WICHITA STATE (8-4) vs. #2 KANSAS (11-1)
Saturday, Dec. 30 | 3:00 p.m.
Kansas City, Mo. | T-Mobile Center
 
TV: ESPN2 with Mark Neely & Fran Fraschilla
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
 

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OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State wraps up non-conference play with one more visit to the T-Mobile Center for a bout with No. 2/2 Kansas on Saturday at 3 p.m. on ESPN2.
• Wichita State is 20-13 all time when playing on Dec. 30.
• Kansas leads the all-time series, 12-3. The series is tied 2-2 on a neutral court.
• KU is 11-1 this season, and ranked No. 2 in both the AP and Coaches polls, with three of those victories coming over ranked opponents.
• The Shockers have lost their last four games against Top 25 teams since defeating No. 6 Houston in 2021.
• Wichita State has dropped seven straight vs. Top 25 opponents on a neutral court.
• Wichita State is seeking its first Power 5 win since Dec. 1, 2021 when the Shockers defeated Oklahoma State.
• Wichita State dropped its fifth straight game vs. Kansas State, following a 69-60 loss to the Wildcats on Dec. 21 in Kansas City.
• Bijan Cortes made his Wichita State debut Thursday vs. Kansas State after sitting out the first 11 games.
• Ronnie DeGray III made his Wichita State debut Saturday vs. Southern Illinois after sitting out the first 10 games due to NCAA transfer rules.
• Harlond Beverly has 30 assists over his last six games. Beverly now leads the team in assists with 41.
• Colby Rogers (16.8 ppg; leading scorer) has made a three-pointer in all 12 games this season and multiple in 11 of the 12. He leads the AAC in three-point percentage (42.2), three-pointers per game (2.92) and three-pointers made (35).
• Xavier Bell and Rogers have scored in double figures in 11 of the 12 games this season, and they both have multiple 20-point games to their name.
• Wichita State ranks 10th nationally in defensive rebounds per game, 11th in rebounds per game and 30th in rebound margin.
• Wichita State is the only team in the country that has three players averaging 6.9 or more rebounds per game (Kenny Pohto - 8.0; Dalen Ridgnal - 6.9; Quincy Ballard - 6.9).
• Quincy Ballard ranks 15th nationally in blocks (28). He had a career-high 7 vs. Norfolk State.
• Paul Mills is the 10th coach in school history to start 8-4 or better in his first 12 games. Only five coaches have won nine or more of their first 12 games at Wichita State.
• Wichita State is guaranteed to have a winning non-conference record for the 26th consecutive season.
• Wichita State returns only 20.3 percent of its scoring from a season ago, having lost its top four scorers. Pohto is the only returner to average more than 4.0 points per game. Craig Porter Jr., James Rojas, Gus Okafor and Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler exhausted their eligibility, and four others exited via the transfer portal.
• The 2022-23 Shockers ranked 230th in adjusted tempo, but that will most certainly change under Mills' leadership. His Oral Roberts squad was 40th in tempo last season.
• Wichita State ranked near the very bottom in the NCAA when it came to 3-point shooting a season ago. Converting on just 30.9 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc, that ranked 324th nationally. Mills' Oral Roberts squad on the other hand attempted nearly 400 more and shot 36.5 percent, which ranked 56th in the country.

SCOUTING KANSAS
• Led by 21st year and Hall of Fame head coach Bill Self, No. 2 Kansas enters the matchup at 11-1.
• While at Kansas, Self has won two national championships (2008, 2022), 16 regular-season Big 12 Conference titles, including a KU- and NCAA-record-tying 13-straight titles from 2005-17, and eight league tournament titles.
• Self's 10 career 30-win seasons are tied for third most in NCAA history - Mike Krzyzewski (16), Roy Williams (12), John Calipari (10); and is tied for No. 1 on the active coaches' list. Nine of his 10 30-win seasons have been at Kansas.
• The Jayhawks went 28-8 a season ago and 13-5 in the Big 12, capturing the regular season title. Kansas advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Kansas returns three starters and welcomed nine newcomers to the roster in 2023-24. KU was picked to win the Big 12 in the Preseason Big 12 Coaches Poll.
• Kevin McCullar Jr. has a pair of triple doubles to his name this season. He is first in the Big 12 in scoring at 20.4 points per contest and pulls down 6.9 rebounds per outing.
• On most every national player of the year watch list, Hunter Dickinson ranks second in scoring at 18.3 ppg and ranks second in the nation in rebounds per game at 12.5. He is the only player in the Big 12 averaging a double-double. A three-time Big 12 weekly award honoree, Dickinson has a league-leading six double doubles.
• KJ Adams Jr. is second in the Big 12 and 21st nationally in field goal percentage at 62.4%. Adams is averaging 12.4 ppg for the season. He pulls down 3.7 rebounds per game and has 38 assists.
• Dajuan Harris Jr. leads the Big 12 with 6.8 assists per game, which is eighth nationally. Harris averages 6.9 points per contest.
• KU ranks top 10 nationally in field goal percentage and assists.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. KANSAS
• Kansas leads the all-time series, 12-3, but the series is tied 2-2 on neutral courts.
• The two schools have only played 15 times despite being separated by only 165 miles. The first meeting took place all the way back in 1908 in Wichita.
• It wasn't until 1981 that Wichita State collected its first win over the Jayhawks, known as the "Battle of New Orleans".
• The Shockers won the biggest game in the series' history on March 20, 1981 in New Orleans. Led by future NBA stars Cliff Levingston (18 pts, 14 reb) and Antoine Carr (16 pts, 9 reb), sixth-seeded WSU defeated seventh-seeded Kansas, 66-65, to advance to the Elite Eight. Reserve Mike Jones was the hero, hitting a pair of long jumpers in the final minute to lead a Shocker comeback. His 25-footer with 4 seconds to go was the game-winner. It was the first meeting between the teams in 25 years and led a brief revival of the series. From 1984-93, the teams met nine times in a span of 10 seasons.
• After a meeting in 1993, it wasn't until 2015 that the two schools faced off, and wouldn't you know it, it was in the NCAA Tournament.
• No. 7 seed Wichita State upset No. 2 seed Kansas in Omaha, 78-65, to advance to the Sweet 16. Behind 19 points from Tekele Cotton and timely three-point shooting from Evan Wessel, the Shockers painted Omaha Black and Yellow.

