EAST TENNESSEE STATE (6-3) at WICHITA STATE (6-1)
Saturday, Dec. 7 | 6:00 p.m.
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
 
TV: ESPN+ with Shane Dennis & Bob Hull
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Dave Dahl
 

---

Family Day: The start of the Holiday Season means spending time with family! Bring yours to Family Day in Charles Koch Arena and bring a stuffed animal to take part in our halftime Teddy Bear Toss. Stick around for postgame autographs from the team.
Student Giveaway: The first 500 students will receive a Wichita State Santa hat.
 

---

OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State closes out a brief two-game homestand vs. East Tennessee State on Saturday at 6 p.m.
• A win would move the Shockers to 8-1 and would be the best start since 2019-20 when they also started the season 8-1.
• Wichita State returned to the win column behind a 78-54 win over Alcorn State on Wednesday. Wichita State held the Braves to 26.0% shooting - a season low by an opponent.
• Quincy Ballard logged the first double-double of the season by a Shocker with 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.
• AJ McGinnis went for a season-high 14 points on 5-of-9 field goals and 4-of-8 three-pointers.
• Wichita State finished the month of November 6-1. In his two seasons, the Shockers are 13-2 under Paul Mills in November games.
• Wichita State is 11-10 all time on Dec. 7.
• Wichita State ranks 12th nationally in defensive rebounds per game (30.00), 23rd in turnovers per game (9.8), 34th in free throws made per game (18.1) and 42nd in three-point defense (28.2%).
• Wichita State checked in at No. 86 in the latest NCAA NET rankings on Dec. 6.
• At No. 91 in the KenPom rankings, Wichita State ranks 3rd out of the 13 teams in the American.
• Senior forward Ronnie DeGray III will be sidelined for the next several weeks after suffering a fractured wrist vs. Monmouth on Nov. 18.
• Wichita State returns three starters and seven letterwinners from the 2023-24 roster, including three of its top five scorers.
• Fifty-one (51.0) percent of the scoring from last year's team is back for the Shockers, led by second leading scorer Harlond Beverly (11.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 3.2 APG).
• Quincy Ballard shattered the single season school record for field goal percentage and also had top five marks in blocks per game and total blocks in 2023-24.
• Ballard moved into a tie for 9th on the Wichita State career blocks list vs. UNI on Nov. 14. He's on pace to shatter the WSU career record for blocks per game at 1.96.
• Eight student-athletes on Wichita State's roster have NCAA Tournament experience: Quincy Ballard (Florida St.), Xavier Bell (Drexel), Harlond Beverly (Miami), Ronnie DeGray III (Missouri), Justin Hill (Longwood), AJ McGinnis (UNCG), Zane Meeks (San Francisco) and Corey Washington (St. Peter's).

WE > ME
• With the late arrival of Matej Bošnjak to the roster this summer, Wichita State had no scholarships remaining. Enter redshirt senior Harlond Beverly. Beverly volunteered to give his scholarship to Bošnjak and classify as a walk-on during his final season of collegiate basketball.
• In an interview with the Wichita Eagle, Beverly said: "I'm just grateful to be in this position where I can play Division I basketball while getting my Bachelor's and working toward my Master's degree. It's really just a blessing to be in college. I've been to two really good schools and that's really going to be helpful for my future, so I understand how helpful college can be. If I can help someone else get a full-ride scholarship, like one of my teammates, then I don't mind being the one to sacrifice when it's beneficial to our team."
• Head Coach Paul Mills said in that same interview: "In order to be a part of it, you have to make sacrifices and this is a pretty substantial one on his part. I would tell you that he not only volunteered to do it, he was eager to do it, to be honest with you."

SCOUTING EAST TENNESSEE STATE
• Brooks Savage is in his second year at the helm of the East Tennessee State men's basketball program.
• In his first season as the Buccaneer head coach in 2023-24, Savage led the Blue & Gold to 19 wins – the most since the 2019-20 season – as well as a trip to the Southern Conference Tournament championship game. The Bucs won three games in three days with victories over No. 10 VMI, No. 2 UNCG and No. 3 Chattanooga to get to the title game where ETSU fell to No. 1 seed Samford.
• Savage has a plethora of experience in the Southern Conference as he has spent seven of his 12 years as an assistant in the league. Between his five years at ETSU and two years at Chattanooga, Savage's teams have combined to win 79 percent of their conference games (98-26) and 72 percent overall (170-67). Savage's teams have finished either first or second in six of those seven seasons, while also appearing in four tournament finals and winning two of those championship games.
• Overall, ETSU ranks second in the SoCon in rebound margin (6.9), offensive rebounds per game (13.8), blocks per game (3.6), three-point percentage defense (28.1) and turnover margin (2.3)
• Quimari Peterson leads the SoCon in total points scored (165) and is second in points per game (18.3). He also ranks second in assist/turnover ratio (2.5), fourth in field goal percentage (53.6) and assists per game (4.2).
• ETSU has had five different leading scorers in its first eight games. Peterson has led the Bucs in four of them, while Jaden Seymour, John Buggs III and Maki Johnson have also paced the Bucs in scoring. Seymour and Peterson both poured in 28-point efforts against USC Upstate.
• In the KenPom rankings, the Bucs are 13th nationally in offensive rebound percentage (39.2) and 17th in steal percentage (7.0).
• After hitting eight threes at James Madison, ETSU has made at least one three-pointer in 1,168 straight games – the third-longest streak in the country.
• ETSU was picked to finish third in the SoCon Preseason Coaches Poll. Seymour and Peterson landed SoCon preseason honors.
• The Bucs return 10 players from last year's 2023-24 roster. ETSU only lost 8% of its scoring and 9% of its minutes played from last year's roster to the transfer portal – the fewest amount of production from any SoCon program.
• Savage and his staff brought in five new players to complete the 2024-25 roster. The five newcomers include four transfers – Curt Lewis (Missouri), John Buggs III (North Texas), Davion Bradford (Wake Forest) and Roosevelt Wheeler (VCU) .

