MBB Preview: at DePaul (December 14)

WICHITA STATE (8-1, 0-0) at DePAUL (7-2, 0-1)

Saturday 14 December | 12:00
Chicago, Ill. | Wintrust Arena

TV: FS1 with Connor Onion & Stephen Bardo
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull

OPENING TIPS

• Wichita State hits the road for the final time in non-conference play with a trip to the Windy City.
• A win would move the Shockers to 9-1 and would be their best start since 2019-20, when they also started the season 9-1.
• Wichita State has won two straight in the series with DePaul.
• Wichita State won its second straight game with a 96-87 victory over ETSU on Dec. 7. The Shockers set season highs in points and field goal percentage.
• Corey Washington logged his first double-double as a Shocker with 17 points and career-high 13 rebounds.
• Justin Hill recorded his second 20-point game of the season behind a team-high 20 points vs. ETSU.
• Bijan Cortes dished out a career-high 10 assists vs. ETSU, the first Shocker with 10+ assists in a game since Craig Porter Jr. had 11 against Tulane on March 10, 2023.
• Wichita State finished the month 6-1 November. In his two seasons, the Shockers are 13-2 Paul Mills in November matches.
• Wichita State is 15-9 all-time on Dec. 14.
• Wichita State ranks 10th nationally in defensive rebounds per. match (30.11), 26th in turnover per match (9.9), 29th in free throws per match (18.0).
• As no. 88 in the KenPom rankings, Wichita State is third out of the 13 teams in the American.
• Senior forward Ronnie DeGray III will be out for the next few weeks after suffering a broken wrist vs. Monmouth on November 18.
• Wichita State returns three starters and seven letterwinners from the 2023-24 roster, including three of the top five scorers.
• Fifty-one (51.0) percent of the scoring from last year’s team returns for the Shockers, led by second-leading scorer Harlon Beverly (11.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 3.2 APG).
• Quincy Ballard broke 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 5th on the Wichita State career blocks list vs. ETSU with 106. He is on pace to break the WSU career record for blocks per game at 2.04.
• Eight student-athletes on Wichita State’s roster have NCAA Tournament experience: Quincy Ballard (Florida St.), Xavier Bell (Drexel), Harlon Beverly (Miami), Ronnie DeGray III (Missouri), Justin Hill (Longwood), AJ McGinnis (UNCG), Zane Meeks (San Francisco) and Corey Washington (St. Peter’s Church).

SCOUT PAUL

• Chris Holtman is in his first year at the helm of the DePaul men’s basketball program.
• The former Ohio State, Butler and Gardner-Webb head coach looks to rebuild DePaul. In year one, he has already doubled his win total from a year ago (3-29).
• Holtmann is a three-time Naismith Coach of the Year finalist and left Ohio State fifth all-time in wins. From 2012-21, he had a stretch of nine consecutive 20-win seasons, including eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
• In addition to 14 new players, the Blue Demons have seven new members in the staff led by Holtmann.
• DePaul does not return any minutes from last season. The Blue Demons are one of six schools nationwide to do so — Niagara, IU Indy, Kentucky, Louisville and Iona.
• All six of those schools are the only ones in the nation not to return any scoring or rebounding from last season.

• Jacob Meyer leads the team in scoring with 14.3 points per game on 44.4 percent (24-of-54) shooting from three-point range. Meyer leads the bench unit as he has only started two games this season.

• Isaiah Rivera is second on the team with 12.8 points per Rivera is converting on 51.2% of his field goal attempts and 44.0% of his three-pointers.

• David Skogman pulls down a team-best 7.1 rebounds to go along with 10.6 points.

• Conor Enright ranks 7th nationally in assists per game with 7.3 and his 66 total assists are good for 10th.
• As a team, DePaul shoots nearly 40 percent from long range. They rank 3rd nationally in three-pointers per. game (12.3), 7th in three-point attempts per game (31.6) and 24th in three-point percentage (39.1%).
• The Blue Demons are also 9th in the country in assists per game. game (19.4), 15th in defensive rebounds per game (29.44) and 21st in effective field goal percentage (57.5%).
• The Blue Demons bench is averaging 35.4 points per game. game, which ranks 12th nationally and leads all BIG EAST schools.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. DEPAUL
• A streak dating back to 1937, Wichita State and DePaul have met just eight times, with both teams winning four games each.
• DePaul won three of the first four meetings – all on their home court.
• The previous three meetings have all come on a neutral site, with the Shockers winning the last two.
• Most recently, Wichita State defeated DePaul in the 2013 CBE Classic, 90-72, behind a game-high 21 points from Ron Baker.

