WICHITA, Kan. -- No. 9/9 Wichita State plays its first American Athletic Conference home game Thursday against Houston (6 p.m. CT, ESPN).
 
How to best honor the occasion? White-out? Black-out? Yellow-out? How about all three?
 
Stripes are in at Charles Koch Arena, and fans have been assigned contrasting school colors to wear to the game, based on their sections:

• White: 101, 102, 107, 108, 109, 114, 115, 118, 121, 124
• Black: 103, 104, 112, 113, 119, 123
• Yellow: 105, 106, 110, 111, 116, 117, 120, 122, 125, 126

Have tickets to the game? You're officially part of the Gigapixel experience! Sign up for notifications in order to tag yourself in this historic event: http://pano.ly/watchus
 
Check out the last Shocker Gigapixel in Charles Koch Arena here: http://bit.ly/2DTuTyD
 

GAME 14

Wichita, Kan.

Charles Koch Arena (10,506)

Game Notes: WSU | UH

MATCHUP

Houston (12-2, 2-0 American) at #9/9 Wichita State (11-2, 1-0)

Thursday, Jan. 4

6:00 P.M. CT

ESPN (WatchESPN)

KEYN 103.7 FM

GoShockers.com

GoShockers.com

SOCIAL

@GoShockersMBB | #watchus

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STARTING FIVE:
 
1 --- THE SERIES: This is the first of two regular season matchups between the programs. WSU makes the return trip to Houston on Jan. 20 (11 a.m. CT, ESPNU) at the Texas Southern's H&PE Arena... This is their first meeting since the 2005 NIT (an 85-69 Shocker win at Charles Koch Arena) and the first conference game between the two former Missouri Valley rivals since 1960. The Shockers lead the all-time series 16-9 and have won 11 of the 13 Wichita dates.
 
2 --- OUTLOOK:  The teams were a combined 13-2 in December:
>> WICHITA STATE (11-2, 1-0 American) has won three-straight and seven of its last eight... Behind 16 points from Landry Shamet (5-of-6 from deep) and Rashard Kelly's double-double (career-high 12 rebounds + 11 points), the Shockers won their American debut at UConn on Saturday, 72-62. ..They'll continue their two-game homestand this Sunday against USF (3 p.m. CT, CBSSN) in the first-ever meeting between the programs.
>>> HOUSTON (12-2, 2-0) has won four-in-a-row and 11-of-12. The Cougars opened conference play with a win at USF (79-60) and at home over Temple (76-73). They're one of three 2-0 teams in the American standings, along with Tulsa (2-0) and SMU (2-0). WSU (1-0) and Cincinnati (1-0) are also among the unbeatens. After three games in eight days to start conference play, Houston enjoys a full week off before hosting Tulsa (Jan. 11).
 
3 --- BUILDING MOMENTUM: Over the last five seasons, the Shockers are 65-1 at Charles Koch Arena with 25-straight wins… The only loss in that span came Feb. 13, 2016 against UNI… 63 of the 66 games have come in front of capacity crowds.
 
4 --- ALL-A-BOARD: WSU has two of the league's top-five rebounders in Rashard Kelly (3^rd, 8.2) and Darral Willis Jr. (5^th, 7.2)... The last time a Shocker tandem each averaged 7.2-or-better on the glass was 35 years ago. Xavier McDaniel won the 1983 NCAA rebounding title (14.4) and Antoine Carr (7.6) was selected eighth overall by the Detroit Pistons in that year's NBA Draft.
 
5 --- A WHOLE LANDRY LIST: Point guard Landry Shamet ranks among The American's top-10 in seven different categories. He leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3) and three-pointers per game (2.8), is second in assists (4.7) and fifth in scoring (17.0)… In addition, Shamet is the only player who currently ranks in the league's top-10 in the trifecta of field goal (6th, .541), free throw (10th, .837) and three-point percentage (2nd, .529).
 
