Wichita State 2009 CBI Tournament Preview

Wichita StateShockers - Missouri Valley Conference (16-16, 8-10)

RPI: 158

Big Wins: 11/28 vs Siena (72-70), 1/17 Creighton (74-61), 1/21 Illinois State (64-58)

Bad Losses: 11/19 UMKC (63-66), 12/8 at TCU (48-57), 1/14 at Missouri State (55-68)

Coach: Gregg Marshall

Probable Wichita State Starters:

• Clevin Hannah, Junior, Guard, 11.1 ppg, 4.2 apg

• Toure’ Murry, Freshman, Guard, 11.1 ppg, 2.5 apg

• A.J. Hawkins, Junior, Guard, 6.8 ppg, 1.3 ap

• Ramon Clemente, Senior, Forward, 7.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg

• J.T. Durley, Sophomore, Forward, 8.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.0 bpg

Key Wichita State Roleplayers:

• Reggie Chamberlain, Sophomore, Guard, 3.3 ppg

• Aaron Ellis, Sophomore, Forward, 3.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg

• Graham Hatch, Sophomore, Guard, 3.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg

• David Kyles, Freshman, Guard, 2.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg

• Garrett Stutz, Freshman, Center, 4.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg

Why Wichita State Can Surprise:

Wichita State has won some big games this year. They beat Siena early in the year and hung in there against Georgetown and Michigan State. In conference play they knocked off Creighton, Illinois State and Northern Iowa. They even beat Cleveland State in the BracketBusters event. However, the season was marred by inconsistency. For every big win, there was also a bad loss and, fittingly, the Shockers ended up with a 16-16 record heading into the CBI.

Clevin Hannah and Toure’ Murry deserve much of the credit, and plenty of the blame, for Wichita State’s up and down season. Hannah has turned into a decent point guard who dishes out 4.2 assists per game. He does a good job creating shots for his teammates or finishing himself. The 5-11 junior college transfer is also the team’s best long range shooter. Murry, who also averages 11.1 points per game, is the only other player on the team who is a legitimate threat to hit a three-pointer. When those two are knocking down their shots, it opens up a lot of space for the rest of the team.

Why The Shockers Can Disappoint:
However, when Hannah and Murry are having a quiet day, an already average offense turns bad. J.T. Durley and Ramon Clemente are decent scorers in the paint, but the opposition can simply pack it in if nobody is a threat to hit the outside shot. A.J. Hawkins, who will start on the wing, will join Hannah and Murry slashing to the basket, but he is not a threat to hit any outside shots. In fact, he connected on just 21.6 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.

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Who To Watch:
Durley and Clemente, as well as part-time starter Garrett Stutz, can be a dominating force in the paint. Durley, a 6-7 sophomore, can battle in the paint or step outside and hit the mid-range jumper. He is not the best shooter around by any means, but he can stretch out the defense a little bit. The same can be said for Stutz. And having a big guy who can hit the mid-range jumper could be very important if Hannah and Murry are not connecting on their three-pointers. Clemente is the true bruiser in the paint. He will not score a ton of points, but Clemente almost single handedly has turned Wichita State into a solid rebounding team.

Wichita State By the Numbers:

Scoring Offense: 62.4 (278th in nation, 9th in conference)

Scoring Defense: 61.9 (46, 1)

Field-Goal Percentage: 43.6 (181, 5)

Field-Goal Defense: 43.5 (183, 8)

Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 5.5 (231, 9)

Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 32.0 (232, 7)

Free-Throw Percentage: 68.1 (194, 9)

Rebound Margin: 5.3 (31, 1)

Assists Per Game: 13.3 (147, 4)

Turnovers Per Game: 13.1 (110, 5)

Joel’s Bracket Says: First Round loss to Buffalo

By Joel Welser
CollegeSports-fans.com Senior Basketball Writer

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