WICHITA STATE (10-15, 2-10) at CHARLOTTE (16-8, 10-2)
Sunday, Feb. 18 | 11:00 a.m. CT
Charlotte, N.C. | Halton Arena
 
TV: ESPN2 with Mike Corey & Mark Adams
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Shane Dennis & Bob Hull
 

---

OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State concludes its a two-game road swing through North Carolina with a stop at Charlotte on Sunday.
• Wichita State is 19-23 all time when playing on Feb. 18.
• This marks the first-ever meeting between Wichita State and Charlotte.
• Charlotte is 16-8 overall and 10-2 in conference play after back-to-back wins against Temple and UTSA. In their first season as a member of the American, the Niners sit in second place in the league standings after being picked to finish 13th in the preseason coaches poll.
• After dropping their conference opener at SMU, the 49ers have won 10 of their last 11 games.
• Wichita State is coming off a second straight loss, falling 68-55 at East Carolina on Thursday.
• It marked the first time in four tries, the Shockers failed to win in Greenville. Wichita State had been 3-0 all-time at East Carolina.
• For the first time ever, East Carolina recorded a regular season sweep over Wichita State.
• Harlond Beverly has scored in double figures in 6 of the last 8 games. He's averaging 12.8 points per game on 48.4% shooting from the field in those 8 games.
• Colby Rogers (15.7 ppg; leading scorer) has made a three-pointer in all 25 games this season and multiple in 20 of the 25. He leads the AAC in 3PT FGM per game (2.72), total 3PT FG made (68) and ranks 2nd in 3PT Percentage (39.1%).
• His streak of 25 straight games with a made three-pointer is tied for the 4th longest in school history.
• In 16 of the 25 games Rogers has tallied 15 points or more - a team best. He has a team-high six 20-point games.
• Rogers is averaging 16.5 points over his last six games.
• Wichita State ranks 31st nationally in rebounds per game and 24th in defensive rebounds per game. In conference play, Wichita State's rebounding numbers have taken a hit, averaging only 35.9 rebounds per game.
• Quincy Ballard ranks 22nd nationally in blocks (54). He had tied a career-high with 7 vs. East Carolina on Jan. 24. Ballard has 16 games with multiple blocks.
• Over the last 14 games Ballard is shooting 45-for-59 (76.3%) 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 CHARLOTTE
• Led by first year head coach Aaron Fearne, Charlotte enters the matchup at 16-8 and 10-2 in league play.
• Fearne just had the interim tag removed on Feb. 13, officially making him the 14th head coach in Charlotte history.
• Fearne was appointed interim head coach on June 7, 2023, following a successful tenure as an assistant coach with Charlotte spanning five years, and was promoted to associate head coach before the 2022-23 season. During his time as associate head coach, Charlotte achieved significant milestones, including 22 victories, the most since the 2000-01 season, and the program's first postseason tournament title with a victory in the CBI Tournament.
• He took over the Charlotte program after Ron Sanchez resigned after five seasons as the head coach. The Niners went 72-78, capped by 22 wins this past season – the most since 2001 – and the CBI Championship, the Niners' first-ever post-season tournament title
• Before joining Charlotte, Fearne spent nine seasons as head coach and eight seasons as an assistant coach with the Cairns Taipans of Australia's National Basketball League, leading the team to the NBL finals twice and earning Coach of the Year honors in 2015. Additionally, he served as head coach of New Zealand's U-19 National Team in 2018.
• The 49ers are coming off a 22-14 campaign in 2022-23 that culminated in a CBI Championship.
• Predicted to finish 13th out of 14 teams in the American Athletic Conference, the Niners have defied expectations, holding the top position for nearly three weeks. Beyond the halfway mark of the conference slate, Charlotte sits in second place, just one game out of the lead. Furthermore, Fearne has achieved the best start through 23 games for a first-year head coach at Charlotte since Bobby Lutz in 1998-99.
• Charlotte entered league play at just 6-6 overall, but have got hot at the right time, winning 10 of its last 12 games.
• The Niners sport a balanced scoring attack with four players averaging 10 or more points. Lu'Cye Patterson leads Charlotte at 14.6 points per game. He adds 3.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 steals.
• Forward Igor Milicic Jr. is a three-level scorer who posts 12.9 points and 8.4 rebounds on 49.5 percent shooting and a 37.4 percent marksmanship from beyond the arc. His eight double-doubles rank second in the American and 45th nationally. Milicic ranks second in the American in defensive rebounds per game and third in total rebounds and rebounds per game.
• Dishon Jackson checks in at 11.7 points per game on a team-best 54.4 percent shooting. He's second on the team in rebounding (5.5) and blocks (24).
• Nik Graves leads the Niners in assists with 69 to go with 10.2 points per game. Graves is second in the American in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.65) and 46th nationally.
• As a team Charlotte tops the American in turnovers per game (20th nationally) and free throw percentage (44th nationally).
• The Niners are a stout defensive team ranking 25th in the country in scoring defense (64.9) and 49th in three-point defense (30.9%).
• Charlotte averages 69.8 points on 45.7 percent shooting as a team. Beyond the arc they convert 31.8 percent of their three-point attempts.
• Aside from Milicic, the Niners aren't a great rebounding team. They pull down just 33.1 rebounds per game, good for 305th in the NCAA.

