WICHITA STATE (11-10, 1-7) at CHARLOTTE (8-14, 1-8)
Tuesday, Feb. 4 | 6:00 p.m. CDT
Charlotte, N.C. | Halton Arena
 
TV: ESPNU with Anish Shroff & Paul Biancardi
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
 

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OPENING TIPS
• Round II between the Shockers and Niners takes place in the Queen City Tuesday night on ESPNU when the Shockers go for their first regular season sweep of the Niners.
• Wichita State has dropped seven of its first eight American Conference games following a 58-54 loss to first place North Texas.
• Its the first time Wichita State has allowed fewer than 60 points and lost since Dec. 28, 2022 vs. UCF (L, 45-52).
• For the second straight season Wichita State is 1-7 through its first 8 American Athletic Conference games.
• Conference opponents are averaging 9.4 made three-pointers a game on 42.1 percent shooting.
• Xavier Bell scored a team-high 19 points for the second straight game. He's scored 10 or more in 12 of the last 13 games. Bell is averaging 15.8 points in conference play.
• Quincy Ballard grabbed 13 rebounds vs. North Texas and registered a season-high 6 blocked shots. He has 6 double-doubles this season, third most in the American. Five of those 6 have come in the last 10 games.
• Corey Washington is riding a streak of 10 straight games in double figures.
• 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 (1.95) and ranks 26th nationally. His 39 total blocks also rank 1st in the league, while ranking 33rd 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 127. 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 CHARLOTTE
• Wichita State and Charlotte met only once in the Niners' first season as a member of the American. The Shockers made the trip out to the Queen City on Feb. 18 and fell 72-61.
• The Niners led by 11 at halftime and played to a 36-36 tie in the second half.
• Lu'Cye Patterson, now a guard at Minnesota who the Shockers faced in Orlando at the ESPN Events Invitational, scored a game-high 19 points last year to lead the Niners. Igor Milicic Jr. added a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds.
• Xavier Bell came off the bench and scored a team-high 16 points.
• Wichita State recorded its first-ever win against Charlotte just a couple weeks ago in Wichita, 68-59.

SCOUTING CHARLOTTE
• Led by second year head coach Aaron Fearne, Charlotte enters the matchup at 8-14 and 1-8 in league play.
• Fearne had the interim tag removed on Feb. 13, 2024 officially making him the 14th head coach in Charlotte history.
• Fearne was appointed interim head coach on June 7, 2023, following a successful tenure as an assistant coach with Charlotte spanning five years, and was promoted to associate head coach before the 2022-23 season. During his time as associate head coach, Charlotte achieved significant milestones, including 22 victories, the most since the 2000-01 season, and the program's first postseason tournament title with a victory in the CBI Tournament.
• He took over the Charlotte program after Ron Sanchez resigned after five seasons as the head coach. The Niners went 72-78, capped by 22 wins this past season – the most since 2001 – and the CBI Championship, the Niners' first-ever post-season tournament title
• Before joining Charlotte, Fearne spent nine seasons as head coach and eight seasons as an assistant coach with the Cairns Taipans of Australia's National Basketball League, leading the team to the NBL finals twice and earning Coach of the Year honors in 2015. Additionally, he served as head coach of New Zealand's U-19 National Team in 2018.
• In his first season at the helm of the 49ers, Fearne led Charlotte to a 19-12 overall record, a 13-5 mark in conference play, and the first top-three league finish since 2006. Nineteen wins in the regular season were the most since 2012-13.
• The 49ers tied a pair of program records with 13 conference victories (set in 1997-98) and 13 wins at Halton Arena (set in 2019-20). Charlotte also recorded its first-ever eight-game conference winning streak in program history and the first win over a ranked opponent at home since 2010 and the first overall since 2013.
• Charlotte was picked to finish 8th in the American Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Nik Graves is seventh in the AAC at 16.8 points per game. He has scored in double figures in every game but one this season, with seven 20-point performances, including a career-high 31 in late December.
• With 120 free throws made and 160 attempts, Graves is 13th nationally in attempts and 15th in free throws made.
• Giancarlo Rosado is second on the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game, while his 6.2 rebounds lead the team.
• Robert Braswell IV puts in 11.3 points per game to go with a team-high 16 blocks.
• Charlotte ranks 9th nationally in free throw made per game and 11th in free throws attempts.
• The Niners are only turning the ball over 9.5 times a game, which is 12th-fewest in the country.

