EAST CAROLINA (5-13, 0-5) at WICHITA STATE (11-8, 3-3)
Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 | 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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OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State begins a two-game homestand on Wednesday vs. East Carolina at 6:30 p.m.
• Wichita State is 16-12 all time when playing on Jan. 21.
• At 3-3 in league play, Wichita State is off to its best start since the 2020-21 season when the Shockers began 4-2.
• Two of Wichita State's three wins in American play have come when trailing by 13 or more.
• Seven of  Wichita State's eight losses have come by 6 points or fewer.
• Through 19 games Wichita State is one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the country at 15.1 per game - good for 5th nationally. That mark would be the best in a single season in school history.
• Kenyon Giles has scored 10+ points in 17 of the 19 games this season, including eight 20-point games. Giles matched or scored career high in three of the first four conference games. He poured in a career-high 33 points vs. North Texas, the most by a Shocker since Markis McDuffie (34) in 2019.
• In his 33-point explosion vs. North Texas, Giles was 13-for-17 from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. His 13 made field goals were the most by a Shocker since Cleanthony Early on Jan. 9, 2013.
• Giles averaged 24.8 PPG over the first four conference games until he was held to a season-low 2 points at Florida Atlantic.
• Giles is shooting 47.8% (32-for-67) from 3-point range over his last 8 games.
• Giles ranks 6th nationally in total three-pointers made (65) and 11th in three-pointers made per game (3.42). Xavier Bell led the Shockers in made three-pointers last season with 35 for the whole year. Giles needed only 12 games to surpass that total this season.
• Giles is one of only four players in the country with 65 made three-pointers on 40.0 percent shooting or better from beyond the arc.
• Michael Gray Jr. recorded his first career double-double vs. Rice, tying a career-high with 25 points and grabbing a career-high 10 boards.
• Karon Boyd has scored 20+ in two of the last five games, including a 21-point, 12-rebound double-double at Charlotte.
• Boyd (51) and Will Berg (65) account for 40.4% of WSU's offensive rebounds this season.
• Four different Shockers have recorded a double-double through the first 19 games: Berg (4), Boyd (3), Gray Jr. (1) and TJ Williams (1).
• In WSU's conference opening road win at UAB, the Shockers trailed by as many as 16, before completing the comeback. It was the largest comeback win since 2023 at Tulsa (16) and tied for the 8th largest comeback in program history.
• Wichita State is 4-5 in conference openers since joining the American Conference and had dropped its last four league lid-lifters until defeating UAB on New Years Eve. Wichita State won its conference opener for the first time since 2020.

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.

THE SERIES VS. EAST CAROLINA
• Wichita State and East Carolina had never played prior to the Shockers joining the league in July 2017, and they haven't had many encounters since then, either. This is only the 12th game in eight seasons.
• The Shockers are 7-4 (3-3 in Wichita) against the Pirates.
• East Carolina shocked Wichita State two years ago in Charles Koch Arena, handing the Shockers a 79-69 home loss for its first-ever win in the series. Since then, ECU has won four of the last five meetings, including three straight in Charles Koch Arena.
• Three of the 11 meetings came in 2018-19 when Wichita State swept the home-and-home and defeated East Carolina in the first round of the American Conference Championship in Memphis.
• The teams met just once in 2017-18 and 2019-20 due the league' unbalanced schedule. Both 2020-21 dates were canceled due to COVID-19. The Shockers traveled to Greenville for the 2021-22 AAC opener, but that contest was called off just hours before tipoff.
• Wichita State is 3-1 at ECU's Minges Coliseum but has only played two games there since Feb. 6, 2019.
• Only four of the games played between the two schools have been decided by single digits with two of those coming in the last three meetings. The Pirates' last two wins in Wichita have come by a combined five points.

SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA
• Led by fourth year head coach Michael Schwartz, East Carolina enters the matchup at 5-12 and 0-4 in league play.
• The Pirates achieved their first winning season in over a decade in Schwartz's third season, posting an overall record of 19-14, while recording a 10-8 mark in American Athletic Conference play.
• The 19 victories for the Pirates are the second-most wins in a campaign in program history and the Pirates' 10 conference wins are a season-high for the program since joining the American and mark the first time since 1974-75 that East Carolina has tallied double-digit conference victories.
• Schwartz helped guide the Pirates to their most conference road wins in a season since 2012-13 and ECU was 5-1 in games decided by five points or less with three of those victories decided by just a single point. Schwartz was also named as a finalist for the Red Auerbach Coach of the Year Award.
• Considered one of the most versatile and well-rounded assistant coaches in college basketball, Schwartz spent six seasons on staff at the University of Tennessee – including three as the associate head coach. In the fall of 2019, Schwartz earned feature placement on The Athletic's list of the nation's top-25 up-and-coming college basketball coaches.
• The Pirates return seven players from last year's team, headlined by American Conference All-Preseason First Team guard Jordan Riley, who is the Pirates' leading returning scorer from last season, averaging a career-high 14.5 points per game and leading the American in steals per game. This season Riley is averaging 22.2 points (1st in American, 7th in NCAA) per game while adding 5.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals per night. He leads the nation in field goal attempts and ranks 4th in minutes.
• Giovanni Emejuru controls the paint for the Pirates, with a near double-double of 13.9 points and 9.4 rebounds (2nd in American) per game.
• After losing nine players in the offseason including first team all-conference players RJ Felton and C.J. Walker, ECU reloaded and retooled its roster, adding size in the frontcourt with the additions of Emejuru (George Mason), Eli DeLaurier (Providence), Luke Davis (New Orleans) and Vito Perkovic (Hamilton Heights Christian Academy) while adding two-way play at the lead guard spot in Corey Caulker (Eastern Florida State CC) and Isaiah Mbeng (William & Mary).
• The Pirates also added Augusta transfer Demitri Gardner during the holiday break. In addition to Perkovic, ECU welcomed three other freshmen to its roster in Daithi Quinn (Tabor Academy), Paddy D'Arcy (Adelaide 36ers) and Jake Baker (Cannon).
• The Pirates rank in the bottom five nationally in three-point percentage, three-pointers made per game and effective field goal percentage.
• ECU was picked to finish 10th in the American Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, but currently sit in a tie for last with UTSA as the only schools without a win in conference play to this point.

CONNECT THE DOTS
• Former Shocker Gabe Blair – a starter on the 2011 NIT Championship team – played his first two collegiate seasons at East Carolina before transferring to Wichita State.

SOUTH FLORIDA LEFTOVERS
• Wichita State improved to 12-3 all time vs. South Florida and 2-1 in overtime games this season. The Shockers have won two in a row in Tampa.
• The Shockers are 18-15 when playing on Jan. 18.
• Wichita State improved to 4-17 in January under Paul Mills.
• Wichita State has outrebounded 16 of its 19 opponents.
• Wichita State tied a season high with 49 total rebounds.
• Wichita State had a season-high 10 blocks, the most blocks since March 10, 2024 vs. Memphis.
• Wichita State's 52.2% from three-point range was a season high.
• South Florida's 12 made three-pointers tied for the most by an opponent this season.
• Kenyon Giles finished with a game-high 22 points, marking his eighth 20-point game of the season.
• Giles has made at least one three-pointer in 18 of the 19 games and multiple 17 of the 19.
• Giles' 4 steals tied a season high.
• Dillon Battie made his third straight start and finished with 7 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. In his three starts he averaging 8.3 points per game.
• Will Berg grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds - his sixth game with 10 or more rebounds. Berg also had a career high 4 blocks.
• Karon Boyd recorded his 12th game in double figures with 17 points.
• Boyd was 6-for-6 at the free throw line, a season best.
• USF's Josh Omojafo was 12-for-16 from the FT line - both season highs for an opposing player.

KG THE BUCKET
• Kenyon Giles has eight 20-point games this season with four of those coming in the first six conference games with 26 at UAB, 27 at Charlotte and a career-high 33 vs. North Texas. His 33-point outburst vs. the Mean Green marked the most points by a Shocker since Markis McDuffie scored 34 on March 15, 2019 vs. Temple. Giles scored his 33 points on an ultra-efficient 13-of-17 from the field, a perfect 4-of-4 beyond the arc and 3-of-3 at the free throw line. His 13 made field goals were the most since Cleanthony Early made 13 on Jan. 9, 2013 when he dropped a career-high 39 on SIU. Giles was also the first Shocker since Landry Shamet on Nov. 20, 2017 to go 4-of-4 or better from three-point range.
• Giles' 33 points are tied for the 3rd most by a player in the American Conference this season, trailing only USF's Wes Enis (36) and Tulsa's David Green (34).
• He started his hot streak when he scored a then career-high tying 26 at UAB in the American Conference opener. Twenty-four of those 26 came from beyond the arc when he knocked down a career-high 8 three-pointers. His 8 three-pointers tied for the second most in a single game in school history, one shy of the school record held by Jason Perez's 9. The last Shocker to make 8 three-pointers in a game was Joe Ragland 14 years ago on Dec. 4, 2011.
• Three days later he poured in a new career-high 27 at Charlotte behind six more three-pointers.
• Giles has scored 341 total points this season - 189 of those have come after halftime. The 5-10 guard scores 55.4 percent of his points in the second half.
• He had three 20-point games in November, becoming the first Shocker since McDuffie in 2018 to have three 20-point performances in the month of November.

