WICHITA STATE (10-14, 2-9) at EAST CAROLINA (12-12, 5-6)
Thursday, Feb. 15 | 6:00 p.m. CT
Greenville, N.C. | Minges Coliseum
 
TV: ESPN+ with Patrick Johnson & Si Seymour
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Shane Dennis & Bob Hull
 

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OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State prepares for a two-game road swing through North Carolina with stop No. 1 at East Carolina on Thursday.
• Wichita State is 24-11 all time when playing on Feb. 15.  The 24 wins are the second most on any date in school history.
• The Shockers lead the series with East Carolina, 7-2. The Pirates have won two straight in Charles Koch Arena after a 54-52 win on Jan. 24. Wichita State is a perfect 3-0 all-time in Greenville.
• East Carolina is 12-12 overall and 5-6 in conference play after a road win at UTSA on Saturday. The Pirates are 9-7 at home this season.
• Wichita State is coming off an overtime loss at home to No. 20 Florida Atlantic on Sunday, 95-82. The Shockers were outscored 21-8 in OT.
• Wichita State has lost its last 8 games vs. ranked opponents and is 0-4 this season.
• Wichita State dropped to 63-78 all-time in overtime games, including 37-33 at home. It marked the second straight season Wichita State played in overtime on Super Bowl Sunday.
• Harlond Beverly has scored in double figures in 5 of the last 7 games. He's averaging 12.9 points per game on 47.1% shooting from the field in those 7 games.
• Colby Rogers (15.7 ppg; leading scorer) has made a three-pointer in all 24 games this season and multiple in 19 of the 24. He leads the AAC in 3PT FGM per game (2.77), total 3PT FG made (66) and ranks 2nd in 3PT Percentage (40.2%).
• His streak of 24 straight games with a made three-pointer is the 6th longest in school history.
• In 15 of the 24 games Rogers has tallied 15 points or more - a team best. He has a team-high six 20-point games.
• Wichita State ranks 23rd nationally in rebounds per game and 22nd in defensive rebounds per game. In conference play, Wichita State's rebounding numbers have taken a hit, averaging only 36.5 rebounds per game.
• Quincy Ballard ranks 16th nationally in blocks (53). He had tied a career-high with 7 vs. East Carolina on Jan. 24. Ballard has 16 games with multiple blocks.
• Over the last 13 games Ballard is shooting 43-for-56 (76.8%) from the field.
• The win over SMU (KenPom 37) on Jan. 28 was the highest ranked KenPom win since defeating No. 5 Houston on Feb. 18, 2021.
• 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 EAST CAROLINA
• Led by second year head coach Michael Schwartz, East Carolina enters the matchup at 12-12 and 5-6 in league play.
• In Schwartz's first season at the helm, the Pirates posted a 16-17 overall record and a 6-12 mark in conference play. The 16 wins were the most for the Pirate program in nearly a decade (2013-14) and the six conference victories tied for the most since the Pirates joined the American prior to the start of the 2014-15 season.
• ECU defeated South Florida 73-58 in the first round of the AAC tournament to win its first game in the tournament since 2017.
• Considered one of the most versatile and well-rounded assistant coaches in college basketball, Schwartz spent the seven seasons on staff at the University of Tennessee – including four as the associate head coach. In the fall of 2019, Schwartz earned feature placement on The Athletic's list of the nation's top-25 up-and-com-ing college basketball coaches.
• East Carolina was picked to finish fifth in the Preseason American Athletic Conference Coaches Poll.
• The Pirates are led by Preseason American Athletic Conference Second Team selection RJ Felton who scores a team-high 16.2 points per game. He ranks sixth in the AAC in scoring. Felton pulls down 6.3 rebounds (second on the team) and has a team-best 48 steals and 18 blocks.
• Felton had back-to-back games of 30+ points in November, and has scored 10 or more in all but two games this season.
• Ezra Ausar is second on the team in scoring at 12.9 per game and adds 5.0 rebounds. Ausar is shooting 52.9% from the field
• Brandon Johnson leads the Pirates in rebounding at 8.5 per game to go with 13.5 points. He's second on the team in steals with 34. Johnson ranks fourth in the American in rebounds per game and fourth in defensive rebounds and total rebounds. His seven double-doubles are third-most in the American and 63rd in the NCAA.
• Bobby Pettiford Jr. - a transfer from Kansas has dished out a team-high 83 assists to just 28 turnovers this season. He scores 8.0 points per game. Pettiford ranks 28th nationally and first in the American in assist to turnover ratio at 2.96.
• The Pirates average 69.5 points per game on 41.6% shooting and 30.1% from beyond the arc. East Carolina is converting 69.6% of its free throw attempts. They average only 10.5 turnovers a game. East Carolina ranks second in the American in turnovers per game. The Pirates are good on the offensive glass, ranking top 40 nationally, but rank near the very bottom in the NCAA in defensive rebounding.
• Defensively, they allow 68.3 points and opponents are converting 43.3% of their field goal attempts and 30.6% of their attempts from long range. They force 13.1 turnovers a game.

