Shockers Surge Past Skyhawks

WICHITA, Kan. — Tyson Etienne led a group of five double-digit scorers with 21 points and Wichita State tied a school record with 15 three-pointers in a 103-62 victory over UT Martin on Saturday afternoon at Charles Koch Arena.

WSU (3-0) shot 56.3 percent for the game and knocked down 15-of-28 three-point attempts, tying a mark set four times previously.

The Shockers won both the rebounding (43-26) and turnover (18-9) battles while holding UTM (2-2) to 62 points on 38.6 percent shooting. The Skyhawks had entered the day ranked 14th nationally in scoring at 93.0 points-per-game.

Etienne was 5-of-8 from deep and logged just fourth 20-point performance by a true freshman in 13 seasons under Gregg Marshall.

Jamarius Burton missed last weekend’s Texas Southern game with an injury but returned to hit 4-of-5 threes, finishing with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists with just one turnover. WSU was plus-35 in Burton’s 22 minutes of action.

Sophomore center Morris Udeze made his first career start and scored a career-high 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

Trey Wade added 10 points and eight rebounds to go with Erik Stevenson’s 10 points. Both players were 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.

Freshmen Grant Sherfield and Noah Fernandes shared the team lead with six assists each.

Miles Thomas led the scoring for UTM (2-2) with 15 points to go with 13 from Quintin Dove and 11 from Derek Hawthorne Jr.

The Shockers did much of their three-point damage in the first half, tying another school record with 10 first half threes on just 15 tries.

Seven days removed from a 13.5 first-half shooting performance against Texas Southern – their worst half of the shot clock era – the Shockers shot 68.8 percent (22/32) in the opening frame to take a 57-30 lead into the break.

In between games, Marshall harped on ball movement and shot selection. The Shockers’ 29 assists on 40 baskets was their highest home total in more than 20 years.

WSU topped 100 points for the first time since Nov. 28, 2017 vs. Savannah State (112-66) and for the eighth time in the Marshall Era.

The Shockers’ 56 bench points was the third-most in school history and their highest output since the aforementioned SSU game.

The Shockers are 3-0 for the sixth time in 13 seasons under Marshall and for the 38th time in school history.

Up Next:

Wichita State plays host to Gardner-Webb on Tuesday night in another Cancun Challenge preliminary matchup. The Bulldogs represented the Big South in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT, and the game will air locally on YurView Kansas (Cox HD 2022) and online at YurView.com/Kansas.