TEMPLE (9-17, 2-11) at WICHITA STATE (11-16, 3-11)
Sunday, Feb. 25 | 3:00 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
TV: ESPN with Drew Carter & Tim Welsh
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Dave Dahl
Promotions
Yellow Out – Yellow Out the Roundhouse for a late-season matchup with the Temple Owls!
Ticket Offer – Family Four-Packs for $100 (available for reserved seats in sections 125 & 126)
OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State closes a two-game homestand Sunday afternoon for a rematch with Temple at 3 p.m. on ESPN.
• Wichita State is 18-15 all time when playing on Feb. 25.
• Temple leads the all-time series with Wichita State, 7-6. The series is tied 3-3 in Wichita.
• Temple is 9-17 overall and 2-11 in conference play. Since defeating the Shockers in the first meeting this season, 68-61, on Jan. 7, the Owls are just 1-10. They snapped a 10-game losing streak vs. UTSA on Feb. 18.
• In the first meeting on Jan. 7, Wichita State shot out to a nine-point lead only to see Temple close the 1st half on a 26-8 run. The Owls would lead by as many as 17 in the 2nd half before Wichita State stormed back to tie the game with 3:13 to go. Temple went on to score the final six points of the game to hang on for the win.
• Wichita State is coming off a dominant win over Tulsa on Wednesday, 79-63. The Shockers forced a season-high 22 turnovers and held the Golden Hurricane to 2-of-20 from three-point range.
• Wichita State’s 15 steals vs. Tulsa tied for the 6th most in school history.
• Kenny Pohto had his best game in more than a month against Tulsa, scoring 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting and grabbing 7 rebounds.
• Colby Rogers (15.6 ppg; leading scorer) has made a three-pointer in all but one game this season and multiple in 21 of the 27. He leads the AAC in total 3PT FG made (70) and ranks 2nd in 3PT FGM per game (2.62) and 3PT Percentage (38.3%).
• His streak of 25 straight games with a made three-pointer tied for the 4th longest in school history. The streak was snapped on Feb. 18 at Charlotte.
• Rogers has made 28 consecutive free throws, tied for the 7th longest in school history. He was a career-best 9-for-9 vs. Tulsa on Feb. 21.
• Wichita State ranks 35th nationally in rebounds per game and 26th in defensive rebounds per game. In conference play, Wichita State’s rebounding numbers have taken a hit, averaging only 35.9 rebounds per game.
• Quincy Ballard ranks 21st nationally in blocks (57). He had tied a career-high with 7 vs. East Carolina on Jan. 24. Ballard has 17 games with multiple blocks.
• Over the last 16 games Ballard is shooting 54-for-70 (77.1%) from the field.
• The win over SMU (KenPom 37) on Jan. 28 was the highest ranked KenPom win since defeating No. 5 Houston on Feb. 18, 2021.
• Wichita State returns only 20.3 percent of its scoring from a season ago, having lost its top four scorers. Pohto is the only returner to average more than 4.0 points per game. Craig Porter Jr., James Rojas, Gus Okafor and Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler exhausted their eligibility, and four others exited via the transfer portal.
SCOUTING TEMPLE
• Led by first year head coach Adam Fisher, Temple enters the matchup at 9-17 and 2-11 in league play.
• Fisher helped lead Penn State to 23 wins and the second round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament as the program’s Associate Head Coach.
• In 2021-22, his first year under then coach Micah Shrewsberry, he helped guide the Nittany Lions to a number of statement wins and a thrilling postseason run in the Big Ten Tournament. Penn State owned the best scoring defense in the Big Ten, as the Nittany Lions allowed just 65.0 points per game – Penn State’s best defensive mark in 11 years.
• Fisher inherits a program rich in history, as Temple is nearing 2,000 all-time wins. The Owls have 1,986 wins – sixth most in NCAA history.
• Temple was picked to finish 12th out of 14 teams in the Preseason American Athletic Conference Coaches Poll.
