NORTH TEXAS (10-6, 1-2) at WICHITA STATE (9-7, 1-2)
Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 | 2:00 p.m. CDT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
 
TV: ESPNU with Pete Sousa & Mark Adams
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy & Dave Dahl
 

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Sunday Funday - Bring the whole crew out and enjoy 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs and 4 drinks for just $150.
 

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OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State looks to snap a two-game skid on Sunday when North Texas visits the Roundhouse.
• Wichita State is 15-20 all time when playing on Jan. 11. This is the second straight season playing on the date.
• 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.
• Wichita State (8-5) posted a winning non-con record for the 28th consecutive season but were 1-5 in games decided by 6 points or fewer with close setbacks against NET No. 26 Saint Mary's (neutral), No. 40 Boise State (away) and No. 51 Colorado State (neutral).
• All seven of Wichita State's losses have come by 6 points or fewer.
• 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.
• Through 16 games Wichita State is one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the country at 15.1 per game - good for 6th nationally. That mark would be the best in a single season in school history.
• 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 four games, including a 21-point, 12-rebound double-double at Charlotte.
• Boyd (47) and Will Berg (50) account for 40.2% of WSU's offensive rebounds this season.
• Kenyon Giles has scored 10+ points in 15 of the 16 games this season, including six 20-point games. After tying a career high with 26 points on a career-best 8 three-pointers at UAB, he set a new career high in the very next game at Charlotte with 27 points.
• Giles is averaging 22.0 PPG over his last three games. He's shooting 43.4% (23-for-53) from 3-point range over his last 5 games. He's riding a 7-game streak with multiple 3-pointers. The school record is 10 straight.
• Giles ranks 7th nationally in total three-pointers made (56) and 11th in three-pointers made per game (3.50). 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.
• Dre Kindell ranks 24th nationally and 1st in the American in assist-turnover ratio at 3.47.
• Four different Shockers have recorded a double-double through the first 16 games: Berg (4), Boyd (3), Gray Jr. (1) and TJ Williams (1).
• The Shockers opened the season ranked No. 128 according to KenPom, but have jumped to 99 after a 9-7 start to the season.

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. NORTH TEXAS
• Wichita State leads the all-time series 26-15. This is just the fifth time the schools have met on the hardwood since December, 1982 when the Shockers defeated North Texas in the championship game of the McDonald's Shocker Classic.
• Last season the teams were involved in a pair of thrillers. The two games were decided by a total of six points, both won by North Texas.
• The Mean Green edged Wichita State in the Roundhouse on Jan. 29, 58-54, and held off the Shockers in the Super Pit during the final week of the regular season, 68-66. Atin Wright scored a game-high 21 to hold off the upset-minded Shockers.
• North Texas recorded its first-ever American Athletic Conference win in the conference opener in 2024 in Charles Koch Arena.
• The Mean Green led by 12 at halftime, and by as many as 20 in the second half.
• Aaron Scott scored a game-high tying 18 points to lead the Mean Green. Colby Rogers scored 18 points for Wichita State.
• In 2021, North Texas came into Charles Koch Arena on Dec. 18 and handed the Shockers a 62-52 loss, snapping a six-game home win streak vs. the Mean Green.
• Wichita State led by seven at halftime only to see North Texas outscore the Shockers 35-18 in the second half.
• Tylor Perry scored a game-high 23 points behind a 10-of-10 night at the free throw line.
• Morris Udeze scored 17 points and Craig Porter Jr. added 12 in a losing effort for the Shockers.
• At that time North Texas was led by Grant McCasland who spent five years at Baylor as an assistant coach with Paul Mills.
• The schools were Missouri Valley Conference rivals from 1957 to 1975.
• The Shockers have won six of the last nine against North Texas in Wichita and are 16-6 all-time.
• The most-impressive of the six Mean Green wins came in 1963 over a Shocker team that came in ranked No. 8 nationally, 69-67.
• In 1982, Zarko Durisic scored a career-high 30 points and the Shockers edged the Mean Green, 78-72.
• The Shockers are 10-9 against North Texas in Denton but are winless at the Super Pit (est. 1973-Pr.).
• Prior to last season's trip to Denton, Wichita State's last visit actually came during the 1976 NCAA tournament when the Shockers lost to 14^th-ranked Michigan, 74-73, on Rickey Green's 20-foot jumper with six seconds to play.

