TULSA (11-19, 5-12) at WICHITA STATE (18-12, 8-9)
Sunday, March 9 | 1:00 p.m. CDT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
 
TV: ESPN+ with Mark Ewing & Bob Hull 
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Dave Dahl
 

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Senior Day: We recognize and honor our senior class for their time and dedication to Shocker Basketball!
Giveaway: The first 1,000 fans will receive a Rally Towel courtesy of Zips Car Wash
 

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OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State welcomes Tulsa to the Roundhouse for its regular season finale and Senior Day.
• Wichita State will recognize eight seniors on Sunday: Quincy Ballard, Xavier Bell, Harlond Beverly, Bijan Cortes, Ronnie DeGray III, Justin Hill, AJ McGinnis and Zane Meeks.
• Wichita State has won six straight games on Senior Day, dating back to 2017-18.
• 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 day of the regular season in 8th place in the league standings. Wichita State can finish no worse than 8th, but can still move up to 6th with a win over Tulsa and losses by Temple and Florida Atlantic.
• The Shockers are outrebounding their last 9 opponents, 370-281, for an average of +9.9 per game.
• Xavier Bell has scored 10 or more in each of the last 8 games and 20 of the last 22 games. In conference play he is averaging 16.5 points and shooting 93.3% from the free throw line.
• Harlond Beverly has produced back-to-back 16-point outings in the Shockers' recent Texas road swing at North Texas (March 3) and Rice (March 6).
• 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 19 games. Ballard's 76.9 effective FG Pct. leads the nation.
• 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.
• Ronnie DeGray III returned to action on Jan. 14 after missing nearly two months with a fractured wrist.
• 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 1st in the American in blocks per game (1.83) and 35th nationally. His 53 total blocks also rank 1st in the AAC, while ranking 34th in the NCAA.
• Ballard moved into 3rd on the Wichita State career blocks list vs. Memphis with 141. 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).
Head Coach Paul Mills has won 33 games over his first two seasons, tied for 3rd most in program history.

THE SERIES WITH TULSA
• The Shockers lead the series, 78-65, and have won 21 of the last 26. They're 13-4 in the AAC era.
• Tulsa is WSU's second-most-played opponent behind Drake (151) and Bradley (142). This is meeting No. 144 in a series that began in 1931. The teams were rivals in the Missouri Valley Conference from 1945-96 before reuniting in the AAC in 2017.
• Including non-conference games, the teams have met at least once in each of the last 14 seasons going back to 2010-11.
• Since joining the AAC, WSU has faced Tulsa more times   than any other foe. This is the 18^th meeting in 8 years.
• Eric Konkol is the 20th-different Tulsa coach that WSU has faced in the series, while Paul Mills is WSU's 16th.

IN TULSA // TLS, 38-32
The Shockers have narrowed the gap in recent years, thanks to an 8-6 mark at the Reynolds Center.
WSU is 5-3 in its eight AAC visits. The Shockers have lost two in a row in Tulsa. Until last season WSU hadn't lost in Tulsa since 2020.

IN WICHITA // WSU, 44-23
The Hurricanes last won in Wichita on Dec. 8, 2001. The Shockers have won the last 12 home meetings (10 at CKA, one at INTRUST Bank Arena).
WSU has won just over two-thirds of the games played inside the Roundhouse (1955-pr.), 38-16.

NEUTRAL SITES // TLS, 4-2
Five of the six games have come in conference tournament settings, most recently in 2023 when the team squared off in the first round of the AAC tourney.
WSU's lone victory came in the 1988 MVC Tournament.
Tulsa picked up a pair of Arch Madness wins in the 1990s and edged the Shockers in the 1958 All-College.

CONNECT THE DOTS
• On Nov. 6, 2018, Eric Konkol led his Louisiana Tech team to a 71-58 upset over the Shockers in Charles Koch Arena. It's the only season-opening loss by a Wichita State team in the past 22 years.