CONNECT THE DOTS
• Kenny Pohto and Kansas junior forward Zach Clemence played two seasons together at prep powerhouse Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita. The duo helped Sunrise to a runner-up finish at the 2021 GEICO High School National Championship.
• Wichita State Athletic Director Kevin Saal received his master's in athletics administration from the University of Kansas in 2000.
• Wichita State Director of Communications Weston Pletcher is a KU graduate and is in his 10th year at Wichita State. He was a student intern in the media relations office at KU under Chris Theisen, who has been at KU since 2004 leading the communications department.

REINFORCEMENTS COMING
• Wichita State received an early Christmas present in the form of Ronnie DeGray III and Bijan Cortes being cleared to play by the NCAA for the remainder of the season.
• DeGray III made his long awaited Wichita State debut on Saturday, Dec. 16 vs. Southern Illinois. DeGray sat out the first 10 games due to NCAA two-time transfer rules, but is cleared to play the remainder of the season.
• DeGray played nearly 19 minutes off the bench and finished with two points and four rebounds - all offensive.
• Cortes (Academics) missed the first 11 games before making his Shocker debut on Dec. 21 vs. Kansas State. He played 24 minutes off the bench and finished with three assists and two rebounds.

LEAD GUARDS
• Colby Rogers and Xavier Bell have formed a potent 1-2 scoring attack for Wichita State through 12 games. Rogers leads Wichita State in scoring at 16.8 per game and Bell is right behind at 14.7.
• Rogers ranks 4th in the American in points, while Bell is 11th.
• The duo of Rogers and Bell make up 41.4 percent of Wichita State's scoring as they've accounted for 378 points.
• Both players have scored in double figures in 11 of the first 12 games and they each have multiple 20-point outings to their name (Rogers - 4, Bell - 3).

COLBY ROG333333333333RS
• Colby Rogers is riding a streak of 12 straight games with at least one made three-pointer to start the season.
• He has multiple three-pointers in 11 of the first 12 games, including eight straight.
• Rogers is attempting 6.9 three-pointers per game, which currently stands as the third most in school history behind Tyson Etienne (8.30 in 2021-22; 7.55 in 2020-21).
• His 2.92 three-pointers made per game are currently the second-most in school history.

ACCESS DENIED
• Wichita State has an elite rim protector in Quincy Ballard. His season was cut short in 2022-23 due to injuries, so he's only played 22 total games in his Shocker career. In those 22 games he has 42 blocked shots. Twenty-eight of those have come in the first 12 games.
• Through 12 games his 28 blocks rank 15th nationally and his 2.33 blocks per game rank 16th.
• He has multiple blocks in all but three games this season.

BOARD OF APPROVAL
• Through the first 12 games of the season Wichita State has been among the nation's top rebounding teams. Wichita State ranks 10th nationally in rebounds per game, 11th in defensive rebounds per game and 30th in rebound margin.
• Wichita State is the only team in the country that has three players averaging 6.9 or more rebounds per game (Kenny Pohto - 8.0; Dalen Ridgnal - 6.9; Quincy Ballard - 6.9).
• Wichita State has been outrebounded just three times this season by a total of seven rebounds (-4 vs. K-State; -2 vs. WKU; -1 vs. Coastal Carolina).
• Wichita State has pulled down 40 or more rebounds in 8 of the 12 games, including three games of 50+.
• Wichita State has grabbed 74.9% of its possible defensive rebounds this season. That number would be the sixth best in school history.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 9-4 this season.
... Move them to 5-3 all-time at the T-Mobile Center.
... Be their second straight win vs. KU.
... Make them 21-13 all time on Dec. 30.
... Give Paul Mills 115 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,666-1,249 all time.
... Make them 4-12 vs. Kansas all time.
... Improve their record to 3-2 vs. KU on a neutral court.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 8-5 this season.
... Drop them to 4-4 all-time at the T-Mobile Center.
... Be their second straight loss.
... Make Paul Mills 8-5 as Wichita State head coach.
... Drop them to 20-14 all time on Dec. 30.
... Drop their record to 1,665-1,250 all time.
... Make them 3-13 all-time vs. Kansas.

UP NEXT
GAME 14: NORTH TEXAS                                                          
• North Texas is 6-5 and under first year head coach Ross Hodge.
• North Texas won the last meeting in 2021, 62-52, in Charles Koch Arena.
• Wichita State leads the all-time series with North Texas, 26-12.
• From 1958-1975, Wichita State and North Texas were members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
• The two teams have split the last six meetings.