Wichita State opens American Athletic Conference play on the road Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. Central against the UCF Knights at Addition Financial Arena. This will be the Shockers' final AAC era trip to UCF, which departs this summer for the Big 12.
WSU lost its last visit (Feb. 8, 2022) but still leads the all-time series 8-1 (3-1 in Orlando). UCF was picked sixth and WSU eighth in the AAC preseason poll, but they finished out the non-conference portion of their schedules with the league's third and fourth-highest NET rankings (UCF, 66; WSU, 109).
The Shockers (7-5) posted a winning non-con record for the 25th consecutive year but were 1-3 in games decided by five points in either direction with close setbacks against NET No. 33 K-State (away), No. 40 Missouri (home) and No. 88 San Francisco (Neutral).
Senior point guard Craig Porter Jr. is one of just two returners from last year's active roster, along with sophomore forward Kenny Pohto. Porter is one of the nation's most-versatile players, averaging 12.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists (AAC #5, 1.8 blocks (AAC #2, NCAA #46) and 1.7 steals (AAC #7).
Junior guard Jaykwon Walton has been an impact addition, averaging 12.5 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds. He has three double-doubles and a pair of 20-point performances.
11 newcomers (nine of them transfers) have seen action this year for WSU which is still building chemistry on the offensive end but has been excellent defensively (37th nationally in effiency, per KenPom), holding opponents to 60.3 points (21st) on 36.4% shooting (9th).
WSU has held all five of its December opponents to less than 40% from the field and 10 of 12 overall.
UCF has followed a similar path after losing all but three lettermen from last season. Nine newcomers (six transfers) have logged time for the Knights, who are No. 35 on KenPom's defensive efficiency chart and have limited foes to 60.8 points (t-26th) and 39.0% (34th).
The Shockers are averaging a conference-best 25.25 bench points. Reserves combined for 42 of the 65 tallies in WSU's Dec. 22 win over Texas Southern, led by Jaron Pierre Jr. (18) and James Rojas (14).