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. EAST TENNESSEE STATE
• This will be the first-ever meeting between Wichita State and East Tennessee State.

CONNECT THE DOTS
• ETSU senior forward Jaden Seymour is in his fourth season with the Bucs after spending his freshman season at Wichita State (2020-21). Seymour enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2023-24 where he earned Third Team All-SoCon honors after averaging 14.7 points and 6.1 rebounds.

ON THIS DATE: DEC. 7
• 1955 – WU Fieldhouse (now Charles Koch Arena) was formally dedicated by the Kansas Board of Regents, prior to the Shockers' home game against the University of Kansas.
• 1988 – Sasha Radunovich drew a foul with 1 second to go and hit two free throws to give the Shockers a thrilling, 92-91, road win at Oral Roberts.
• 2013 - Wichita State erased an 8-point halftime deficit vs. Oral Roberts behind a second half outburst in Charles Koch Arena. The Shockers outscored Oral Roberts by 21 over the final 20 minutes to keep their unbeaten record alive. ORU's Shawn Glover gave Wichita State's defense fits in the first half, scoring 14 points, but was held to 8 points after halftime on 3-of-10 shooting.

WORKING OVERTIME
• Wichita State's 68-66 overtime win vs. Minnesota in the opener of the ESPN Events Invitational on Thanksgiving made the Shockers 1-0 in OT this season and 64-79 all time.
• Wichita State is 4-5 all time in overtime games on a neutral court, snapping a three-game losing streak. Wichita State's last overtime game on a neutral court came against Arizona in the 2021 Roman Main Event. Arizona won that game, 82-78.
• Over the last three seasons Wichita State is just 2-4 in overtime games.
• The Shockers are 1-2 in overtime under head coach Paul Mills.

MILESTONE WATCH
• Quincy Ballard is 24 blocks away from 125 in his Wichita State career.
• Xavier Bell needs 28 points to reach 1,000 for his collegiate career.
• Harlond Beverly is 72 points shy of 1,000 career points.
• Justin Hill has 1,478 career points. He needs 22 points to reach 1,500. He's 46 assists shy of 500 for his career.
• AJ McGinnis is 124 points away from reaching 1,000 for his career.

ALCORN STATE LEFTOVERS
• Wichita State improved to 3-1 all time vs. Alcorn.
• The Shockers are now 14-10 when playing on Dec. 4.
• Alcorn State's 54 points were a season low for a Wichita State opponent.
• Wichita State has allowed 41 offensive rebounds over the last two games after giving up a season-high 21 vs. Alcorn State.
• Wichita State's 47 total rebounds were a season high.
• Wichita State lost the turnover battle for the second straight game.
• Wichita State dished out a season-high 19 assists.
• Quincy Ballard logged his first double-double of the season and third of his career behind 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.
• AJ McGinnis set season highs in points (14), field goals made (5) and attempted (9) and three-pointers made (4) and attempted (8). It marked his second game in double figures this season.
• Corey Washington recorded his sixth game in double figures with 10 points.

OLD TIMERS
• With COVID still impacting eligibility, several schools around the country have multiple student-athletes on their rosters playing in their fifth, sixth and even seventh seasons. Wichita State is tied for second in the country with seven student-athletes in their fifth year or higher of collegiate basketball.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 8-1 for the first time since 2019.
... Up their record to 5-0 at home this season.
... Move them to 1-0 all time vs. East Tennessee State.
... Make Paul Mills 23-20 as Wichita State head coach.
... Give Mills 129 career coaching victories.
... Make them 270-61 all time in Charles Koch Arena.
... Run their record to 1,680-1,265 all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 7-2 this season.
... Drop them to 0-1 all-time vs. East Tennessee State.
... Make Paul Mills 22-21 as Wichita State head coach.
... Lower Mills' career record to 128-105.
... Move their record in Charles Koch Arena to 269-62.
... Drop their record to 1,679-1,266 all time.

GAME 10: at DePAUL                                                           
• The all-time series between Wichita State and DePaul is tied at 4-4.
• Wichita State and DePaul last met in 2013 in Kansas City.
• DePaul has already doubled its win total from 2023-24 at 7-1 this season, led by first-year head coach Chris Holtmann.