MONMOUTH (0-4) at WICHITA STATE (3-0)
Monday, Nov. 18 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
TV: ESPN+ with Shane Dennis & Bob Hull
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Dave Dahl
Shocksgiving Canned Food Drive: Ahead of Thanksgiving, we urge fans to participate in our canned food drive benefiting the Shocker Support Locker. | VIEW WISH LIST ITEMS
Giveaway: The first 250 students will receive a Shocker Rally Wig!
Halftime Performance: Vladimir & Evgenia Acrobatic Quick-Change Act
OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State closes a three-game homestand with a Monday night matchup vs. Monmouth in the Roundhouse.
• The series between Wichita State and Monmouth is tied at 1-1.
• Wichita State is 6-3 all time on Nov. 18.
• Monmouth is 0-4 and won’t play its first home game until Dec. 21.
• Wichita State is No. 83 in the lastest KenPom rankings.
• Wichita State picked up its third win of the season behind Corey Washington’s team and season-high 19 points vs. Northern Iowa. All 19 came in the second half.
• Justin Hill leads the team in points (19.7 ppg) and assists (5.0 apg), and is second in rebounding (5.7 rpg) through the first three games of the season.
• The Houston native scored a career-high 31 in the season opener at Western Kentucky. His 31 points were the most ever in a Shocker debut.
• Six Shockers are averaging better than 9.0 points per game after the first three games.
• Wichita State ranks 9th nationally in free throws made per game (22.3), 21st in free throw attempts per game (28.7), 35th in blocks per game (5.7) and 42nd in free throw percentage (77.9).
• Following Monday’s game vs. Monmouth, Wichita State’s next three games will all be neutral site contests.
• Wichita State returns three starters and seven letterwinners from the 2023-24 roster, including three of its top five scorers.
• Fifty-one (51.0) percent of the scoring from last year’s team is back for the Shockers, led by second leading scorer Harlond Beverly (11.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 3.2 APG).
• An experienced backcourt features a total of 353 combined starts between Beverly, Xavier Bell (11.3 PPG), Bijan Cortes (4.3 PPG) and transfers Justin Hill (Georgia) and AJ McGinnis (Lipscomb).
• Quincy 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 a tie for 9th on the Wichita State career blocks list last Thursday vs. UNI. He’s on pace to shatter the WSU career record for blocks per game at 2.00.
• Wichita State was picked to finish 4th in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll – its highest projected finish since 2021. The league’s coaches project UAB to win the conference.
WE > ME
• With the late arrival of Matej Bošnjak to the roster this summer, Wichita State had no scholarships remaining. Enter redshirt senior Harlond Beverly. Beverly volunteered to give his scholarship to Bošnjak and classify as a walk-on during his final season of collegiate basketball.
• In an interview with the Wichita Eagle, Beverly said: “I’m just grateful to be in this position where I can play Division I basketball while getting my Bachelor’s and working toward my Master’s degree. It’s really just a blessing to be in college. I’ve been to two really good schools and that’s really going to be helpful for my future, so I understand how helpful college can be. If I can help someone else get a full-ride scholarship, like one of my teammates, then I don’t mind being the one to sacrifice when it’s beneficial to our team.”
• Head Coach Paul Mills said in that same interview: “In order to be a part of it, you have to make sacrifices and this is a pretty substantial one on his part. I would tell you that he not only volunteered to do it, he was eager to do it, to be honest with you.”
OPENING NIGHT
• Wichita State has won 75 percent of its season openers all time (89-29, .754) and over 80 percent (65-15, .813) in the modern era.
• Wichita State is 21-1 in home openers since Charles Koch Arena’s 2003 renovation. The lone loss came in 2018 to Louisiana Tech.
• Wichita State is starting its 69th season at the Roundhouse (1955-Pr.). Shocker teams have lost just eight home openers during that span (61-8, .884).
• Forty seasons ago (Nov. 30, 1972), Antoine Carr set the school record for most points by a freshman in his Shocker debut (19 points). He dunked five times in the first half of a 76-61 win over Northern Michigan.
Wichita State’s highest-scoring varsity debut came Dec. 1, 1972 at Oregon State when Bobby Wilson put up 29 points. Wilson went on to play parts of four NBA seasons with the Bulls, Celtics and Pacers.
MONDAY MADNESS
• Wichita State has won 12 straight games that happen to fall on a Monday. The Shockers were 1-0 on Mondays a season ago and haven’t lost on a Monday since Nov. 22, 2010 against UConn in the Maui Invitational.
• Since 2017, Wichita State has played just five games on a Monday.
• The Shockers win at WKU in the season opener is the first of four Monday games in 2024-25.
SCOUTING MONMOUTH
• King Rice has been on the Monmouth sideline for 13 seasons and leads the Hawks into his 14th in 2024-25. In February 2022, Rice became the winningest Division I Head Coach in Monmouth Basketball history. He has 207 victories to his credit, as well as a trio of MAAC Coach of the Year honors and three MAAC regular season titles.
• Rice has set Monmouth records for wins in a season with 28 and consecutive victories with 17. Rice also set a MAAC Record in 2016-17 by winning 18 league games for the first time ever.
• He has won the John McLendon National Coach of the Year honor, while being named a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award.
• Rice has beaten nine high-major opponents as the MU head coach.
• A native of Binghamton, N.Y. and a 1992 graduate of North Carolina, Rice had 13 seasons of experience in the collegiate coaching ranks prior to becoming the Monmouth head coach.
