What To Watch For: South Florida at Wichita State
TAMPA, Fla., (Mar. 5, 2023) – South Florida closes out its 2022-23 regular-season schedule on Sunday when it travels to Kansas for an American Athletic Conference clash with Wichita State.
The Shockers are 5-0 on Sundays and have won six straight afternoon contests.
In the first meeting between the two teams, WSU rallied from a 14-point deficit to deficit to knock off USF, 70-66, on a Sunday afternoon at Yuengling Center.
The Bulls have won three-straight games and four of their last five.
The Shockers last three opponents have been Memphis, Tulane and No. 1 Houston. Wichita State hung around with Houston for more than 30 minutes Thursday before eventually losing 83-66.
BullsInsider.com has your quick facts and what to watch for against Wichita State:
Quick Facts
Matchup: USF (14-16; 7-10 AAC) at Wichita State (15-14; 8-9 AAC)
Date: Mar. 5
Time: 2 p.m. ET
Location: Wichita, KS | Charles Koch Arena
Watch: ESPNU
Radio: 102.5 The Strike HD-2 & Bulls Unlimited (TuneIn)
History: The Bulls are 1-8 all-time against the Shockers. USF has lost seven straight games in the series and has never won in Koch Arena.
The Opponent: The Shockers have a balanced scoring attack with four players averaging at least 10 points per game.
Junior wing Jaykwon Walton leads WSU in scoring at leads the team in scoring with 14.0 points per outing. He is fourth in rebounding at 5.3 rebounds. Walton is a three-level scorer and is making 37.9 percent of his threes. He is good at drawing fouls and makes 78.1 percent of his free throws. Walton has topped 20-points six times this year.
Craig Porter Jr., a fifth-year senior point guard, is the Shockers’ lone returning starter from last season. Porter Jr. averages 13.0 points and a team leading 6.4 rebounds per game. A year ago, he became the first player in AAC history to finish among the conference’s top-10 in blocks, assists and steals. He about to do it again this season. Porter is currently top-five in blocks and assists and is top-10 in steals. What Porter Jr. doesn’t do well is shoot free throws. He is making fewer than 65 percent of his attempts.
Jaron Pierre Jr. is an explosive shooting guard. He can catch-and-shoot or create off the bounce. Pierre Jr. is averaging 10.6 points per game. About 55 percent of his shots are threes but he is only making 28.4 percent of them.
James Rojas splits time at power forward with Gus Okafor. Rojas averages 10.0 points and is second in rebounding at 6.1 boards per game. He will play center if the Shockers go small.
Melvion Flanagan, a 5-foot-10 walk-on point guard, scored a career-best 16-points and made 4-of-6 threes against the Bulls at Yuengling Center in January. A small but very quick guard, Flanagan is an aggressive scorer. He wants to shoot threes, 75 percent of his shots are three-pointers. USF defenders must limit him in transition, stay in front of him and closeout with a high hand.
Kenny Pohto is one of only two returning starters from the 2021-22 active roster (Porter Jr. is the other). The 6-foot-11, 235-pounder has started every game he has appeared in this season averaging 27 minutes per. He can be an inconsistent rebounder but Photo grabbed 10 rebounds to go along with 14 points at Yuengling Center. The Bulls must beat him down the floor, put a body on him and box him out.
Defensively WSU is mostly man (78.3 percent) but is playing more zone than in recent seasons. We saw a 2-3 matchup zone and some 1-3-1 zone defense. The Shockers have several back court pressure defenses from three-quarter court nuisance, to zone trap and straight man.
Keys To A Win
USF must embrace the atmosphere, attack the paint on offense and defend it on defense. Take care of the ball against the WSU pressure. Bring the fight to the Shockers they are a physical team. Make shots and own the glass at both ends of the court.