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Thursday, Dec. 21 | 7:30 p.m.
Kansas City, Mo. | T-Mobile Center
WICH +5.5
TV: ESPN+ with Ted Emrich & Kevin Lehman
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State heads up the turnpike to the T-Mobile Center for the first of two straight Sunflower State showdowns.
• Wichita State is 18-8 all time when playing on Dec. 21.
• Kansas State leads the all-time series, 22-11, and has won the last four meetings.
• K-State is 8-3 this season with four of those victories coming in overtime. K-State had its 10-game home win streak snapped on Sunday, falling to Nebraska.
• The Wildcats are 9-0 in overtime games under second-year head coach Jerome Tang.
• Wichita State won its 10th straight vs. Southern Illinois following a thrilling 69-68 win over the Salukis on Saturday in Charles Koch Arena.
• Wichita State is guaranteed to have a winning non-conference record for the 26th consecutive season.
• The 2022-23 Shockers ranked 230th in adjusted tempo, but that will most certainly change under Mills' leadership. His Oral Roberts squad was 40th in tempo last season.
• Wichita State ranked near the very bottom in the NCAA when it came to 3-point shooting a season ago. Converting on just 30.9 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc, that ranked 324th nationally. Mills' Oral Roberts squad on the other hand attempted nearly 400 more and shot 36.5 percent, which ranked 56th in the country.
SCOUTING KANSAS STATE
• Led by second year head coach Jerome Tang, Kansas State enters the matchup at 8-3.
• All Tang accomplished in his first year as a head coach in 2022-23 was lead the Wildcats to 26 wins, an Elite Eight appearance and Naismith Coach of the Year honors.
• Tang became the 11th first-year head coach to direct his team to the Elite Eight since 1996-97, while joining North Carolina's Bill Guthridge in 1997-98 and Hubert Davis in 2021-22 and Kent State's Stan Heath in 2001-02 as one of four first-time head coaches to accomplish the feat.
• The Wildcats went 26-10 a season ago and 11-7 in the Big 12 Conference. K-State was picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll.
• K-State returns only two starters from last season's Elite Eight squad and welcomes eight newcomers (four transfers, three true freshmen and one walk-on).
• Through only 11 games, the Wildcats have already played four of those in overtime - all wins. K-State is 9-0 in overtime games under Tang.
• The Wildcats have three players averaging better than 15.0 points per game, led by Cam Carter at 16.5. To go with his 16.5 points, Carter adds 5.3 rebounds and a team-high 23 steals.
• Creighton transfer Arthur Kaluma checks in at 15.7 points and a team-leading 8.4 rebounds. Kaluma is coming off Big 12 Player of the Week honors on Dec. 11 after posting back-to-back games of 26 points, 9 rebounds and 17 points, 11 rebounds vs. Villanova and LSU. Kaluma has scored in double figures in all but two games this season.
• North Texas transfer Tylor Perry adds 15.7 points and has dished out 61 assists. Perry has four games with 20 or more points and has scored 10 or more in every game.
• Perry has made a basket to either win a game or send the game to overtime seven times in his career. In back-to-back games against North Alabama and Villanova, Perry hit a three-pointer to either send it to OT or win the game.
• K-State is only 1-2 in neutral site games this season.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. KANSAS STATE
• K-State leads the all-time series, 22-11, including winners of the last four meetings. Thursday's matchup will be the first-ever neutral court game between the two Sunflower State schools.
• The two schools reignited the series in 2021 after an 18-year hiatus. Next season the Wildcats are slated to appear in Charles Koch Arena in the fourth year of a four-year contract.
• Dating back to 2003, the last three games have been decided by a total of 15 points: 4 (50-54), 6 (59-65) and 5 (50-55)
• The most notable series meeting came in the 1964 Midwest Regional Final, played inside the Roundhouse. Dave Stallworth (37 points, 16 rebounds) outdueled fellow All-American Willie Murrell (28 pts, 10 reb), but the Wildcats escaped Wichita with a 94-86 win.
• A year later, WSU again advanced to the regional final round, this time defeating Oklahoma State to punch its first Final Four ticket. That game was played at K-State's Ahearn Fieldhouse
• For years it was WSU's lone bright spot in Manhattan. The Shockers lost its first 12 road games at K-State before finally breaking through in 1996 and again in 2001.
