WICHITA STATE (13-8, 5-3) at TULSA (18-3, 6-2)
Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026 | 1:00 p.m. CDT
Tulsa, Okla. | Donald W. Reynolds Center
 
TV: ESPNU with Joe Malfa & Bryndon Manzer
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Bob Hull
 

---

OPENING TIPS
• Fresh off a bye week, Wichita State heads back out on the road to face Tulsa on Sunday.
• Wichita State is 17-13 all time when playing on Feb. 1.
• At 5-3 in league play, Wichita State is off to its best start since the 2020-21 season when the Shockers began 6-2.
• Two of Wichita State's five 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 21 games Wichita State is one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the country at 15.0 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 19 of the 21 games this season, including nine 20-point games. Giles matched or scored career high in three of the first four conference games.
• Giles is currently averaging 18.2 PPG for the season, which would be the highest by a Shocker since Jason Perez in 2000.
• His 18.2 PPG ranks 3rd in the American. In league play, Giles ranks 4th at 20.5 PPG with five 20-point outings in eight 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 43.3% (39-for-90) from 3-point range over his last 10 games.
• Giles ranks 10th nationally in total three-pointers made (72) and 14th in three-pointers made per game (3.43). 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 six players in the country with 72 made 3-pointers on 40.0% shooting or better from beyond the arc.
• In American play, no player in the league is playing more minutes per game than Giles at 39.07.
• Will Berg recorded career highs in rebounds (15) and blocks (4) at USF. He's the first Shocker to post 15 rebounds and 4 blocks in a game since Garrett Stutz on Feb. 4, 2012.
• Berg ranks 4th in the American in rebounding at 8.3 per game. His 3.6 offensive rebounds per game rank 3rd. In conference games, he's averaging a league best 4.1 offensive rebounds.
• Karon Boyd (53) and Berg (72) account for 39.6% of WSU's offensive rebounds this season.
• Four different Shockers have recorded a double-double through the first 21 games: Berg (5), Boyd (3), Gray Jr. (1) and TJ Williams (1).
• 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.

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. TULSA
• The Shockers lead the series, 78-66, and have won 21 of the last 27. They're 13-5 in the AAC era.
• Tulsa is WSU's second-most-played opponent behind Drake (151). This is meeting No. 145 in a series that began in 1931. The teams were rivals in the Missouri Valley Conference from 1945-96 before reuniting in the AAC in 2017.
• Including non-conference games, the teams have met at least once in each of the last 14 seasons going back to 2010-11.
• Since joining the AAC, WSU has faced Tulsa more times   than any other foe. This is the 18^th meeting in 8 years.
• Eric Konkol is the 20^th-different Tulsa coach that WSU has faced in the series, while Paul Mills is WSU's 16^th.

IN TULSA // TLS, 38-32
• The Shockers have narrowed the gap in recent years, thanks to an 8-6 mark at the Reynolds Center.
• Wichita State is 5-3 in its eight American visits. The Shockers have lost two in a row in Tulsa. Until the 2024 season Wichita State hadn't lost in Tulsa since 2020.

IN WICHITA // WSU, 44-24
• Prior to last year, the Hurricanes last won in Wichita on Dec. 8, 2001. The Shockers had won the last 12 home meetings (10 at CKA, one at INTRUST Bank Arena) until last season.
• Wichita State has won just over two-thirds of the games played inside the Roundhouse (1955-pr.), 38-17.

NEUTRAL SITES // TLS, 4-2
• Five of the six games have come in conference tournament settings, most recently in 2023 when the team squared off in the first round of the AAC tourney.
• WSU's lone victory came in the 1988 MVC Tournament.
• Tulsa picked up a pair of Arch Madness wins in the 1990s and edged the Shockers in the 1958 All-College.

CONNECT THE DOTS
• On Nov. 6, 2018, Eric Konkol led his Louisiana Tech team to a 71-58 upset over the Shockers in Charles Koch Arena. It's the only season-opening loss by a Wichita State team in the past 23 years.

SCOUTING TULSA
• Led by fourth year head coach Eric Konkol, Tulsa enters the matchup at 18-3 and 6-2 in league play.
• Heading into his fourth campaign at Tulsa, Konkol has rebuilt the roster, with 11 newcomers joining four returners from last season's squad. College basketball analytics expert Evan Miyakawa has Tulsa's eight player transfer class as the second-best from the offseason among the American Conference teams.
• In 2024-25, Tulsa posted a 13-20 overall record with six American Conference wins. Two of those league victories came against Wichita State, Tulsa's first regular season sweep of its oldest rival since the 1995-96 season. It was also the first win at Charles Koch Arena for the Golden Hurricane since Dec. 8, 2001, snapping a streak of 12-straight losses on the road.
• The Golden Hurricane were picked to finish 8th in the preseason poll and David Green was named to the second team.
• Tulsa leads the American Conference in point differential (15.8), field goal percentage (49.1), three-point percentage (39.6), threes per game (10.2) and free throw percentage (79.7).
• Tulsa is one of the best teams in the country at the free throw line, ranking sixth in the country at 79.7 percent. The Golden Hurricane have the top three free throw shooters in the American with Miles Barnstable leading the league (94.7), followed by Tylen Riley (90.0) and Myles Rigsby (90.0).
• The Golden Hurricane Rank 7th in the country in three-point percentage at 39.6 percent.
• Tulsa's starting five of Barnstable, Tyler Behrend, David Green, Ade Popoola and Riley leads the American Conference lead with a +/- of +87. That ranks them 9th in the country as a group per Evan Miya.
• Green leads the Hurricane scoring attack with 16.4 points per game on 52.6 percent shooting and a 39.6 percent marksmanship from beyond the arc.
• Barnstable is a 43.9 percent three-point shooter (54-for-123), which is where more than half of his made field goals have come from. He's scoring 15.0 points per game - good for second on the team.
• Riley rounds out the double figure scorers at 14.4 per game to go with a team-high 82 assists.
• Popoola is another long range threat, converting 41.3 percent of his three-point attempts. He also leads the team in steals with 30.

