WICHITA STATE (17-12, 7-9) at RICE (13-17, 4-13)
Thursday, March 6 | 7:00 p.m. CDT
Houston, Texas | Tudor Fieldhouse
 
TV: ESPN+ with Randy McIIvoy & Austyn Iven
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
 

---

OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State wraps up a two-game Texas road swing with its final road game of the season Thursday night in Houston vs. Rice. It will be Wichita State's first game at Rice since 1949.
• Wichita State won six straight conference games for the first time since March of 2021. After going 1-7 in January, Wichita State went 6-1 in February.
• The Shockers enter the final two games of the regular season in 7th place in the American standings. They are two games back of East Carolina and Florida Atlantic who are both 9-7.
• The Shockers are outrebounding their last 8 opponents, 324-245, for an average of +9.9 per game.
• Xavier Bell was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 24 after averaging 23.5 points per game on 92.9% shooting at the free throw line. Bell and Corey Washington are the first Shocker teammates to win AAC POW honors since 2021.
• Bell has scored 10 or more in each of the last 7 games and 19 of the last 21 games. In conference play he is averaging 16.7 points.
• Bijan Cortes has played the best basketball of his career over the last five games which included back-to-back career highs of 13 points vs. Memphis and 16 points at FAU. He followed that with a 9-assist game vs. Tulane.
• Cortes is averaging 11.0 points and 5.4 assists over his last five games.
• Harlond Beverly bounced back from a 2-point outing vs. UAB with a 16-point performance at North Texas.
• Quincy Ballard's 9 double-doubles are second most in the American and the most by a Shocker since Garrett Stutz in 2011-12. Eight of those 9 have come in the last 18 games. Ballard's 76.4 effective FG Pct. leads the nation.
• 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 quartet 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. Corey Washington scored his 1,000th career point on March 3 at North Texas. Justin Hill has more than 1,500 career points.
• Ballard ranks 2nd in the American in blocks per game (1.75) and ranks 40h nationally. His 49 total blocks rank 3rd in the AAC, while ranking 44th in the NCAA.
• Ballard moved into 3rd on the Wichita State career blocks list vs. Memphis with 137. He's on pace to break the WSU career record for blocks per game at 1.93.
• 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 RICE
• This is just the fifth meeting all-time between Wichita State and Rice, and only the Shockers' second-ever trip to Rice. This will be Wichita State's first time in Tudor Fieldhouse.
• The series dates all the way back to the first meeting in 1949 - a Rice victory, 72-66.
• Wichita State and Rice met only once in the regular season a year ago on March 2 in Wichita. The Shockers put together one of their best games of the season, defeating the Owls, 87-66.
• Wichita State set a school record for single game three-point percentage at 63.6%. They were 14-for-22, tying for the second most made three-pointers in a single game.
• The Shockers led by only three at halftime, but outscored the Owls by 18 in the second half to win going away.
• Colby Rogers was a career-best 7-of-9 from beyond the arc for a game-high 25 points.
• Behind a game-high 21 points from Erik Stevenson, Wichita State raced out to a big lead and never looked back in a 90-61 win on Nov. 25, 2018.
• Wichita State scored 49 points in the first half, taking a 25-point lead into the locker room.
• Rice missed 22-of-26 three-point attempts and finished with 17 turnovers. Wichita State dished out 21 assists to just nine turnovers.
• The two teams combined to shoot 50 free throws.
• Markis McDuffie and Jaime Echenique added 14 points apiece and Dexter Dennis chipped in 11.
• The two teams then met just 11 days later in the first round of the American Athletic Conference Championship. Wichita State eliminated the Owls from the tournament with an 88-81 win.
• Rogers had a team-high 22 points behind 5 three-pointers.
• Both teams shot better than 50 percent from the field in a game that featured six ties and 13 lead changes. Rice led by as many as 13 in the first 5:00 minutes of the game, but Wichita State stormed back to its own 13-point lead into halftime.
• Wichita State set an American Athletic Conference championship record, shooting 72.4 percent from the field in the first half to turn a 13-point deficit into a 13-point lead at the break.

