WICHITA STATE (2-3) vs. CREIGHTON (2-2)
Monday, Nov. 25, 2024 | 7:30 p.m. CT
Destin, Fla. | Raider Arena
TV: FloSports.com with Roland Ruiz and Hector Ledesma
Radio: Audacy.com/KFH with Pat Strathman 

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OPENING TIP
Wichita State hits the road for the first time this season to take on Creighton in the first round of the Beach Bracket on the Emerald Coast Classic. The winner will face the winner of Missouri and Syracuse on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., and the consolation game will take place prior at 5 p.m.
The teams meet for the 52^nd time in history with the Bluejays leading the series 36-25. On neutral ground, Creighton leads the series 3-2.
Wichita State has entered year two of the Terry Nooner era. The Shockers return their leading scorer from conference play, sophomore Salese Blow.
With nine newcomers on the team, the Shockers return just 37.6 percent of their scoring.
Blow has led the Shockers in scoring in two games with 16 points against Belmont and 17 points against Missouri State, shooting 4-for-7 from three in the latter.
George Mason transfer and Wichita native Taylor Jameson came home for her final season of collegiate basketball and is making a splash early in the season. She finished in double figures in each of the first four games and dished out a career-high seven assists against Missouri State, earning AAC Honorable Mention weekly recognition on Nov. 18. She averages 32 minutes per game.
Junior transfer from TCU, Bre'Yon White, opened the season with a game-high four steals in the win over Oklahoma Christian and has led the Shockers in rebounding in three of the last four games.
All but one win in the Terry Nooner era have come when holding opponents to less than 70 points.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The No. 9-ranked Sooners stormed to a 79-49 victory Tuesday evening in Charles Koch Arena.
 
Wichita State held Oklahoma 18 points below its season scoring average of 97, forcing 24 Sooner turnovers.
 
Three Shockers finished in double figures, led by redshirt-junior Jayla Murray with 14, and graduate transfer Taylor Jameson and junior Bre'Yon White put up 10 apiece. Jameson led Wichita State in rebounding with seven, and White's 10 points were a career high. White also tied her career high in steals with four.
 
The Shockers held Oklahoma's Raegan Beers to just 10 points after the center averaged 24.7 points in her first three games.
 
The No. 1 rebounding team in the nation, Oklahoma, won the battle of the boards, 53-31.
 
Wichita State started the game strong and had it tied at 9-9 halfway through the first quarter, but the Sooners got hot from the three-point line, shooting 5-for-6, three of which came courtesy of Payton Verhulst, to take a 25-11 lead going into the second quarter.
 
Both teams scored 23 in the second quarter, and it remained a 14-point game at the half.
 
The Shockers scored five-straight early in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 11, but a 13-0 Sooner run stretched it to a 24-point game.
 
Wichita State shot just 5-for-26 from the field and 0-for-7 from three in the second half, and Oklahoma claimed its fourth-straight win to remain undefeated.
 
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
After five games, the Shockers rank second in the American Athletic Conference in offensive rebounds per game with 16.4, ranking 24^th in the nation. Wichita State also ranks second in the AAC in steals per game with 9.6. Wichita State ranks in the top 100 nationally in rebounds per game with 41.2.
 
Taylor Jameson ranks third in the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.5) and fifth in assists per game (4.0) with a career-high seven against Missouri State.
 
LEADING LADIES
Through five games, Taylor Jameson is leading the Shockers in scoring with 13.4 points per game. She has scored in double figures in all five games this season. Salese Blow is averaging 9.8 points per game. Bre'Yon White is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 7.4 rebounds per game, and Jayla Murray is averaging 9.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game with one double-double.

SCOUTING THE BLUEJAYS
Led by 23^rd-year head coach Jim Flanery, Creighton is coming off and 80-75 win over No. 21 Nebraska. The Bluejays rank 10^th in the NCAA and lead the BIG EAST in three pointers per game (10.0) and rank third in the NCAA and lead the BIG EAST in turnovers per game (8.5). Two Bluejays are averaging double figures through the first four games, with Lauren Jensen averaging 23.8 points per game and Morgan Maly averaging 16.0 per game. Creighton was picked second of 11 teams in the BIG EAST Preseason Poll behind UConn after finishing second in the regular season a season ago and earning its third-straight NCAA Tournament berth. Jensen was named to the Naismith Player of the Year Preseason Watch List.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. CREIGHTON
Wichita State and Creighton meet for the 52nd time in program history. The teams spend 20 years together in the Missouri Valley Conference before Creighton moved to the BIG EAST and the Shockers joined The American. The Bluejays are on a three-game win streak from 2017-19, winning the last matchup on Dec. 14, 2019 in Omaha. Wichita State's last win over Creighton came on Nov. 13, 2016 in Charles Koch Arena.
 
LAST MEETING
The last time the two teams met, Creighton claimed a 56-46 victory in Omaha on Dec. 14, 2019. Jaylyn Agnew and Tatum Rembao put up 17 apiece for the Bluejays in the win. Creighton was 7-of-26 from beyond the arc entering the final quarter, but connected on five of its six attempts in the fourth to erase a three-point deficit and turn it into a 56-46 win over Wichita State. Agnew went on to be named the BIG EAST Player of the Year and be drafted by the Atlanta Dream. Agnew is now on the coaching staff at Creighton. Mariah McCully led the Shockers with 14 points.
 
NOT SO NEW-COMERS
Between the nine new additions to the 2024-25 Wichita State roster, they combine for 20 years of collegiate basketball experience. Nooner brought in three Division I transfers: Taylor Jameson from George Mason, Aicha Ndour from Illinois and Bre'Yon White from TCU.
 
Princess Anderson (Pratt CC), Kyleigh Ortiz (Coffeyville CC), Jasmine Peaks (Indian River State), and Maimouna Sissoko (Cloud County CC) all transferred from junior colleges, joining Jayla Murray (Florida SouthWestern State) and Ornella Niankan (Odessa College) to make six Shockers who began their careers in the NJCAA.
 
INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
The Shockers' roster features international athletes from five different countries, including Canada (Ornella Niankan), France (Fiona Diomande), Mali (Maimouna Sissoko), Mozambique (Carla Budane), and Senegal (Aicha Ndour).
 
T-TIME
Wichita native Taylor Jameson was named to the AAC weekly Honorable Mention list on Nov. 18 after averaging 17 points, 6.5 assists and 4 steals in two games. She has led the Shockers in points and assists twice in four games.
 
BOBO DA SHOW
Salese Blow, nicknamed BoBo by her mom when Salese couldn't pronounce the L in her last name as a kid, enters her sophomore season after claiming three American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week awards in 2023-24. As a freshman, she increased her scoring from non-conference to conference play, leading the Shockers in points per game against AAC opponents with 13.5. She recorded 21 double-figure scoring games with five 20+ point performances.
 
MURRAY ON THE RISE
Redshirt-junior Jayla Murray is back and better than ever after a summer spent in the gym and improving her nutrition. Further removed from her ACL injury, Murray, who averaged 7.1 points per game a season ago, is playing with more confidence. She led the Shockers in scoring against No. 9 Oklahoma and recorded her first career double-double in the home opener against Oklahoma Christian.
 
NEW HEIGHTS
Senior transfer from Illinois, Aicha Ndour, is the tallest player in Wichita State history at 6-6.
 
SUMMER WELL SPENT
The Shockers embarked on a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands from July 28-August 2, where they played two games against Canadian team, Regina. The trip allowed the team to bond and experience a different culture, growing as a unit on and off the court. Wichita State won the first game 81-76 and the second game 69-60.