Braves To Face Wichita State Saturday In The Sunflower State

WICHITA, Kan. – After giving the Ole Miss Rebels a scare in Monday night's season opener, the Alcorn Braves Men's Basketball (0-1) squad returns to the road this weekend to face off with American Athletic Conference (AAC) foe Wichita State (1-0) in the confines of the Shockers' Charles Koch Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12 in only the third all-time meeting between these programs. Saturday's game will broadcast on ESPN+.

THE GAME: Alcorn State Braves (0-1) at Wichita State Shockers (1-0)
WHEN: Saturday, Nov. 12, at 3 p.m. CT
WHERE: Charles Koch Arena (Wichita, Kan.)
LIVE STATS: Wichita State
WATCH LIVE VIDEO: Broadcast on ESPN+ ($6.99/month or $69.99/year)

IN THE RANKINGS
Alcorn is not ranked in the latest Associated Press or USA TODAY Coaches Poll Top 25 poll. Wichita State is not ranked in the latest Associated Press or USA TODAY Coaches Poll Top 25 poll. Neither team received any votes in these preseason polls. Receiving two (2) No. 1 picks, Alcorn was picked No. 2 in Preseason Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Predicted Order of Finish. Wichita State was projected at No. 8 in the 11-team league in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Keep up with everything Alcorn Men's Basketball this year by following the Braves' hoops social media platforms. You can follow @BravesMBB on Instagram and @Alcorn_St_MBB on Twitter.

SERIES VS. WICHITA STATE
This is only the third meeting between the Braves and Shockers, but the programs are meeting in consecutive seasons. Wichita State has a 2-0 series advantage after topping Alcorn in Wichita last season, 82-63. The first contest dates back to the 2009-10 season.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THESE TEAMS
After fighting off a scrappy Tougaloo team in their exhibition, the Braves went toe-to-toe with Southeastern Conference foe Ole Miss in Oxford, and pushed the rebels to their limit. Alcorn was on level footing with the highly-recognized SEC program, leading early and holding a mere 28-27 halftime deficit. Long-range pickups and a scoring run allowed Ole Miss to create some second-half separation to leave Alcorn with a 73-58 loss.

Wichita State coasted through an 83-52 exhibition victory over Newman before opening their season with Central Arkansas out of the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Shockers used their talent depth to quickly jump out front on the Bears, forcing UCA to turn the ball over for scores and take challenged shots. WSU held UCA to 25 percent shooting in the first half, while shooting over 41 percent in each period. Although the second half was a lot more even-handed, the deficit was laid to create a path for WSU to take the win, 79-55.

LAST SEASON FOR THESE TEAMS
Alcorn completed the 2021-22 season as the SWAC Regular-Season Champion with a 17-17 overall record and 14-4 SWAC mark, reaching the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) for the third time (previously 1979 & 1985). The Wichita State Shockers were 15-13 last season with a 6-9 AAC record, bumped out of the AAC tournament in the first round to close the year. Alcorn Head Coach Landon Bussie is in his third season and has a record of 23-31 with the Braves (23-31 career). Wichita State Head Coach Isaac Brown is in his third season and has a record of 32-19 with the Shockers (32-19 career).

LOOKING AT THE 2022-23 BRAVES
Alcorn returns three starters from last year's championship squad, which registered the most wins since 2016-17 (18); senior forward Dontrell McQuarter, sophomore guard Byron Joshua and senior guard Oddyst Walker. In the season opener against Ole Miss, Joshua proved to be a huge contributor right out of the gate. Against the Rebels, Joshua put away a team-leading 15 points while shooting .400, including 2-for-3 from long range. He also doled out six assists and snatched three steals. Looking for a more pronounced second outing this weekend, Walker and McQuarter combined for five points and four rebounds at Ole Miss.

Preseason All-SWAC Second Team honoree, sophomore guard Dominic Brewton was a huge factor in last year's Power-5 matchup with Texas A&M in the NIT, tallying 20 points, six rebounds and four assists. Meeting the big stage again versus Ole Miss, Brewton scored 12 points with six rebounds and five assists.

Also a Preseason All-SWAC Second Team honoree, expectations were high for redshirt sophomore Keondre Montgomery after his 20-point, 12-rebound exhibition performance. A former Mississippi State player, Montgomery went 5-for-11 against the Rebels and collected a team-high seven rebounds in the season opener. Montgomery is building more versatility on top of last year's framework, when he averaged 9.8 points and 3.0 rebounds in his first season with the Braves.

In their first game out, the Braves shot 36.8 percent from the floor and 46.6 percent from long range, grabbed 33 rebounds and 11 steals. The Braves will look to apply the same type of aggressive defensive pressure that Ole Miss saw and create some havoc to capitalize via turnovers. 