THE SERIES VS. CHARLOTTE
• Sunday's meeting marks the first-ever contest between Wichita State and Charlotte in men's hoops.
• Charlotte is the lone member of the American Athletic Conference that Wichita State has never faced.

CONNECT THE DOTS
• Charlotte junior guard Sterling Young spent two seasons in the state of Kansas at nearby Pratt Community College. Young made 52 appearances and 31 starts over two seasons for the Beavers in Pratt. In his sophomore season, he finished second on the team in scoring with 15.9 points per outing while shooting 45 percent from the field, 39 percent from 3-point land and  83 percent from the charity stripe.

RECORD BOOK WATCH
• Quincy Ballard is on pace to shatter the single season school record for field goal percentage.
• Through 25 games Ballard is shooting 70.4% (76-for-108) 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 1 block 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 11.8.
• The duo of Rogers and Bell make up 38.0 percent of Wichita State's scoring as they've accounted for 689 points.
• Rogers has scored in double figures in 21 of the first 25 games, and Bell in 16 of the 25. They each have multiple 20-point outings to their name (Rogers - 6, Bell - 4).

COLBY ROG3333333333333333333333333RS
• Colby Rogers is riding a streak of 25 straight games with at least one made three-pointer to start the season.
• He has multiple three-pointers in 20 of the first 25 games.
• Rogers is attempting 6.96 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 2.72 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 35 total games in his Shocker career. In those 35 games he has 68 blocked shots. Fifty-four of those have come in the first 25 games.
• Through 25 games his 54 blocks rank 22nd nationally and his 2.16 blocks per game rank 24th.
• He has multiple blocks in all but eight games this season.

BOARD OF APPROVAL
• Through the first 25 games of the season Wichita State has been among the nation's top rebounding teams. Wichita State ranks 31st nationally in rebounds per game, 24th in defensive rebounds per game and 71st in rebound margin.
• Wichita State has four players averaging 5.0 or more rebounds per game (Dalen Ridgnal - 6.4; Kenny Pohto - 6.4; Quincy Ballard - 5.9; Harlond Beverly - 5.0).
• Wichita State has been outrebounded nine times this season with seven of those coming in the last 14 games.
• Wichita State has pulled down 40 or more rebounds in 10 of the 25 games, including three games of 50+.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 11-15 this season.
... Make them 3-10 in AAC play.
... Snap an 8-game road losing streak.
... Make them 20-23 all time on Feb. 18.
... Give Paul Mills 117 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,668-1,260 all time.
... Make them 1-0 vs. Charlotte all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 10-16 this season.
... Drop them to 2-11 in AAC play.
... Be their ninth straight road loss.
... Make Paul Mills 10-16 as Wichita State head coach.
... Drop them to 19-24 all time on Feb. 18.
... Drop their record to 1,667-1,261 all time.
... Make them 0-1 all-time vs. Charlotte.

UP NEXT
GAME 27: TULSA                                            
• Tulsa is 12-12 and under second year head coach Eric Konkol.
• The Golden Hurricane came back from an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat the Shockers just four games ago in Tulsa, 79-68.
• The Shockers won all three meetings with the Golden Hurricane a season ago, which included the AAC Championship.
• Wichita State leads the all-time series, 77-64, including 43-23 in Wichita.