SCOUTING RICE
• Led by first year head coach Rob Lanier, Rice enters the matchup at 13-17 and 4-13 in league play.
• After winning their first two conference games of the season, the Owls have since gone 2-13 over their last 15 games. That included a season-long seven-game losing streak from Jan. 8-Feb. 2.
• Lanier brings more than 30 years of experience as a collegiate coach, including nine seasons as a head coach at Siena, Georgia State, and SMU. In his coaching career, he has been on staff for 12 NCAA Tournaments and 20 total postseason bids. Those teams combined for five conference titles, three regular season championships and two tournament crowns, plus five more trips to a league tournament final.
• He comes to Rice after a stint at SMU, where he led the Mustangs to a 20-13 record in 2023-24, including an 11-7 in the American Athletic Conference and the second seed in the AAC Championship.  SMU saw a 10-game improvement in its overall record and more than doubled its win total in the conference this past season.
• Lanier came to SMU after posting a 53-30 record in three seasons at Georgia State, capped by a Sun Belt tournament championship in 2022 and a berth in the NCAA Championship.  He led the Panthers to the SBC tournament championship game in each of his last two years.
• Lanier added 10 newcomers to the roster in his first season at the helm of the Owls (one freshman, nine transfers).
• The Owls were picked to finish last in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Rice is led by graduate guard Trae Broadnax with 12.5 points and 4.3 assists, while adding 5.2 rebounds per game. His 4.2 assists per game rank third in the American.
• Junior forward Caden Powell is second on the team in scoring at 10.3 points per game to go with a team-high 7.1 rebounds. He ranks seventh in the conference in field goal percentage (58.5%) and eighth in rebounding.
• Graduate guard Kellen Amos averages 8.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
• Junior Denver Anglin connects on 38.9% of his three-point attempts, good for ninth in the American.
• Rice is attempting 24.3 free throws per game, which ranks 15th nationally.
• Defensively, the Owls rank fourth in the American in field goal percentage defense (42.2%). They also rank second in rebounding (38.4 rpg) and free throw attempts per game.

MILESTONE WATCH
• Quincy Ballard is 13 blocks away from 150 in his Wichita State career. He played his 100th career game on Jan. 29 vs. North Texas.
• Xavier Bell is eight games away from 150 career games.
• Harlond Beverly played his 150th career game on Feb. 23 vs. Tulane.
• Bijan Cortes is 43 assists away from 300 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 6 assists shy of 500 for his career. He needs 2 more games to reach his 150th career game.
• AJ McGinnis is 51 points away from reaching 1,000 for his career.
• Corey Washington scored his 1,000th career point at North Texas on March 3.

X MARKS THE SPOT
• Senior guard Xavier Bell has reached double figures in 19 of the last 21 games, most recently back-to-back game-highs of 24 points at Florida Atlantic on Feb. 20 and 23 points vs. Tulane on Feb. 23, marking his sixth and seventh 20-point games of the season.
• In conference play, Bell ranks 2nd in free throws made (81) and free throw attempts (89), 3rd in free throw percentage (91.0%) and 9th in scoring (16.7 ppg).
• Bell had a stellar 10-game stretch (Dec. 7-Jan. 18) where he scored 20 or more in four of those 10 games and 10 or more in all 10. Over that 10-game stretch he averaged 18.9 points on 53.5 percent shooting (69-for-129), 54.2 percent from three (13-for-24) and 82.6 percent from the free throw line (38-for-46).
• He joined Colby Rogers as the last Shocker to score 20+ in three straight games. Rogers scored 20+ in four straight from Feb. 28, 2024-March 13, 2024.
• Bell posted a career-high 29 points vs. Friends on Dec. 29. He scored 21 of those 29 in the first half. Rogers was also the last Shocker to score 20 or more in a half (vs. Saint Louis, 11/19/2023).

GLASS CLEANERS
• During Wichita State's six-game win streak, the battle of the boards was dominated by the Black and Yellow. Wichita State averaged 43.0 rebounds per game, while its opponents only grabbed 30.7 for an average of +12.3 per game. In total, Wichita State had 258 total rebounds compared to just 184  by its last six opponents (+74).
• Against UTSA and Memphis Wichita State had back-to-back games of 50+ rebounds. The Shockers had 54 against #14 Memphis and 50 against UTSA. The last time Wichita State posted consecutive games with 50+ rebounds was 2005 when the Shockers had 51 vs. Oklahoma Panhandle State on Nov. 18 and 53 vs. Texas Southern on Nov. 20.
• In Wichita State's win at South Florida on Feb. 9, the Shockers were a then season-best +20 (42-22) in rebound margin. The last time a Wichita State team outrebounded a Division I opponent by 20 or more was March 2, 2022 at Tulsa (+24). One game later Wichita State bested that mark by outrebounding UTSA by 21 (50-29). The 50 rebounds were a then season high until besting it in the very next game against Memphis with 54.
• The last time a Wichita State team had back-to-back games of a rebounding margin of +20 was Nov. 10, 2017 vs. UMKC (+28) and Nov. 13, 2017 vs. College of Charleston (+20).
• The 22 total rebounds are also the fewest Wichita State has allowed since that 2022 game at Tulsa when the Golden Hurricane finished with only 19 total rebounds.

