Gameday update: Evansville at Wichita State

▪  Free throws are a big topic this season because of the changes in officiating designed to free up offenses. Evansville does many things well on offense and getting to the line might be the most dangerous to Wichita State.

The Aces are 295 of 414 (71.3 percent) from the line this season. Four MVC teams have as many or fewer attempts as the Aces do makes. Evansville’s 414 attempts are 58 more than second-place Illinois State, 99 more than the Shockers and at least 100 more than six MVC teams.

If you sit close to the WSU bench, or can lip read, you will hear “Show your hands” approximately 7,564 times from coaches. The Shockers can’t foul, can’t put the Aces into the double-bonus and can’t foul guard D.J. Balentine or center Egidijus Mockevicius, both of whom get to the line often.

Foul trouble and foul shots are two areas where the Aces could neutralize WSU’s edges in talent and depth.

Foul disparity has been a problem for WSU at times this season. Like most issues, it’s improved since Fred VanVleet returned. WSU got pounded at the line in Florida and against Saint Louis, Utah and Seton Hall. WSU outscored its opponents at the line in the past three games.

▪  WSU center Shaq Morris played one of his most significant games last season at Evansville when helped get Mockevicius in foul trouble during a 61-41 Shockers win.

Mockevicius scored a season-low two points and made a season-low one shot in 28 minutes before fouling out. Morris scored nine points and blocked two shots in his 15 minutes. WSU’s Darius Carter also played one of his best games, going for 18 and 11.

Morris usually gets an opportunity to score on WSU’s first possession, an effort to get him rolling and establish inside scoring that will help everybody. Morris is 15 of 20 from the field in his past four games and averaging 9.0 points.

“He’s been pretty effective, so we want to try and play inside-out,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “It gives us that option. He’s making some pretty good moves (in the post). We’ll see how he does against the guys he’ll play against this week; it’s a step up in terms of maturity and confidence… (Mockevicius) is probably the prominent big man in our league. It’ll be interesting to see if he can continue to establish himself down low.”

Mockevicius is the best center WSU will see until the NCAA Tournament. Morris and Anton Grady need to keep progressing if the Shockers are to reach their ceiling. Wednesday’s game will be a good measure of how much WSU’s centers can contribute against a high-level opponent.

▪  WSU relied on three-point shooting to build its five-game win streak over Evansville. The Shockers are 39 of 97 (40.2 percent) in those games from three. It is also outscoring the Aces by 30 points from the line in those games.

The Aces play a conservative defense and don’t gamble for steals often. They don’t give up many offensive rebounds. Shockers shooters will get opportunities and they will need to score to loosen up that defense.

Providence, probably the most athletic team on Evansville’s schedule, dented the Aces for 13 offensive rebounds in a win. That is the model the Shockers will try to duplicate.

TV

On Air: Cox 22, Time Warner SportsChannel in Kansas City

Streaming: ESPN3 (subject to blackout)

Radio

On Air: KEYN, 103.7-FM

Online: goshockers.com/watch

This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 3:57 PM with the headline "Gameday update: Evansville at Wichita State."