SOUTH FLORIDA (8-6, 1-0) at WICHITA STATE (10-4, 0-1)
Monday, Jan. 6 | 6:00 p.m. CDT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
 
TV: ESPN2 with Chuckie Kempf & John Williams
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Dave Dahl
 

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Baby Races: At halftime, 15 babies (ages 6mo - 12mo) will race across 12 feet of Devlin Court inside Charles Koch Arena to compete for a $1,000 contribution to a 529 Savings Plan courtesy of SJ Prill Financial & Investment, Inc. | SIGN UP

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OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State hosts South Florida Monday night in the Shockers' American home opener on ESPN2.
• Wichita State is coming off a road loss at Temple in its American Athletic Conference opener, 91-85.
• 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 19.8 ppg over his last six games. He's scored 20 or more in three of the last four games.
• 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.
• After missing the final non-conference game vs. Friends, Hill returned to action at Temple and recorded his third 20-point game of the season behind 25 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.
• Quincy Ballard notched his third straight double-double with 12 points and 13 boards at Temple. Over his last three games he's posting 13.0 points and 13.0 rebounds.
• 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 24th nationally in defensive rebounds per game (28.36).
• Ballard leads the American Athletic Conference in blocks per game (2.08) and ranks 22nd nationally. His 27 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 SOUTH FLORIDA
• Wichita State has dominated the series with South Florida since joining the American Athletic Conference. The Shockers are 9-2 against the Bulls with wins in eight of the last nine meetings.
• South Florida snapped Wichita State's eight-game win streak in the series last season in Tampa.
• Wichita State is a perfect 5-0 against the Bulls in Charles Koch Arena.
• In eight seasons since joining the American, Wichita State and South Florida have played a regular season home-and-home only three times, with this season being the fourth.
• Wichita State makes the return trip to Tampa in a month on Feb. 9.
• Four of the last five matchups have been decided by five points or less.

SCOUTING SOUTH FLORIDA
• Ben Fletcher was named the interim head coach for the 2024-25 season following the tragic passing of Amir Abdur-Rahim.
• Fletcher, who served as assistant head coach during the 2023-24 season, was promoted to associate head coach in June 2024. He brings a wealth of coaching experience, mentorship, and a steadfast commitment to the men's basketball program both on and off the court. Known for his dedication to player development, Coach Fletcher was instrumental in guiding the Bulls to success last season.
• Prior to his time at USF, Fletcher spent four seasons as an assistant coach under Abdur-Rahim during their rebuild at Kennesaw State that saw the Owls go from one win in 2019-20 to a school record 26 wins in 2022-23 and the program's first Division I NCAA Tournament appearance.
• After a solid freshman campaign, Jayden Reid earned a spot on the AAC Preseason Second Team. Reid finished the 2023-24 season on nine different record lists for South Florida Freshmen and was selected to the 2023-24 AAC All-Freshman Team.
• Reid currently leads the Bulls in scoring (12.4 ppg), assists (57) and steals (24).
• Kobe Knox is second on the team in scoring at 11.2 ppg.
• Jamille Reynolds leads USF in rebounding (7.7 rpg) to go with 10.8 points per game.
• The Bulls rank 21st nationally in fast break points, while also relying on their bench. Their 28.57 bench points per game rank 46th nationally.

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 6
• 1968 – WSU vanquished visiting Saint Louis, 77-72, after trailing by as many as 15 points at the 14:00-mark. Saint Louis led 67-57 with 5:30 remaining before the Shockers launched a 20-5 run. WSU forced four-straight turnovers. Ron Mendell tied the game at 67 with a basket, then scored again to give the hosts a 69-67 lead with 2:22 to go.
• 1982 – A sellout crowd of 19,591 at Madison Square Garden watched the Shockers dismantle Iona, 97-78. It was WSU's first win at the historic venue after four NIT losses between 1954 and 1966. Cliff Levingston finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds and Aubrey Sherrod scored 22 on 9-of-10 shooting for the Shockers, who shot 64.9 percent from the field, including 17-of-22 in the second half (.773).
• 1987 – WSU upset Danny Manning and No. 16 Kansas at Levitt Arena, 54-49.
• 1988 – Joe Griffin set a school record with 16 assists (11 of them before halftime) in a 94-72 win over Oral Roberts.

MILESTONE WATCH
• Quincy Ballard is 10 blocks away from 125 in his Wichita State career.
• Harlond Beverly is 18 points shy of 1,000 career points.
• Bijan Cortes is 36 assists away from 250 for his career.
• Justin Hill  is 32 assists shy of 500 for his career.
• AJ McGinnis is 99 points away from reaching 1,000 for his career.

TEMPLE LEFTOVERS
• Wichita State dropped its third straight game vs. the Owls and is now 6-9 all-time vs. Temple.
• The Shockers are now 15-12 when playing on Jan. 3.
• Under Paul Mills, Wichita State is 11-3 when scoring between 80-89 points.
• Wichita State's 15 offensive rebounds were a season high.
• Wichita State finished with double figure steals for the fourth time this season.
• Temple's 54 second half points were the most by an opponent this season.
• Wichita State dropped to 8-2 this season when leading at the half.
• Justin Hill scored a game-high 25 points, marking his third 20-point game of the season. His three 20-point games are tied for the team lead.
• With his five rebounds and five assists, he has two 20-5-5 games this season.
• Hill's three steals tied a season high.
• Xavier Bell finished two points shy of his fourth straight 20-point game. He has scored 10 or more in each of the last six games.
• It was his 10th game in double figures this season and 34th of his career at Wichita State.
• Bell's three assists tied a season high, while his three steals were one shy of a season high.
• Corey Washington recorded his 10th game in double figures with 13 points.
• He's averaging 8.1 rebounds over his last seven games.
• Quincy Ballard recorded his third straight double-double and fourth of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

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 11-4 this season.
... Make them 1-1 in conference play.
... Up their record to 7-1 at home this season.
... Move them to 10-2 all time vs. South Florida.
... Make Paul Mills 26-23 as Wichita State head coach.
... Give Mills 132 career coaching victories.
... Improve their record to 273-62 in Charles Koch Arena.
... Run their record to 1,683-1,268 all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 10-5 this season.
... Drop them to 0-2 in conference play.
... Drop them to 9-3 all time vs. South Florida.
... The first time USF has claimed back-to-back wins against the Shockers in the series.
... Make Paul Mills 25-24 as Wichita State head coach.
... Lower Mills' career record to 131-108.
... Make them 272-63 in Charles Koch Arena.
... Drop their record to 1,682-1,269 all time.

GAME 16: at UTSA                                                            
• Wichita State is 3-0 all-time vs. UTSA.
• The Shockers and Roadrunners met only once a season ago. This will be Wichita State's first-ever trip to San Antonio to face UTSA.
• All three previous meetings came in Wichita.
• The Roadrunners are 6-7 to begin the 2024-25 season and 0-1 to begin conference play.
• UTSA is led by first year head coach Austin Claunch.