MBB Preview: North Texas (Jan. 29)


NORTH TEXAS (15-4, 6-1) at WICHITA STATE (11-9, 1-6)
Wednesday, Jan. 29 | 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
 


Suits & Sneakers Coaches vs Cancer: Join our team and coaches in the fight against cancer as they participate in the NABC’s Suits & Sneakers Week.
Giveaway: The first 500 fans to stop by ESPN Wichita’s table on the concourse outside section 126 will receive a black & yellow ESPN Wichita koozie!
Student Giveaway: The first 250 students will receive the official 2024-25 Shock Block Student Section T-shirt as we welcome them back from winter break!
 


OPENING TIPS
• North Texas, tied for first in the league standings, comes to Charles Koch Arena for a Wednesday night matchup.
• Wichita State coaches will wear sneakers as part of the NABC’s Coaches vs. Cancer Week. Cancer doesn’t wait, and neither should you. Visit coaches.cancer.org to find a screening location near you.
• Wichita State has dropped six of its first seven American Conference games following an 84-77 loss at Tulsa. The Shockers’ defense surrendered a season-high 58.8 percent field goal shooting and 13 three-pointers (13-for-21).
• Conference opponents are averaging 10.3 made three-pointers a game on 43.4 percent shooting.
• For the second straight season Wichita State is 1-6 through its first seven conference games.
Xavier Bell bounced back from his first scoreless outing of the season at Memphis with a team-high 19 points at Tulsa. Bell is averaging 15.3 points in conference play.
Justin Hill scored 12 of his 18 points at Tulsa in the first half. His 14 games with 10+ points are 3rd on the team.
Quincy Ballard has 6 double-doubles this season, third most in the American. Five of those 6 have come in the last 9 games.
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 2nd in the American Athletic Conference in blocks per game (1.74) and ranks 46th nationally. His 33 total blocks also rank 2nd in the league, while ranking 54th 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 121. 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).

SUITS AND SNEAKERS WEEK

• Jan. 27-Feb. 2 is Suits And Sneakers week with Coaches vs. Cancer and the American Cancer Society. Wichita State will be participating in the annual event at its home game on Jan. 29 vs. North Texas. The annual week long event encourages cancer screening and brings recognition for the fight against cancer.

THE SERIES WITH NORTH TEXAS

• Wichita State leads the all-time series 26-13. This is just the third time the schools have met on the hardwood since December, 1982 when the Shockers defeated North Texas in the championship game of the McDonald’s Shocker Classic.

• North Texas recorded its first-ever American Athletic Conference win in the conference opener a year ago in Charles Koch Arena.

• The Mean Green led by 12 at halftime, and by as many as 20 in the second half.

• Aaron Scott, a current forward at St. John’s, scored a game-high tying 18 points to lead the Mean Green. Colby Rogers scored 18 points for Wichita State.

• In 2021, North Texas came into Charles Koch Arena on Dec. 18 and handed the Shockers a 62-52 loss, snapping a six-game home win streak vs. the Mean Green.

• Wichita State led by seven at halftime only to see North Texas outscore the Shockers 35-18 in the second half.

• Tylor Perry scored a game-high 23 points behind a 10-of-10 night at the free throw line.

• Morris Udeze scored 17 points and Craig Porter Jr. added 12 in a losing effort for the Shockers.

• At that time North Texas was led by Grant McCasland who spent five years at Baylor as an assistant coach with Paul Mills.

• The schools were Missouri Valley Conference rivals from 1957 to 1975.

• The Shockers have won six of the last eight against North Texas in Wichita and are 16-5 all-time.

• The most-impressive of the three Mean Green wins came in 1963 over a Shocker team that came in ranked No. 8 nationally, 69-67.

• North Texas’ last win at the Roundhouse came in the semifinals of the 1982 McDonald’s Classic over District Columbia. Robert Lewis‘ putback at the buzzer gave the Mean Green an exciting 74-73 victory.

• North Texas’ last appearance came the following day in the championship game. Zarko Durisic scored a career-high 30 points and the Shockers edged the Mean Green, 78-72.

• The Shockers are 10-8 against UNT in Denton but are winless at the Super Pit (est. 1973-Pr.).