CONNECT THE DOTS
• Wichita State head coach Paul Mills and Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang have a well-documented history that traces back to their years at Baylor under head coach Scott Drew. For 14 years, Mills and Tang were on the staff together at Baylor, helping turn the Bears from a laughingstock into a perennial power. The two remain very close friends and talk almost daily.
• Current assistant coach Quincy Acy played for both Mills and Tang from 2008-12, earning All-Big 12 honors multiple times in his career.
• Wichita State Athletic Director Kevin Saal is a Manhattan native and former K-State staffer (2000-05). He spent a year as administrative assistant for the K-State men's and women's golf and rowing programs before transitioning into an event management role.
• K-State Executive Associate A.D. Casey Scott began his career in 1985 as Wichita State's Sports Information Director. A native of Wichita, Scott spent 12 years at Wichita State before departing for Colorado State in 1998.
BOARD OF APPROVAL
• Through the first 11 games of the season Wichita State has been among the nation's top rebounding teams. Wichita State ranks 7th nationally in rebounds per game, 5th in defensive rebounds per game and 21st in rebound margin.
• Wichita State is the only team in the country that has three players averaging 6.9 or more rebounds per game (Kenny Pohto - 8.3; Dalen Ridgnal - 7.3; Quincy Ballard - 6.9).
• Wichita State has been outrebounded just twice this season by a total of three rebounds (-2 vs. WKU; -1 vs. Coastal Carolina).
• Wichita State has pulled down 40 or more rebounds in 8 of the 11 games, including three games of 50+.
• Wichita State has grabbed 76.0% of its possible defensive rebounds this season. That number would be the third best in school history, trailing only the 2017-18 team's 77.4% and 2015-16 team's 76.2%.
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...
... Make them 9-3 this season.
... Snap a four-game losing streak vs. K-State.
... Make them 19-8 all time on Dec. 21.
... Give Paul Mills 115 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,666-1,248 all time.
... Make them 12-22 vs. K-State all time.
Kansas City, Mo. | T-Mobile Center
WICH +5.5
TV: ESPN+ with Ted Emrich & Kevin Lehman
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State heads up the turnpike to the T-Mobile Center for the first of two straight Sunflower State showdowns.
• Wichita State is 18-8 all time when playing on Dec. 21.
• Kansas State leads the all-time series, 22-11, and has won the last four meetings.
• K-State is 8-3 this season with four of those victories coming in overtime. K-State had its 10-game home win streak snapped on Sunday, falling to Nebraska.
• The Wildcats are 9-0 in overtime games under second-year head coach Jerome Tang.
• Wichita State won its 10th straight vs. Southern Illinois following a thrilling 69-68 win over the Salukis on Saturday in Charles Koch Arena.
• Wichita State is guaranteed to have a winning non-conference record for the 26th consecutive season.
• The 2022-23 Shockers ranked 230th in adjusted tempo, but that will most certainly change under Mills' leadership. His Oral Roberts squad was 40th in tempo last season.
• Wichita State ranked near the very bottom in the NCAA when it came to 3-point shooting a season ago. Converting on just 30.9 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc, that ranked 324th nationally. Mills' Oral Roberts squad on the other hand attempted nearly 400 more and shot 36.5 percent, which ranked 56th in the country.
SCOUTING KANSAS STATE
• Led by second year head coach Jerome Tang, Kansas State enters the matchup at 8-3.
• All Tang accomplished in his first year as a head coach in 2022-23 was lead the Wildcats to 26 wins, an Elite Eight appearance and Naismith Coach of the Year honors.
• Tang became the 11th first-year head coach to direct his team to the Elite Eight since 1996-97, while joining North Carolina's Bill Guthridge in 1997-98 and Hubert Davis in 2021-22 and Kent State's Stan Heath in 2001-02 as one of four first-time head coaches to accomplish the feat.
• The Wildcats went 26-10 a season ago and 11-7 in the Big 12 Conference. K-State was picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll.
• K-State returns only two starters from last season's Elite Eight squad and welcomes eight newcomers (four transfers, three true freshmen and one walk-on).