SCOUTING TULSA
• Led by third year head coach Eric Konkol, Tulsa enters the matchup at 11-19 and 5-12 in league play. Since defeating Wichita State in the first matchup, the Golden Hurricane have won just two of their last 10 games. They enter Sunday's game having lost four straight, most recently a pair of home games to Tulane and Temple by a combined four points.
• After posting a 5-25 record in his first season at the helm, Konkol's 2023-24 team improved to 16 wins.
• Konkol came to Tulsa following seven seasons at Louisiana Tech, where he compiled a 153-75 record. He won 46 games in his first two seasons, the most for any previous LA Tech head coach, and his 153 career victories is the third-highest win total in school history.
• Konkol returns to where he began his start in collegiate coaching. He was a student assistant coach for Tulsa's 2001 NIT Championship team under Head Coach Buzz Peterson.
• Tulsa was picked to finish 10th in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Dwon Odom leads the Hurricane in scoring (13.3 ppg) and assists (160), while shooting 53.4 percent from the field. Odom is just 9-for-33 from three-point range this season.
• Odom leads the conference in assists and assists per game.
• Keaston Willis is the team's top outside shooter at 38.3 percent from long range to go with 13.2 points per game.
• Willis has made 87 three-pointers this season, second in the American. His 227 three-point attempts are tops in the league.
• Isaiah Barnes adds 10.0 points to go with 4.8 rebounds. He converts on 36.4 percent of his long range attempts.
• After missing the first 16 games of the season due to offseason surgery, Jared Garcia has appeared in only 14 games for Tulsa. Garcia was their top rebounder (6.0 rpg) a season ago. He's posting 9.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game - all off the bench.
• Tulsa averages 71.5 points per game on 43.3 percent shooting and 32.6 percent from three-point range. The Golden Hurricane rank second in the American in defensive rebounds per game and three-point attempts. At 65.6 percent, Tulsa ranks last in the American in free throw percentage and 342nd nationally.
• Defensively, Tulsa allows 74.0 points on 44.4 percent shooting. Opponents connect on 34.1 percent of their three-point attempts.

MILESTONE WATCH
• Quincy Ballard is 9 blocks away from 150 in his Wichita State career. He played his 100th career game on Jan. 29 vs. North Texas.
• Xavier Bell is seven games away from 150 career games.
• Harlond Beverly played his 150th career game on Feb. 23 vs. Tulane.
• Bijan Cortes is 42 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 4 assists shy of 500 for his career. He played his 150th career game on Feb. 3 at UNT.
• 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 20 of the last 22 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 (86) and free throw attempts (95), 3rd in free throw percentage (90.5%) and 9th in scoring (16.5 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 nine games Wichita State is giving up just 68.1 points on 42.3 percent shooting and 29.0 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 18 wins opponents are shooting only 39.5 percent from the field and 27.6 percent from beyond the arc.

ON THIS DATE: MAR. 9
• 1985 – WSU won its first-ever MVC tournament title, upsetting No. 15 Tulsa on its home floor, 84-82. Senior All-American Xavier McDaniel led the charge with 34 points and 13 rebounds.
• 2014 – The Shockers became the first team in nearly two decades to enter the NCAA tournament with an unblemished record, taking down Indiana State, 83-69, in the MVC tournament championship to improve to 34-0. Fred VanVleet delivered 22 points and 5 assists and the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, Tekele Cotton, scored 20. It was WSU's first MVC tournament crown since 1987 and first in St. Louis after runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2013.
• 2019 – Playing an hour from his hometown (Baker, La.) in front of nearly 100 friends and family, Dexter Dennis enjoyed a hero moment in WSU's regular season finale, sinking a game-winning three at the buzzer to beat Tulane, 82-79. The Green Wave were heavy underdogs (losers of 19-straight and looking to avoid the first 0-18 finish in AAC history) yet led by nine near the midway-mark of the second half. WSU responded with 36 points over the final 10:17, capped by Dennis' shot.

RICE LEFTOVERS
• Wichita State dropped to 4-1 all-time vs. Rice.
• Wichita State is 13-13 all-time on Mar. 6.
• Rice is the fourth conference opponent Wichita State has held under 60 points.
• Wichita State had lost 11 straight games when shooting less than 40% from the field, but snapped that streak after shooting 38% from the field. They are 1-11 under Paul Mills when shooting less than 40%.
• The Shockers were +10 on the glass, moving them to 14-5 this season when they outrebound their opponent.
• Wichita State finished with fewer than 10 turnovers for the 12th time this season.
• Wichita State finished with fewer than 10 assists for the second straight game.
• WSU is 14-3 this season when leading at the half.
• Ronnie DeGray III pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds, his first game with 10 or more boards as a Shocker.
• Xavier Bell registered his 24th game in double figures behind 13 points. He has scored 10 or more in each of the last eight games.
• Since Feb. 9 at South Florida, Bell is 56-for-60 (93.3%) from the free throw line.
• Quincy Ballard blocked four shots, marking his 14th game this season with multiple blocks. He
• Harlond Beverly finished in double figures for the sixth time in the last seven games behind 16 points. He has 15 games of 10 or more points this season.

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 19-12 this season.
... Make them 9-9 to finish conference play.
... Move them to 79-65 all time vs. Tulsa.
... Make Paul Mills 34-31 as Wichita State head coach.
... Give Mills 140 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,691-1,276 all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 18-13 this season.
... Drop them to 8-10 in conference play.
... Drop them to 78-66 all time vs. Tulsa.
... Make Paul Mills 33-32 as Wichita State head coach.
... Lower Mills' career record to 139-116.
... Drop their record to 1,690-1,277 all time.

GAME 32: AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP                                                                  
• Wichita State is 7-6 all-time at the American Athletic Conference Championship.
• The Shockers have never advanced past the quarterfinals of the AAC Championship.
• Wichita State has won at least one game at the AAC Championship every year, except in 2022 with a first round loss to Tulsa.