• Wichita State’s last visit actually came during the 1976 NCAA tournament when the Shockers lost to 14th-ranked Michigan, 74-73, on Rickey Green‘s 20-foot jumper with six seconds to play.

OTHER MEMORABLE SERIES MOMENTS:

• Feb. 2, 1961 – Gene Wiley recorded the first 20-20 game in Shocker history, finishing with 32 points and 21 rebounds in a 105-58 win.

• Mar. 1, 1962 – The Shockers set a new single-game scoring mark in a 110-69 victory. The record held for over two years.

• Feb. 6, 1971 – Terry Benton grabbed a school-record 29 rebounds in an 84-81 win at Levitt Arena.

• Dec. 4, 1982 – In the most-recent matchup between the schools, Zarko Durisic scored a career-high 30 points and the Shockers edged the Mean Green, 78-72, in the McDonald’s Classic title game.

CONNECT THE DOTS

Bijan Cortes and North Texas senior guard Matthew Stone played high school basketball together at Kingfisher High School in Kingfisher, Okla. The duo started all four years together and led Kingfisher to a 107-4 record over four years, winning the 4A Oklahoma State Championship in 2019 and 2021. They were the prohibitive favorites to win it in 2020, but COVID canceled the state tournament the day it was supposed to begin.

• Their 96.4% winning percentage is the best four-year win percentage for any boys team in Oklahoma history.

• North Texas also has a pair of student-athletes, Johnathan Massie and Ma’Syn Howell, that attended Houston’s Legacy School of Sport Sciences, which produced current Wichita State freshman guard Zion Pipkin.

SCOUTING NORTH TEXAS

• Led by second year head coach Ross Hodge, North Texas enters the contest at 15-4 overall and 6-1 in league play.

• Hodge was named a finalist for the Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year Award, which is given to the nation’s best rookie head coach. He was the only rookie head coach to lead his respective team to either the NCAA Tournament or NIT last season.

• Hodge was UNT’s associate head coach for the previous six seasons prior to being promoted to head coach in the spring of 2023. He was a two-time junior college head coach from 2006-11 at Paris JC and then Midland JC.

• In his six seasons at UNT, Hodge has helped lead the Mean Green to a combined 135-65 overall record and 71-35 record in conference games. North Texas won the 2020 Conference USA regular season championship, 2021 Conference USA Tournament championship and 2022 Conference USA regular season title. In 2021, UNT earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament where they received a program-best No. 13 seeding. In the first round they upset Purdue, 78-69 (ot), for the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win.

• UNT’s roster this season features 10 newcomers (7 transfers and 3 freshmen). The Mean Green lost their top six scorers from last season and four starters. Moulaye Sissoko is the team’s top returning scorer (103 points) and is its only returning starter (34 starts). UNT returned just 10 percent of its scoring from last season.

• The Mean Green have featured one of the nation’s top defenses over the last five seasons. Since 2020, North Texas is giving up on average just 59.2 points per game. Only Houston is giving up fewer points per game over the last five seasons combined (57.6).

• Atin Wright leads a balanced scoring attack with a team-best 14.0 points per game.

• Brenen Lorient is the only other Mean Green averaging double figures at 12.8 points per game.

• Moulaye Sissoko grabs a team-best 6.2 rebounds to go with 7.2 points.

• North Texas sports the top ranked defense in the American, allowing just 59.4 points per game. That ranks 4th nationally.

• The Mean Green rank 1st in the American in fouls and scoring margin, and 2nd in bench points, rebound margin, steals, three-point percentage, turnover margin and turnovers per game.

• UNT averages 61.4 possessions per 40 minutes this season. That’s the most deliberate tempo in the AAC and 5th most deliberate tempo in the nation. Their average offensive possession length is 20.3 seconds, which is the 6th longest in the nation. On average UNT defends a possession for 18.2 seconds, that’s the longest average in the AAC.

IT STARTS WITH DEFENSE

• Through 20 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 20 opponents have topped the 80-point mark.

• Through the first 7 AAC games, Wichita State’s opponents are connecting on 43.4% of their 3-point attempts, which is the worst in the league. The next closest is ECU at 39.5%.

