WICHITA STATE (3-5) at KANSAS (7-1)
Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
TV: ESPN+ with Josh Klingler and Wayne Simien
Radio: Audacy.com/KFH with Pat Strathman 
 
OPENING TIP
Wichita State travels up the road for its first true road game of the season, taking on Kansas in Terry Nooner's return to Allen Fieldhouse.
Nooner was an assistant coach and associate head coach with Brandon Schneider at KU from 2020-23 before taking over as head coach of the Shockers in 2023.
Wichita State and Kansas meet for the 42^nd time in program history with KU leading the series 34-7.
The Shockers have only defeated KU in Allen Fieldhouse one time in 1982.
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 five games and dished out a career-high seven assists against Missouri State, earning AAC Honorable Mention weekly recognition on Nov. 18.
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 five of the last seven games. She got her first career start in game four and has started four games total.
Redshirt-junior Jayla Murray has led the Shockers in scoring three times with one double-double. She has finished in double figures in three of the last four games.
All three wins this season have come when the Shockers outrebounded their opponent.
All but one win in the Terry Nooner era have come when holding opponents to less than 70 points.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Wichita State's Princess Anderson and Jayla Murray each put up a career-high 17 points in the Shockers' 74-45 win over Prairie View A&M Monday night in Charles Koch Arena.
 
Anderson, a transfer from Pratt CC where she led the NJCAA with 26.7 points per game as a sophomore, scored 12 of her 17 points in the first half, matching her previous season best before halftime. Prior to this game, over half of her shots this season were three pointers, but she finished the game 7-for-13 from the field without hitting a three.
 
Anderson also recorded four of Wichita State's 13 steals in a strong team defensive effort as the Shockers scored 24 points off 23 Panther turnovers.
 
Murray recorded her second career-high in scoring in three games as she shot 8-for-14 from the field and grabbed six rebounds, and Salese Blow notched her fourth double figure scoring game of the season with 13 points.
 
Bre'Yon White recorded a team-high eight rebounds with nine points of her own, her fifth game leading the Shockers in rebounding.
 
Wichita State dished out a season best tying 17 assists courtesy of four apiece from Blow and Jameson and three from Murray.
 
The Shockers held Prairie View A&M to just 45 points, their lowest scoring game this season, as the Panthers shot 16-for-59 (.271) from the field, 16 percent lower than their season average.
 
A slow start in the first quarter for both teams had Prairie View leading 8-7 with two minutes left in the quarter, but White and Anderson sparked some momentum for the Shockers, going on an 8-0 run by themselves to end the first.
 
Anderson carried that momentum into the second quarter where she scored seven more, and the Shockers, again, finished the quarter on a run with Jameson hitting a three in the last minute to give Wichita State an 18-point lead at half.
 
Prairie View's Nyam Thornton scored the Panthers' first six points of the second half, but six points from Blow and a pair of threes from Jasmine Peaks and Ornella Niankan did not allow the Panthers to make up any ground.
 
Murray got hot in the fourth quarter, shooting 5-for-6 from the floor and scoring 10 of her 17 points, and Aicha Ndour scored all four of her points in the final period as the Shockers outscored the Panthers 19-7 in the final period to claim their largest margin of victory in the Terry Nooner era.
 
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
After eight games, the Shockers rank fourth in the American Athletic Conference in bench points per game, averaging 21.8 and fourth in steals per game with 8.8.
 
Taylor Jameson ranks fourth in the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.0) and ranks sixth in overall assists (32) with a career-high seven against Missouri State and Creighton. Salese Blow has the fifth-most free throw attempts in the league with 35, and Bre'Yon White ranks 11^th in the AAC in rebounds per game with 6.8.

SCOUTING THE JAYHAWKS
Led by 27^th-year head coach (10^th at KU) Brandon Schneider, Kansas is coming off three-straight wins over Pittsburgh, UNI and Auburn to win the Paradise Jam. The Jayhawks are 7-1 this season after ending the 2023-24 season 20-13 (11-7 Big 12). Kansas was picked eighth of 16 teams in the Bigg 12 Preseason Poll. Kansas is led by S'Mya Nichols, who is averaging 21.4 points per game with 171 points in eight games. She has recorded two-straight 20-plus point games with 15 overall in two seasons. Nichols leads the Big 12 in points per game and leads the NCAA in made free throws with 71. Kansas is on a 12-game home win streak.
 
LEADING LADIES
Through eight games, Jayla Murray is leading the team with 10.8 points per game, with Salese Blow and Taylor Jameson close behind with 10.3 points per game. Bre'Yon White is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 6.8 rebounds per game.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. KANSAS
Wichita State and Prairie View A&M meet for 42nd time in program history with the Jayhawks leading the series 34-7 dating back to 1970. Kansas has won the last four as the Shockers' last and biggest win over the Jayhawks came in 2002 when they won 84-58 in Charles Koch Arena.
 
LAST MEETING
The last time the two teams met a season ago, the Jayhawks claimed a76-56 victory in Wichita, Kan. S'Mya Nichols tallied 23 points and seven rebounds, shooting 10-for-12 from the field. Sierra Morrow and Aniya Bell tied for a team-high 12 points, and Jayla Murray scored nine in her first game back after a broken nose.
 
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 scoring three times and assists four times in eight 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 has led the Shockers in scoring three times (against No. 9 Oklahoma, Creighton and Prairie View A&M) and recorded her first career double-double in the home opener against Oklahoma Christian.
 
P3
Princess Anderson had a breakout game in the win over Prairie View A&M, scoring a Division I career-high 17 points, recording four steals and grabbing five rebounds. She was also a spark plug for the Shockers against Belmont, hitting three three pointers and finishing with 12 points. She averaged 26.7 points per game as a sophomore at Pratt CC, leading the NJCAA in scoring.
 
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.