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#14/15 HOUSTON (21-4, 10-2 AAC) at WICHITA STATE (13-10, 4-7 AAC)
UH -7
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2022 | 12:00 PM CT
WICHITA, KANSAS| CHARLES KOCH ARENA
TV: ESPN With Mike Corey & Mark Enthusiadams
RADIO: KEYN 103.7 FM https://www.radio.com/keyn/listen
SERIES: Wichita State leads 18-16 (13-3 in Wichita)
LAST MEETING: January 8, 2022 in Houston (UH, 76-66)
GAME NOTES:
- Wichita State prepares for a high-Noon showdown with 14th-ranked Houston at the Roundhouse.
- WSU will suit-up in its road jerseys as part of a BLACKOUT theme. Fans are encouraged to wear black, as well.
- Five of the last six foes that have brought AP rankings to Wichita have left with a loss.
- Houston was the most-recent victim. On Feb. 18 of last year, the Shockers upset the sixth-ranked Cougars, 68-63, to take over first-place in the AAC race.
- The Shockers are looking to bounce back from Thursday's 85-76 loss at Cincinnati. Ricky Council IV scored 17 points, but WSU was unable to keep pace with the Bearcats' offensive onslaught, which included an 11-of-19 performance from three-point range. The hosts made 7-of-8 threes to take a 32-11 lead after just 9:00. WSU cut it to three before halftime but got no closer.
- WSU has won its last four home games, including an a 72-57 win over second-place SMU.
- Helped, in part, by that Shocker win, UH (10-2) enters the weekend with a one-game lead over SMU (9-3) in the AAC standings. The Cougars lead the nation in field goal percentage defense (.365) and rank fifth in fewest-points allowed (58.0).
- Some good news: The Shockers lead the all-time series with Houston, 18-16. Bad news: They're just 2-7 in AAC era games. But more good news: WSU has won two of the three AAC meetings in Wichita (13-3 all-time).
- UH took the Jan. 8 game in Houston, 76-66, behind Josh Carlton's 22 points and 12 rebounds. Tyson Etienne had 11 points and three steals to lead WSU.
- A pair of Shockers teammates are closing in on 1,000 career points. Etienne needs 17 more, and Dexter Dennis is 38 point shy.
- Etienne (189 threes) needs just seven more to catch Jason Perez (196) for fifth-place on WSU's career list.
- Morris Udeze (10.7 ppg, team-high 6.0 rebounds) recorded his 50th career dunk on Thursday. Since 1976 -- when the NCAA unbanned the slam dunk -- just eight other Shockers have reached that milestone.
- Council is the league's highest-scoring reserve (11.5 ppg). He's been the Shockers' leading scorer in five of the last seven games, averaging 15.7 points during that stretch.
- Point guard Craig Porter Jr. leads WSU in the unusual combo of assists (3.6), blocks (1.05) and steals (1.0). He's one of just seven players nationally who are averaging at least 3.0 assists, 1.0 block and 1.0 steal.
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