WICHITA STATE (3-0) at BOISE STATE (3-1)
Tuesday, Nov. 18 | 8:00 p.m. CDT
Boise, Idaho | ExtraMile Arena
 
TV: Mountain West Network with Jay Tust & Angela Taylor
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
 

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OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State looks to start the season 4-0 in its first road test of the season at Boise State.
• Wichita State and Boise State have never met on the hardwood prior to Tuesday night's matchup.
• Wichita State is 7-3 all time when playing on Nov. 18. This is the second straight season the Shockers have taken the floor on the date.
• Wichita State broke the single game school record for made three-pointers vs. Loyola with 16.
• After shooting 4-for-16 from three-point range in the opener vs. UNC Asheville, Wichita State is 26-for-55 (47.3%) from beyond the arc over its last two games.
• Wichita State finished the Loyola game scoring 1.46 points per possession, the highest by a Shocker team since 2016-17.
• Wichita State tied the school record for fewest turnovers in a single game vs. Loyola with two.
• Wichita State is coming off its first 100-point game since 2021. The Shockers dominated Prairie View A&M, 105-62, marking the first time in four years a Shocker team has scored 100 points, which was also against Prairie View A&M.
• Over its last two games Wichita State is averaging 100.0 points per game. Its the highest scoring two-game stretch for Wichita State since 1988.
• Wichita State recorded its first 40-point win since Nov. 16, 2019 when they defeated UTM, 103-62.
• Kenyon Giles went for a game-high 24 points on 7-of-8 three-pointers vs. Loyola. His 7 three-pointers tied for the 4th most in school history.
• Giles is 12-for-15 from three-point range over his last two games. For the season he is converting 63.6% of his attempts from long distance.
• Giles ranks 6th nationally in 3-pointers made per game (4.67) and 15th in 3-point percentage (63.6%).
• Will Berg recorded his first career double-double vs. Loyola with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
• Three different Shockers have registered a double-double in each of the first three games (Karon Boyd, TJ Williams and Berg).
• Wichita State has at least one dunk in 37 consecutive games - a school record. The Shockers broke the record on Nov. 13 vs. Loyola.
• Paul Mills added much needed outside shooting from the transfer portal during the offseason in the way of Giles (15.3 ppg, 40% 3-PT Pct.), Michael Gray Jr. (11.1 ppg, 41% 3-PT Pct.) and Brian Amuneke (7.7 ppg, 40% 3-PT Pct.).
• The Shockers opened the season ranked No. 120 according to KenPom, but have jumped to 98 after a 3-0 start to the season. Seven of Wichita State's potential 13 non-conference opponents are ranked in the Top 80 of KenPom's preseason rankings.
• Mills won 34 games over his first two seasons, 3rd most in program history.

THE SHOCKS, IN SHORT
• Wichita State returns just 0.9 percent of its scoring from a season ago. The Shockers lost their top nine scorers from 2024-25 and 12 total letterwinners. Wichita State  lost seven players to graduation (Xavier Bell, Harlond Beverly, Matej Bosnjak, Bijan Cortes, Ronnie DeGray III, Justin Hill, AJ McGinnis, Zane Meeks) and four to the transfer portal (Quincy Ballard: Mississippi State, Corey Washington: SMU, Yanis Bamba: Maine, Zion Pipkin: South Plains JC).
• Wichita State brings back only two returners that logged minutes in 2024-25: Joy Ighovodja (87 minutes) and walk-on Henry Thengvall (8 minutes). TJ Williams is the only other returner, but he did not see any action after redshirting.

SCOUTING BOISE STATE
• Leon Rice enters his 16th season as head coach of the Boise State Broncos. He is the program's all time wins leader with 319 career wins.
• Under Rice, Boise State has collected at least 20 wins in 12 of his 15 full seasons, including each of the last four. Prior to Rice, Boise State had just seven such campaigns as a D-I institution.
• Rice has guided the Broncos to the postseason each of the last five seasons with three of those NCAA Tournament appearances. Last season Boise State made it to the semifinals of the CBB Crown where they fell to the eventual champions, Nebraska.
• This season the Broncos were projected to finish third in the Mountain West Conference Preseason Poll, behind Utah State and San Diego State. San Diego State was the unanimous pick to win the league.
• Junior forward Andrew Meadow was named to the Preseason All-Mountain West Team. Meadow averaged 12.6 points and 4.2 rebounds as a sophomore for the Broncos and is posting 14.0 points and 5.0 rebounds so far this season.
• Earning the Mountain West Conference's Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2025, Javan Buchanan is just the third Bronco to be recognized for his efforts off the bench. Last season, Buchanan shot 53.4 percent (134-251) from the floor. Among Mountain West players who attempted at least 200 shots, Buchanan's field goal percentage was the third highest in the conference.
• Former UCLA Bruin Dylan Andrews is a notable addition for the Broncos. In 2023-24 at UCLA, Andrews averaged 12.9 points and 3.7 assists while shooting 80.8 percent from the free throw line. He was 1-of-5 Pac 12 players that season to post averages of at least 12 points and three assists while shooting at least 80 percent from the charity stripe.