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 29

• 1965 – Three-time All-American Dave Stallworth scored 45 points in a 93-92 overtime loss at Loyola Chicago. The following night at the Roundhouse, he concluded his Shocker career with 40 points in a win over Louisville.

• 1972 – Terry Benton was everywhere at once in a 92-60 win over Tulsa, finishing with 20 points, 22 rebounds and 10 assists.

• 2011 – Ben Smith was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field and 4-for-4 from three-point range in a 61-41 win over Bradley.

• 2017 – After trailing by five at halftime on the road at Bradley, Wichita State outscored the Braves, 44-24, in the second half to run away with a 64-49 win. Landry Shamet scored 19 points and Markis McDuffie grabbed 14 rebounds.

• 2023 – Craig Porter Jr. filled the stat sheet with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in an 85-72 win at East Carolina. The Shockers led by 21 at halftime behind 60 percent shooting.

MILESTONE WATCH

Quincy Ballard is 12 blocks away from 150 in his collegiate career. He is 1 game away from his 100th career game.

Harlond Beverly is 6 games away from his 150th career game.

Bijan Cortes is 26 assists away from 250 for his career. He played in his 100th career game on Jan. 18 vs. East Carolina.

Ronnie DeGray III needs 3 more games to reach his 100th career game.

Justin Hill is 11 assists shy of 500 for his career. He needs 4 more games to reach his 150th career game.

AJ McGinnis is 88 points away from reaching 1,000 for his career.

TULSA LEFTOVERS

• Wichita State dropped to 78-65 all-time vs. Tulsa.

• The Shockers are now 16-12 when playing on Jan. 26.

• Wichita State allowed 80+ points for the eighth time this season. They are 2-6 in those games.

• For the fourth time in the last five games Wichita State was held to fewer than 10 made free throws. Prior to that their season low was 10.

• Tulsa’s 58.8 percent shooting from the field was the highest Wichita State has allowed this season. It marked the sixth time the Shockers have allowed 50 percent shooting or higher.

• Tulsa’s 61.9 percent from three-point range also was the highest Wichita State has allowed this season. The Hurricane were the ninth different team to make 10+ three-pointers on the Shockers this season.

• Wichita State is 3-4 this season when outrebounded.

Xavier Bell bounced back from a scoreless outing at Memphis to lead Wichita State with 19 points. He has 15 games of 10 or more points, including 11 of the last 12.

Justin Hill scored 12 of his 18 points in the first half. His 14 games in double figures are third on the team.

Harlond Beverly added 11 points and six assists. It was his second straight game in double figures and ninth this season. His six assists were the most since dishing out eight vs. Alcorn State on Dec. 4.

Corey Washington scored 10 points, extending his streak of games with 10+ points to nine in a row. It marked his 16th game in double figures.

Quincy Ballard finished with 10 points, marking his 12th game with 10 or more points.

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 12-9 this season.

… Make them 2-6 in conference play.

… Move them to 27-13 all time vs. North Texas.

… Make Paul Mills 27-28 as Wichita State head coach.

… Give Mills 133 career coaching victories.

… Move them to 274-64 in Charles Koch Arena.

… Run their record to 1,684-1,273 all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…                                                                     

… Make them 11-10 this season.

… Drop them to 1-7 in conference play.

… Drop them to 26-14 all time vs. North Texas.

… Make Paul Mills 26-29 as Wichita State head coach.

… Lower Mills’ career record to 132-113.

… Lower their record to 273-65 in Charles Koch Arena.

… Drop their record to 1,683-1,274 all time.

GAME 22: AT CHARLOTTE                                                              

• Wichita State is 1-1 all-time vs. Charlotte after Wichita State won the first matchup, 68-59.

• The 49ers are 8-12 overall and 1-6 in AAC play.

• Charlotte is led by second year head coach Aaron Fearne.



Source link


Posted

in

by

Tags:

All content (written, visual, audio materials, etc.) available on this website is provided for informational and personal use only. The unauthorized copying, reproduction, distribution, or use of this content on other platforms is prohibited under U.S. Copyright Law, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and relevant international laws. Unless otherwise stated, all content is the intellectual property of www.bestfinder.net. In the case of unauthorized use, we reserve the right to initiate legal proceedings.