WICHITA STATE (8-9, 0-4) at SOUTH FLORIDA (10-5, 3-1)
Sunday, Jan. 21 | 1:00 p.m. CT
Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center
 
TV: ESPN+ with Ryan Urquhart & Jim Louk
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
 

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OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State wraps up a two-game road swing through the Sunshine State at South Florida on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.
• Wichita State is 16-11 all time when playing on Jan. 21.
• The Shockers lead the series with South Florida, 9-1, and have won eight straight against the Bulls.
• South Florida is 10-5 overall and 3-1 after knocking off No. 10 Memphis Thursday night in Memphis. The Bulls snapped Memphis' 10-game win streak, erasing a 20-point deficit in the second half.
• Wichita State is coming off a sixth straight loss after falling to No. 23 Florida Atlantic on Thursday, 86-77. The Shockers let an 11-point halftime lead slip away against the Owls.
• The 6-game losing streak is the longest since Wichita State also dropped 6 straight from 12/28/08-1/14/09.
• The Shockers are 0-4 to begin conference play for the second time in three seasons (2021-22 started 0-4).
• Wichita State has lost its last seven games against ranked opponents and is 0-3 this season against teams ranked in the Top 25.
• Since joining the American Athletic Conference, Wichita State is 3-13 against ranked teams.
• Harlond Beverly has 41 assists over his last 11 games. Beverly leads the team in assists with 55.
• Colby Rogers (16.2 ppg; leading scorer) has made a three-pointer in all 17 games this season and multiple in 14 of the 17. He leads the AAC in 3PT per game (2.88) and total 3PT FG made (49) and ranks 2nd in 3PT Pct (40.5%).
• His streak of 17 straight games with a made three-pointer is the 7th longest in school history.
• In 13 of the 17 games Rogers has tallied 15 points or more - a team best. He has a team-high five 20-point games.
• Wichita State ranks 18th nationally in rebounds per game and 25th in defensive rebounds per game.
• Quincy Ballard ranks 22nd nationally in blocks (37). He had a career-high 7 vs. Norfolk State on Nov. 25.
• Ballard has scored 10 or more points in four of the last six games. He had three total in the first 11 games of the season. In the last six games, he's 27-for-34 (79.4%) from the field.
• Wichita State posted a winning non-conference record for the 26th consecutive season, and has the league's seventh-best NET ranking.
• Per KenPom the American Athletic Conference is ranked the 9th best conference in the NCAA.
• 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.

SCOUTING SOUTH FLORIDA
• Led by first year head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, South Florida enters the matchup at 10-5 and 3-1 in league play.
• Abdur-Rahim came to USF after leading one of the nation's most stunning turnarounds at Kennesaw State, where he guided a 1-win season to a 26-9 record, ASUN Conference regular season and tournament titles and the program's first-ever Division I NCAA Tournament berth in 2022-23.
• In four seasons at Kennesaw State (2019-23), Abdur-Rahim oversaw progressive growth in the Owls program, doubling the program's wins every season, before culminating in KSU's first winning record as an NCAA Division I program and first ASUN conference titles (regular season and tournament) in 2022-23.
• The former NCAA Division II power transitioned to Division I in men's basketball in 2005-06 and had peaked at a 14-18 mark in 2017-18 before Abdur-Rahim took over the program.
• Abdur-Rahim earned ASUN Coach of the Year and NABC District 3 Coach of the Year honors and was named the 2023 Hugh Durham Award winner (Division I Mid-Major Coach of the Year) by CollegeInsider.com and Georgia Men's College Coach of the Year by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. He was also a finalist for the Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year award.
• He finished his KSU tenure with a 45-74 record in four seasons, going 39-27 the last two years, doubling his win total every season on campus before culminating with a school-record 26 wins.
• South Florida was picked to finish ninth in the Preseason American Athletic Conference Coaches Poll.
• The Bulls rely heavily on their bench for production, ranking 36th in the NCAA and 2nd in the conference averaging 27.80 points per contest. The USF bench has outscored its opponent's bench 368-222. Opposing benches are averaging just 17.07 points per game.
• Selton Miguel leads the team with 15.1 points per contest and is fourth on the squad with 3.9 boards per game. He is third on the team with 18 steals and 30 assists. Miguel leads the American and ranks 5th nationally in three-point percentage at 47.5%
• Chris Youngblood is second on the squad with 14.7 points per game. He is averaging 2.5 rebounds per game to go along with 32 assists, 10 blocks and 11 steals. He is shooting 81.9 percent from the free-throw line, which is tied for 156th in the country and ninth in the AAC.
• Jayden Reid leads the team with 62 assists. He is tied for 126th in the NCAA at 4.1 assists per game and is seventh in the AAC. He has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.10, which is 25th in the country, second in the conference and fifth among NCAA freshmen. He paces the squad with 21 steals. He averages 2.7 rebounds per game to go along with 7.9 points per contest.
• Kasean Pryor leads the team with 6.7 rebounds per contest. He averages 11.3 points per game with 24 assists and 20 steals. He has a team-best 15 blocks.
• The Bulls average 76.3 points per game on 42.7% shooting and 33.1% from beyond the arc. USF is converting 72.4% of its free throw attempts. They average only 10.7 turnovers a game. USF ranks 28th nationally in free throws made per game, 29th in turnover margin and 31st in free throw attempts per game.
• Defensively, they allow 70.5 points and opponents are converting 42.8% of their field goal attempts and 32.2% of their attempts from long range. They force 14.5 turnovers a game.

