WOFFORD (7-4) at WICHITA STATE (6-5)
Wednesday, Dec. 17 | 6:30 p.m. CDT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
 
TV: ESPN+ with Shane Dennis & Bob Hull
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Dave Dahl
 

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Full Court Fetch - Celebrate the holidays as we spotlight local animal shelters. Fans can purchase a ticket + dog collar combo, the perfect present for your four-legged friend!
 

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OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State looks to start a new home win streak Wednesday night when the Wofford Terriers come to town.
• Wichita State is 14-12 all time when playing on Dec. 17. This is the second straight year playing on the date.
• All five of Wichita State's losses have come by 6 points or fewer.
• Wichita State has outrebounded 10 of its first 11 opponents and is outrebounding its opponents by an average of 8.6 boards per game.
• Through 11 games Wichita State is one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the country at 14.8 per game - good for 11th nationally. That mark would be the best in a single season in school history.
• Wichita State recorded its third game this season with 90+ points in a 95-69 win over Mount Marty on Dec. 2. Wichita State had only two games with 90+ points all last season.
• In Wichita State's loss to DePaul, the Shockers missed 15 free throws (13-for-28), tied for the most over the last 20 seasons.
• Kenyon Giles has scored 10+ points in all 11 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 41st nationally and 2nd in the American in 3-pointers made (33).
• No Shocker had ever made 20 three-pointers through the team's first five games of a season until Giles this season. Xavier Bell led the Shockers in made three-pointers last season with 35 for the whole year. Giles is only two away from matching that mark in only 11 games this season.
• 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 three games, Gray is shooting 10-for-17 (58.8%) from three-point range.
• Dre Kindell has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.25, good for 46th nationally and 2nd 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 97 after a 6-5 start to the season. Four of Wichita State's 11 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 WOFFORD
• Kevin Giltner was named the head coach of the men's basketball program on September 22, 2025. 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.
• For the past six seasons, Giltner has been a trusted assistant to head coach Mike Young. The Hokies have posted winning seasons in four of the six seasons.
• In six years at Wofford, Giltner helped guide the Terriers to their third, fourth and fifth Southern Conference Tournament championships and NCAA Tournament appearances. Giltner was also a part of the previous two championships as a student-athlete on the team, helping the program win its first as a sophomore in 2009-10, and its second as a junior in 2010-11.
• Wofford returned to the NCAA March Madness tournament for the sixth time in program history last season. After defeating Furman in the SoCon Tournament final.
• The Terriers entered Division I before the 1995-96 season, playing their first DI game at Missouri on November 24, 1995. They lost the game, 86-60, and would finish their first DI season with a 4-22 record. They went on to join the Southern Conference two years later in 1997.
• Wofford was picked to finish 9th in the Southern Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Wofford is one of only three teams in the country that do not have seniors on this year's roster.
• Kahmare Holmes leads Wofford in scoring (17.7 ppg), rebounding (6.0 rpg) and steals (24) on 46.8 percent shooting. His 2.56 steals per game rank 19th nationally, while his 24 steals are good for 31st.
• Nils Machowski is the only other Terrier averaging double figures at 12.3 points per game to go with 4.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists.
• Cayden Vasko dishes out a team-high 3.8 assists. His assists-turnover ratio of 4.38 ranks 13th nationally.
• Brian Sumpter primarily comes off the bench, but has made five starts, and has team highs in rebounds (64) and blocked shots (19).
• Wofford does a good job of not turning the ball over at just 10.7 turnovers per game, but they also don't force many. Opponents commit just 10.7, which ranks 331st in the NCAA.

CONNECT THE DOTS
• Andrew Muse is in his first year on staff at Wofford after spending the previous two seasons as a graduate assistant at Wichita State. Muse is in a player development role for the Terriers.

KG THE BUCKET
• Kenyon Giles leads the team in scoring at 17.0 points per game through the first 11 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 187 total points this season - 113 of those have come after halftime. The 5-10 guard scores 60.4 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 11 games this season. Last season's team had two all season.
• Kenyon Giles is spearheading the long range bombing. He ranks 41st in the NCAA in total 3-pointers made (33), 45th in three-point field goals per game (3.00) and 88th in three-point percentage (39.3%).
• At the current pace, Giles is on track to break the single season school record for three-pointers made per game (3.00). His 7.64 three-point attempts per game would be the second-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 two three-pointers away from matching the Shockers' three-point leader from a season ago (Xavier Bell - 35).

CRASHIN THE GLASS
• Wichita State ranks 17th nationally in offensive rebound percentage at 39.5%. The Shockers average 14.8 offensive rebounds a game, which ranks 11th 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 49 points away from 1,000 in his collegiate career, and played his 100th career game on Nov. 26 vs. Saint Mary's. He needs 13 steals to reach 100 and 22 rebounds to reach 700.
• Kenyon Giles needs 111 points to reach 1,500 career points. He played his 100th career game on Nov. 8 vs. Prairie View A&M. He needs 3 assists to reach 200 career assists.
• Michael Gray Jr. is 23 assists away from 100 for his career. He is 21 games shy of his 100th career game.
• Emmanuel Okorafor needs 23 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 17
• 1932 – The Shockers faced Kansas State for the first time ever on the hardwood and came away with a 29-27 victory. According to the 1933 Parnassus "the Wildcat cagers, who had the week before beaten Kansas University, were at a loss to find an effective defense against the swift rushing attack of the Wheatshockers." They went on to finish 14-2 and won the Central Intercollegiate Conference title. Two members of that team – Francis Johnson and Jack Ragland – as well as head coach Gene Johnson were part of the 1936 U.S. team that won the first-ever Olympic basketball gold medal.
• 1951 – Hall of Fame coach Ralph Miller notched his first career road win at New Mexico by a score of 84-58.
• 2013 – Cleanthony Early dropped 26 points on the Crimson Tide in a 72-67 road win at Alabama.

GRAY AREA
• WIn Wichita State's six wins, Michael Gray Jr. is averaging 12.2 points on 52.9% shooting (18-for-34) from three-point range and 11-of-12 (91.7%) at the free throw line. Conversely, in the Shockers' five losses Gray is averaging just 5.2 points on 30.3% (10-for-33) from the field and 5-for-21 (23.8%) from beyond the arc.
• Gray went through a slump during the three games in the Bahamas, scoring just 6 total points on 2-of-19 shooting. In the three games since, he's averaging 13.7 points on 54.5% (12-for-22) shooting from the field and 58.8% (10-for-17) from three-point range.

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 7-5 this season.
... Move them to 1-0 all time vs. Eastern Kentucky.
... Make Paul Mills 41-39 as Wichita State head coach.
... Give Mills 147 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,698-1,284 all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Drop them to 6-6 this season.
... Be their second straight home loss.
... Move them to 0-1 all time vs. Eastern Kentucky.
... Make Paul Mills 40-40 as Wichita State head coach.
... Lower Mills' career record to 146-124.
... Drop their record to 1,697-1,285 all time.

GAME 13: EASTERN KENTUCKY                                                                
... Wichita State and Eastern Kentucky have never met on the hardwood in men's hoops.
... The Shockers are 9-2 all time vs. current members of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
... The Colonels are 3-7 to begin the season.
... A.W. Hamilton is in his 8th season as the head coach at EKU and 14th overall. Hamilton led the Colonels to the 2024 ASUN regular season championship.