UTSA (10-13, 4-7) at WICHITA STATE (13-10, 3-7)
Wednesday, Feb. 12 | 6:30 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
 

---

Black Out Mental Health Stigma - In partnership with Suspenders4Hope, we join their effort to help Black Out The Stigma around mental health! The first 1,000 fans will receive a free Suspenders4Hope t-shirt.
Ticket Offer - We Win, You Win Ticket: If the Shockers beat UTSA, receive a complimentary ticket to the Memphis game on Feb. 16.
Ticket Offer - Two (2) GA Tickets for $12
 

---

OPENING TIPS
• Fresh off back-to-back road wins, Wichita State will look to make it three in a row Wednesday night vs. UTSA.
• Wichita State will look to even the season series after UTSA led wire-to-wire on Jan. 11 in San Antonio.
• Shocker teams are 4-2 all-time when playing on Super Bowl Sunday following Sunday's win at South Florida.
• With the win at South Florida, Wichita State has won back-to-back conference games for the first time since March 2, 2024.
• Xavier Bell scored a game-high 26 points at South Florida, marking his fifth 20-point game of the season. He was a career-best 14-of-15 at the free throw line. He's scored 10 or more in 13 of the last 15 games. Bell is averaging 16.0 points in conference play.
• Bell's 14 made free throws were the most since Ricky Council IV made 16 vs. UCF on Jan. 26, 2022.
• Quincy Ballard recorded his 8th double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. His 8 double-doubles are third most in the American. Seven of those 8 have come in the last 12 games.
• Corey Washington is riding a streak of 12 straight games in double figures after scoring 11 at South Florida.
• Ronnie DeGray III returned to action on Jan. 14 after missing nearly two months with a fractured wrist. He scored all 8 of his points vs. Charlotte in the 2nd half.
• Wichita State has a trio of 1,000-point scorers on the roster. Xavier Bell reached 1,000 career points on Dec. 17 vs. Kansas City and Harlond Beverly made it to 1,000 on Jan. 14 vs. Charlotte. Justin Hill has more than 1,500 career points.
• Ballard ranks 1st in the American Athletic Conference in blocks per game (1.86) and ranks 30th nationally. His 41 total blocks rank 2nd in the league, while ranking 36th 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 129. He's on pace to break the WSU career record for blocks per game at 1.92.
• 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).

THE SERIES WITH UTSA
• This is just the fifth all-time meeting between Wichita State and UTSA after the Shockers' first-ever trip to San Antonio one month ago.
• The Roadrunners recorded their first ever win against the Shockers in that January meeting, 88-75. UTSA knocked down 15 three-pointers in the game and shot 50 percent from three-point range.
• Wichita State is 3-1 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 2nd nationally in free throw percentage (81.7 percent), 8th in fast break points (19.57), 17th in steals per game (9.5) and 18th in turnovers forced per game (15.1).
• Florida State transfer Primo Spears ranks 3rd in the American and 12th nationally in scoring at 20.2 ppg.
• Spears is also 2nd in the conference in minutes per game (36:21), 3rd in free throw percentage (86.7%) and field goal attempts (365) and 5th in free throws made ((104) and field goals made (149).
• In all, UTSA has four double figure scorers, including a trio right around 10.0 points per game (Marcus Millender, Damari Monsanto, Raekwon Horton).
• Millender is averaging 13.6 points on 44.1 percent shooting from three-point range. He is second in the American in assist-turnover ratio (2.24).
• Raekwon Horton ranks 3rd in the American in steals per game (1.90).
• Jonnivius Smith leads the Roadrunners in rebounding (7.7 rpg) and blocks (32).
• Monsanto leads the American in made three-pointers (72), three-pointers per game (3.27) and ranks second in three-point percentage (42.1%).

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.

TWO FOR THE ROAD
• Wichita State is coming off back-to-back road wins at Charlotte (Feb. 4) and South Florida (Feb. 9), the first time under Paul Mills Wichita State has won two straight conference road games. The last time Wichita State won consecutive conference games on the road was in 2023 on Feb. 16 and Feb. 26 at Temple and Tulane.

