DEPAUL (7-3) at WICHITA STATE (6-4)
Saturday, Dec. 13 | 11:00 a.m. CDT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
 
TV: ESPNU with Derek Jones & John Williams
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Dave Dahl
 

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Teddy Bear Toss - Take part in our favorite holiday tradition with our halftime teddy bear toss! Bring a new stuffed animal to throw onto the court that will be donated to a child in need.
 

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OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State goes for its third straight victory when DePaul visits the Roundhouse Saturday morning for an 11 a.m. tip.
• Wichita State is 14-8 all time when playing on Dec. 13. This is the first year since 2022 playing on the date.
• Wichita State has outrebounded nine of its first 10 opponents and is outrebounding its opponents by an average of 9.0 boards per game.
• Wichita State recorded its third game this season with 90+ points in a 95-69 win over Mount Marty on Dec. 2.
• TJ Williams is coming off a career-high 18 points at Northern Iowa, just missing his second career double-double with 9 rebounds.
• Kenyon Giles has scored 10+ points in all 10 games this season, including three 20-point games. He's matched a season high with 24 twice in wins over Loyola and Milwaukee.
• Giles ranks 36th nationally and 2nd in the American in 3-pointers made (31).
• 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.
• Michael Gray Jr. broke out of a scoring slump vs. Mount Marty with 18 points on 5-of-6 from three-point range. He scored 16 of those 18 in the first 7:00 minutes of the 2nd half.
• Gray followed up that performance with a 15-point, 4-rebound, 4-assist game at UNI. He was 3-for-6 from three-point range and 7-for-7 at the free throw line.
• Over his last two games, Gray is shooting 8-for-12 (66.7%) from three-point range.
• Brian Amuneke had a breakout game vs. Western Kentucky in the Bahamas, scoring a season-high 11 points off the bench. He followed that up with another 11-point outing vs. Mount Marty on Dec. 2. After starting the season 3-for-17 from the field and 1-for-10 from 3-point range over the first 7 games, he's 9-for-18 from the field and 5-for-10 from deep in the last 3.
• Dre Kindell has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.70, good for 25th nationally and tops among all players in the American.
• Three different Shockers have recorded a double-double through the first nine games (Karon Boyd, TJ Williams and Berg). Berg and Boyd each have two double-doubles.
• 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 89 after a 6-4 start to the season. Four of Wichita State's 10 non-conference opponents have been ranked in the Top 100 on KenPom, including three in the Top 65.
• Wichita State's win at UNI was its highest rated road win via KenPom since defeating Oklahoma State in 2021.

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 DEPAUL
• Chris Holtmann is in his second year at the helm of the DePaul men's basketball program.
• The former Ohio State, Butler and Gardner-Webb head coach looks to rebuild DePaul.
• Holtmann is a three-time Naismith Coach of the Year finalist and left Ohio State fifth all time in wins. From 2012-21, he had a stretch of nine straight 20-win seasons, including eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
• DePaul was picked ninth in the preseason BIG EAST poll, its highest since the Blue Demons were picked eighth in 2015-16.
• CJ Gunn became the first DePaul player to earn preseason all-conference honors since Charlie Moore in 2020, being named Preseason All-BIG EAST Third Team.
• DePaul returns three starters from the end of the 2024-25 season, including three of the teams top four leading scorers. NJ Benson, Layden Blocker and Gunn all committed to returning to DePaul.
• The trio makes DePaul the only team in the BIG EAST to return more than two starters.
• DePaul's average height ranks second in the BIG EAST, behind only Creighton. The Blue Demons have a total of 8 players listed at 6-8 or taller, tying for the most in the country according to the NCAA.
• For the second-straight season, DePaul is the only school in the country where every member of its coaching staff has been a head coach at some level.
• The Blue Demons have three former D1 head coaches (LaVall Jordan, Bryan Mullins & Jack Owens), a G-League head coach (Brandon Bailey) and high school head coach (Paris Parham) on its bench.
• Gunn leads DePaul in scoring at 13.8 points per game on 44.5 percent shooting.
• Blocker leads the Blue Demons in assists (37), steals (18), free throws made (45) and attempted (54) to go with 12.2 points per game.
• Benson puts in 11.2 points and 6.9 rebounds on 72.3 percent shooting. He ranks 4th nationally in field goal percentage.
• As a team DePaul ranks in the top 50 in free throw attempts per game, free throws made per game and assists per game.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. DEPAUL
• A series that dates all the way back to 1937, Wichita State and DePaul have met only nine times with DePaul holding a slim 5-4 lead after taking last season's matchup in Chicago.
• Wichita State led by five at halftime only to see DePaul outscore the Shockers, 49-25, over the final 20 minutes. DePaul shot 51.6% from the field, including 17 three-pointers.
• DePaul won three of the first four meetings - all coming on its home court.
• Wichita State's last win over the Blue Demons came in the 2013 CBE Classic, 90-72, behind a game-high 21 points from Ron Baker.

CONNECT THE DOTS
• DePaul junior guard Layden Blocker spent his final two years of high school right here in Wichita at Sunrise Christian Academy. Blocker is in his second season at DePaul after spending his freshman season at Arkansas.
• The leaders of their respective athletic departments, Wichita State Director of Athletics Kevin Saal and DePaul Director of Athletics DeWayne Peevy, are no strangers. The two spent 11 years together in the athletic department at the University of Kentucky before departing for AD jobs. Saal served 12 years (2007-19) at UK in various roles prior to being named executive associate director of athletics. Peevy also served 12 years (2008-20) at UK, holding the title of deputy athletics director for the final seven.

