UTSA (8-14, 2-7) at WICHITA STATE (9-13, 1-8)
Wednesday, Feb. 7 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
TV: ESPN+ with Shane Dennis & Bob Hull
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Dave Dahl
Promotions
Champions for Literacy – We once again team up with United Way of the Plains to promote childhood literacy by raising money to buy books for children in Title I schools throughout USD 259. Learn more
HERE.
Educator Appreciation Night – Educators receive a discounted ticket when they present their employee ID at the Shocker Ticket Office as we recognize the critical role they play in the #Fight4Literacy
OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State and UTSA meet for the first time as American Athletic Conference members Wednesday night in the Roundhouse.
• Wichita State is 13-17 all time when playing on Feb. 7.
• Wichita State is 2-0 all-time vs. UTSA with both meetings taking place in Wichita. This is the first meeting between the two since 2004.
• UTSA is 8-14 overall and 2-7 in conference play. Five of its seven losses in the league have come by single digits, including two in overtime.
• The Roadrunners are 2-8 away from San Antonio this season and 1-3 in conference road games.
• Wichita State is coming off a second straight loss after leading by double digits. The Shockers lost on a last second shot at Memphis, 65-63.
• The win over SMU (KenPom 37) on Jan. 28 was the highest ranked KenPom win since defeating No. 5 Houston on Feb. 18, 2021.
• Harlond Beverly has 58 assists over his last 16 games. His 72 total assists are tops on the team.
• Beverly has scored in double figures in four of the last five games. He's averaging 13.2 points per game on 45.2 % shooting from the field in those five games.
•
Colby Rogers (15.4 ppg; leading scorer) has made a three-pointer in all 22 games this season and multiple in 17 of the 22. He leads the AAC in 3PT FGM per game (2.77), total 3PT FG made (61) and 3PT Pct (39.9%).
• His streak of 22 straight games with a made three-pointer is the 6th longest in school history.
• In 14 of the 22 games Rogers has tallied 15 points or more - a team best. He has a team-high five 20-point games.
• Wichita State ranks 29th nationally in rebounds per game and 28th in defensive rebounds per game. In conference play, Wichita State's rebounding numbers have taken a hit, averaging only 35.3 rebounds per game.
•
Quincy Ballard ranks 15th nationally in blocks (50). He had tied a career-high with 7 vs. East Carolina on Jan. 24. Ballard has 15 games with multiple blocks.
• Over the last 11 games Ballard is shooting 37-for-48 (77.1%) from the field.
• Wichita State is hosting its 7th annual #Fight4Literacy game. Coaches will wear green pins to raise awareness and funds for local reading programs through United Way of the Plains. Fans are encouraged to visit unitedwayplains.org/literacy to join the fight for literacy.
• 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 UTSA
• Led by 8th year head coach Steve Henson, UTSA comes into the Roundhouse at 8-14 overall and 2-7 in its first season of AAC play.
• Henson was the 2017-18 Conference USA Coach of the Year in just his second season at the helm of the Roadrunners.
• Henson came to the Alamo City with 15 years of coaching experience — in which his teams posted a winning record 12 times — most recently as an assistant coach under Lon Kruger at Oklahoma.
• Henson was an all-conference performer during his playing days at Kansas State. Henson led Kansas State in scoring his final two years by averaging 18.5 points per game as a junior and 17.4 points per game as a senior. He holds three of the top four single-season free throw percentages in school history, including an NCAA-leading .925 mark as a sophomore, while he finished second in the country as a junior (.920).
• He still holds all-time program records for assists (582), assists per game (4.58), free-throw percentage (.900), minutes played (4,474), minutes per game (35.2), starts (118), consecutive games played (127) and consecutive starts (118).
• UTSA was picked to finish last in its inaugural season in the American by the league's coaches.
• Since joining the lineup on Dec. 17 at Oregon State, Jordan Ivy-Curry leads UTSA in scoring (18.8 ppg) and is third in rebounds (5.6 rpg) and second in assists (3.8 apg).
• Ivy-Curry has played in 12 games, all off the bench, and shoot 39.1 percent from beyond the arc and 85.5 percent at the free throw line.
• Christian Tucker adds 12.6 points to go with an American-leading 126 assists (5.7 apg). Tucker ranks 22nd nationally and first in the American in free throw percentage (89.7 percent).
• His 96 made free throws and 107 free throw attempts rank 5th in the league.
• Kansas State transfer Carlton Linguard Jr. adds 10.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and a team-high 35 blocked shots.
• UCF transfer Dre Fuller Jr. is not shy about letting it fly from long range. His 114 attempts lead the team, but he's converting on only 29.8 percent of those tries.
• As a team, UTSA attempts a whopping 29.2 three-pointers per game, which ranks 1st in the American and 8th nationally. Their 10.0 made three-pointers per game also lead the conference and place them 18th in the NCAA.
• The Roadrunners also sit atop the conference in bench points per game (31.59 - 11th in NCAA) and rebounds per game (40.1). UTSA attacks the offensive glass, pulling down 13.14 offensive rebounds per game (26th in NCAA).
• UTSA averages 80.2 points per game on 41.8 percent shooting and 34.1 percent from three-point range.
