PRAIRIE VIEW A&M (2-0) at WICHITA STATE (1-0)
Saturday, Nov. 8 | 6:00 p.m. CDT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
 
TV: ESPN+ with Shane Dennis & Bob Hull
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Dave Dahl
 

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Hometown Heroes Weekend
Shocksgiving Canned Food Drive: Bring non-perishable food items to help support our local community and make a difference this season.
 

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OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State looks to start the season 2-0 when Prairie View A&M comes to town Saturday night.
• Wichita State is 4-0 all time vs. Prairie View A&M, with all four previous meetings coming in Wichita.
• This will be Wichita State's first ever game on the date, Nov. 8.
• For the second straight season Wichita State opened its season on Nov. 4, tied for the earliest start to a season in program history. Prior to last season, Wichita State had never played on Nov. 4.
• Since 1992, Wichita State teams are 31-2 in season openers. The Shockers are 90-29 all-time in openers.
• In the program's history, Wichita State is 101-18 in home openers. They have won 29 of their last 31 home openers, including seven in a row.
• Kenyon Giles scored 15 of his game-high 20 points in the season opener vs. UNC Asheville after halftime to help the Shockers pull away, 75-58.
• Giles' 20 points tied for 6th most in a Shocker debut.
• Karon Boyd posted an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double in the opener, becoming the ninth Shocker to record a double-double in a debut.
• Wichita State did not have a traditional exhibition game for the first time since 2020 due to COVID. It's only the second time since 1970 they haven't played a traditional preseason exhibition game. Wichita State played Drake on Oct. 11 in a charity scrimmage that featured different situations and two 20-minute halves with the score resetting at halftime and Santa Clara in Denver in a closed door scrimmage on Oct.18.
• Wichita State returns only three letterwinners from the 2024-25 roster, and less than 1 percent of its points.
• The Shockers were picked to finish 5th in the American Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. The league's coaches project Memphis to win the conference.
• Giles was named to the American Preseason All-Conference First Team.
• Mills added much needed outside shooting from the transfer portal during the offseason in the way of Giles (15.3 ppg, 40% 3-PT Pct.), Michael Gray Jr. (11.1 ppg, 41% 3-PT Pct.) and Brian Amuneke (7.7 ppg, 40% 3-PT Pct.).
• Wichita product TJ Williams made his collegiate debut after redshirting last season as a true freshman.
• The Shockers open the season ranked No. 119 according to KenPom. Seven of Wichita State's potential 13 non-conference opponents are ranked in the Top 80 of KenPom's preseason rankings.
• Head Coach Paul Mills has won 34 games over his first two seasons, 3rd most in program history.

THE SHOCKS, IN SHORT
• Wichita State returns just 0.9 percent of its scoring from a season ago. The Shockers lost their top nine scorers from 2024-25 and 12 total letterwinners. Wichita State  lost seven players to graduation (Xavier Bell, Harlond Beverly, Matej Bosnjak, Bijan Cortes, Ronnie DeGray III, Justin Hill, AJ McGinnis, Zane Meeks) and four to the transfer portal (Quincy Ballard: Mississippi State, Corey Washington: SMU, Yanis Bamba: Maine, Zion Pipkin: South Plains JC).
• Wichita State brings back only two returners that logged minutes in 2024-25: Joy Ighovodja (87 minutes) and walk-on Henry Thengvall (8 minutes). TJ Williams is the only other returner, but he did not see any action after redshirting.

SCOUTING PRAIRIE VIEW A&M
• The Panthers are led by 11th year head coach Byron Smith.
• Smith has guided Prairie View A&M to a pair of SWAC regular season championships (2018-19, 2019-20) and a SWAC Tournament title (2019).
• Prairie View A&M was picked to finish ninth in the SWAC Preseason Poll.
• The Panthers won their season opener on Monday over the College of Biblical Studies, 95-48.
• Tai'Reon Joseph scored a game-high 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting and five three-pointers. Marcel Bryant added 17 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
• Prairie View A&M shot 50.8 percent from the field and converted 22-of-30 attempts at the free throw line. Defensively, they limited the College of Biblical Studies to 5-of-27 from three-point range and forced 26 turnovers.

ALL TIME SERIES VS. PRAIRIE VIEW A&M
• This is the fifth meeting between the schools. Wichita State leads 4-0.
• The Shockers faced the Panthers three times in a four year span (1996-99) under former head coach Randy Smithson, all in Wichita. Average margin of victory was 24.0 points.

Dec. 21, 1996 at Levitt Arena | WSU 95, PVAM 62
The Shockers raced to a 20-point halftime lead and created further separation with a 15-0 run early in the second half. Freshman Darrin Williams led a group of five double-digit scorers with 16 points, and Jamie Arnold had a double-double (15 points, 12 rebounds). James Bunch enjoyed his best game as a Shocker with 12 points and seven boards in just 11 minutes. WSU held a 54-37 edge on the glass and outscored the visitors 33-8 at the free throw line, helped by 34 Panther fouls.

Nov. 22, 1997 at Levitt Arena | WSU 67, PVAM 52
Prairie View A&M returned all five starters from the first meeting and pushed the Shockers for 40 minutes. Jason Perez (15 points, 12 rebounds) and Williams (10 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles to lead the Shockers. WSU committed 22 turnovers but forced 24. Likewise, the hosts shot just 40% but held the visiting Panthers to 33%. WSU led by six points with 2:30 to go but finished on an 11-2 run.

