MARRIOTT BONVOY BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS
SAINT MARY'S (6-0) vs. WICHITA STATE (4-1)
Wednesday, Nov. 26 | 6:30 p.m. CDT
Paradise Island, Bahamas | Imperial Arena
 
TV: ESPN2 with Kevin Brown & Cory Alexander
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
 

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OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State opens the 2025 Battle 4 Atlantis vs. Saint Mary's the day before Thanksgiving on ESPN2.
• This is Wichita State's second appearance in the Battle 4 Atlantis. The Shockers went 1-2 in the 2016 Battle 4 Atlantis, both losses coming to Top 25 teams.
• The Shockers are 22-22 in Multi-Team Events since 2007 and 83-72 all time.
• The Shockers are seeking their third MTE championship and first since 2013 when they won the CBE Classic.
• Wichita State is 10-4 all time when playing on Nov. 26. This is the second straight season the Shockers have played on the date.
• Wichita State has outrebounded each of its first five opponents and is outrebounding its opponents by an average of 9.0 boards per game.
• 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 Chicago with two.
• Kenyon Giles has scored 15+ points in all five games this season, including three 20-point games. He's matched a season high with 24 twice in wins over Loyola and Milwaukee.
• Giles is 14-for-20 from three-point range over his last three games. For the season he is converting 58.8% of his attempts from long distance (20-for-34).
• No Shocker has ever made 20 three-pointers through the team's first five games of a season. Xavier Bell led the Shockers in made three-pointers last season with 35 for the whole year.
• Giles ranks 5th nationally in 3-pointers made per game (4.00) and 8th in 3-point percentage (58.8%).
• Dre Kindell has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 6.33, good for 12th nationally and tops among all players in the American.
• Will Berg recorded his first career double-double vs. Loyola with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
• Three different Shockers have recorded a double-double through the first five games (Karon Boyd, TJ Williams and Berg).
• Wichita State has at least one dunk in 39 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. 128 according to KenPom, but have jumped to 91 after a 4-1 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.

WICHITA STATE IN MULTI-TEAM EVENTS
• The Shockers are in search of their first title at a Multi-Team Event since winning the 2012 Cancun Challenge and the 2013 CBE Classic in consecutive years. They've been runner-up five times since then: 2014 Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu), 2017 Maui Invitational, 2019 Cancun Challenge, 2022 Hall of Fame Classic and 2024 ESPN Events Invitational.
• The 2012 Cancun title was Wichita State's first at a neutral site event since winning the 1963 All-College tournament in Oklahoma City.
• Shocker teams have won a total of 15 regular season tournaments in the modern era, with 10 of those coming on their home court.
• Wichita State was scheduled to take part in the 2020 Battle 4 Atlantis, but the event was canceled due to COVID-19. A replacement event took place in Sioux Falls, S.D. with many of the same teams, but the Shockers had to withdraw when two players tested positive during a pre-tournament COVID screening.
• Wichita State took third-place in the 2021 Roman Main Event in Las Vegas. Both games had memorable finishes. Against an Arizona team that would eventually go on to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, WSU rallied from 16 down in the second half before falling in overtime. The Shockers staged a similar second-half comeback against UNLV in the consolation game. Down a point, Tyson Etienne drew a foul near midcourt with 3.5 seconds remaining and sank two game-winning free throws.
• The Shockers are also coming off a third place finish at the 2023 Myrtle Beach Invitational. Wichita State fell to Liberty in the semifinals before bouncing back to defeat Saint Louis in the third place game.
• A year ago, Wichita State used Harlond Beverly's game-tying three-pointer in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime in the opening game vs. Minnesota. The Shockers would hang on for a thrilling 68-66 win in OT on Thanksgiving Day. In the title game, Wichita State squared off with the eventual National Champions, Florida. The Gators dominated from start-to-finish, cruising to an 88-51 win to claim the ESPN Events Invitational crown.

ABOUT THE BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS
• Now in its 14th year, the Shockers are making their second appearance at the Battle 4 Atlantis. Wichita State went 1-2 in 2016.
• The inaugural Battle 4 Atlantis took place in 2011 with Harvard defeating UCF. Oklahoma won the 2024 title in a tight battle with Louisville, 69-64.
• VCU was also in the 8-team field in 2016 with Wichita State.

