NCAAB Game Preview - Wichita State at Tulsa

Sat Feb 1, 2020 6:00 PM EST

A surprising Tulsa team that's in second place in the American Athletic Conference draws a marquee opportunity Saturday as it hosts No. 23 Wichita State.

The Golden Hurricane (14-6, 6-1 AAC) ride a five-game winning streak into Saturday's contest, a run that began Jan. 11 with a 63-61 defeat of conference-leading Houston.

Tulsa also welcomed a Top 25-ranked opponent to the Reynolds Center on Jan. 22 and subsequently handed Memphis an 80-40 defeat -- the largest margin of victory for an unranked team against a ranked opponent in 27 years.

"It was a good night for us," Jeriah Horne told the Tulsa World following the rout of Memphis. "We're coming together. Chemistry-wise, it's really good."

The Golden Hurricane's last time out was a much different tone but resulted in a 79-75 overtime win last Sunday at Connecticut.

On Saturday, Tulsa draws a Wichita State bunch that extended its own winning streak with a win at UConn to nine games on Jan. 12 but dropped the next two.

The Shockers (17-3, 5-2) started a new streak on Jan. 21, rebounding from the Jan. 15 and 18 losses at Temple and to Houston with a 56-43 win over South Florida.

Wichita State followed that up on Jan. 25, holding off UCF, 87-79.

"I don't know when either team has scored that many points, but that's kind of game it was: back-and-forth," Shockers coach Gregg Marshall said in his postgame news conference. "I thought we were pulling away there and then we got sloppy."

After three straight games failing to reach 60 points, the 87 points scored against UCF marked Wichita State's highest output since 95-69 rout of Central Arkansas on Dec. 5.

Sustained offensive efficiency has been something of a recurring issue for Wichita State. The Shockers rank No. 313 in Division I, shooting just 40.7 percent. They rank somewhat better beyond the 3-point line at 33.4 percent, ranking No. 170, with Tyson Etienne shooting a blistering 43 of 104 (41.3 percent) on the season.

But offense is not where Wichita State has made its mark. The Shockers' success comes thanks to one of the most stifling defenses in college basketball.

Wichita State ranks No. 14 in adjusted defensive efficiency per KenPom.com, and holds opponents to just 38.4 percent shooting overall and 30 percent beyond the arc.

One key to the Shockers' turnaround from a 22-15 (10-8 AAC) season a year ago is evident on the defense end: generating more turnovers. Wichita State is 25th in the nation with a +3.5 turnover margin.

"We just have to keep getting better," guard Dexter Dennis said in the press conference following the UCF win. "But what a difference a year can make, for sure."

The past year has made a difference for Tulsa, as well. The Golden Hurricane finished the 2018-19 season with an 18-14 record and below .500 (8-10) in the AAC, including two losses to Wichita State. The 2019-20 Golden Hurricane are just two wins shy of matching last season's conference win total.

Its first defeat of Wichita State since November 2015 -- the Golden Hurricane have lost five straight to the Shockers -- would not just move Tulsa closer to that milestone, but also keep the Golden Hurricane at the forefront of the conference championship chase.

--Field Level Media