MEMPHIS LEFTOVERS
• Wichita State improved to 15-22 all time vs. Memphis. The 15-point win marked the largest victory over the Tigers since 2018.
• Ten of Wichita State's 13 wins have come by double digits.
• The Shockers are 13-14 when playing on Jan. 24.
• Wichita State improved to 6-17 in January under Paul Mills.
• Wichita State is 11-1 when leading at the half.
• Wichita State never trailed in the game for the fourth time this season.
• Wichita State has outrebounded 18 of its 21 opponents.
• Kenyon Giles finished with a game-high 14 points, marking his 19th game in double figures this season. He has topped the 20-point mark in five of the eight conference games.
• Giles has made at least one three-pointer in 20 of the 21 games and multiple 19 of the 21.
• Giles' 3 assists tied a season high for the second straight game.
• He has multiple steals in each of the last three games.
• Dillon Battie made his fifth straight start and finished with a season-high 13 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. In his five starts he averaging 9.8 points per game.
• Karon Boyd recorded his 14th game in double figures with 14 points.
• Will Berg registered his team-leading fifth double-double of the season behind 10 points and 10 rebounds.
• Berg has seven games of 10 or more rebounds.
• His four assists set a new career high.

KG THE BUCKET
• Kenyon Giles has nine 20-point games this season with five of those coming in the first seven conference games with 26 at UAB, 27 at Charlotte,  a career-high 33 vs. North Texas, 22 at USF and 27 vs. ECU. 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 382 total points this season - 209 of those have come after halftime. The 5-10 guard scores 54.9 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 11.6 points per game over his last seven 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 1,074 career points with 234 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 10th in the NCAA in total 3-pointers made (72), 14th in three-pointers per game (3.43), 19th in three-point attempts (174) and 34th in three-point percentage (41.4%).
• At the current pace, Giles is on track to break the single season school record for three-pointers made per game (3.43). His 8.29 three-point attempts per game would also be the second most in a single season at Wichita State. He's already entered the single season Top 10 list for total three-pointers and is only 27 shy of tying the school record.
• 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
• KenPom ranks Wichita State 5th nationally in offensive rebound percentage at 39.6%. The Shockers average 15.0 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 61.7 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 21 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 36 assists to reach 250 career assists.
• Michael Gray Jr. is 50 assists away from 150 for his career. He is 11 games shy of his 100th career game.
• Emmanuel Okorafor needs 24 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: FEBRUARY 1
• 1964 – Teammates Dave Stallworth (35 points) and Nate Bowman (34) became the first Shocker teammates to top 30 points on the same night in a 100-63 romp over Marquette at WU Fieldhouse.
• 1967 – After struggling to get into Des Moines, due to a blizzard, an apparently tired Wichita State team trailed Drake 60-56 with 3:56 to play, but then reeled off the final 15 points for a 71-60 win. The final margin was padded by two technical fouls on Drake in the final minute. Irate fans pelted the court with so much debris that officials halted the game with 11 seconds still on the clock.
• 2018 – Shaquille Morris became the 46th member of WSU's 1,000-point club during the Shockers' first-ever visit to Temple's Liacouras Center.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 14-8 this season and 6-3 in American Conference play.
... Be their fourth straight win.
... Move them to 79-66 all time vs. Tulsa and snap a two-game losing streak vs. the Hurricane.
... Make Paul Mills 48-42 as Wichita State head coach.
... Give Mills 154 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,705-1,287 all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Drop them to 13-9 this season and 5-4 in American Conference play.
... Snap a three-game win streak.
... Move them to 78-67 all time vs. Tulsa and be their third straight loss in the series.
... Make Paul Mills 47-43 as Wichita State head coach.
... Lower Mills' career record to 153-127.
... Drop their record to 1,704-1,288 all time.

GAME 23: CHARLOTTE                                                               
• The series with Charlotte is tied 2-2 all time after the 49ers won the first meeting in Charlotte this season.
• Wichita State is 1-0 vs. the 49ers in Wichita.
• Charlotte came back from 18 down on Jan. 3 to win in double overtime.
• Dezayne Mingo and Damoni Harrison combined for 48 points in the come-from-behind win.
• Charlotte enters the matchup at 12-9 and 6-2 in American Conference play.
• Aaron Fearne is in his third season as the head coach at Charlotte, owning a record of 42-43.