2025 Battle 4 Atlantis Field

Player	Record	KenPom
Vanderbilt	5-0	14
Saint Mary's	6-0	26
VCU	3-2	54
Virginia Tech	5-0	57
Colorado State	4-1	76
South Florida	3-2	80
Wichita State	4-1	91
Western Kentucky	4-0	146

SCOUTING SAINT MARY'S
• Randy Bennett has taken Saint Mary's to new heights in his 25th season at the helm.
• Bennett is a seven-time West Coast Conference Coach of the Year (2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2016, 2011, 2008) and 2010 Sporting News WCC Coach of the Year, Randy Bennett. The winner of the last four straight WCC Coach of the year honors, Bennett now is tied for the second longest streak for that award in conference history.
• He is the school's all-time wins leader, guiding SMC to 19 postseason appearances (12 NCAA and 7 NIT), including four consecutive NCAA Tournament berths.
• Saint Mary's currently has the fifth best win percentage (.774) of any Div. I team in the nation since 2015-16.
• The Gaels also hold the highest highest winning percentage (.774) and are tied for the most NCAA Tournament appearances (6) of any NCAA Division I men's basketball program in the state of California since the 2015-16 season.
• The Gaels were picked to finish second in the WCC in the 2025-26 preseason coaches poll. Saint Mary's won the WCC Regular Season title outright for the second consecutive year in 2024-25, the first time they've done so in program history.
• Mikey Lewis, Paulius Murauskas and Harry Wessels were all named to the preseason All-WCC team. Murauskas won the 2025 WCC Newcomer of the Year award. Lewis was just the second ever Gael to win WCC Sixth Man of the Year last year. Wessels had a breakout season in 2024-25, seeing career marks in scoring, rebounding, shot blocking and minutes played a year ago. The three preseason all-conference honorees were the most of any team in the West Coast Conference.
• So far this season, Lewis and Murauskas have formed a lethal duo. They average nearly 40 points per game combined, led by Lewis' 19.7 per game.

ALL TIME SERIES VS. SAINT MARY'S
• The two programs have met once prior to Wednesday's showdown in the Bahamas, all the way back in 1959. Wichita State defeated the Gaels, 74-58 in Wichita.

SCOUTING COLORADO STATE
• Ali Farokhmanesh is in his first season as the head coach at Colorado State after spending the previous seven seasons on staff as an assistant coach.
• During his seven years as an assistant, he helped the Rams to three NCAA Tournament appearances (2022, 2024, 2025) and advanced to the semifinals of the NIT in 2021. Along with bringing home CSU's first Mountain West Tournament title in 22 years.
• Colorado State made its 13th NCAA Tournament and third in four years in 2025. CSU advanced to the Round of 32 for the first time since 2013 and just missed out on the program's second ever trip to the Sweet 16.
• Colorado State had to replace 84.6 percent of its scoring production from a season ago, including first round NBA draft pick Nique Clifford.
• The Rams were picked to finish 7th in the Mountain West Preseason Poll.
• Four Rams average double figures, led by Kyle Jorgensen at 17.8 points per game on 65.0 percent, shooting 6.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
• Josh Pascarelli puts up 14.0 points per game on 44 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
• Another sharpshooter, Brandon Rechsteiner, converts 50.0 percent of his three-point attempts. His 13.2 points per game ranks fourth on the team to go with 3.0 assists.
• Carey Booth nearly averages a double-double with 13.6 points and 9.2 rebounds.
• The Rams lead the nation in free throw shooting (85.6 percent), while ranking 9th in three-pointers per game, 5th in effective FG Pct. and free throws made per game and 6th in three-point percentage.

ALL TIME SERIES VS. COLORADO STATE
• The Shockers and Rams could potentially meet for the 10th time. That meeting would take place on Thanksgiving Day.
• Wichita State has won eight of the nine previous meetings, including seven in a row. Despite the two programs playing each other nine times, none of those have come on a neutral court. Wichita State is 5-0 against the Rams in Wichita and 3-1 in Fort Collins.
• The series began all the way back in 1938 - a high scoring win for Wichita, 45-28. Five of the nine meetings took place before 1980.
• Antoine Carr and Xavier McDaniel powered the Shockers to a pair of wins in 1983. Carr's 29 points in Nov. 1983 led to a dominant 72-48 win in the Roundhouse. The very next season, McDaniel scored 20 points in a road win in Fort Collins, 64-54.
• The most recent meeting came on Dec. 3, 2016 in Fort Collins. Prentiss Nixon's game-high 20 points weren't enough for the Rams, as Zach Brown powered the Shockers to an 82-67 road win.

SCOUTING VIRGINIA TECH
• In his seventh season in Blacksburg, Mike Young has taken the Hokies to four postseason appearances (2 NCAA Tournaments, 2 NIT) and recorded 110 wins.
• He was named the 2021 ACC Coach of the Year, and the following season led the Hokies to 23 wins.
• Virginia Tech is 5-0 for the first time since 2022 and the fourth time under Young.
• The Hokies were picked to finish 12th in the ACC Preseason Poll, as one of the league's youngest teams. VT brought in seven freshmen during the offseason, and three transfers.
• True freshman Neoklis Avdalas has been as advertised through the first five games. A former 5-star recruit, Avdalas is second on the team in scoring aat 15.2 points per game, while leading the Hokies in assists at nearly 6.0 per game. In just his second collegiate game, he poured in 33 points vs. Providence.
• Amani Hansberry scores a team-high 16.0 points per game to go with 8.3 rebounds.
• Tobi Lawal averages a double-double with 14.8 points and 12.0 rebounds to go with 2.0 blocks per game. His 8.8 defensive rebounds per game rank 4th nationally.
• The Hokies rank 5th nationally in assist-turnover ratio and 9th in turnovers per game at just 8.2.

