WICHITA STATE (10-5, 0-2) at UTSA (6-8, 0-2)
Saturday, Jan. 11 | 3:00 p.m. CDT
San Antonio, Texas | Convocation Center
 
TV: ESPN+ with Karl Schoening & Devin Brown
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
 

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OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State and UTSA meet for the first time ever in San Antonio on Saturday at 3 p.m. on ESPN+.
• Wichita State is coming off its second straight loss to begin conference action. For the fourth consecutive season Wichita State is 0-2 to begin AAC play.
• Wichita State is 3-5 in conference openers since joining the American Athletic Conference, but has dropped its last four league lid-lifters.
• Xavier Bell scored a career-high 29 points vs. Friends. He's averaging 19.7 ppg over his last seven games. He's scored 20 or more in three of the last five.
• Bell reached 1,000 career points on Dec. 17 vs. Kansas City. He's one of two 1,000-point scorers on the roster along with Justin Hill.
• Corey Washington logged his third double-double of the season in Monday's loss to South Florida. He finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 5 steals.
• Quincy Ballard has three double-doubles in the last four games and is averaging 13.0 points and 12.0 rebounds during that stretch.
• The Shockers finished the non-conference slate at 10-3, its best out of conference record since 2019-20 when the Shockers went 12-1 vs. non-league members.
• 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 ranks 31st nationally in defensive rebounds per game (28.00).
• Ballard leads the American Athletic Conference in blocks per game (2.07) and ranks 26th nationally. His 29 total blocks also lead the league, while ranking 34th in the NCAA.
• 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 4th on the Wichita State career blocks list vs. K-State with 115. He's on pace to shatter the WSU career record for blocks per game at 2.02.
• Senior forward Ronnie DeGray III continues to be sidelined for the next few games after suffering a fractured wrist vs. Monmouth on Nov. 18.
• 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).

SCOUTING UTSA
• This is just the fourth all-time meeting between Wichita State and UTSA and the Shockers' first-ever trip to San Antonio to face the Roadrunners.
• Wichita State is 3-0 against the Roadrunners with all three wins coming in Wichita.
• 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.
• The two schools met only once in UTSA's inaugural season in the American on Feb. 7, 2024. The Shockers won 84-64 in Charles Koch Arena.
• Colby Rogers led all scorers and four Shockers in double figures with 18 points. Harlond Beverly added 16 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

SCOUTING UTSA
• Austin Claunch enters his first season leading UTSA following one season as an assistant coach at nationally-ranked Alabama and a very successful head coaching stint at Nicholls State that produced back-to-back conference titles.
• In his lone season with Alabama, Claunch has helped the Crimson Tide to a 21-11 record and an Associated Press Top-25 national ranking. Alabama sat at No. 9 in the NCAA NET rankings heading into the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
• In five seasons as the head coach at Nicholls, Claunch won 90 games, recorded a pair of 20-win seasons and directed the Colonels to Southland Conference regular-season championships in 2021 and 2022. He was the 2020-21 Southland Conference Coach of the Year. Claunch served as the youngest head coach at the NCAA Division I level for three seasons (2018-21) and was named to ESPN's 40 under 40 list for collegiate men's basketball coaches in 2020.
• UTSA was picked to finish tied for 11th in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Poll.
• The Roadrunners rank 3rd nationally in free throw percentage (81.8 percent), 7th in fast break points (17.36), 11th in steals per game (10.1) and 26th in turnovers forced per game (15.9).
• Florida State transfer Primo Spears ranks 1st in the American and 3rd nationally in scoring at 22.4 ppg.
• Spears is also 1st in the conference in field goals made (107), 2nd in field goal attempts (243) and free throw percentage (87.7 percent).
• In all, UTSA has five double figure scorers, including a trio just over 10.0 points per game (Marcus Millender, Damari Monsanto, Raekwon Horton).
• Tai'Reon Joseph averages 12.2 points but has played in just six games so far this season.
• Raekwon Horton ranks 4th in the American in steals per game (1.92).
• Jonnivius Smith leads the Roadrunners in rebounding (8.5 rpg) and blocks (21).