CONNECT THE DOTS
• Charlotte redshirt senior Jeremiah Oden finished his prep career right here in Wichita at Sunrise Christian Academy. Oden is in his lone season at Charlotte after transferring from Wyoming and DePaul.

IT STARTS WITH DEFENSE
• Through 21 games Wichita State has already 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 21 opponents have topped the 80-point mark.
• Through the first 8 AAC games, Wichita State's opponents are connecting on 42.1% of their 3-point attempts, which is the worst in the league. The next closest is ECU at 39.5%.
• 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 11 wins opponents are shooting only 38.9 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from beyond the arc.

ON THIS DATE: FEB. 4
• 1967 – Trailing 49-38 with 13:29 left, the Shockers outscored visiting Saint Louis 25-12 the rest of the way to notch an exciting 63-61 win. Warren Armstrong's follow shot in the final minute put Wichita State in front, 62-61, and Ron Washington added a free throw for the final margin.
• 2012 – Garrett Stutz became the 41st member of Wichita State's 1,000-point club, finishing with 24 points and 15 boards. The Shockers edged visiting Indiana State, 71-66, to improve to 20-4.
• 2015 - Wichita State nearly let a 13-point halftime lead get away before hanging on for a 62-59 win at Bradley. Ron Baker's 14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists led the Shockers.
• 2017 - Wichita State exploded for 51 points in the second half in a dominant 86-45 home win over Illinois State. Illinois State was just 4-of-22 from three-point range and committed 19 turnovers. Conner Frankamp scored a game-high 18 points behind four three-pointers.

MILESTONE WATCH
• Quincy Ballard is 6 blocks away from 150 in his collegiate career. He played his 100th career game on Jan. 29 vs. North Texas.
• Xavier Bell needs 7 assists to reach 200 for his career.
• Harlond Beverly is 5 games away from his 150th career game.
• Bijan Cortes is 25 assists away from 250 for his career. He played in his 100th career game on Jan. 18 vs. East Carolina.
• Ronnie DeGray III needs 2 more games to reach his 100th career game.
• 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 84 points away from reaching 1,000 for his career.

NORTH TEXAS LEFTOVERS
• Wichita State dropped to 26-14 all-time vs. North Texas. The Mean Green have won the last three meetings.
• Wichita State's four-game losing streak is its longest of the season.
• The Shockers are now 16-18 when playing on Jan. 29.
• Wichita State allowed 58 points, the second fewest in a game this season.
• Wichita State was outscored in the paint for the first time since Nov. 29 vs. Florida.
• Wichita State's four bench points were the second fewest this season, trailing the ECU game when they had just three.
• Wichita State is 3-5 this season when outrebounded.
• The Shockers were minus-10 in rebound margin, the second worst this season.
• Wichita State's eight turnovers were the fewest in a conference game this season.
• Xavier Bell led Wichita State with 19 points for the second straight game. He has 16 games of 10 or more points, including 12 of the last 13.
• Bell was a perfect 9-for-9 at the free throw line. His nine made free throws were a career high.
• Justin Hill scored 10 points and added four assists. His 15 games in double figures are third on the team.
• Corey Washington scored 11 points, extending his streak of games with 10+ points to 10 in a row. It marked his team-leading 17th game in double figures.
• Quincy Ballard grabbed 13 rebounds, marking his ninth game with double digit boards.
• His six blocked shots were a season high and one off a career 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 12-10 this season.
... Snap a four-game losing streak.
... Make them 2-7 in conference play.
... Improve their road record to 2-5 and snap a 5-game road losing streak.
... Move them to 2-1 all time vs. Charlotte.
... Give them a regular season sweep over the Niners.
... Make Paul Mills 27-29 as Wichita State head coach.
... Give Mills 133 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,684-1,274 all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 11-11 this season.
... Be their fifth straight loss.
... Drop them to 1-8 in conference play.
... Make them 1-6 on the road this season and be their 6th straight road loss.
... Drop them to 1-2 all time vs. Charlotte.
... Split the regular season series.
... Make Paul Mills 26-30 as Wichita State head coach.
... Lower Mills' career record to 132-114.
... Drop their record to 1,683-1,275 all time.

GAME 23: AT SOUTH FLORIDA                                                              
• Wichita State is 9-3 all-time vs. South Florida after the Bulls won the first meeting this season in Wichita, 91-72.
• The Bulls have won each of the last two meetings.
• The Bulls are 11-11 overall and 4-5 in AAC play.
• South Florida is led by interim head coach Ben Fletcher.