All TIME SERIES VS. VIRGINIA TECH
• The series began back in 1965 on a neutral court in OKC. The two programs have met just once since that inital meeting - the 2011 NIT. The series is tied 1-1.
• The two previous matchups were separated by a total of four points, a 91-90 win for VT in 1965 and a 79-76 overtime win for Wichita State in the 2011 NIT.
• During Wichita State's NIT title run in 2011, the Shockers traveled to Blacksburg and knocked off Virginia Tech, 79-76, in overtime on the Hokies' home floor.
• Five Shockers reached double figures, led by Toure' Murry's team-high 15 points. He added 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
• Graham Hatch (14), Joe Ragland (13), Garrett Stutz (11) and J.T. Durley (10) rounded out the double figure scorers. Gabe Blair just missed a double-double with 6 points and 10 rebounds.
• Wichita State shot 49 percent from the field and knocked down 10-of-20 three-pointers.
• The Shockers had no answer defensively for Virginia Tech star Malcolm Delaney, who dropped 30 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals.

KG THE BUCKET
• Kenyon Giles leads the team in scoring at nearly 20 points per game through the first five games of the season. He has three 20-point games so far in November, becoming the first Shocker since Markis McDuffie in 2018 to have three 20-point performances in the month of November.
• Giles ranks 28th nationally in true shooting percentage at 75.3% and 30th in effective FG Pct. at 73.7%. His true shooting percentage is 2nd among all players in the American Conference, just slightly behind Charlotte's Anton Bonke at 74.3 percent.

FROM BEHIND THE ARC AND BEYOND
• Wichita State's offense was lethal from three-point range in the wins over Loyola and Prairie View. 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.
• Kenyon Giles is spearheading the long range bombing. Giles was 7-for-8 vs. Loyola and has made 18 of his last 27 attempts (66.7 percent).
• He ranks 5th in the NCAA in 3-pointers made per game (4.00), 8th in 3-point percentage (58.8%) and 20th in total 3-pointers made (20).
• Giles is one of only five players in the country this season to make at least 20 three-pointers through the first five games of the season.
• He is the first Shocker in program history to knock down 20 three-pointers in the first five games of a season.
• To put that into perspective, Giles is only 15 three-pointers away from matching the Shockers' three-point leader from a season ago (Xavier Bell - 35).
• Michael Gray Jr. went 0-for-2 from deep in the season opener, but has cashed in11 of his last 23 (47.8 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 fired 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.

WELCOME TO DUNK STREET
• Emmanuel Okorafor's dunk with 3:00 left in the first half vs. Milwaukee on Nov. 22 extended Wichita State's streak of games with at least one dunk to 39 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 111 points away from 1,000 in his collegiate career, and 1 game shy his 100th career game. He needs 16 steals to reach 100.
• Kenyon Giles needs 182 points to reach 1,500 career points. He played his 100th career game on Nov. 8 vs. Prairie View A&M. He needs 16 assists to reach 200 career assists.
• Jaret Valencia is 11 blocks away from 100 career blocked shots.

ON THIS DATE: NOVEMBER 26
• 1994 – Jamie Arnold grabbed 21 rebounds in a 78-67, season-opening win over SMU at Levitt Arena.
• 2013 – Ron Baker went 11-for-11 at the foul line and the Shockers defeated BYU, 75-62, to win the CBE Classic championship at Kansas City's Sprint Center.
• 2022 – Gus Okafor went off for a career-high 27 points on 9-of-11 shooting and 8 rebounds off the bench in a win over Tarleton State in the Roundhouse.

NOVEMBER 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 4-1 start in 2025, good for a 17-3 record in November under Mills.
• Under Mills, Wichita State is 12-0 at home, 2-1 on the road and 3-2 in neutral site games in November.

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 15 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 5-1 this season.
... Be their first win of the season on a neutral court.
... Move them to 2-0 all time vs. Saint Mary's.
... Even their record to 2-2 all time in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
... Up their record all time in MTE's to 84-72.
... Make Paul Mills 39-35 as Wichita State head coach.
... Give Mills 145 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,696-1,281 all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Drop them to 4-2 this season.
... Make them 0-1 on a neutral court this season.
... Be their first ever loss to Saint Mary's.
... Drop their record to 1-3 all time in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
... Move their record all time in MTE's to 83-73.
... Make Paul Mills 38-36 as Wichita State head coach.
... Lower Mills' career record to 144-120.
... Drop their record to 1,695-1,282 all time.

GAME 6-8: BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS                                                                         
• Wichita State is 1-0 all time vs. Saint Mary's with the only meeting coming in 1959.
• Colorado State or Virginia Tech await the Shockers on Thanksgiving. Wichita State is 8-1 all time vs. Colorado State and 1-1 vs. Virginia Tech.
• Wichita State would then face VCU, Vanderbilt, WKU or South Florida in the final game.
• Wichita State is a combined 19-10 against those four schools.