Tenn-Martin @ Wichita St. preview

Not often does a team leave the court victorious after hitting less than a quarter of its field goal attempts, but Wichita State was fortunate enough to Saturday during a 69-63 home victory over Texas Southern. The Shockers will need a stronger first half performance – 21.9-percent shooting from the floor through two games – when they host Tennessee Martin on Saturday.

The abysmal shooting night for the Shockers started from the jump as they began 1-for-24 from the floor and was highlighted by 21 straight missed field goals through a 13-minute stretch in the first half. Head coach Gregg Marshall did not mince words after Wichita State finished with a 24.2 shooting percentage - the lowest for a winning team in a Division I game in nearly five years. “We won ugly. Offensively we were atrocious. We didn’t execute very well,” Marshall told the media. “I either need to get better players that can make plays one-on-one or we got to execute something and option one is not an option so we’ve got to execute better.” UT Martin redshirt sophomore Parker Stewart scored 25 of his career-high 32 points after halftime to help the Skyhawks overcome a 15-point second-half deficit Wednesday and earn a 98-91 victory over Western Illinois.

TV: 3 p.m. ET, ESPN3

ABOUT UT MARTIN (2-1): Stewart, son of Skyhawks head coach Anthony Stewart, sat out last season after a successful freshman campaign with Pittsburgh and on Wednesday, along with his personal best in points, grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds. Reigning Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week Quintin Dove is averaging a team-leading 23 points and is grabbing 5.3 offensive rebounds per game which places him in a tie for ninth nationally entering Friday. Senior Derek Hawthorne Jr. netted a season-high 17 points Wednesday and is second on the team behind Dove in points (16.0) and rebounds (7.3) per game.

ABOUT WICHITA STATE (2-0): A pair of newcomers to the program, freshman Grant Sherfield and junior college transfer Trey Wade, combined to shoot 2-for-22 from the floor against the Tigers but finished with 19 points collectively as they went 15-for-20 from the free throw line. Wade tallied team highs with 10 rebounds and two assists as the Shockers finished with just six helpers – their fewest at home since 2011. Sophomore Erik Stevenson scored 18 of his career-high 22 points in the second half while finishing 6-for-18 from the floor and a perfect 9-for-9 from the line.

TIP-INS

1. Among the 97 teams that remained undefeated as of Thursday, Wichita State boasts the lowest shooting percentage (30.7) – well behind its next closest competitor, Vermont (37.6).

2. This is the first of two preliminary round games tied to the upcoming Cancun Challenge, which will take place Nov. 26 and 27 in Mexico.

3. This will be the first meeting between these programs with Wichita State holding a 7-0 all-time record against current members of the Ohio Valley Conference.

PREDICTION: Wichita State 80, UT Martin 73