THE SERIES VS. SOUTH FLORIDA
• Wichita State has dominated the series with South Florida since joining the American Athletic Conference. The Shockers are 9-1 against the Bulls with eight straight wins in the series.
• Wichita State is 3-1 at the Yuengling Center with three consecutive victories.
• This marks the first time in 10 meetings South Florida will not be led by Brian Gregory on the bench.
• In seven seasons since joining the American, Wichita State and South Florida have played a regular season home-and-home only three times. Due to the league's unbalanced schedule the Shockers did not travel to Tampa in 2017-18 or 2021-22. USF did not play in Wichita in 2018-19 or this season.
• Four of the last six matchups have been decided by five points or less.
• South Florida's only win against Wichita State came in 2019 at the Yuengling Center where the Shockers were held to just 41 points.
• The Bulls have never had a 20-point scorer in the 10 meetings. Russell Tchewa came close last season with a team-high 19 in Tampa.

RECORD BOOK WATCH
• Quincy Ballard is on pace to shatter the single season school record for field goal percentage.
• Through 17 games Ballard is shooting 69.9% (80-for-83) from the field. The current school record is 61.6% by Steve Grayer set in 1987-88.
• That number would rank 2nd nationally but to qualify players must average 5 FGM per game. Currently Ballard is at 3.4 FGM per game.
• On the defensive end, Ballard is trending towards a top five season blocking shots. He's currently fourth on the single season blocks per game list.
• Ballard needs just 14 blocks to move into the top 10 on the single season total blocks list.

LEAD GUARDS
• Colby Rogers and Xavier Bell have formed a potent 1-2 scoring attack for Wichita State through 17 games. Rogers leads Wichita State in scoring at 16.2 per game and Bell is right behind at 12.4.
• Rogers ranks 7th in the American in points and 8th in points per game.
• The duo of Rogers and Bell make up 38.5 percent of Wichita State's scoring as they've accounted for 487 points.
• Rogers has scored in double figures in 14 of the first 17 games, and Bell in 12 of the 17. They each have multiple 20-point outings to their name (Rogers - 5, Bell - 3).

COLBY ROG33333333333333333RS
• Colby Rogers is riding a streak of 17 straight games with at least one made three-pointer to start the season.
• He has multiple three-pointers in 14 of the first 17 games, including 11 of the last 13.
• Rogers is attempting 7.12 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 2.88 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 27 total games in his Shocker career. In those 27 games he has 51 blocked shots. Thirty-seven of those have come in the first 17 games.
• Through 17 games his 37 blocks rank 21st nationally and his 2.18 blocks per game also rank 21st.
• He has multiple blocks in all but five games this season.

BOARD OF APPROVAL
• Through the first 17 games of the season Wichita State has been among the nation's top rebounding teams. Wichita State ranks 18th nationally in rebounds per game, 25th in defensive rebounds per game and 66th in rebound margin.
• Wichita State has four players averaging 4.5 or more rebounds per game (Dalen Ridgnal - 7.5; Kenny Pohto - 7.1; Quincy Ballard - 6.1; Harlond Beverly - 4.6).
• Wichita State has been outrebounded seven times this season with five of those coming in the last six games.
• Wichita State has pulled down 40 or more rebounds in 9 of the 17 games, including three games of 50+.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 9-9 this season.
... Make them 1-4 in AAC play.
... Snap a six-game losing streak.
... Make them 17-11 all time on Jan. 21.
... Give Paul Mills 115 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,666-1,254 all time.
... Make them 10-1 vs. South Florida all time.
... Be their 9th straight win over the Bulls.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 8-10 this season.
... Drop them to 0-5 in AAC play.
... Be their seventh straight loss - the longest since 2000-01.
... Make Paul Mills 8-10 as Wichita State head coach.
... Drop them to 16-12 all time on Jan. 21.
... Drop their record to 1,665-1,255 all time.
... Make them 9-2 all-time vs. South Florida.
... Snap an 8-game win streak against the Bulls.

UP NEXT
GAME 19: EAST CAROLINA                                               
• East Carolina is 9-9 and under first year head coach Michael Schwartz.
• The Shockers and Pirates split the regular season series a year ago.
• Wichita State leads the all-time series, 7-1.
• Wichita State is 3-1 against the Pirates in Wichita with the lone loss coming last season.