IT STARTS WITH DEFENSE
• Through 23 games Wichita State has allowed five opponents to score 88 or more points, which is the most since 1982-83. The Shockers are 0-5 this season when they allow 88+.
• The Shockers have allowed 88+ points in each of the first three conference games. The last time Wichita State allowed three straight conference opponents to score 88+ was in 1978-79.
• Eight of Wichita State's 23 opponents have topped the 80-point mark.
• Through the first 10 AAC games, Wichita State's opponents are connecting on 38.1% of their 3-point attempts, which is the second-worst in the league. ECU is allowing opponents to shoot 40.4%.
• In Wichita State's 10 losses, the Shockers are allowing opponents to shoot 49.4 percent from the field and 45.2 percent from three-point range. In Wichita State's 13 wins opponents are shooting only 39.4 percent from the field and 27.1 percent from beyond the arc.

ON THIS DATE: FEB. 12
• 1895 – In the first game ever played between two teams, the Minnesota State School of Agriculture defeats Hamline of St. Paul, Minn. by a score of 9-3.
• 1956 – Bob Hodgson became the second Shocker to score 1,000 career points (three years after Cleo Littleton) in WU's 56-50 home win over Drake. Hodgson finished the season averaging a double-double with 17.5 points and 11.5 rebounds.
• 1976 – WSU fell behind 17-0 and 31-10 at Loyola Chicago before roaring back for a 79-77 win. The Shockers took their first lead of the night with 5:13 left on Robert Elmore's three-point play. Robert Gray finished with 20 points and seven assists.
• 2016 – Wichita State finished the first half on a 27-5 run to bury host Drake, 74-48. The Bulldogs shot 25% for the game and had more turnovers (15) than field goals (11).

MILESTONE WATCH
• Quincy Ballard is 4 blocks away from 150 in his collegiate career. He played his 100th career game on Jan. 29 vs. North Texas.
• Xavier Bell needs 5 assists to reach 200 for his career.
• Harlond Beverly is 4 games away from his 150th career game.
• Bijan Cortes is 20 assists away from 250 for his career. He played in his 100th career game on Jan. 18 vs. East Carolina.
• Ronnie DeGray III played his 100th career game on Feb. 9 at South Florida.
• Justin Hill is 7 assists shy of 500 for his career. He needs 3 more games to reach his 150th career game.
• AJ McGinnis is 69 points away from reaching 1,000 for his career.

SOUTH FLORIDA LEFTOVERS
• Wichita State improved to 10-3 all-time vs. South Florida.
• The Shockers are now 20-10 when playing on Feb. 9.
• Wichita State was a season-best +20 on the glass, outrebounding the Bulls, 42-22. The 22 rebounds were the fewest Wichita State has allowed this season.
• Wichita State's 19 offensive rebounds were one off a season high (20 vs. ECU).
• Wichita State is 9-4 this season when outrebounding the opponent.
• Wichita State finished with just one blocked shot, tied for the second fewest this season.
• South Florida's 46 field goal attempts were the fewest by an opponent this season.
• South Florida shot better than 50 percent from the field. Entering the game Wichita State had been 0-6 this season when allowing 50 percent.
• Justin Hill (toe) and Zion Pipkin (illness) both missed the game.
• Xavier Bell registered his team-leading 5th 20-point game of the season behind 26 points. His 14 made free throws and 15 free throw attempts were both career highs.
• Corey Washington extended his streak of games with 10+ points to 12 in a row. He finished with 11 points and 8 rebounds.
• Quincy Ballard notched his team-leading eighth double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. He has 14 games of 10 or more points and 11 games with double digit rebounds.
• Ronnie DeGray III reached double figures for the first time since Nov. 9. His 10 points were one shy of a season high.

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 14-10 this season.
... Be their third straight win.
... Make them 4-7 in conference play.
... Move them to 4-1 all time vs. UTSA.
... Make Paul Mills 29-29 as Wichita State head coach.
... Give Mills 135 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,686-1,274 all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 13-11 this season.
... Drop them to 3-8 in conference play.
... Drop them to 3-2 all time vs. UTSA.
... Make Paul Mills 28-30 as Wichita State head coach.
... Lower Mills' career record to 134-114.
... Drop their record to 1,685-1,275 all time.

GAME 25: MEMPHIS                                                                       
• Wichita State is 13-21 all-time vs. Memphis after the Tigers won the first meeting this season in Memphis, 61-53.
• Memphis is ranked No. 14 in both the AP and Coaches Polls.
• The Tigers  are 20-4 overall and 10-1 in AAC play under head coach Penny Hardaway.