TEMPLE (8-7, 2-1 AAC) at WICHITA STATE (5-10, 1-2 AAC)
Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024 | 6 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
TV: ESPN+ with Shane Dennis and Tracey Anderson
Radio: GoShockers.com/Listen with Steve Strain  OPENING TIPS
> Wichita State looks to even its conference record, taking on Temple at home Tuesday at 6 pm. in Charles Koch Arena.
> Four of the Shockers' five wins have come in front of their home crowd, most recently defeating Tulane in the conference opener before suffering two road losses in Texas.
> The teams meet for the 14^th Temple leading the series 8-5.
> The Shockers have won the last two against the Owls, most recently claiming a 71-61 victory on March 6, 2023 in the American Athletic Conference tournament.
> Senior transfer from Miami (OH) Sierra Morrow made her long-awaited Shocker debut against Kansas after her NCAA transfer waiver was finally approved. She tied for a team-high 12 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds off the bench. In her third game of the season, she scored a career-high 29 points against Oral Roberts to land herself on the AAC Weekly Honor Roll.
> Tre'Zure Jobe was named AAC Player of the Week on Jan. 1 following her 21 points, 8 assists and 2 steals against Tulane and went on to record her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds at Rice.
> Four Shockers are averaging double-digit scoring with Jobe leading the team with 12.3 points per game and Daniela Abies averaging 12.0, Morrow averaging 10.3 and Salese Blow averaging 10.1.
> Jobe has started all 126 games of her collegiate career, including her five years at Emporia State.
> Jobe is ranked 96^th in the nation in field goal attempts.
> Abies is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 7.5 rebounds per game with two double-doubles (18 pts, 11 reb against Akron, 12 pts, 12 reb at UTSA).
> Abies has finished in double figures in 10 of 15 games with three 18-point games and a career-high 19 against Oral Roberts.
> Wichita State ranks in the top 100 nationally in the following categories: No. 25 in three-point percentage defense (25.7), No. 40 in free throw attempts per game (20.5), No. 80 in free throws made per game (13.5), and No. 97 in bench points per game (22.3).
> The Shockers are ranked third in the American Athletic Conference in free throw attempts per game and three-point percentage defense.
> The Shockers have yet to win on the road this season.
> First-year head coach Terry Nooner has only one returning starter, DJ McCarty.
> Wichita State returns just 34.7 percent of its scoring from a season ago, having lost its top two leading scorers and three other triple-digit point scorers. Trajata Colbert and Curtessia Dean exhausted their eligibility, and three of the top six scorers departed through the transfer portal.
> Wichita State has only two true freshmen on the roster in Salese Blow (Texas) and Sophia Goncalves (California).
> Blow has scored in double figures five times with a career-high 20 points against Dayton and got her first collegiate start at Belmont. She has led the team in scoring in four games and has started the last three games.
> Blow claimed the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week award on Nov. 27 following her 19 points in the win over Omaha and career-high 20 points against Dayton, leading the team in scoring in both contests.
> DJ McCarty is 120 points away from 1,000 career points.
> Morrow is 9 blocks away from 100 career blocks.

SCOUTING TEMPLE
> Led by seventh-year head coach Karen Aston (second at Temple), Temple (8-7, 2-1 AAC) is coming off a 58-48 road win over Tulsa.
> The Owls are 2-2 on the road.
> Two Owls are averaging double-digit scoring with Tiarra East leading the team with 12.6 points per game and Aleah Nelson averaging 12.3.
> Aleah Nelson landed on the AAC Honor Roll after averaging 12 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals in a pair of games at the Briann January Classic in December.
> Nelson leads the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.56) and is ranked second in assists (69) and assists per game (4.6).
> Rayna Tucker leads the Owls in rebounding with 7.4 per game.
> Temple was picked ninth of 14 teams in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll and currently sits in eighth.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. TEMPLE
> The teams meet for the 14^th Temple leading the series 8-5.
> The Shockers have won the last two against the Owls, most recently claiming a 71-61 victory on March 6, 2023 in the American Athletic Conference tournament.
> The last time the two teams met in Charles Koch Arena, the Shockers came away with a 79-67 win on Feb. 25, 2023.
 
LAST MEETING
> No. 8 seed Wichita State never trailed en route to a 71-61 first round win over No. 9 Temple on March 6, 2023 in the opening game of the American Athletic Conference Championship.
> DJ McCarty scored a team-high 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting to go with a career-high tying six assists and four rebounds. Trajata Colbert went for 15 points and six rebounds. Shamaryah Duncan and Ambah Kowcun both added 11 to round out the double figure scorers.

NON-CONFERENCE NOTABLES
> Wichita State faced three first-time foes in the non-conference docket, Presbyterian, Belmont and Dayton.
> The Shockers opened their season against No. 23 Oklahoma.
> Belmont (MVC) and Southeastern Louisiana (Southland) were picked to win their respective leagues.
> The Shockers' played two games against teams that finished inside the Top 50 of last year's NCAA NET Rankings (Kansas – 30 and Oklahoma – 38).

LAST TIME OUT
> UTSA ran past Wichita State in the fourth quarter as the Shockers dropped their second-straight conference game, 74-60, in the Convocation Center.
> UTSA's Elyssa Coleman tallied 32 points and 19 rebounds as the Roadrunners (7-7, 1-2 AAC) picked up their first conference win.
> UTSA opened the game on a 10-0 run as Wichita State shot 0-for-11 in the first six minutes. The Roadrunners took a 19-8 lead after the first quarter, but a spark from Aniya Bell off the bench brought the Shockers (5-10, 1-2 AAC) within three, going into the half down 33-30.
> Bell scored a career-high 16 points, shooting 3-for-6 from three to lead the Shockers in scoring, and Daniela Abies recorded her second career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
> The Shockers out-scored UTSA in the third quarter to bring the game within one but never claimed the lead as the Roadrunners led wire to wire.
> The Shockers struggled to protect the ball, committing seven of their 16 turnovers in the fourth quarter as the game slipped away.
> UTSA out-rebounded the Shockers 52-40 with 23 offensive rebounds, scoring 24 second-chance points.
> The Shockers tied their season high for made threes with seven but shot just .356 from the field.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...                                                                     
... make them 6-10 on the season
... improve their home record to 5-4
... improve their record to 6-8 all-time against Temple
... bring Terry Nooner's record to 6-10 at Wichita State
... make Wichita State 656-750 all-time

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... make them 5-11 on the season
... drop their home record to 4-5
... drop their record to 5-9 all-time against Temple
... bring Terry Nooner's record to 5-11 at Wichita State
... make Wichita State 655-751 all-time

UP NEXT
Wichita State heads back to Texas to take on North Texas (12-3, 2-1 AAC), who is undefeated at home this season. Game is set for 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 14.