WICHITA STATE (12-10, 2-7) at SOUTH FLORIDA (12-11, 5-5)
Sunday, Feb. 9 | 1:00 p.m. CDT
Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center
 
TV: ESPN+ with Jim Louk & Sean Harrington
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
 

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OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State and South Florida square off on Super Bowl Sunday. The Shockers make the return trip to Tampa after the Bulls handed Wichita State a 91-72 loss in Wichita a month ago.
• Shocker teams are 3-2 all-time when playing on Super Bowl Sunday. This marks the third straight year the Shockers will play on the big day.
• Wichita State snapped a four-game losing streak behind a 66-58 road win at Charlotte on Tuesday.
• For the second straight season Wichita State is 2-7 through its first 9 American Athletic Conference games.
• Wichita State is seeking back-to-back conference wins for the first time since March 2, 2024.
• 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 7 double-doubles this season, third most in the American. Six of those 7 have come in the last 11 games.
• Corey Washington is riding a streak of 11 straight games in double figures after a season-high 21 at CLT.
• 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 27th nationally. His 41 total blocks also rank 1st in the league, while ranking 31st 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 SOUTH FLORIDA
• Wichita State has dominated the series with South Florida since joining the American Athletic Conference. The Shockers are 9-3 against the Bulls with wins in eight of the last 10 meetings.
• The Bulls have won back-to-back games in the series for the first time.
• South Florida snapped Wichita State's eight-game win streak in the series last season in Tampa.
• Wichita State was a 5-0 all-time vs. the Bulls in Charles Koch Arena until a month ago when South Florida handed the Shockers their worst loss in the series, 91-72.
• 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 six 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 schoolrecord 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 ranks second on the Bulls in scoring (12.2 ppg), while leading in assists (84) and steals (35).
• Jamille Reynolds leads South Florida in scoring (12.4 ppg), rebounding (7.7 rpg) and blocked shots (29).
• Kobe Knox is third on the team in scoring at 11.1 points per game.
• The Bulls rank 13th nationally in fast break points, while also relying on their bench. Their 28.57 bench points per game rank 37th nationally.

ON THIS DATE: SUPER BOWL SUNDAY
• This is the third straight season that Wichita State has played on SBS. They're 3-2 all-time.
• Jan. 31, 1999 – Super Bowl XXXIII -- Wichita State suffered a 31-point loss at Missouri State, and 87 million viewers tuned in to watch the Broncos beat the Falcons.
• Feb. 3, 2002 – Super Bowl XXXV -- Wichita State outlasted Indiana State in overtime behind C.C. McFall's 24 points. New England QB Tom Brady made his big game debut against the St. Louis Rams.
• Feb. 7, 2021 – Super Bowl LV -- Tyson Etienne's three-point play put Wichita State in front with 42 seconds left in a 70-67 win over Temple. We're still not ready to talk about the Chiefs-Buccaneers game.
• Feb. 12, 2023 - Super Bowl LVII -- A double OT battle with SMU in the Roundhouse saw the Shockers hold off the Mustangs in a classic, 91-89. Kenny Pohto's 28 points led all scorers, while Craig Porter Jr. and Jaykwon Walton both topped the 20-point mark as well. The Kansas City Chiefs won a thriller over the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35, marking the first of back-to-back Super Bowl titles for the Kingdom. The rematch takes place on Sunday as Kansas City looks to become the first franchise to win three straight Super Bowls.
• Feb. 11, 2024 - Super Bowl LVIII - For the second straight season the Roundhouse saw overtime basketball on Super Bowl Sunday. Wichita State gave No. 20 Florida Atlantic all they could handle, but ultimately fell short in OT, 95-82. The Owls scored 21 points in the extra session. Later that night the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers also went to OT in another all-timer, ending in a Chiefs repeat, 25-22.

IT STARTS WITH DEFENSE
• Through 22 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 22 opponents have topped the 80-point mark.
• Through the first 9 AAC games, Wichita State's opponents are connecting on 39.8% 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 12 wins opponents are shooting only 38.7 percent from the field and 27.6 percent from beyond the arc.

ON THIS DATE: FEB. 9
• 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 7 assists to reach 200 for his career.
• Harlond Beverly is 6 games away from his 150th career game.
• Bijan Cortes is 21 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 4 more games to reach his 150th career game.
• AJ McGinnis is 74 points away from reaching 1,000 for his career.

CHARLOTTE LEFTOVERS
• Wichita State improved to 2-1 all-time vs. Charlotte. The Mean Green have won the last three meetings.
• The Shockers are now 19-10 when playing on Feb. 4.
• Wichita State allowed 58 points for the second straight game, tied for the second fewest in a game this season.
• Wichita State was outscored in the paint vs. North Texas, but dominated the paint at Charlotte, 42-26.
• Wichita State is 8-4 this season when outrebounding the opponent.
• Wichita State shot better than 50 percent from the field for the sixth time this season. The Shockers are 5-1 in those games.
• Wichita State held Charlotte to 36.2 percent shooting from the field. They are 7-0 when they hold their opponents under 40 percent.
• Justin Hill and Harlond Beverly both missed the game due to minor injuries.
• Corey Washington recorded his fifth double-double of the season behind a team-high 21 points and 10 rebounds. He extended his streak of games with 10+ points to 11 in a row. It marked his team-leading 18th game in double figures.
• Quincy Ballard notched his team-leading seventh double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds. He has 13 games of 10 or more points and 10 games with double digit rebounds.
• AJ McGinnis added 10 points off the bench, marking his fourth game in double figures this season.
• Ronnie DeGray III made his first start in a Wichita State uniform. He finished with six points and six rebounds.
• Zion Pipkin tied a season high with three assists, while his two steals were a season best. He also played a season-high 14 minutes.

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 13-10 this season.
... Make them 3-7 in conference play.
... Give them back-to-back AAC wins for the first time this season.
... Improve their road record to 3-5.
... Move them to 10-3 all time vs. South Florida.
... Make Paul Mills 28-29 as Wichita State head coach.
... Give Mills 134 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,685-1,274 all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 12-11 this season.
... Drop them to 2-8 in conference play.
... Make them 2-6 on the road this season.
... Drop them to 9-4 all time vs. South Florida.
... Make Paul Mills 27-30 as Wichita State head coach.
... Lower Mills' career record to 133-114.
... Drop their record to 1,684-1,275 all time.

GAME 24: UTSA                                                                       
• Wichita State is 3-1 all-time vs. UTSA after the Roadrunners won the first meeting this season in San Antonio, 88-75.
• Wichita State is 3-0 all-time vs. UTSA in Wichita.
• The Roadrunners are 10-12 overall and 4-6 in AAC play.
• UTSA is led by first year head coach Austin Claunch.