By Paul Suellentrop

Kenyon Giles and Michael Gray Jr., are outstanding three-point shooters who started the season powering the Wichita State offense.
 
Naturally, opponents threw all manner of defensive attention at them to keep them from shooting. Fortunately, those two can still power the offense, even without shooting, and TJ Williams knows how to make it work.
 
"They gravitate towards those two a lot," Williams said. "It's three-on-three basketball, it feels like, out there with a whole lot of space."
 
The Shockers defeated Milwaukee 75-58 on Saturday at Koch Arena with a strong offensive second half. Williams did his part by taking advantage of all that space while defenders stuck with Giles and Gray far from the basket.
 
Williams, a redshirt freshman forward, scored a season-high 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds. He scored nine of those points in the first half to keep the Shockers (4-1) afloat while they missed 22 of 32 shots and eight of nine three-pointers. His drives to the basket, instead of waiting on Giles and Gray to do something, gave the Shockers life.
 
"We need to be way more aggressive," coach Paul Mills said. "We need to able to take advantage of what's happening. They way they were guarding TJ gave TJ the advantage. TJ was the advantage, and I thought the players on the floor recognized that."
 
 

Pretty sure this classifies as a BLOW BY 💨@Tj_williams3 | #DynamoCapital pic.twitter.com/Cr6vXQQQAj

— Wichita State Men's Basketball (@GoShockersMBB) November 23, 2025

 
 
Williams is a Shocker who recognizes where he is needed. Five games into his first college season, he is second on the team with 12 assists and 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio. He is 19 of 21 from the foul line, first among Shockers in makes and second in attempts. He ranks second with five steals and third by averaging 5.4 rebounds.
 
"I try to get into the paint, try to create for whoever I can create for, and then if I have an open shot, I'll take it," he said.
 
The Panthers (2-4) didn't bottle up Giles and Gray all game. Giles scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half. Gray added six of his eight points, plus four rebounds and an assist with no turnovers.
 
Milwaukee, the preseason favorite in the Horizon League, couldn't keep up the defensive intensity. Giles helped himself by passing out of the traps to get his big men easy shots. Giles increased his role as a screener, which can force the defense to let a teammate roll free, or lose its contact with him.
 
"There was a play we ran early, and they wouldn't allow him to get a catch," Mills said. "He said 'Man, if you'll just turn me into the screener.' He's got to turn himself into a screener. He can't become a catcher, because people are trying to take him out."
 
Giles put the game away late as he figured out his openings. He scored 12 of his points in the final eight minutes.
 
"I knew they're going to get tired, and I know we're in shape," he said. "That's exactly what happened. They messed up their ball-screen coverage a few times. I was able to get easy shots off that."
 
The scoring burst ignited the crowd.
 
"That's what we work for," Giles said. "Koch Arena was popping. We hit big shots. We want them to feel Wichita."
 
 

Mike → Corner pocket + the foul 🔥#DynamoCapital | ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/sdRPBVLUap

— Wichita State Men's Basketball (@GoShockersMBB) November 23, 2025

 
 
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
 
Season tickets are on sale now, and season ticket renewals are available as well. To purchase, visit GoShockers.com/Tickets, dial 316-978-FANS (3267) or stop by the Shocker Ticket Office, located inside Charles Koch Arena, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.