Not going to talk about these two teams much after their performances on Thanksgiving. Most of the fans here saw it on ESPN2. As they get ready after game planning each other in their hotel meeting rooms, we can give a quick turkey preview on this upcoming game.

The Shockers put up a real fight against Georgetown on ESPN2. They played a good game, interesting for a team that hasn’t put together consistent play this year. After beating up on Florida A&M to open, they dropped to UMKC a team that has managed to beat Missouri Valley teams Bradley and Wichita State.

Wichita State endured a tough year last year going 11-20 and 4-14 in conference. This team has a lot of junior college transfers, 4 total on the roster and two transfers from division I schools. Toure’ Murry has been tough to stop this year, scoring double digit points in the first three games this year, however the Hoyas shut him down to 2 points. Only two players for Wichita State were able to reach double digits today.

Wichita State takes 32.7% of its shots from behind the three point arc, slightly below the average in D-I. Picked to finish 9th in the Missouri Valley, but with only 6 returning players from last year this team looks a lot different than a team that took 36% of its shot from outside the arc. Freshman Center Garret Stultz picked up his game early in the season going 10 of 13 inside for 22 points over Cententary early this season. This 7 foot 235 inside presence should be a formidable challenge for the Saints to test their depth.

Siena needs to control the three point shooting. After going 1 for 15 from beyond the arc on Thursday, that number will have to improve to pick up at least one win in Florida. 30% of Siena’s shots this year have come from three so the one 3 pointer is an obvious problem. Expect that number to go down if Siena keeps shooting 28% from behind the arc, the national average is 33.8%. Though when healthy, this team should be better. Kenny Hasbrouck needs to step up from his 6 point output against Tennessee after scoring over 20 points in the first two games.

Have some good Turkey sandwiches and enjoy some good basketball.

Lineups

More Info

The game will air on ESPNU at 10:30am on Friday. You should also be able to catch it on ESPN360. After this, Siena will take a day off in Florida followed by a game Sunday, either at 10:30am or 12:30pm on ESPNU.

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