CONNECT THE DOTS
• Boise State assistant coach Tim Duryea spent two seasons in Kansas as the head coach at Hutchinson Community College from 1999-01.

FROM BEHIND THE ARC AND BEYOND
• Wichita State's offense has been lethal from three-point range over the last two games. The Shockers splashed in a new school record 16 three-pointers in the win over Loyola Chicago on Nov. 13, converting 50 percent of their attempts for the game.
• After starting the season 4-of-16 vs. UNC Asheville, the Shockers are 26-for-55 (47.3 percent) from beyond the arc in the games against Prairie View A&M and Loyola.
• Kenyon Giles is spearheading the long range bombing. Giles was 7-for-8 vs. Loyola and has made 12 of his last 15 attempts (80.0 percent).
• Giles is one of only three players in the country this season to make at least 14 three-pointers through the first three games of the season.
• He's the first Shocker in program history to knock down 14 three-pointers in the first three games of a season.
• Michael Gray Jr. went 0-for-2 from deep in the season opener, but has cashed in 8 of his last 16 (50.0 percent).

PROTECT THE ROCK
• Lost in the shuffle during Wichita State's shooting display against Loyola Chicago, the Shockers committed only two turnovers in the game, tying the single game school record for fewest turnovers. The Shockers had two vs. Cincinnati on Jan. 5, 2023 and at Southern Illinois on Feb. 9, 1981.
• Wichita State finished the game with 17 assists on 33 made field goals. The assist-to-turnover ratio of 17:2 (8.50) also tied a single game school record.

POINTS ON POINTS ON POINTS
• The Shocker offense has been firing on all cylinders, putting up back-to-back games of 105 and 95 points in wins over Prairie View A&M and Loyola Chicago. The 200 combined points in consecutive games are the most since Wichita State scored 218 in back-to-back games against Bradley (116) and Indiana State (102) in 1988.
• Wichita State currently ranks 47th nationally in scoring at 91.7 points per game. The Shockers' offense also ranks 15th nationally in turnovers (8.7), 23rd in three-point percentage (42.3%), 24th in offensive rebounds per game (16.33) and 27th in scoring margin (27.0).

WELCOME TO DUNK STREET
• Will Berg's dunk with 4:42 left in the game vs. Loyola on Nov. 13 extended Wichita State's streak of games with at least one dunk to 37 in a row - a new school record. The streak began on Nov. 4, 2024 at Western Kentucky.

CENTURY MARK
• Wichita State put 105 points on the scoreboard in the win over Prairie View A&M on Nov. 8, marking the first 100-point game for the Shockers since Dec. 22, 2021. The opponent in that 2021 game? Prairie View A&M.
• The 105 points are the most points by a Shocker team since Nov. 28, 2017 when Wichita State scored 112 vs. Savannah State.
• Wichita State has topped the 100-point mark 63 times in program history.
• Wichita State has won 29 straight games when eclipsing 100 points.

TJ WILL.I.AM
• Redshirt freshman TJ Williams recorded a double-double in just his second career game in the win over Prairie View A&M on Nov. 8. The Wichita native finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line. He's the first Shocker freshman to post a double-double since Dexter Dennis on March 15, 2019 vs. Temple. No Shocker has had a game with these numbers in the last 25 years.
• He is the first freshman in American Conference history to have a 10-10-5 game, while going 10-for-10 at the free throw line.
• Williams is only the 5th freshman to record a 10-10-5 game and shoot 100% at the free throw line in American Conference history, joining Houston's Jarace Walker (March 24, 2023), UCF's Taylor Hendricks (Dec. 21, 2022), UConn's Christian Vital (Jan. 28, 2017) and ECU's Kentrell Barkley (Jan. 27, 2016).
• Since 2007, only one other freshman, nationally, has posted a 10-10-5 and 10-for-10 free throw game in the NCAA. That was Campbell's Jonathan Rodriguez on Feb. 8, 2007 vs. Stetson.