THE SERIES WITH HOUSTON:
WSU leads 16-9 all-time with wins in nine of the last 12 meetings… The Shockers are 11-2 against the Cougars in Wichita, and the only two losses (1952 and 1989) each came by a single point… Houston has had its share of success in the Roundhouse -- just not against the Shockers. The Cougars played NCAA Tournament games in Wichita in 1966, 68, 71 and  73 and went 3-2. In 1968, senior Elvin Hayes scored 74 points in two Midwest Regional wins over Louisville and TCU to send the Cougars to the Final Four… WSU's return visit to Houston on Jan. 20 will be its first since Jan. 2, 1960 -- nine years before the debut of the Cougars' home arena, Hofheinz Pavilion. Houston is playing home games this season at Texas Southern's H&PE Arena while Hofheinz undergoes an extensive renovation. The Shockers are 2-7 all-time in Houston… From 1950-60, WSU and Houston were both members of the Missouri Valley Conference. Over the course of 10 seasons, Shockers won 14 of the 21 MVC games between the two programs… The teams last met in the play-in round of the 2005 NIT. WSU ended what had been a 16-year postseason victory drought with an 85-69 decision at Charles Koch Arena. Led by Jamar Howard (21 points) and Kyle Wilson (20), the Shockers shot 62.5 percent from the field. Andre Ownens accounted for 33 of Houston's 69 points and over half of its field goal attempts, going 13-of-29 (7-of-18 from three)… This is the first regular season meeting between the teams since a Nov. 16, 1989 preseason NIT matchup at the Roundhouse (then known as Henry Levitt Arena). The Shockers, in their first game under new head coach Mike Cohen, fell 67-66 despite a game effort from John Cooper who played all 40 minutes and finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Byron Smith – now in his third year as head coach at Prairie View A&M – led Houston with 29 points.
 
MATCHUP MASHUP:
A couple of American Player of the Year candidates go head-to-head in WSU's Landry Shamet and Houston's Rob Gray… Both were preseason first team all-conference selections. Gray leads the conference in scoring (19.0 points). His 37 points against Drexel on Nov. 17 is a league-best this year… Shamet (17.0 points) ranks among the league's top-10 in seven categories… WSU senior Zach Brown is a Houston native who attended Klein Collins High School in Spring, Texas… Gregg Marshall and Kelvin Sampson have met once previously, in the 2000 NCAA Tournament. Sampson (then head coach at Oklahoma) led his third-seeded Sooners past Marshall's 14th-seeded Winthrop team, 74-50, at the McKale Center in Tucson... Marshall (466 career wins) and Sampson (568) have combined for over 1,000 victories.
 
BATTLE ON THE BOARDS:
Two of the nation's best rebounding teams collide on Thursday. The Shockers lead the league and rank fourth nationally in rebound margin (+11.6), but the Cougars have been nearly as good (+9.0, 16^th nationally)… Houston has outrebounded 13 of its 14 opponents this year (the lone exception came last month at LSU)… WSU has finished even-or-better on the boards in all 13 games this year and in 18-straight since last March…. Opponents have outrebounded WSU at Charles Koch Arena just 15 times in Marshall's 11 seasons… WSU (1st, .776) and Houston (2^nd, .750) rank one-and-two in the league in defensive rebound percentage.
 
BOMBS AWAY:
Nine American Athletic Conference players are averaging 2.0+ threes per game, and four of them will share the floor Thursday… WSU's Landry Shamet (2.8 per game) has connected at least three times from deep in six of his last seven games. A 1-for-6 performance against Oklahoma was the lone speed bump... WSU's Conner Frankamp has a school-record streak of 34-straight games with a three-pointer, dating back to Dec. 28, 2016. He needs just one more three to crack the top-10 on WSU's all-time list… Houston's Armoni Brooks ranks second in the league in makes (2nd, 2.5) and is third in percentage (.579). Corey Davis Jr. is sixth by both volume (2.4) and percentage (.429)… As a team, Houston is shooting over 40 percent from deep (.401) – 28^th nationally… WSU's .398 clip ranks 33^rd -- down a hair from last year when it ranked eighth nationally (.403), but the Shockers' league-best 9.5 triples per game is well ahead of last year's school record pace (8.8).
 
