Wichita State Shockers

The W.S.U. Shocker team arrived at Mid-Continent airport around 4:45 Friday afternoon.  The players, Head Coach Gregg Marshall, the WSU band and cheerleaders were all greeted by a few fans and by Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer and city council members. Wichita police will escort the team to Koch Arena for a celebration with the public. ------------------ A warm welcome home for the Wichita State Shockers tonight. The university will celebrate the team's 2011 NIT Championship at Charles Koch Arena tonight.  The team will arrive by charter flight shortly after 4:00 this afternoon.

Toure' Murry scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half as the Wichita State Shockers (16-3, 7-1) defeated Northern Iowa (13-7, 3-5) on the road 71-68. Garrett Stutz added a strong 17 points for the Shockers while Joe Ragland had 13.  Stutz was just one rebound shy of a double-double. The Shockers shot extremely well from the free-throw line in the second half (92%) to help keep the Panthers at bay.  Anthony James was the leading scorer for UNI with 16 points while Seth Tuttle added 15.  Wichita State is still perfect on the road in conference play and returns home this Saturday to host Southern Illinois.

On Saturday night the Wichita State Shockers will honor their senior players as they host Southern Illinois at Koch Arena. Look for Chynna Turner to have a big game.  Earlier this season Turner scored a then season-high 22 points in the Shockers 72-59 win in Carbondale.  Alex Harden had 15 points and 7 assists in that game for the Shockers. Jody Adams' team got off to the best start in school history for the women's team and currently sits at 12-2 atop the Missouri Valley Conference standings.

For the first time ever the Wichita State Shockers have been handed a loss in the month of February at home. On Friday afternoon the Shockers fell to Pittsburgh by a score of 6-4.  Pitt got on the board in the first inning taking a 2-0 lead, but Casey Gillaspie quickly tied the game with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first. Cale Elam settled in for the next few innings as the game remained tied until the 5th.  That's when Pitt took a 3-2 lead on an R.B.I. up the middle.  Elam would be taken out in that inning, officially lasting 4 and two-thirds innings in his first career start.  He gave up 3 earned runs and struck out three.

The 19th ranked Wichita State Shockers are the Missouri Valley regular season champions after defeating Illinois State 68 to 55 on the road Wednesday night. Joe Ragland led Wichita State (25-4, 15-2) in scoring with 14 points while Bryant Allen paced the Redbirds (17-12, 8-9) with 17.  Four Shockers finished in double-digits scoring including Garrett Stutz who recorded another double-double (12 points, 14 rebounds). The Shockers jumped out to an early 10-2 lead before going on a run and eventually building up a 12-point lead at halftime.  Illinois State rallied in the second to get within 5 but back-to-back three-pointers by Ragland and Ben Smith put the Shockers ahead by 17 points with less than 10 minutes to play.

Fresh off a 19-point victory over then 18th-ranked U.N.L.V., the Wichita State Shockers (5-2) head down to Tulsa for a game against the Golden Hurricane (4-5). Joe Ragland had a career game against the Runnin' Rebels, scoring 31 points.  It was the best shooting effort of the season so far for the Shockers as they hovered around 60% for the game. Ragland and teammate Carl Hall were named the Valley player of the week and the Valley newcomer of the week respectively after their performances against UNLV.  In last year's matchup against Tulsa Ragland scored 12 points in the Shockers' 91-57 victory.  Ben Smith was the leading scorer in that game with 15 points.

Undefeated and 18th ranked UNLV (8-0) comes into the Roundhouse on Sunday to take on the Wichita State Shockers (4-2).  The Shockers are coming off a 75-60 victory over Cal State Fullerton this past Thursday at Koch Arena.  Carl Hall led Wichita State in scoring with 19 points and 8 rebounds.  Joe Ragland added 15 points while David Kyles recorded 14 against the Titans. UNLV comes in with a strong resume, just beating top-ranked North Carolina this past Saturday, 90-80.  The Runnin' Rebels will be the second top-25 team the Shockers have faced this season.

The Kansas State Wildcats defeated the Wichita State Shockers, 5-2 on Wednesday night at Tointon Family Stadium. The Wildcats scored all four runs in the third inning to improve to 19-13 and the defeat dropped Wichita State to 21-15 on the season. Blake Freeman (2-1) earned the win and James Allen earned his tenth save of the season for Kansas State. TJ McGreevy (0-1) took the loss for the Shockers. He went 3.2 innings and allowed four runs (one earned) on three hits. The Shockers wasted no time in the first inning when Tyler Grimes led off with a single up the middle and Kevin Hall followed with a double to plate Grimes.

Despite trailing in the first two sets, the Wichita State Shockers rallied to sweep Bradley, 25-21, 25-23, 25-12. Bradley (8-16, 2-11) built a 19-12 lead in the first set on the strength of an early 7-1 run. An eight point run allowed the Shockers to claim the lead. Sam Sanders finished the first set with her 5 th kill of the match. Wichita State (17-6, 10-3) scored 13 of the last 15 points to win the opening frame, 25-21. Trailing 20-16 in set 2, the Shockers rallied once again.

Tonight the Wichita State Shockers take a one-game Valley lead into Terre Haute to face Indiana State. The Shockers lost to the Sycamores in Koch arena earlier this season, 68-55. That game started a three game losing streak for the Shockers which took them from being ranked 15th in the nation to being unranked. It was the Sycamores penetration on offense and their zone defense that stymied the Shockers in the first matchup of these two teams this season. Indiana State is 13-2 this season when holding opponents to 63 points or less.