WICHITA STATE (11-17, 3-12) at UAB (18-9, 10-4)
Wednesday, Feb. 28 | 7:00 p.m. CT
Birmingham, Ala. | Bartow Arena
 
TV: ESPN+ with Curt Bloom & Mo Finley
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
 

---

OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State makes its first trip to Birmingham to face UAB Wednesday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
• Wichita State is 13-20 all time when playing on Feb. 28.
• Wichita State leads the all-time series with the Blazers, 4-0. The Shockers are 1-0 in Birmingham.
• UAB is 18-9 overall and 10-4 in conference play. The Blazers are 4-1 over their last five games. That one loss came in a surprising home loss to Rice on Feb. 21, 94-71.
• The last meeting between these two programs came in just the second ever NCAA basketball game inside INTRUST Bank Arena.
• Wichita State is coming off a home overtime loss to Temple on Sunday, 72-66. The Shockers saw a 10-point halftime lead evaporate behind 27 percent shooting from the field in the 2nd half.
• Wichita State dropped to 0-2 in overtime games this season, both at home, and 63-79 all time. Wichita State is 37-34 in OT games at home all time.
• Xavier Bell scored 13 of his game-high 17 vs. Temple in the second half. Players not named Bell were 4-for-22 from the field after halftime.
• Colby Rogers (15.3 ppg; leading scorer) has made a three-pointer in all but one game this season and multiple in 21 of the 28. He leads the AAC in total 3PT FG made (71) and ranks 2nd in 3PT Percentage (37.8%) and 3rd in 3PT FGM per game (2.54).
• His streak of 25 straight games with a made three-pointer tied for the 4th longest in school history. The streak was snapped on Feb. 18 at Charlotte.
• Rogers made 28 consecutive free throws before it was snapped on Feb. 25 vs. Temple. The streak tied for the 7th longest in school history. He was a career-best 9-for-9 vs. Tulsa on Feb. 21.
• Wichita State ranks 35th nationally in rebounds per game and 26th in defensive rebounds per game. In conference play, Wichita State's rebounding numbers have taken a hit, averaging only 36.4 rebounds per game.
• Quincy Ballard ranks 23rd nationally in blocks (58). He had tied a career-high with 7 vs. East Carolina on Jan. 24. Ballard has 17 games with multiple blocks.
• Over the last 17 games Ballard is shooting 59-for-77 (76.6%) 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 UAB
• Led by fourth year head coach Andy Kennedy, UAB enters the matchup at 18-9 and 10-4 in league play - its inaugural year in the American Athletic Conference.
• Kennedy, who enters his fourth year with the program in 2023-24, returned to his alma mater where he is the second leading scorer in program history. A two-time SEC Coach of the Year and winningest coach in the University of Mississippi history, Kennedy coached at Ole Miss from 2006-2018, before spending two years as a commentator for ESPN and the SEC Network.
• In his third season at the helm in Birmingham, he led UAB to a program-record 29 wins marking the Blazers' third-straight season of 20+ wins. He is one of just five active head coaches with 20+ wins in 13 of their first 16 seasons.
• UAB made it to the 2023 NIT Championship game, falling to North Texas, for the first time in program history.
• The season prior, Kennedy's UAB team won 27 games and the Conference USA Tournament to secure a bid to the NCAA Tournament - the 16th in school history.
• UAB's 16th NCAA Tournament appearance also marked Kennedy's third NCAA Tournament appearance as a head coach, taking Ole Miss to the Big Dance in both 2013 and 2015.
• The Blazers were picked to finish fourth in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, and currently sit in fifth.
• UAB has beaten two ranked opponents in the same season for the first time since the 2009-10 season. UAB downed No. 19 Memphis by a score of 97-88 before beating No. 20 Florida Atlantic, 76-73, in overtime.
• The Blazers are one of the best teams in the country at getting to the charity stripe. UAB is tied for 12th in the nation in free throws made per game at 17.8 while ranking 20th nationally in free throw attempts per game with 23.9. UAB shoots free throws at a 75.4 percent clip which ranks 48th in the country and second in the American Conference.
• UAB relies on a balanced scoring attack with five players averaging 9.8 or more points per game. Yaxel Lendeborg averages a double-double with 13.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. • He also has 57 blocked shots, good for second in the conference behind Quincy Ballard.
• LSU transfer Eric Gaines has dished out a team-leading 141 assists and swiped 58 steals to go with 11.7 points. Gaines leads the American in assists per game and steals per game.
• Efrem "Butta" Johnson shoot 37.5 percent from beyond the arc and scores 10.9 points per game. He's one of four Blazers shooting better than 80 percent at the free throw line.
• Javian Davis is second on the team in rebounding at 6.3 per game and fourth in scoring (10.2 ppg), but leads the Blazers with a 57.1 percent field goal percentage.
• UAB averages 76.6 points per game on 44.3 percent shooting. From beyond the arc, they are converting on only 31.1 percent of their attempts.
• Defensively, UAB allows 75.0 points on 44.6 percent shooting. Opponents have had success shooting from long range at 34.4 percent.

