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.