IT STARTS WITH DEFENSE
• The Shockers 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.
• During Wichita State's 1-7 start to begin conference play they were allowing 75.9 points per game and opponents were shooting 47.3 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from beyond the arc. However, the defense looks to have turned a corner. Over the last eight games Wichita State is giving up just 69.3 points on 43.0 percent shooting and 30.1 percent from three-point range. • The Shockers are also outrebounding their opponents by an average of 9.9 per game.
• In Wichita State's 12 losses, the Shockers are allowing opponents to shoot 49.4 percent from the field and 44.6 percent from three-point range. In Wichita State's 17 wins opponents are shooting only 39.7 percent from the field and 28.0 percent from beyond the arc.

ON THIS DATE: MAR. 6
• 1964 – Tied atop the MVC standing with Drake, the Shockers won a one-game playoff at Allen Fieldhouse, 58-50, to secure the program's first NCAA tournament berth.
• 2009 – WSU didn't go down without a fight. Trailing by 22 points with 16:41 to play in their MVC quarterfinal matchup against Creighton, and by eight points with 1:30 remaining, the Shockers roared back to take the lead, 62-61, on Toure' Murry's corner three. With 1.3 seconds to play, Creighton inbounded to Booker Woodfox, who dropped the pass, then took two dribbles and released a 15-footer (all in 1.3 seconds) for the game-winner.
• 2015 – Tekele Cotton became the 44th member of WSU's 1,000-point club, and the top-seeded Shockers dispatched SIU, 56-45, in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament in St. Louis.

NORTH TEXAS LEFTOVERS
• Wichita State dropped to 26-15 all-time vs. North Texas.
• The Mean Green have won the last four meetings against Wichita State.
• Wichita State is 14-14 all-time on Mar. 3.
• Wichita State was held to a season low 24 rebounds. Their 16 defensive rebounds were also a season low.
• The Shockers were outrebounded for the first time over their last eight games.
• Wichita State is 3-6 this season when they are outrebounded.
• Wichita State's three assists were a season low and tied for the fewest in program history dating back to 1980.
• Wichita State finished with fewer than 10 turnovers for the 11th time this season.
• Wichita State is just 4-9 this season when trailing at the half.
• Xavier Bell registered his 23rd game in double figures behind 19 points. He has scored 10 or more in each of the last seven games.
• Bell scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half.
• Since Feb. 9 at South Florida, Bell is 51-for-54 (94.4%) from the free throw line.
• Quincy Ballard was held without a blocked shot for just the seventh time this season, including the second straight game.
• Ballard's four rebounds were the fewest since he had three vs. Florida on Nov. 29. He had a streak of 22 straight games with at least 5 rebounds.
• Harlond Beverly finished in double figures for the fifth time in the last six games behind 16 points. He has 14 games of 10 or more points this season.
• His 16 points were two 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 18-12 this season.
... Make them 8-9 in conference play.
... Move them to 4-1 all time vs. Rice.
... Be their fourth straight win vs. the Owls.
... Make Paul Mills 33-31 as Wichita State head coach.
... Give Mills 139 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,690-1,276 all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 17-13 this season.
... Be their third straight loss.
... Drop them to 7-10 in conference play.
... Drop them to 3-2 all time vs. Rice.
... Snap a three-game win streak vs. the Owls.
... Make Paul Mills 32-32 as Wichita State head coach.
... Lower Mills' career record to 138-116.
... Drop their record to 1,689-1,277 all time.

GAME 31: TULSA                                                                  
• Wichita State is 78-65 all-time vs. Tulsa after the Golden Hurricane won the first meeting this season in Tulsa.
• The two teams split the regular season series a year ago.
• Wichita State is 44-23 vs. Tulsa all-time in Wichita.
• The Golden Hurricane are 11-19 overall and 5-12 in AAC play.