• The Owls are not shy about shooting from long distance, the problem is they rank towards the very bottom of the NCAA in three-point percentage. Temple is converting on just 30.0 percent of its attempts, which ranks 323rd nationally.
• The Owls boast one of the conference’s top scorers in Hysier Miller. Miller ranks ninth in the American at 15.6 points per game. He leads the league in field goal attempts and three-point attempts. Miller is also the team’s primary playmaker as he leads the team with 107 assists, which ranks 6th in the AAC.
• Miller has scored 10 or more points in all but five games this season and has seven 20-point outings to his name. He scored a career-high 29 on Nov. 18 vs. Columbia.
• In last year’s meeting against Wichita State, Miller had 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting. He also had 17 in the Jan. 7 matchup in Philadelphia.
• Jordan Riley is second on the team in scoring at 12.5 points per game to go with 6.0 rebounds.
• Jahlil White rounds out the double figure scorers with 12.2 points and a team-leading 6.6 boards per game.
• Through 26 games, Temple has not been efficient on the offensive end. The Owls rank 348th in field goal percentage at 38.7 percent and 325th in three-point percentage at 30.0 percent.
• Temple averages only 11.3 assists per game, good for 302nd nationally.
• Defensively, opponents are shooting 44.2 percent against the Owls, but just 32.8 percent from beyond the arc.
THE SERIES VS. TEMPLE
• Temple grabbed a 7-6 lead in the all-time series after winning round one this season, but Wichita State has won six of the 10 meetings since joining The American, including three of the last four.
• The Owls snapped Wichita State’s three-game win streak with a win in Philadelphia on Jan. 7.
• This season marks just the third time in seven seasons that Wichita State and Temple will face off twice in the regular season with each team visiting the other. Temple makes the return trip to Wichita on Feb. 25 this season.
• Closely contested games have been the norm in this series. Seven of the 12 have been decided by five points in either direction and three have gone to overtime.
• Wichita State’s win at Temple last season was the first in three tries since joining The American. At the time Temple was one of two AAC schools, the other being Houston, that the Shockers were winless against on the road.
• Wichita State won the lone matchup in 2023, 79-65, in Philadelphia. Four players finished in double figures, including a double-double for James Rojas with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 5 steals.
• Both teams made 10 three-pointers, combining to go 20-for-50.
• Wichita State led by 8 at halftime, but Temple fought back to behind a 13-0 run to take a 62-58 lead with 6:23 to go. From there Wichita State would close the game on a 21-3 run to win going away. Temple went more than 5:00 minutes without a score, as the Shockers scored 15 straight points.
• The Shockers have twice eliminated the Owls from the American Athletic Conference Championship with quarterfinal wins. They did it in back-to-back seasons (2018 and 2019).
• Behind 24 points from Landry Shamet (6-of-8 3FG), Wichita State knocked out Temple in the 2018 quarterfinals, 89-81.
• In the 2019 quarterfinals, 6th-seeded Wichita State upset 3rd-seeded Temple, 80-74, thanks to 34 points from Markis McDuffie.
• The teams played three times prior to Wichita State’s move to The American, including twice in the 1980s under the late John Chaney. On Dec. 22 1983, Temple ended Wichita State’s 22-game home winning streak (a school record that stood for more than three decades) with a 78-73 victory. Junior All-American Xavier McDaniel played all 40 minutes and tallied 24 points and 18 rebounds.
• A year later (Jan. 27, 1985), the Owls squeezed out a 62-60 win in the championship game of the Pizza Hut Shoot Out. The Shockers held a 51-42 advantage with 8:56 remaining, but Tim Perry‘s three-foot jumper at the buzzer capped a furious Temple comeback.
• In the 2011 Puerto Rico tipoff, the Shockers battled back from down eight at the 7:00-mark to force overtime, but Temple won 78-74 in extra time behind 23 points from Ramone Moore. Toure’ Murry scored a game-high 24 for the Shockers, who went on to win 25 of their next 27 games en route to an NCAA bid.
• A Wichita State player has topped 20 points all nine AAC era meetings with Temple. Jaykwon Walton is the eighth different Shocker to do it, scoring 21 in Wichita State’s Feb. 16, 2023 win in Philly.
