conference while he was at Winthrop).
  

Gardner-Webb University is a private university located in Boiling Springs, North Carolina, just 40 miles west of Charlotte. Enrollment at GWU sits around 4,000 students. The Runnin' Bulldogs gained NCAA Division 1 status in just 2000. They are in their first year in the Big South Conference, after spending several years in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Notable alumni; John Drew (NBA player), Brian Johnston (Chiefs DE), and Johnny Cash.

SCOUTING GARDNER-WEBB

The Bulldogs second leading scorer, Aaron Linn, is from Lenexa. Auryn MacMillen, a 6'8" center, leads the team with 8 blocks so far this season. 6'4" Freshman Joshua Henley is averaging 10 rebounds per game. The team's leading scorer is Jayson Flittner a Junior point guard. Flittner will also see the most minutes on the court, he averages 36.6 minutes per game (he is there team leader). This team likes to score and has 3 players averaging in double digits. The Bulldogs have thrown up 139 threes so far this season, and are making 35.3% from behind the stripe. They are out rebounding there opponents by an average of 2 rebounds per game. As a team they hold a 73.1% free throw percentage, 5% higher than there opponents. They hold 17 more steals than there opponents this season. Though GWU has been blocked 31 times compared to blocking opponents just 14 times. The crowd at Koch Arena on friday will be the second biggest crowd they've played in front of this season, maybe the biggest if you don't count empty seats at Oklahoma.

MATCH-UPS

Point Guard: Clevin Hannah (5'11, 155) will match-up against Gardner-Webb's leading scorer Grayson Flittner (6'0, 190). Hannah will need to be on his A-game to contain Flittner.
Shooting Guard: Toure' Murry (6'3, 185) will match-up against Aaron Linn (6'3, 175). Linn also knows how to score.
Small Forward: AJ Hawkins (6'5, 202) will match-up against Joshua Henly (6'4, 220). Henly is almost averaging a double-double with 9.8 points and 10 rebounds per game.
Power Forward: Ramon Clemente (6'6, 220) will match-up against Jonathon Moore (6'4, 190).
Center: JT Durley (6'7, 235) will match-up against Auryn MacMillen (6'8, 235). Durley should be able to score well against MacMillen.

For the Shox to win this game they will need to bring a sense of urgency. The team will be returning home for the first time in a while and will hopefully be pumped. Gardner-Webb is a team that likes to score a lot, Linn and Flittner are dangerous. Control those 2 and the game is in the win column. Durley needs to take advantage of Auryn MacMillen's weak 2.8 rebounds per game at the center position. The Shox need to keep the Bulldogs from getting too hot, becuase they can score a lot really fast. If we play a solid game we should come out on top but don't over look GWU.

PREDICTION: WSU 71, Gardner-Webb 62.

Gregg Marshall's Coaches show recap (12-9-2008)

• Marshall mentioned that he knew it was going to be a long night when Ramon Clemente was getting beat to a couple of loose balls and rebounds.
• Marshall also mentioned that “its amazing to learn from young players, when they learn to talk”. Coach Marshall also said that some of the players thought that they had arrived after the Old Spice Classic.
• Coach also discussed that Garner Webb is going to be a very tough opponent. So don’t look for no blowout, we are just going to try and get a Win.
• Marshall also talked a lot about being tough. He asked the played which ones thought they were tough and 11 players raised their hand. And asked them in what way are you tough, because you aren’t tough on the basketball court especially against TCU.
• Marshall seemed to be getting pretty frustrated with JT Durley going out to the perimeter. He wants him to post up more.
• Coach says Mantas Griskenas will play this Friday against Gardner Webb

Around The Valley (12/10-12/12)

Wednesday
59-77 (F)
Dayton @ Creighton: Tonight the Dayton Flyers will travel to the Qwest Center to take on the Creighton Bluejays. Creighton (5-2) is coming off an 11 point win at St. Joe's, arguable there best game of the season so far. Dayton (8-0) has posted a perfect record so far this season but comes into tonight a 6 point underdog. The Flyers most impressive win is a 14-point win at Marquette. They also have wins over Auburn, Troy, Akron, Mercer, and Delaware State. My prediction is a close game that stays within 5 either way but I will pick the Jays since the game's in Omaha.
RPI: Dayton (14) Creighton (110)
75-87 (F)
Butler @ Bradley: The Butler Bulldogs (7-0) will be the second undefeated team to travel to a valley school tonight. Butler will face Bradley, who is off to mediocre 4-3 start. The Braves are coming off a 16 point loss to the hands of Michigan State. Butler arguably though has played one of the weaker schedules in D-1 with games against Drake, Ball State, and Northwestern headlining their schedule. This will be the 3rd road game in a 4 game stretch for Butler.
RPI: Butler (3) Bradley (62)
67-70 (F)
Missouri State @ Tulsa: The Bears of Missouri State (4-2) will go for there third straight win tonight at Tulsa. Missouri State is coming off a 5 point win on Saturday against Arkansas State. Tulsa (4-4) has lost 3 straight games to Illinois, Ohio, and Oklahoma. The Golden Hurricane has played a very tough schedule 3 road games and 3 Big-12 teams in the process. Tulsa will look to take out there anger tonight on the Bears, so I have to go with Tulsa on this one.
RPI: Missouri State (26) Tulsa (135)
76-80 (F)
Eastern Illinois @ Evansville: Evansville (5-1) will host cross-state rival, Eastern Illinois (2-5) in tonight's cellar dweller match-up. The Aces however are of to a hot start but hold only a 3-1 record against D-1 teams. Eastern Illinois is coming off a rough streth, losing 4 of their last 5 games. The Panthers hold wins this year against Machester College (?) and Tennessee State. The Aces will continue with a 10 point win tonight.
RPI: Evansville (7) Eastern Illinois (343)
Friday
73-84 (F)
Georgia Southern @ Drake: This Friday Georgia Southern (3-3) will tip-off the Hy-Vee Classic against Drake (7-2). Drake who is coming off there biggest win of the season against Iowa State (66-63) will look to continue a 5-game winning streak. The Bulldogs might be one of the hottest teams in America right now. Georgia Southern is coming off a 7-point win over Samford at home. The Eagles have defeated Samford, Reinhardt, and Houston so far this season. Drake will roll over Georgia Southern by at least 15.
RPI: Georgia Southern (85) Drake (133)

REVIEWING THIS WEEK

Taking a quick look at the RPI, the Valley sits 8th in conference ratings. A high so far this seaosn. This week looks like a bunch of win-win situations for the league.

Average Valley RPI: 67.6
Opponent RPI: 116

Thanks for reading
-shockers02