MONTANA STATE (0-1) at WICHITA STATE (1-0)
Saturday, Nov. 9 | 6:00 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
Salute to Service: We pay tribute to retired and active-duty military personnel ahead of Veteran’s Day by offering a two-for-one, $20 ticket that is good for both the men’s and women’s game on this day.
Rally The Roundhouse: The first 3,000 fans receive a free rally towel courtesy of Golden Plains Credit Union.
Greek Night: We welcome the Wichita State University Greek Life Community to the game and will recognize the presidents of their chapters during a timeout. WSU Greek Alumni can receive a two-for-one, $20 ticket that is good for both the men’s and women’s game on this day.
Camper Reunion: Attendees at Paul Mills‘ 2024 Summer Camp can receive a free GA ticket at the Shocker Ticket Office when they wear their camp t-shirt.
OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State welcomes Montana State to Charles Koch Arena on Saturday for its 2024-25 home opener.
• The Shockers opened the season away from Charles Koch Arena for the first time since 2003 when Wichita State started the season at the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
• The Shockers’ opener at WKU was the first true road game to begin a season since 1992 when Wichita State opened the 1992-93 season in Tuscaloosa against Alabama.
• In the program’s history, Wichita State is 99-18 in home openers. They have won 27 of their last 29 home openers, including five in a row.
• Wichita State leads the all-time series with Montana State, 2-1.
• This is the second consecutive season Wichita State has played on Nov. 9. Wichita State is 5-0 all time on Nov. 9.
• Since 1992, Wichita State teams are 30-2 in season openers. The Shockers are 89-29 all-time in openers.
• Four Shockers reached double figures in the opening win at Western Kentucky, led by Justin Hill’s career-high 31.
• 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 (7.4 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 74 BLK) anchors the frontcourt on the heels of a record-breaking season of efficiency. Ballard shattered the single season school record for field goal percentage and also had top five marks in blocks per game and total blocks.
• Joining Ballard on the low block are newcomers Zane Meeks (Arizona State) and Croatian big man Matej Bošnjak.
• Ronnie DeGray III (5.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG) and Saint Peter’s transfer Corey Washington bring versatility, scoring and rebounding to the forward position.
• KenPom ranks the Shockers 100th nationally.
• 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 20-1 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 (60-8, .882).
• Forty seasons ago (Dec. 1, 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 MONTANA STATE
• Second-year Montana State head coach Matt Logie has taken his teams to the NCAA Tournament in 12 of his 13 seasons as a head coach, and is believed to be just the second men’s coach in history to lead teams to the Big Dance at the Division I, Division II and Division III levels (Tobin Anderson).
• Logie came to Montana State after four seasons at Point Loma in California, where his teams rolled up an 82-23 record with three conference championships. His 13 seasons as a head basketball coach includes eight at Whitworth University in Spokane (2011-19), where his Pirates compiled a 194-35 record.
• In 2023-24, Logie was named a finalist for Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year, which is presented annually to the top rookie, first-year head coach in Division I college basketball, after orchestrating the Bobcats’ third straight Big Sky championship title and third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.
• Montana State will be one of the most experienced teams in the country in 2024-25, boasting five players in the projected rotation who have played in at least 102 games (Jabe Mullins, Tyler Patterson, Brian Goracke, Max Agbonkpolo, Sam Lecholat), and nine players who have at least four years in college basketball. Patterson has started 117 games in a Montana State uniform entering Thursday, the most of any active player at one school in the country.
• Montana State was picked first in the Big Sky Preseason Media Poll, and second in the Big Sky Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Goracke and junior forward Brandon Walker were picked Preseason All-Big Sky.
• Goracke finished 10th in the Big Sky last year in scoring (13.5 ppg), eighth in made 3-pointers (69), and third in free throw percentage (86.5%).
• Walker finished third on the team and 12th in the Big Sky in scoring (13.1 ppg), while ranking third in the Big Sky and 39th in NCAA Division I in field goal percentage (56.3%).
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. MONTANA STATE
• Wichita State leads the all-time series with Montana State, 2-1, which dates all the way back to 1963 when the teams met for the first time.
• Two of the three meetings took place in Oklahoma City, while the most recent matchup came in Henry Levitt Arena right here in Wichita.
• Saturday’s contest will be the first between the two schools in 48 years.
• Wichita State defeated the Bobcats the day after Christmas in 1963, marking the first win of the series.
• Seven years later the two schools faced off in Oklahoma City once again, this time the Bobcats came out with the victory in a high-scoring affair, 101-89.
• All-Conference performer Willie Weeks scored a game-high 27 points to lead Montana State, while Terry Benton led the Shockers with 17.
• Wichita State avenged that loss in 1970 nearly six years later in Henry Levitt Arena. The Shockers held Montana State to 50 points, leaving with a 67-50 win.
• Charlie Brent and Cheese Johnson both scored a team-high 12 points and Robert Elmore grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds.
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 11 blocks away from 100 in his Wichita State career.
• Xavier Bell needs 88 points to reach 1,000 for his collegiate career.
• Harlond Beverly is 139 points shy of 1,000 career points.
• Justin Hill has 1,398 career points. He needs 102 points to reach 1,500. His 69 assists shy of 500 for his career.
• AJ McGinnis is 158 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.
WESTERN KENTUCKY LEFTOVERS
• Wichita State improved to 4-3 all-time vs. Western Kentucky.
• The Shockers are now 1-0 when playing on Nov. 4.
• Wichita State has won its last six season openers and 12 straight games on a Monday.
• The 91 points are the most in a season opener since 2017 when the Shockers scored 109.
• Wichita State swiped 11 steals. The 2023-24 team recorded double digit steals only twice all of last season.
• Justin Hill, Corey Washington, Matej Bošnjak and AJ McGinnis all made their Wichita State debuts.
• Xavier Bell tied a career high with three made three-pointers, while his seven attempts set a new career high.
• Bell’s 17 points marked his 25th career game in double figures at Wichita State.
• Harlond Beverly recorded his 21st game in double figures as a Shocker, finishing with 10 points.
• Ronnie DeGray III set career highs in free throws made (6) and free throw attempts (12).
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…
… Give them 100 all-time wins in home openers.
… Make them 2-0 for the sixth straight season.
… Make Paul Mills 17-19 as Wichita State head coach.
… Give Mills 123 career coaching victories.
… Run their record to 1,674-1,264 all time.
… Improve their record to 3-1 all-time vs. Montana State.
A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD…
… Drop them to 99-19 in home openers.
… Snap a five-game win streak in home openers.
… Make Paul Mills 16-20 as Wichita State head coach.
… Lower Mills’ career record to 122-104.
… Drop their record to 1,673-1,265 all time.
… Make them 2-2 all-time vs. Montana State.
UP NEXT: NORTHERN IOWA
• The series between Wichita State and UNI is tied 28-28.
• This will be the first meeting between the two schools since 2017.
• UNI is led by 19th year head coach Ben Jacobson.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