Defending 2021-22 Achievements
The Alcorn Braves earned the SWAC Regular Season Championship for the first time since 2002 (17 total regular season titles) after notching a 14-4 league record, earning the top spot in the conference tournament seeding. The Braves were bumped out of the field by the eventual winner in the final, two-time champion Texas Southern. For their efforts on the year, Head Coach Landon Bussie was named SWAC Coach of the Year in just his second season with the squad after turning around a 6-13 team from his first season. In year two, the Braves stared down losses in 11 of the first 12 games, but rebounded to finish 17-17 on the year. Prior to taking the ASU helm, Bussie served six seasons at Prairie View A&M serving as an assistant coach. After the 2021-22 season, Bussie was selected to coach in the inaugural HBCU All-Star Game during Final Four week in New Orleans.

Alcorn is Invested in Program Consistency
Alcorn Athletics announced on Oct. 27 that President Felecia M. Nave and Director of Athletics Raynoid Dedeaux have completed an agreement for a contract extension of Head Coach Landon Bussie beyond his current deal and through 2026.

"This shows the commitment they've made to me and the men's basketball program. Hopefully, we can continue to have success in leading the program, and we can make all our administration, student-athletes and alumni proud of the work we do here each and every day. I'm excited about where we're going, and I'm happy to be a Brave," Bussie said. 

Expertise Added to Coaching Staff
During the months leading up to the 2022-23 preseason, Bussie and the Alcorn Braves fortified their coaching staff with the announced hires of two coaches in August 2022.
 
The program first announced assistant coach Ben Mandelbaum was joining Alcorn after serving the previous two seasons as the associate head coach for the men's basketball program at Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina. Mandelbaum spent two seasons at Tallahassee Community College in Tallahassee, Florida.
 
Just one week later, ASU raised the bar higher with the announcement of adding veteran coach Cyrus "Cy" Alexander to the staff. A former head coach with 391 career wins across 26 years leading notable HBCU programs such as North Carolina A&T, South Carolina State and Tennessee State. Some of Alexander's distinctions include, but are not limited to, MEAC Coach of the Year and Palmetto State Coach of the Year. He has also been named to the Catawba and South Carolina State Hall of Fames, respectively. In 1996, he was named American Sports Wire National Coach of the Year. 

ABOUT THE WICHITA STATE SHOCKERS
Wichita State finished the 2021-21 season with a 15-13 mark on the year and were seventh in the 11-team American Athletic Conference. The Shockers lost 4-of-5 starters from a year ago and have filled an eight-letterman loss with 12 newcomers to the program. WSU had the tall task of replacing 80 percent of its scoring from last season and leaned into the transfer portal pretty heavily, racking up seven Division I transfers.

Leading the Shocker returnees, fifth-year senior point guard Craig Porter Jr. averaged 7.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists per outing last year. Against Central Arkansas, he took over the game, pacing WSU with 22 points on 81.8 percent shooting, with four rebounds, four assists and three steals.

The seven-foot newcomer, Florida State transfer center Quincy Ballard chipped in 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks in just 12 minutes for his first Wichita State appearance. The Shockers also saw solid performances from Georgia to junior college transfer guard Jaykwon Walton (9 points, 5 rebounds), Alabama transfer forward James Rojas (9 points, 5 rebounds) and former Southern Miss guard Jaron Pierre Jr. (6 points, 7 rebounds), helping the Shockers to a 79-55 victory in the opener.

Against UCA, Wichita State shot 43.8 percent from the floor and 28.6 percent from thee, making the most of 22 points off 14 UCA turnovers and 15 points in the fast break. WSU hit the glass hard with 47 boards, but the Bears got their share as well with 16 of their 42 rebounds on the offensive glass. The deep bench proved promising for the Shockers as they look for a steady starting five, logging 38 bench points against UCA.

CATCH THE BRAVES LIVE AT THE WHITNEY IN 2022-23
Season Tickets for the 2022-23 Alcorn men's and women's basketball teams at the Davey L. Whitney Health and Physical Education Complex are now available for purchase at https://alcornsports.myimpacttickets.com/basketball. Season tickets for the home SWAC competitions are $76.25, while single-game admission is $12.65 in advance.

UP NEXT
After returning from the Sunflower State, Alcorn will head into east Texas for Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 15 in Nacogdoches. The first home contest for the Braves is not scheduled until the start of 2023 when ASU opens SWAC play as host to Jackson State on Jan. at the Davey L. Whitney Health and Physical Education Complex.

Follow Alcorn State Men's Basketball on Twitter (@Alcorn_St_MBB) for all of the latest news and updates. For all Alcorn State Athletics news, follow us on Twitter (@BravesSports), Instagram (@AlcornSports) and YouTube (Alcorn State Sports).