CONNECT THE DOTS
• DePaul sophomore guard Layden Blocker spent his last two years of high school right here in Wichita at Sunrise Christian Academy. Blocker is in his first season at DePaul after spending his freshman season at Arkansas.
• The heads of their respective athletic departments, the Wichita State Director of Athletics Kevin Hall and DePaul Director of Athletics DeWayne Peevyare not strangers. The two spent 11 years together in the athletic department at the University of Kentucky before leaving for AD jobs. Saal served 12 years (2007-19) at UK in various roles before being named executive associate director of athletics. Peevy also served 12 years (2008-20) at UK, holding the title of deputy athletic director for the final seven.

ON THIS DATE: DEC. 14

• 1964 – The Shockers moved to the top of the polls for the first time in school history. Hours later, they fell to no. 2 at Michigan at Detroit, 87-85.

• 2013 – Wichita State held off Tennessee, 70-61, at INTRUST Bank Arena to record the first 10-0 start in program history. Notably, the teams had met under similar circumstances in 2012, when the Shockers took a 9-0 record to Knoxville before suffering their first loss.

• 2019 – Down by eight points with 11:25 to play, the Shockers used a 12-0 run to turn the tables on Oklahoma at INTRUST Bank Arena. Tyson Etienne put WSU in front for good on a three-pointer with 2:30 left in an 80-75 win.

MILESTONE FUR WATCH

• Quincy Ballard is 19 blocks away from 125 in his Wichita State career.

• Xavier Bell needs 15 points to reach 1,000 for his collegiate career.

• Harlon Beverly is 58 points shy of 1,000 career points.

• Justin Hill has 1,498 career points. He needs 2 points to reach 1,500. He has 43 assists and 500 assists for his career.

• AJ McGinnis is 118 points away from reaching 1,000 for his career.

THE REST OF THE STATE OF EAST TENNESSEE
• Wichita State improved to 1-0 vs. ETSU.
• The Shockers are now 12-10 when they play on Dec. 7.
• Wichita State set season highs in points (96), field goal percentage (54.7%) and first half points (54).
• Wichita State won the rebounding contest for the fourth time this season.

• Justin Hill recorded his second 20-point game of the season behind a team-high 20 points. He has scored 10 or more in seven of the team’s nine games.

• Corey Washington recorded his first double-double of the season behind 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. He is tied for the lead in double-digit games with seven.

• Harlon Beverly finished in double figures for the fifth time this season.

• Xavier Bell recorded his fifth 10-point game of the season.

• Bijan Cortes dished out a career-high 10 assists.

• Quincy Ballard set a season height of 5 blocks.

OLD TIMERS
• With COVID still affecting eligibility, several schools around the country have multiple student-athletes on their roster playing in their fifth, sixth and even seventh seasons. Wichita State ranks second in the nation with seven student-athletes in their fifth year or higher in collegiate basketball.

A SHOCKER WIN WILL…
… Makes them 9-1 for the first time since 2019.
… Up their record to 2-0 on the road this season.
… Move them to 5-4 all time vs. DePaul.
… Be their first win over a BIG EAST opponent since 2018 vs. Marquette in the Maui Invitational.
… Low Paul Mills 24-20 as Wichita State head coach.
… Give Mills 130 career wins.
… Run their record to 1,681-1,265 all-time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
… Makes them 8-2 this season.
… Be their first road loss of the season, bringing them to 1-1.
… Drop them to 4-5 all-time vs. DePaul.
… Low Paul Mills 23-21 as Wichita State head coach.
… Lower Mills’ career record to 129-105.
… Drop their record to 1,680-1,266 all-time.

GAME 11: KANSAS CITY
• Wichita State leads the series with Kansas City (formerly UMKC), 7-3, dating back to the first meeting in 1992.
• Wichita State and Kansas City last met in 2018 in Wichita. The Shockers won that matchup 109-57.
• Under head coach Marvin Menzies, Kansas City is 5-7 to begin the 2024-25 season.
• Menzies is in his third season leading the Roos program.