• Through only 11 games, the Wildcats have already played four of those in overtime - all wins. K-State is 9-0 in overtime games under Tang.
• The Wildcats have three players averaging better than 15.0 points per game, led by Cam Carter at 16.5. To go with his 16.5 points, Carter adds 5.3 rebounds and a team-high 23 steals.
• Creighton transfer Arthur Kaluma checks in at 15.7 points and a team-leading 8.4 rebounds. Kaluma is coming off Big 12 Player of the Week honors on Dec. 11 after posting back-to-back games of 26 points, 9 rebounds and 17 points, 11 rebounds vs. Villanova and LSU. Kaluma has scored in double figures in all but two games this season.
• North Texas transfer Tylor Perry adds 15.7 points and has dished out 61 assists. Perry has four games with 20 or more points and has scored 10 or more in every game.
• Perry has made a basket to either win a game or send the game to overtime seven times in his career. In back-to-back games against North Alabama and Villanova, Perry hit a three-pointer to either send it to OT or win the game.
• K-State is only 1-2 in neutral site games this season.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. KANSAS STATE
• K-State leads the all-time series, 22-11, including winners of the last four meetings. Thursday's matchup will be the first-ever neutral court game between the two Sunflower State schools.
• The two schools reignited the series in 2021 after an 18-year hiatus. Next season the Wildcats are slated to appear in Charles Koch Arena in the fourth year of a four-year contract.
• Dating back to 2003, the last three games have been decided by a total of 15 points: 4 (50-54), 6 (59-65) and 5 (50-55)
• The most notable series meeting came in the 1964 Midwest Regional Final, played inside the Roundhouse. Dave Stallworth (37 points, 16 rebounds) outdueled fellow All-American Willie Murrell (28 pts, 10 reb), but the Wildcats escaped Wichita with a 94-86 win.
• A year later, WSU again advanced to the regional final round, this time defeating Oklahoma State to punch its first Final Four ticket. That game was played at K-State's Ahearn Fieldhouse
• For years it was WSU's lone bright spot in Manhattan. The Shockers lost its first 12 road games at K-State before finally breaking through in 1996 and again in 2001.
CONNECT THE DOTS
• Wichita State head coach Paul Mills and Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang have a well-documented history that traces back to their years at Baylor under head coach Scott Drew. For 14 years, Mills and Tang were on the staff together at Baylor, helping turn the Bears from a laughingstock into a perennial power. The two remain very close friends and talk almost daily.
• Current assistant coach Quincy Acy played for both Mills and Tang from 2008-12, earning All-Big 12 honors multiple times in his career.
• Wichita State Athletic Director Kevin Saal is a Manhattan native and former K-State staffer (2000-05). He spent a year as administrative assistant for the K-State men's and women's golf and rowing programs before transitioning into an event management role.
• K-State Executive Associate A.D. Casey Scott began his career in 1985 as Wichita State's Sports Information Director. A native of Wichita, Scott spent 12 years at Wichita State before departing for Colorado State in 1998.
BOARD OF APPROVAL
• Through the first 11 games of the season Wichita State has been among the nation's top rebounding teams. Wichita State ranks 7th nationally in rebounds per game, 5th in defensive rebounds per game and 21st in rebound margin.
• Wichita State is the only team in the country that has three players averaging 6.9 or more rebounds per game (Kenny Pohto - 8.3; Dalen Ridgnal - 7.3; Quincy Ballard - 6.9).
• Wichita State has been outrebounded just twice this season by a total of three rebounds (-2 vs. WKU; -1 vs. Coastal Carolina).
• Wichita State has pulled down 40 or more rebounds in 8 of the 11 games, including three games of 50+.
• Wichita State has grabbed 76.0% of its possible defensive rebounds this season. That number would be the third best in school history, trailing only the 2017-18 team's 77.4% and 2015-16 team's 76.2%.
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...
... Make them 9-3 this season.
... Snap a four-game losing streak vs. K-State.
... Make them 19-8 all time on Dec. 21.
... Give Paul Mills 115 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,666-1,248 all time.
... Make them 12-22 vs. K-State all time.
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