• Defensively, opponents score 83.6 points per game against the Roadrunners on 45.7 percent shooting. They don't force many turnovers, just 9.9 a game and only 5.0 steals per game, both of which rank near the bottom of the NCAA.
THE SERIES VS. UTSA
• This is just the third all-time meeting between Wichita State and UTSA, and first since 2004.
• Wichita State is 2-0 against the Roadrunners with both wins coming in Wichita. The Shockers will look to make it three straight on Wednesday.
• The series started in 1998 when the Roadrunners visited Henry Levitt Arena. Maurice Evans and Jason Perez guided the Shockers to an 84-79 win. Perez scored a team-high 23 points and Evans added 21 before fouling out.
• Devin Brown's 26 points weren't enough to lift UTSA to a road win.
• UTSA lit up the Roundhouse, shooting 59.6 percent from the field, but attempted only 47 field goals. The game featured a total of 43 fouls with both teams having a player foul out.
• The second meeting was even more foul heavy as the two teams were whistled for 49 fouls.
• Five Shockers reached double figures in the 84-79 win, led by Randy Burns' 15 points.
• Wichita State erased a seven-point halftime deficit for the comeback win. The Shockers were held to 26 first-half points, but dropped 58 after halftime.
• Wichita State missed all 8 of its three-point attempts in the first half, but got the three-ball to fall in the second, going 6-for-9.
• Jamar Howard and Sean Ogirri added 13 points apiece. Paul Miller scored 11 before fouling in only 20 minutes of action. Kyle Wilson chipped in 10 off the bench.
• Justin Harbert (20) and Anthony Fuqua (19) combined for 39 of the Roadrunners' 79 points in a losing effort.
CONNECT THE DOTS
• Wichita State senior forward
Jacob Germany faces his former squad on Wednesday. Germany played four seasons in San Antonio for the Roadrunners, scoring nearly 1,300 points in 119 career games. While the 2023-24 UTSA roster looks quite a bit different from Germany's final season, holdovers include Linguard and Tucker.
• Dre Fuller Jr. is another familiar face to the Shockers, having spent four season as a UCF Knight. Fuller didn't play in either of the matchups in 2022-23, but played in one of the 2021-22 contests vs. Wichita State.
• UTSA head coach Steve Henson is a Junction City native and McPherson High School graduate. He attended Kansas State University and had a prolific career for the Wildcats. Henson was a two-time first-team all-state selection at McPherson High School, where he played for his father, Mike, and he was named Mr. Basketball for the state of Kansas in 1986. In addition, Henson was a Junior Olympic National Champion in both the decathlon and high jump and a Kansas high school state champion in both the javelin and high jump.
RECORD BOOK WATCH
• Quincy Ballard is on pace to shatter the single season school record for field goal percentage.
• Through 22 games Ballard is shooting 70.1% (68-for-97) 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 the top 10 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 22 games. Rogers leads Wichita State in scoring at 15.4 per game and Bell is right behind at 11.6.
• Rogers ranks 9th in the American in points and 9th in points per game.
• The duo of Rogers and Bell make up 37.3 percent of Wichita State's scoring as they've accounted for 594 points.
• Rogers has scored in double figures in 18 of the first 22 games, and Bell in 14 of the 22. They each have multiple 20-point outings to their name (Rogers - 5, Bell - 3).
COLBY ROG3333333333333333333333RS
• Colby Rogers is riding a streak of 22 straight games with at least one made three-pointer to start the season.
• He has multiple three-pointers in 17 of the first 22 games.
• Rogers is attempting 6.95 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 2.77 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 32 total games in his Shocker career. In those 32 games he has 64 blocked shots. Fifty of those have come in the first 22 games.
• Through 22 games his 50 blocks rank 15th nationally and his 2.27 blocks per game rank 17th.
• He has multiple blocks in all but six games this season.
BOARD OF APPROVAL
• Through the first 22 games of the season Wichita State has been among the nation's top rebounding teams. Wichita State ranks 29th nationally in rebounds per game, 28th in defensive rebounds per game and 77th in rebound margin.
• Wichita State has four players averaging 5.0 or more rebounds per game (
Dalen Ridgnal - 6.7;
Kenny Pohto - 6.2;
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 11 games.
• Wichita State has pulled down 40 or more rebounds in 9 of the 22 games, including three games of 50+.
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...
... Make them 10-13 this season.
... Make them 2-8 in AAC play.
... Make them 14-17 all time on Feb. 7.
... Give
Paul Mills 116 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,667-1,258 all time.
... Make them 3-0 vs. UTSA all time.
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...
... Make them 9-14 this season.
... Drop them to 1-9 in AAC play.
... Be their 11th loss in the last 12 games.
... Make
Paul Mills 9-14 as Wichita State head coach.
... Drop them to 13-18 all time on Feb. 7.
... Drop their record to 1,666-1,259 all time.
... Make them 2-1 all-time vs. UTSA.
UP NEXT
GAME 24: FLORIDA ATLANTIC
• Florida Atlantic is 17-4 and under sixth year head coach Dusty May.
• The Owls are ranked No. 20/23 in the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls.
• The all-time series is tied, 1-1, after Florida Atlantic won the first meeting this season in Boca Raton.