CONNECT THE DOTS
• UTSA assistant coach Joseph Jones played collegiately at Texas A&M (2005-08). His senior season was Mark Turgeon's first at Texas A&M after departing Wichita State.

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 11
• 1971 – Terry Benton recorded his third consecutive 20-rebound game, finishing with a school-record 28 caroms in an 82-74 win over Loyola Chicago.  Benton topped himself a month later with a 29-rebound performance against North Texas.
• 2014 – No. 6 Wichita State rallied from 19 down at Missouri State to improve to 17-0. The hosts led 54-35 with 11:48 to play before a 16-2 Shocker run closed the gap. Fred VanVleet scored 12 of the final 13 Shocker points, including a game-tying free throw with six seconds left in regulation. Cleanthony Early finished with a game-high 22.
• 2018 - Wichita State blitzed East Carolina in the Shockers' first-ever trip to Greenville as a member of the American, 95-60. Rauno Nurger scored a team-high 14 points in a balanced attack. Landry Shamet scored 11 points and dished out 11 assists for a double-double. Wichita State shot nearly 60 percent from the floor (59.4 percent) and finished with 32 assists as a team.

MILESTONE WATCH
• Quincy Ballard is 16 blocks away from 150 in his collegiate career. He is 7 games away from his 100th career game.
• Harlond Beverly is 10 points shy of 1,000 career points. He is 12 games away from his 150th career game.
• Bijan Cortes is 36 assists away from 250 for his career. He is 4 games away from his 100th career game.
• Ronnie DeGray III needs 7 more games to reach his 100th career game.
• Justin Hill  is 30 assists shy of 500 for his career. He needs 10 more games to reach his 150th career game.
• AJ McGinnis is 96 points away from reaching 1,000 for his career.

SOUTH FLORIDA LEFTOVERS
• Wichita State dropped to 9-3 all-time vs. South Florida, giving the Bulls their first-ever win in Wichita.
• The Shockers are now 14-13 when playing on Jan. 6.
• Wichita State has surrendered back-to-back games of 90-plus points.
• South Florida's 56.9 percent shooting from the field was the highest by a Shocker opponent this season.
• South Florida finished with just three offensive rebounds, a season low for an opponent.
• South Florida's 48 first half points were the most by an opponent in the first half this season.
• Wichita State's 86.4 percent shooting from the free throw line was the second highest this season.
• Xavier Bell has scored 10 or more in each of the last seven games behind a team-high 19 points.
• It was his 11th game in double figures this season and 35th of his career at Wichita State.
• Corey Washington registered his third double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
• His five steals set a new career high.
• It marked his 11th game in double figures.
• He's averaging 8.5 rebounds over his last seven games.
• Quincy Ballard finished one rebound shy of his fourth straight double-double. He tallied 13 points and nine rebounds.
• He has eight games with 10 or more points this season, including four straight.
• Justin Hill notched his team-leading 12th game in double figures with 11 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 11-5 this season.
... Make them 1-2 in conference play.
... Up their record to 2-2 on the road this season.
... Move them to 4-0 all time vs. UTSA.
... Make Paul Mills 26-24 as Wichita State head coach.
... Give Mills 132 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,683-1,269 all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 10-6 this season.
... Drop them to 0-3 in conference play.
... Lower their record to 1-3 on the road this season.
... Drop them to 3-1 all time vs. UTSA.
... Make Paul Mills 25-25 as Wichita State head coach.
... Lower Mills' career record to 131-109.
... Drop their record to 1,682-1,270 all time.

GAME 17: CHARLOTTE                                                            
• Wichita State is 0-1 all-time vs. Charlotte.
• The Shockers and Niners met only once a season ago. This will be Charlotte's first-ever trip to Wichita.
• The Niners are 7-9 overall and 0-3 in AAC play.
• Charlotte is led by second year head coach Aaron Fearne.