THE SERIES VS. UAB
• This is just the fifth meeting all-time between Wichita State and UAB.
• UAB's men's basketball program has only been around since 1978. Gene Bartow sat on the bench for 18 seasons as the head coach, and now the Blazers play in Bartow Arena.
• Three of the first four meetings came in Wichita: Levitt Arena, Charles Koch Arena and INTRUST Bank Arena.
• The lone contest in Birmingham came in 1982 when the Shockers squeaked out an 89-88 win in overtime behind 24 points from Aubrey Sherrod.
• The series started in 1981 when the Blazers made the trip to Wichita for a December matchup in Levitt Arena.
• Greg Dreiling, Tony Martin and Antoine Carr led the Shockers to a 75-60 win in that 1981 matchup.
• A thriller in Birmingham broke out in 1982. Wichita State shot nearly 65% from the field and the five starters scored all but five of Wichita State's points in an 89-88 overtime win.
• Sherrod (27) and Zarko Durisic (24) combined for 51 points and Xavier McDaniel recorded a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds.
• A low-scoring affair took place in the 2007 matchup in Charles Koch Arena. Robert Vaden dropped a game-high 23 for the Blazers, but it wouldn't be enough. The rest of the team went just 9-for-29 from the field.
• Phillip Thomasson (15) and Matt Braeuer (12) combined for 27 to lead the Shockers to victory.
• Only the second NCAA game to be played in the new downtown arena, INTRUST Bank Arena, Wichita State used a strong second half to pull away from UAB on Nov. 25, 2011, 68-46.
• Wichita State led by just seven at halftime, but outscored the Blazers, 39-24, in the second half to win going away.
• Garrett Stutz was the lone Shocker in double figures with 17. UAB's Cameron Moore finished with a game-high 18.
• The Blazers shot just 32.1 percent overall and missed 15-of-16 attempts from beyond the arc.

RECORD BOOK WATCH
• Quincy Ballard is on pace to shatter the single season school record for field goal percentage.
• Through 28 games Ballard is shooting 71.4% (90-for-126) 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 sixth on the single season blocks per game list.
• Ballard is fourth on the single season total blocks list.

LEAD GUARDS
• Colby Rogers and Xavier Bell have formed a 1-2 scoring attack for Wichita State through 28 games. Rogers leads Wichita State in scoring at 15.3 per game and Bell is right behind at 12.0.
• The duo of Rogers and Bell make up 37.9 percent of Wichita State's scoring as they've accounted for 765 points.
• Rogers has scored in double figures in 22 of the first 28 games, and Bell in 18 of the 28. They each have multiple 20-point outings to their name (Rogers - 6, Bell - 4).

COLBY ROG3333333333333333333333333RS
• Colby Rogers has made a 3-pointer in all but one game this season. His streak was snapped at 25 vs. Charlotte.
• He has multiple three-pointers in 21 of the first 28 games.
• Rogers is attempting 6.71 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 2.54 three-pointers made per game are currently the fifth 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 38 total games in his Shocker career. In those 38 games he has 72 blocked shots. Fifty-eight of those have come in the first 28 games.
• Through 28 games his 58 blocks rank 23rd nationally and his 2.07 blocks per game rank 29th.
• He has multiple blocks in all but 10 games this season, including two games with seven.

BOARD OF APPROVAL
• Through the first 28 games of the season Wichita State has been among the nation's top rebounding teams. Wichita State ranks 30th nationally in rebounds per game, 22nd in defensive rebounds per game and 82nd in rebound margin.
• Wichita State has four players averaging 5.0 or more rebounds per game (Kenny Pohto - 6.4; Dalen Ridgnal - 6.1; Quincy Ballard - 5.8; Harlond Beverly - 5.1).
• Wichita State has only been outrebounded 10 times this season with eight of those coming in the last 17 games.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 12-17 this season.
... Make them 4-12 in AAC play.
... Snap a 9-game road losing streak.
... Make them 14-20 all time on Feb. 28.
... Give Paul Mills 118 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,669-1,262 all time.
... Make them 5-0 vs. UAB all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 11-18 this season.
... Drop them to 3-13 in AAC play.
... Be their 10th straight road loss.
... Make Paul Mills 11-18 as Wichita State head coach.
... Drop them to 13-21 all time on Feb. 28.
... Drop their record to 1,668-1,263 all time.
... Make them 4-1 all-time vs. UAB.

UP NEXT
GAME 30: RICE                                      
• Rice is 11-16 under seventh year head coach Scott Pera.
• The Owls are currently in 8th place in the AAC standings with a 5-9 mark.
• Wichita State is 1-1 all-time vs. Rice with the last meeting coming in 2018 in Charles Koch Arena.
• Two of the Owls' four conference wins have come on the road as heavy underdogs at Memphis and UAB.