Nov. 27, 1999 at Levitt Arena | WSU 93, PVAM 67
Perez scored 24 points and Williams added 17 (all but one of them in the first half to give WSU a 44-24 halftime lead) to go with 12 rebounds. Gregory Burks accounted for 32 of the Panthers' 67 points on 12-of-24 shooting and also handed out six assists.

Dec. 22, 2021 at Koch Arena | WSU 102, PVAM 66
Tyson Etienne scored a team-high 20 points to lead six Shockers in double figures. Clarence Jackson added 15 points and 8 rebounds, while Qua Grant dished out 8 assists. Wichita State scored 57 points in the first half on nearly 60 percent shooting from the field.

CONNECT THE DOTS
• PVAMU coach Byron Smith played collegiately at Houston and had a big game against the Shockers in the 1989-90 season opener at then-Levitt Arena. He scored 29 points on 13-of-21 shooting, including the go-ahead basket with 1:05 to play in a 67-66 Cougar victory.
• PVAMU assistant Spencer Robertson is a Wichita native and 2015 Wichita State graduate. He played with former Shocker Conner Frankamp at Wichita North High School.

OPENING NIGHT
• Wichita State has won 75 percent of its season openers all time (90-29, .756) and over 80 percent (66-15, .815) in the modern era.
• Wichita State is 22-1 in home openers since Charles Koch Arena's 2003 renovation. The lone loss came in 2018 to Louisiana Tech.
• Wichita State is starting its 70th season at the Roundhouse (1955-Pr.). Shocker teams have lost just eight home openers during that span (62-8, .886).
• Forty seasons ago (Nov. 30, 1972), Antoine Carr set the school record for most points by a freshman in his Shocker debut (19 points). He dunked five times in the first half of a 76-61 win over Northern Michigan.
• Wichita State's highest-scoring varsity debut came Dec. 1, 1972 at Oregon State when Bobby Wilson put up 29 points. Wilson went on to play parts of four NBA seasons with the Bulls, Celtics and Pacers.

MILESTONE WATCH
• Karon Boyd is 149 points away from 1,000 in his collegiate career, and 5 games shy his 100th career game. He needs 18 steals to reach 100.
• Kenyon Giles needs 260 points to reach 1,500 career points. He is 1 game away from playing his 100th career game. He needs 19 assists to reach 200 career assists.
• Jaret Valencia is 12 blocks away from 100 career blocked shots.

ON THIS DATE: NOVEMBER 8
• 2025 – Wichita State is playing its first ever game on Nov. 8 in program history. Nov. 8 is only the fourth day in the month that the Shockers have never played on, along with Nov. 1, Nov. 2 and Nov. 3.

MILESTONE WATCH
• Karon Boyd is 160 points away from 1,000 in his collegiate career, and 6 games shy his 100th career game. He needs 20 steals to reach 100.
• Kenyon Giles needs 280 points to reach 1,500 career points. He is 2 games away from playing his 100th career game. He needs 21 assists to reach 200 career assists.
• Jaret Valencia is 12 blocks away from 100 career blocked shots.

NOVEMBER/FEBRUARY SUCCESS
• Wichita State has experienced early season success over the last two seasons since Paul Mills arrived on campus. The Shockers were 7-1 during the month of November in 2023 and finished 2024 at 6-1.
• Under Mills, Wichita State is 9-0 at home, 2-0 on the road and 3-2 in neutral site games in November.
• With Wichita State's 6-1 February this season, the Shockers are 9-6 under Mills.

NON-CONFERENCE NOTABLES
• Wichita State will face five first-time foes in the non-conference slate (UNC Asheville, Boise State, Mount Marty,  Wofford and Eastern Kentucky).
• Wichita State is a perfect 10-0 all time vs. current members of the Big South (UNC Asheville).
• The Shockers could play five teams ranked in the Top 80 of KenPom's preseason rankings (Vanderbilt, #19; Boise State, #53; Saint Mary's, #55; VCU, #60; Virginia Tech, #71; DePaul, #78; Colorado State, #79).
• Wichita State has won 10 of its last 14 non-conference true road games, dating back to the 2019 NIT run. The Shockers have two true non-conference road games in 2025 (Boise State and Northern Iowa).

GILES PICKED PRESEASON FIRST TEAM
• Senior guard Kenyon Giles was named Preseason First Team All-Conference by the American coaches. Giles, a transfer from UNC Greensboro averaged better than 15 points per game on 40 percent shooting from three-point range as a junior at UNCG.
• Giles is just the fourth Shocker to earn American Preseason All-Conference honors and first since Tyson Etienne in 2021. Three of the four Shockers to collect preseason accolades have been named to the first team (Giles, Etienne and Landry Shamet). Markis McDuffie was a second team selection in 2018.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 2-0 this season for the third straight season.
... Move them to 5-0 all time vs. Prairie View A&M.
... Make Paul Mills 36-34 as Wichita State head coach.
... Give Mills 142 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,693-1,280 all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Drop them to 1-1 this season.
... Be their first ever loss to Prairie View A&M.
... Make Paul Mills 35-35 as Wichita State head coach.
... Lower Mills' career record to 141-119.
... Drop their record to 1,692-1,281 all time.

GAME 3: LOYOLA CHICAGO                                                                        
• Wichita State is 27-9 all time vs. Loyola Chicago.
• The Shockers have won each of the last 11 meetings with the Ramblers, including all nine matchups as members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
• The two teams are meeting for the first time since Wichita State departed the Valley in 2017. Wichita State won the final conference game, 81-64 in Chicago.
• Loyola Chicago is led by 5th year head coach Drew Valentine.