Wichita State (19-5, 8-4) looks to end a 3-game losing streak when they host Missouri State (7-17, 5-7) on Saturday night at Koch Arena.
Missouri State is hoping to end a streak of its own against Wichita State: Gregg Marshall is the only Missouri Valley coach that Bears' head coach Paul Lusk has yet to beat in his first 30 league games.
The Bears have performed well inside Koch Arena lately, with two of their last three losses coming by 1 and 2 points. Overall, however, Missouri State is 6-20 in Wichita and the Shockers have won the last three straight in the series between the teams.
The Shockers already beat the Bears once this season when Cleanthony Early scored 17 points and Carl Hall had 15 points off the bench. Wichita State won that game by a score of 62-52. Also in that game, Wichita Heights graduate Gavin Thurman scored 21 points to lead the Bears. Coach Marshall said at his press conference on Friday afternoon that Thurman would be a 'high priority' on Saturday.
However the Shockers' strong offense has ebbed in the last three games; Wichita State is averaging less than 57 points per game in their three straight losses.
Gregg Marshall's team is 12-1 at home this year and that one loss is the one that sparked the three-game losing streak.
Saturday's game tips off at 6:30 at Koch Arena.