• Monmouth returns 10 letterwinners from a season ago, including four players that played significant minutes a season ago. Jack Collins has scored in double figures his first two seasons, and Jaret Valencia earned All-CAA Defensive Team and Rookie Team honors in his first season in the Blue and White.
• Abdi Bashir Jr. led the country in three-point percentage for much of non-conference play last year, ultimately shooting just shy of 40 percent from deep.
• Nine Hawks from last season’s roster are gone this year, the most notable being Xander Rice. The head coach’s son was a First Team All-CAA, All-MET and NABC All-District choice, setting the program record for 30+ point games with five.
• His 674 points were the second most in a season in school history, and his 91 threes were fourth most.
• Monmouth will play its first 11 games away from home before its home opener on December 21 against Fairfield. This includes eight true road games and three games at neutral sites, as the • Hawks will travel a total of 7,069 miles before playing at home.
• Two Hawks earned Preseason All-CAA accolades, with Jaret Valencia being named to the Second Team and Jack Collins picking up Honorable Mention.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. MONMOUTH
• A series that dates back to 1993, Wichita State and Monmouth will square off for just the third time ever Monday night in the Roundhouse.
• The two teams have each won once with Monmouth having the upperhand the last time out. In the 2007 Paradise Jam, Monmouth outscored Wichita State by 11 after halftime to come out with a 59-50 win in a low-scoring battle.
• Gal Mekel and Phillip Thomasson combined for 33 of Wichita State’s 50 points. The duo of Mekel and Thomasson were 11-for-19 from the field, while the rest of the team was a combined 3-for-24.
• In the first-ever meeting on Dec. 29, 1993, Wichita State needed overtime to hold off a pesky Monmouth team in Levitt Arena, 65-59. Chad Elstun scored a team-high 14 points and the Shockers forced 22 turnovers.
HILL’S HOT START
• Through the first two games senior guard Justin Hill has scored 48 points, the most by a Shocker since Jason Perez scored 54 against McNeese State and Prairie View A&M in 1999. Hill is just the third Shocker to score 40 over the first two games since 2000, joining Markis McDuffie (40, 2018) and Tyson Etienne (40, 2020).
NON-CONFERENCE NOTABLES
• Wichita State could potentially face two first-time foes in the non-conference slate (East Tennessee State and Wake Forest).
• The Shockers will play three teams ranked in the Top 60 of KenPom’s preseason rankings (vs. Florida – 28; vs. Wake Forest – 44; K-State – 49; Minnesota – 59).
• Wichita State has won nine of its last 12 non-conference true road games, dating back to the 2019 NIT run. The Shockers have two true non-conference road games in 2024 (WKU and DePaul).
MILESTONE WATCH
• Quincy Ballard is 6 blocks away from 100 in his Wichita State career.
• Xavier Bell needs 72 points to reach 1,000 for his collegiate career.
• Harlond Beverly is 121 points shy of 1,000 career points.
• Justin Hill has 1,426 career points. He needs 74 points to reach 1,500. His 60 assists shy of 500 for his career.
• AJ McGinnis is 150 points away from reaching 1,000 for his career.
KING OF THE HILL
• Senior guard Justin Hill had a debut for the record books. In the Shockers’ season opener at Western Kentucky on Nov. 4, Hill dropped a career-high 31 points on the Hilltoppers. The Houston native was efficient at all three levels, going 9-for-14 from the field, 4-for-7 from three and 9-for-11 at the free throw line.
• His 31 points were the most ever by a Shocker in a debut and tied for the 4th most in a season opener. He’s the first Shocker to top 30 points since Ricky Council IV scored 31 vs. UCF in 2022.
NORTHERN IOWA LEFTOVERS
• Wichita State improved to 29-28 all-time vs. Northern Iowa.
• The Shockers are now 4-0 when playing on Nov. 14.
• Wichita State outrebounded the Panthers, making them 15-8 under Paul Mills and 2-0 this season when they win the rebound battle.
• Wichita State’s rebound margin of plus-11 was a season high.
• Their 14 offensive rebounds were also a season best.
• UNI’s six offensive rebounds and 31 total rebounds were both season lows by an opponent.
• Wichita State’s 10 assists were a season low.
• UNI shot 47.5 percent from the field, the highest FG pct. Wichita State has allowed through three games.
• Corey Washington scored a season-high 19 points – all after halftime. It marked his second straight game in double figures.
• Justin Hill reached double figures for a third straight game, finishing with 11 points.
• Matej Bosnjak’s 9 points were a season high.
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 4-0 for the second straight season and 25th time in program history.
… Make Paul Mills 19-19 as Wichita State head coach.
… Give Mills 125 career coaching victories.
… Make them 267-61 in Charles Koch Arena.
… Run their record to 1,676-1,264 all time.
… Improve their record to 2-1 all-time vs. Monmouth.
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
… Be their first loss of the season.
… Give Monmouth its first win of the season.
… Make Paul Mills 18-20 as Wichita State head coach.
… Lower Mills’ career record to 124-104.
… Drop them to 267-62 in Charles Koch Arena.
… Drop their record to 1,675-1,265 all time.
… Make them 1-2 all-time vs. Monmouth.
GAME 5: vs. SAINT LOUIS (HALL OF FAME CLASSIC)
• Saint Louis leads the all-time series vs. Wichita State, 41-24.
• Wichita State has won the last six meetings vs. the Billikens.
• Saint Louis is led by first-year head coach Josh Schertz.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