MILESTONE WATCH
• Karon Boyd is 127 points away from 1,000 in his collegiate career, and 3 games shy his 100th career game. He needs 17 steals to reach 100.
• Kenyon Giles needs 221 points to reach 1,500 career points. He played his 100th career game on Nov. 8 vs. Prairie View A&M. He needs 18 assists to reach 200 career assists.
• Jaret Valencia is 12 blocks away from 100 career blocked shots.

ON THIS DATE: NOVEMBER 18
• 2009 - One of two preliminary games played in Wichita for the CBE Classic, Wichita State rolled to a 79-50 win over Arkansas-Monticello. Wichita State forced 25 turnovers - 16 of them steals. Toure' Murry and J.T. Durley scored 15 points apiece. Murry added 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals to go with his 15 points.
• 2014 - Before they became conference rivals in the American, 11th-ranked Wichita State and Memphis met in Sioux Falls, S.D., at the Sanford Pentagon in an early season tilt. Ron Baker scored 21 points and the Shocker defense forced 24 Memphis turnovers. The Tigers attempted only 49 field goal attempts.
• 2018 - Markis McDuffie's game-high 26 points weren't enough to bring the Shockers back from a 12-point halftime deficit to Alabama in the 5th place game of the Charleston Classic. Wichita State outscored the Tide after halftime, 52-44, but couldn't keep Bama off the free throw line where they converted on 31-of-33 attempts.

NOVEMBER/FEBRUARY SUCCESS
• Wichita State has experienced early season success over the last three seasons since Paul Mills arrived on campus. The Shockers were 7-1 during the month of November in 2023 and finished 2024 at 6-1. The Shockers are off to a 3-0 start in 2025, good for a 16-2 record in November under Mills.
• Under Mills, Wichita State is 11-0 at home, 2-0 on the road and 3-2 in neutral site games in November.
• With Wichita State's 6-1 February last season, the Shockers are 9-6 under Mills.

NON-CONFERENCE NOTABLES
• Wichita State will face five first-time foes in the non-conference slate (UNC Asheville, Boise State, Mount Marty,  Wofford and Eastern Kentucky).
• Wichita State is a perfect 10-0 all time vs. current members of the Big South (UNC Asheville).
• The Shockers could play five teams ranked in the Top 80 of KenPom's preseason rankings (Vanderbilt, #19; Boise State, #53; Saint Mary's, #55; VCU, #60; Virginia Tech, #71; DePaul, #78; Colorado State, #79).
• Wichita State has won 10 of its last 14 non-conference true road games, dating back to the 2019 NIT run. The Shockers have two true non-conference road games in 2025 (Boise State and Northern Iowa).

GILES PICKED PRESEASON FIRST TEAM
• Senior guard Kenyon Giles was named Preseason First Team All-Conference by the American coaches. Giles, a transfer from UNC Greensboro averaged better than 15 points per game on 40 percent shooting from three-point range as a junior at UNCG.
• Giles is just the fourth Shocker to earn American Preseason All-Conference honors and first since Tyson Etienne in 2021. Three of the four Shockers to collect preseason accolades have been named to the first team (Giles, Etienne and Landry Shamet). Markis McDuffie was a second team selection in 2018.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 4-0 this season for the third straight season.
... Be their first road win of the season.
... Move them to 1-0 all time vs. Boise State and 40-18 vs. the Mountain West Conference.
... Make Paul Mills 38-34 as Wichita State head coach.
... Give Mills 144 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,695-1,280 all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Drop them to 3-1 this season.
... Make them 0-1 in true road games this season.
... Be their first loss to Boise State and drop them to 39-19 all time vs. the Mountain West Conference.
... Make Paul Mills 37-35 as Wichita State head coach.
... Lower Mills' career record to 143-119.
... Drop their record to 1,694-1,281 all time.

GAME 5: MILWAUKEE                                                                         
• Wichita State is 1-0 all time vs. Milwaukee with the only meeting coming on Dec. 1, 1975 in Wichita.
• The Shockers own a 20-9 record all time against teams from the Horizon League.
• Milwaukee is led by fourth year head coach Bart Lundy.
• Lundy has compiled a 65-39 record during his four seasons at Milwaukee.
• The Panthers are 2-3 on the season after dropping back-to-back games against Indiana and Texas Tech.
• Wichita is the last stop on Milwaukee's three-game road trip.