CONNECT THE DOTS
• Former Wichita State standout Toure’ Murry now calls Philadelphia home after his professional career. Murry is a Player Development Associate Coach on the staff for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. Murry had NBA stints during his playing days with the New York Knicks, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards.
RECORD BOOK WATCH
• Quincy Ballard is on pace to shatter the single season school record for field goal percentage.
• Through 27 games Ballard is shooting 71.4% (85-for-119) from the field. The current school record is 61.6% by Steve Grayer set in 1987-88.
• That number would rank 1st nationally but to qualify players must average 5 FGM per game. Currently Ballard is at 3.2 FGM per game.
• On the defensive end, Ballard is trending towards a top five season blocking shots. He’s currently sixth on the single season blocks per game list.
• Ballard is fourth on the single season total blocks list.
LEAD GUARDS
• Colby Rogers and Xavier Bell have formed a 1-2 scoring attack for Wichita State through 27 games. Rogers leads Wichita State in scoring at 15.6 per game and Bell is right behind at 11.9.
• The duo of Rogers and Bell make up 37.9 percent of Wichita State’s scoring as they’ve accounted for 741 points.
• Rogers has scored in double figures in 22 of the first 27 games, and Bell in 17 of the 27. They each have multiple 20-point outings to their name (Rogers – 6, Bell – 4).
COLBY ROG3333333333333333333333333RS
• Colby Rogers has made a 3-pointer in all but one game this season. His streak was snapped at 25 vs. Charlotte.
• He has multiple three-pointers in 21 of the first 27 games.
• Rogers is attempting 6.78 three-pointers per game, which currently stands as the third most in school history behind Tyson Etienne (8.30 in 2021-22; 7.55 in 2020-21).
• His 2.59 three-pointers made per game are currently the fifth most in school history.
ACCESS DENIED
• Wichita State has an elite rim protector in Quincy Ballard. His season was cut short in 2022-23 due to injuries, so he’s only played 37 total games in his Shocker career. In those 37 games he has 71 blocked shots. Fifty-seven of those have come in the first 27 games.
• Through 27 games his 57 blocks rank 21st nationally and his 2.11 blocks per game rank 27th.
• He has multiple blocks in all but nine games this season, including two games with seven.
BOARD OF APPROVAL
• Through the first 27 games of the season Wichita State has been among the nation’s top rebounding teams. Wichita State ranks 36th nationally in rebounds per game, 25th in defensive rebounds per game and 73rd in rebound margin.
• Wichita State has four players averaging 5.0 or more rebounds per game (Kenny Pohto – 6.3; Dalen Ridgnal – 6.1; Quincy Ballard – 5.8; Harlond Beverly – 5.0).
• Wichita State has only been outrebounded nine times this season with seven of those coming in the last 16 games.
A SHOCKER WIN WOULD…
… Make them 12-16 this season.
… Make them 4-11 in AAC play.
… Make them 19-15 all time on Feb. 25.
… Give Paul Mills 118 career coaching victories.
… Run their record to 1,669-1,261 all time.
… Make them 7-7 vs. Temple all time.
… Split the regular season series with the Owls.
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
… Make them 11-17 this season.
… Drop them to 3-12 in AAC play.
… Make Paul Mills 11-17 as Wichita State head coach.
… Drop them to 18-16 all time on Feb. 25.
… Drop their record to 1,668-1,262 all time.
… Make them 6-8 all-time vs. Temple.
… Give the Owls their first regular season sweep of the Shockers since joining the American.
UP NEXT
GAME 29: UAB
• UAB is 17-9 under fourth year head coach Andy Kennedy.
• The Blazers are currently in 5th place in the AAC standings with a 9-4 mark.
• Wichita State is 4-0 all-time vs. UAB, but the two teams haven’t met since 2011 at INTRUST Bank Arena.
• Three of the four meetings between the two programs have taken place in Wichita.
• Wichita State and UAB only meet once this season, as the Blazers don’t travel to Wichita.