KG THE BUCKET
• Kenyon Giles leads the team in scoring at nearly 17.1 points per game through the first 10 games of the season. He had three 20-point games in November, becoming the first Shocker since Markis McDuffie in 2018 to have three 20-point performances in the month of November.
• Giles has scored 171 total points this season - 103 of those have come after halftime. The 5-10 guard scores 60.2 percent of his points in the second half. He has scored fewer than 10 points after halftime just four times this season, which includes one scoreless second half vs. Prairie View A&M. Against PVAMU he scored all 15 of his points in the first half.

WORKING OVERTIME
• Wichita State is 1-0 in overtime this season after a road OT win at Northern Iowa on Dec. 6, 74-69. The Shockers trailed by five with 2:35 remaining in OT, but closed the game on an 11-1 run. TJ Williams scored seven of those 11 points.
• Wichita State is 24-40 all time in overtime games on the road, having won its last four. Wichita State's last overtime game on the road came at South Florida on Dec. 22, 2020. Wichita State defeated the Bulls, 82-77.
• Over the last four seasons Wichita State is 4-4 in overtime games. The Shockers are 66-79 in overtime games all time.
• The Shockers are 3-2 in overtime under head coach Paul Mills.

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.
• Wichita State has made 10+ three-pointers in three of the first 10 games this season. Last season's team had two all season.
• Kenyon Giles is spearheading the long range bombing. He ranks 36th in the NCAA in total 3-pointers made (31), 39th in three-point field goals per game (3.10) and 75th in three-point percentage (41.3%).
• At the current pace, Giles is on track to break the single season school record for three-pointers made per game (3.10). His 7.50 three-point attempts per game would be the third-most in a single season at Wichita State.
• Giles was 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 four three-pointers away from matching the Shockers' three-point leader from a season ago (Xavier Bell - 35).

CRASHIN THE GLASS
• Wichita State ranks 16th nationally in offensive rebound percentage at 39.5%. The Shockers average 14.8 offensive rebounds a game, which ranks 12th in the country. At the current rate, that average would easily break the single season program record. The school record was set back in 1995-96 at 13.8 offensive rebounds per game.

MILESTONE WATCH
• Karon Boyd is 54 points away from 1,000 in his collegiate career, and played his 100th career game on Nov. 26 vs. Saint Mary's. He needs 14 steals to reach 100 and 29 rebounds to reach 700.
• Kenyon Giles needs 127 points to reach 1,500 career points. He played his 100th career game on Nov. 8 vs. Prairie View A&M. He needs 4 assists to reach 200 career assists.
• Michael Gray Jr. is 23 assists away from 100 for his career. He is 22 games shy of his 100th career game.
• Emmanuel Okorafor needs 31 rebounds to reach 200 for his career.
• Jaret Valencia is 4 points shy of 500 and 9 blocks away from 100 career blocked shots.

ON THIS DATE: DECEMBER 13
• 1969 – 24 hours after falling to K-State in Manhattan, the Shockers got their revenge with a return game at Levitt Arena. Greg Carney supplied 30 points in a 77-73 victory.
• 1980 – Cliff Levingston scored 22 of his game-high 29 points in the second half to help the Shockers overcome a seven-point halftime deficit in an 82-63 win over Northeastern Louisiana (now Louisiana Monroe).
• 1986 – Dwight Praylow sat the entire first half of Wichita State's home game against unbeaten Kansas State after skipping the team's pregame meal, but he didn't miss when it mattered most. His three-point play with two seconds to play gave the Shockers a 63-60 win in front of a sellout crowd at Levitt Arena.
• 2014 – Led by Ron Baker's 19 points, 11th-ranked Wichita State motored past host Detroit, 77-68, in its final Bracket Busters return game.

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 went 4-4 in 2025, good for a 17-6 record in November under Mills.
• Under Mills, Wichita State is 12-0 at home, 2-1 on the road and 3-5 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).
• The Shockers could play five teams ranked in the Top 80 of KenPom's preseason rankings (Boise State, #53; Saint Mary's, #55; 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).

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 7-4 this season.
... Be their 6th straight win at home.
... Move them to 1-0 all time vs. Wofford.
... Make Paul Mills 41-38 as Wichita State head coach.
... Give Mills 147 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,698-1,283 all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Drop them to 6-5 this season.
... Snap a 5-game home win streak.
... Move them to 0-1 all time vs. Wofford.
... Make Paul Mills 40-39 as Wichita State head coach.
... Lower Mills' career record to 146-123.
... Drop their record to 1,697-1,284 all time.

GAME 12: WOFFORD                                                                 
• Wichita State and Wofford have never met on the hardwood in men's hoops.
• The Shockers are 7-0 all time vs. current members of the Southern Conference.
• The Terriers are 6-4 to begin the season.
• Kevin Giltner was named the head coach on Sept. 22, 2025, less than 2 months from the start of the season.
• Giltner, a 2012 Wofford graduate and five-time Southern Conference champion as a coach and student-athlete, spent the past six years on the coaching staff at Virginia Tech.