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| Third-year head coach Mark Turgeon and the Shockers will be playing 2002-03 season home games in the Kansas Coliseum, during Roundhouse Renaissance construction. |
During the 2002-03 season, the Shockers will play two exhibition and 16 regular-season home men’s basketball games in its temporary home, the Kansas Coliseum, third-year Wichita State head coach Mark Turgeon announced Aug. 16.
“We are very pleased with our schedule, and I am pleased with the spacing between games,” Turgeon says. “We are at home a lot early on with games scheduled at the Coliseum, which gives us a chance to get a quick start early in the league.”
The Shockers play 12 of their first 14 games in the coliseum, while eight Saturday games, including key non-conference rematches with Big 12 foes Kansas State and Oklahoma State, highlight the schedule. Kansas State travels to Wichita on Sat., Dec. 14, and the Shockers host the Cowboys on Sat., Dec. 21.
“We are extremely excited about playing our home basketball schedule in a quality venue like the Kansas Coliseum,” says Wichita State Director of Athletics Jim Schaus. “I think our fans will enjoy seeing quality conference and nonconference opponents in a venue that has both a convenient location and excellent parking. We are fortunate to have a facility like the coliseum to play our games in this season while Charles Koch Arena is being constructed.”
On Sat., Feb. 1, Fox Sports Net will televise WSU’s home game against defending Valley regular-season champion and Sweet 16 participant Southern Illinois. WSU will also be on Fox Sports Net Sat., Jan. 25 at Bradley, and Mon., March 3, the final day of the Valley season, at defending Valley tournament champion Creighton.
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| The 2002-03 Shockers include a combination of several returning starters — including Randy Burns and Jamar Howard — and four key newcomers. |
The Shockers open their season with two exhibition contests: Tue., Nov. 12, against Athletes First, and Mon., Nov. 18, against Division II member Emporia State University.
Wichita State will play seven of nine nonconference matchups at home, while an eight-game homestand starts Dec. 7 and runs through Jan. 11, including five nonconference and three conference games.
The Shockers open the regular season with three games over the course of seven days, beginning Sat., Nov. 23, against Texas-Arlington, who visited Wichita last November.
The Shockers’ two non-conference road contests will be close to home, as WSU travels to Oral Roberts and the University of Tulsa on Nov. 30 and Dec. 4, respectively.
WSU’s 15 overall wins in 2001-02 marked the most since the 1997-98 season when the Shockers won 16. Wichita State has won 14 or more games only three other times since 1988-89. Last season, WSU was 11-3 in Levitt Arena, which marked the sixth time in the last eight years that the Shockers registered double-figure wins at home.
A key element of the record was the strong scoring by five Wichita State players: Randy Burns (12.1 ppg), Jamar Howard (10.9 ppg), Terrell Benton (10.5 ppg), CC McFall (10.1 ppg) and Troy Mack (10.1 ppg). They became the first quintet to average double-figures since the 1978-79 season when Cheese Johnson led a group with a 22.2 PPG average.
The top two scorers, Burns and Howard, return this season. Burns returns after leading the Shockers in scoring and being the first freshman to do so for a full season since Jamie Arnold did with an 11.7 ppg average in 1993-94.
Season tickets are available by calling the WSU ticket office at 978-FANS. And for additional preview information, visit online at goshockers.com.
— WSU Sports Information
All 2002-03 home games will take place at the Kansas Coliseum. All times are Central Standard Time.
Tue., Nov. 12, Athletes First, 7:05 p.m.
Mon., Nov. 18, Emporia State, 7:05 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 23, Texas-Arlington, 7:05 p.m.
Wed., Nov. 27, Chicago State, 7:05 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 30, at Oral Roberts, Tulsa,
Okla. (Mabee Center), 7:05 p.m.
Wed., Dec. 4, at Tulsa, Tulsa, Okla.
(Reynolds Center), 7:05 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 7, Northwestern State, 1:35 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 14, Kansas State, 7:05 p.m.
Wed., Dec. 18, Lamar, 7:05 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 21, Oklahoma State, 1:35 p.m.
Mon., Dec. 30, Western Illinois, 7:05 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 4, Northern Iowa*, 1:35 p.m.
Tue., Jan. 7, Indiana State*, 7:05 p.m.
Sat., Jan., 11 SMS*, 1:35 p.m.
Wed., Jan. 15, at Southern Illinois*
(Fox Sports), Carbondale, Ill. (SIU
Arena), 7:05 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 18, at Illinois State*, Normal,
Ill. (Redbird Arena), 2:05 p.m.
Tue., Jan. 21, Drake*, 7:05 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 25, at Bradley*, (Fox Sports)
Peoria, Ill. (Carver Arena), 7:05 p.m.
Wed., Jan. 29, at Evansville*,
Evansville, Ind. (Roberts Stadium),
7:05 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 1, Southern Illinois*,
1:35 p.m.
Tue., Feb. 4, Illinois State*, 7:05 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 8, at Northern Iowa*, Cedar
Falls, Iowa (UNI Dome), 1:05 p.m.
Mon., Feb. 10, Evansville*, 7:05 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 15, Creighton*, 1:35 p.m.
Wed., Feb. 19, at Drake*, Des Moines,
Iowa (Knapp Center), 7:05 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 22, at Indiana State*, Terre
Haute, Ind. (Hulman Center),
3:35 p.m.
Tue., Feb. 25, Bradley*, 7:05 p.m.
Sat., March 1, at SMS*, Springfield,
Mo. (Hammons Center), 7:05 p.m.
Mon., March 3, at Creighton
(Fox Sports), Omaha, Neb. (Civic
Auditorium), 8:05 p.m.
Fri.-Mon., March 7-10, Valley
Tournament, St. Louis, Mo.
(Savvis Center), TBA
Thu.-Fri., March 20-21, NCAA
Championships-First Round, TBA
Sat.-Sun., March 22-23, NCAA
Championships-Second Round, TBA
Fri.-Mon., March 28-31, NCAA
Championships-Regional, TBA
Sat.-Mon., April 5-7, NCAA Final Four
Championships, New Orleans, La.
(Super Dome), TBA
*Missouri Valley Conference game