THE SERIES VS. EAST CAROLINA
• Wichita State and East Carolina had never played prior to the Shockers joining the league in July, 2017, and they haven't had many encounters since then, either. This is only the 10th game in seven seasons.
• The Shockers are 7-2 (3-2 in Wichita) against the Pirates.
• East Carolina shocked Wichita State a year ago in Charles Koch Arena, handing the Shockers a 79-69 home loss for its first-ever win in the series.
• Three of the eight meetings came in 2018-19 when Wichita State swept the home-and-home and defeated East Carolina in the first round of the AAC tournament in Memphis.
• The teams met just once in 2017-18 and 2019-20 due the league' unbalanced schedule. Both 2020-21 dates were canceled due to COVID-19. The Shockers traveled to Greenville for the 2021-22 AAC opener, but that contest was called off just hours before tipoff.
• Wichita State is 3-0 at ECU's Minges Coliseum but has only played one game there since Feb. 6, 2019.
• Only three of the games played between the two schools have been decided by single digits. The closest finish came just a couple weeks ago in Charles Koch Arena when the Pirates escaped with a 54-52 win.

CONNECT THE DOTS
• East Carolina sophomore forward Valentino Pinedo spent his final prep season in Wichita at powerhouse Sunrise Christian Academy.
• Former Shocker Gabe Blair – a starter on the 2011 NIT Championship team – played his first two collegiate seasons at ECU before transferring to Wichita State.

RECORD BOOK WATCH
• Quincy Ballard is on pace to shatter the single season school record for field goal percentage.
• Through 23 games Ballard is shooting 70.5% (74-for-105) from the field. The current school record is 61.6% by Steve Grayer set in 1987-88.
• That number would rank 1st nationally but to qualify players must average 5 FGM per game. Currently Ballard is at 3.2 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 2 blocks to move into 8th 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 23 games. Rogers leads Wichita State in scoring at 15.7 per game and Bell is right behind at 12.2.
• Rogers ranks 8th in the American in points and 8th in points per game.
• The duo of Rogers and Bell make up 38.0 percent of Wichita State's scoring as they've accounted for 669 points.
• Rogers has scored in double figures in 20 of the first 24 games, and Bell in 16 of the 24. They each have multiple 20-point outings to their name (Rogers - 6, Bell - 4).

COLBY ROG333333333333333333333333RS
• Colby Rogers is riding a streak of 24 straight games with at least one made three-pointer to start the season.
• He has multiple three-pointers in 19 of the first 24 games.
• Rogers is attempting 6.83 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 2.75 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 34 total games in his Shocker career. In those 34 games he has 67 blocked shots. Fifty-three of those have come in the first 24 games.
• Through 24 games his 53 blocks rank 16th nationally and his 2.21 blocks per game rank 20th.
• He has multiple blocks in all but seven games this season.

BOARD OF APPROVAL
• Through the first 24 games of the season Wichita State has been among the nation's top rebounding teams. Wichita State ranks 23rd nationally in rebounds per game, 22nd in defensive rebounds per game and 69th in rebound margin.
• Wichita State has four players averaging 5.0 or more rebounds per game (Dalen Ridgnal - 6.5; Kenny Pohto - 6.3; Quincy Ballard - 6.0; Harlond Beverly - 5.0).
• Wichita State has been outrebounded eight times this season with six of those coming in the last 13 games.
• Wichita State has pulled down 40 or more rebounds in 10 of the 24 games, including three games of 50+.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 11-14 this season.
... Make them 3-9 in AAC play.
... Make them 25-11 all time on Feb. 15.
... Give Paul Mills 117 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,668-1,259 all time.
... Make them 8-2 vs. East Carolina all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 10-15 this season.
... Drop them to 2-10 in AAC play.
... Make Paul Mills 10-15 as Wichita State head coach.
... Drop them to 24-12 all time on Feb. 15.
... Drop their record to 1,667-1,260 all time.
... Make them 7-3 all-time vs. East Carolina.
... Be their first ever loss in Greenville.

UP NEXT
GAME 26: AT CHARLOTTE                                            
• Charlotte is 15-8 and 9-2 in conference play under first year head coach Aaron Fearne.
• Fearne just had the interim tag removed last week.
• The Niners are tied for 2nd in the American Athletic Conference standings.
• Wichita State and Charlotte have never met prior to Sunday's matchup.