THE AMERICAN WAY:
WSU is used to fast starts in conference play. The Shockers were 4-0 (or better) out of the gate in six of their last seven years in the MVC… WSU's last 1-1 conference start came in 2011-12 when it fell at home to Creighton on New Year's Eve before bouncing back to win 15 of its last 16 league games… WSU (10-2) was one of four American teams that claimed double-digit victories in non-conference play, joining Cincinnati (11-2), Houston (10-2) and SMU (10-3). Three others finished with nine wins.
 
TO OLD FRIENDS AND NEW BEGINNINGS:
Wichita State's move to the American reunites the Shockers with four of its former rivals from the Missouri Valley Conference: Cincinnati (1957-70), Houston (1950-60), Memphis (1967-73) and Tulsa (1945-96)… WSU and Tulsa enjoyed a fierce basketball rivalry in the 1980s and have continued to play regularly in the non-conference. This fall, the two athletic departments announced plans for an official rivalry series "Havoc in the Heartland."… Cincinnati's Oscar Robertson still holds the Roundhouse's single-game scoring record (50 points in 1958). March 1 marks the 60th anniversary of that performance. Fittingly, the Bearcats' first American Era visit to Wichita comes just three days later… The Shockers' visit to Houston will be their first since 1960. They last played at Memphis in 1983.
 
POLL NOTES:
WSU gained votes by a dropped a spot to No. 9 in Monday's Associated Press Poll. The Shockers have been ranked in the top-10 in eight of the nine poll weeks… WSU's No. 3 ranking on Dec. 11 was its highest since finishing the 2013-14 regular season with four-consecutive weeks at No. 2… WSU opened at No. 7 in the AP preseason rankings and No. 8 in the Coaches' -- its highest starting point since the '81-82 campaign… Going back to Dec. 12, 2012 -- a span of five years -- WSU has been ranked or received AP and/or Coaches votes in 116 of the 126 poll weeks.
 
DECEMBER TO REMEMBER:
Landry Shamet averaged a team-high 19.4 points and 6.0 assists in seven December games while shooting 54.5 percent from three (24-of-44)… Conner Frankamp averaged 13.2 points. In 163 minutes (spanning six games), the senior committed just one turnover while logging 13 assists. He shot 15-of-33 from three (.455)… Darral Willis Jr. averaged 13.1 points and 7.3 rebounds in December and reached double-figures in six of the seven games with a pair of double-doubles.
 
ON THE CONFERENCE LEADERBOARD (as of 1/2):
Wichita State leads The American in scoring offense (85.8), field goal percentage (.483), rebounding margin (+11.6), defensive rebound percentage (.776) and three-pointers per game (9.5)… Darral Willis Jr. is tied for The American lead with four double-doubles… Rashard Kelly tops the conference leaderboard in offensive rebounds (3.9). Willis is third in defensive boards (5.5). Both rank in the top-5 in total rebounds… Shaquille Morris is one of three players in The American who average at least 2.0 blocks per game. He has 26 through 13 contests. Only UCF's Tacko Fall (2.1) swats more on a per-game basis.
 
OVER HALF WAY TO 1K:
Rashard Kelly recorded his 500^th career rebound in the Dec. 30 win at UConn, becoming the 40^th Shocker to reach that milestone in the modern era (1945-Pr.)… Kelly (509 career rebounds) is is on pace to finish as the Marshall Era's top rebounder with a good chance to crack the top-20 on WSU's all-time list… Kelly has grabbed at least seven rebounds in 12 of the first 13 games.
 
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…
… improve their record to 12-2 (2-0 American).
… give them victories in four-straight and eight of the last nine contests.
… make them 7-0 at Charles Koch Arena with 26 straight wins.
… give them a 2-0 start to conference play for the sixth year in a row.
… give them a 17-9 series lead vs. Houston (12-2 in Wichita).
 
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
… drop their record to 11-3 (1-1 American).
… snap a 25-game Charles Koch Arena winning streak.
… be their first CKA loss since Feb. 13, 2016 (vs. UNI) and just their second in the last five seasons (65-2).
… make them 1-1 in conference play for the first times since the 2011-12 season.
… be just the third Houston win in Wichita all-time (3-11).
… make WSU 16-10 all-time vs. Houston.
… be less good than a win.
 
UP NEXT:
Wichita State plays host to USF at 3 p.m. CT, Sunday afternoon on CBS Sports Network in the first-ever meeting between the programs.