GRAY AREA
• Michael Gray Jr. recorded his first career double-double on Jan. 7 vs. Rice. He matched a career high with 25 points and grabbed a career-best 10 rebounds. He is the first Shocker to have a 25-10 game since Markis McDuffie on March 15, 2019 vs. Temple.
• Gray is averaging 13.2 points per game over his last five games. The four games prior he was averaging just 6.5 per game.

KB 1K
• Karon Boyd eclipsed the 1,000 career point mark on Jan. 3, 2026 at Charlotte. He entered the game 12 points shy and finished the game with 21 - his second 20-point game of the season.
• Boyd now has 1,050 career points with 210 of those coming this season at Wichita State. He joins teammate Kenyon Giles as the two members of the 1,000 point club on this year's team.

VALENCIA SIDELINED FOR SEASON
• Wichita State's depth took a hit right after Christmas when junior forward Jaret Valencia went down with a season ending achilles injury during practice. Prior to the Christmas break, Valencia had been playing his best basketball of the season.

FROM BEHIND THE ARC AND BEYOND
• Kenyon Giles is spearheading the long range bombing. He ranks 6th in the NCAA in total 3-pointers made (65), 11th in three-pointers per game (3.42), 26th in three-point attempts (151) and 23rd in three-point percentage (43.0%).
• At the current pace, Giles is on track to break the single season school record for three-pointers made per game (3.42). His 7.95 three-point attempts per game would also 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 needed only 12 games to pass the Shockers' three-point leader from a season ago (Xavier Bell - 35).

FASTEST TO 60
• Kenyon Giles became the fastest Shocker to reach 60 made three-pointers in a single season in program history on Jan. 11 vs. North Texas. Giles needed only 17 games to make his 60th three-pointer of the season, three fewer games than former Shocker, Tyson Etienne.

CRASHIN THE OFFENSIVE GLASS
• Wichita State ranks 6th nationally in offensive rebound percentage at 40.0%. The Shockers average 15.1 offensive rebounds a game, which ranks 5th 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.
• Four Shockers have 30 or more offensive rebounds this season. The quartet of Will Berg, Karon Boyd, TJ Williams and Emmanuel Okorafor make up 63.1 percent of Wichita State's offensive rebounds.

MILESTONE WATCH
• Karon Boyd scored his 1,000th career point on Jan. 3 at Charlotte and played his 100th career game on Nov. 26 vs. Saint Mary's. He needs 8 steals to reach 100 and 27 rebounds to reach 750.
• Kenyon Giles surpassed 1,500 career points on Jan. 7 vs. Rice. He played his 100th career game on Nov. 8 vs. Prairie View A&M. He needs 42 assists to reach 250 career assists.
• Michael Gray Jr. is 7 assists away from 100 for his career. He is 13 games shy of his 100th career game.
• Emmanuel Okorafor needs 34 rebounds to reach 250 for his career.
• Jaret Valencia is 94 points shy of 600 and 7 blocks away from 100 career blocked shots.

ON THIS DATE: JANUARY 21
• 1978 – Cheese Johnson scored 29 points in an 87-83 upset of upset No. 16 UNLV at Levitt Arena. Reggie Theus -- the ninth overall pick in that year's draft -- led the Runnin' Rebels with 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
• 1980 – Freshmen bookends Antoine Carr (31 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks) and Cliff Levingston (23 points, 13 rebounds) led the Shockers past Creighton in OT, 81-77.
• 2017 – Shaq Morris scored 12 of his game-high 24 points at the free throw line in a dominant 84-58 win over Indiana State in Charles Koch Arena.
• 2020 – Wichita State went into the Yuengling Center and held South Florida to 43 points on 12-of-40 shooting. Seventeen of the Bulls' points came at the free throw line. Wichita State's offense was much better, but the Shockers knocked down 8 3-pointers compared to USF's 2.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 12-8 this season and 4-3 in American Conference play.
... Move them to 8-4 all time vs. East Carolina and snap a three-game losing streak in the series.
... Make Paul Mills 46-42 as Wichita State head coach.
... Give Mills 152 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,703-1,287 all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Drop them to 11-9 this season and 3-4 in American Conference play.
... Move them to 7-5 all time vs. East Carolina and be their fourth straight loss against the Pirates.
... Make Paul Mills 45-43 as Wichita State head coach.
... Lower Mills' career record to 151-127.
... Drop their record to 1,702-1,288 all time.

GAME 21: MEMPHIS                                                               
• Memphis leads the series vs. the Shockers 22-14. Wichita State holds a 9-7 advantage vs. the Tigers in Wichita.
• The two programs split the regular season series a season ago, but the Tigers had the last laugh edging Wichita State in the American Conference Championship, 83-80.
• Memphis enters the matchup at 8-8 and 3-1 in American Conference play.
• Penny Hardaway is in his eighth season as the head coach at Memphis, owning a career record of 163-76.