SCOUTING NORTH TEXAS
• North Texas is under the leadership of new head coach Daniyal Robinson who took over the Mean Green program after leading Cleveland State to three straight 20-win seasons from 2022-25.
• Robinson won 65 games in three seasons as the Vikings head coach. His 65 total wins were the second-most by an active DI head coach with three years or less of experience between 2022-25. Duke's Jon Scheyer was the only one with more (89). Robinson led the Vikings to three straight CBI postseason tournament appearances. They reached the championship game in the 2025 CBI.
• Robinson has had to replace the Mean Green's entire roster from last season. North Texas is one of six teams in the country who return zero scholarship and walk-ons from last year's respective roster. In addition to replacing an entire roster, North Texas has replaced all full time coaches, part time coaches, graduate assistants, managers and support staff members. Robinson brought his entire Cleveland State staff to North Texas.
• North Texas is coming off a 27-win season, a second-place finish in the American Athletic Conference regular season standings and a NIT semifinal appearance under then head coach Ross Hodge.
• Since the start of the 2020-21 season, North Texas has won 130 total games. Only 15 teams in the country have won more over the last five-plus seasons. Robinson is UNT's third different head coach since the start of the 2020-21 season: Grant McCasland, Hodge and Robinson.
• North Texas averages 9.5 steals per game, that ranks 25th in the nation and second in the American behind USF (10.2 per game). Four of UNT's five starters average at least 1.2 steals per game.
• North Texas is holding opponents to just 64.1 points per game - the league's best scoring defense and the nation's 13th best scoring defense.
• The Mean Green also sport the league's top three-point defense, as opponents convert just 28.1 percent of their attempts. That number ranks 10th nationally.
• Je'Shawn Stevenson leads North Texas in scoring (16.9 ppg), three-pointers (38) and steals (27), while adding 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists.
• David Terrell Jr. dishes out 4.9 assists per game to go with 11.8 points.

KG THE BUCKET
• Kenyon Giles has six 20-point games this season after dropping a career-high 26 points at UAB on Dec. 31. 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.
• Giles has scored 284 total points this season - 153 of those have come after halftime. The 5-10 guard scores 53.9 percent of his points in the second half. 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.

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 18.5 points per game over his last two 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 1,014 career points with 174 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.

A GOOD COMEBACK AND NOT SO GOOD COMEBACK
• In Wichita State's conference opening win at UAB on Dec. 31, the Shockers trailed by as many as 16 in the game before completing the comeback for a 5-point win. It marked the largest come-from-behind win since Jan. 14, 2023 at home vs. Tulsa when the Shockers also came back from 16 down.
• The 16-point deficit tied for the 8th largest in a comeback win in program history.
• Three days later Wichita State found itself on the wrong side of a giant comeback. The Shockers led by as many as 18 in the second half on Jan. 3 at Charlotte, before the Niners mounted a come-from-behind win in double overtime.
• Wichita State's 18-point lead tied for the 4th largest in a loss in program history. It was the 3rd largest second half lead in a loss in program history.

FROM BEHIND THE ARC AND BEYOND
• Kenyon Giles is spearheading the long range bombing. He ranks 7th in the NCAA in total 3-pointers made (56), 11th in three-pointers per game (3.50) and three-point attempts (137) and 53rd in three-point percentage (40.9%).
• At the current pace, Giles is on track to break the single season school record for three-pointers made per game (3.50). His 8.56 three-point attempts per game would also be the 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).

CRASHIN THE GLASS
• Wichita State ranks 11th nationally in offensive rebound percentage at 39.9%. The Shockers average 15.1 offensive rebounds a game, which ranks 6th 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 29 or more offensive rebounds this season. The quartet of Will Berg, Karon Boyd, TJ Williams and Emmanuel Okorafor make up 64.7 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 10 steals to reach 100 and 42 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 45 assists to reach 250 career assists.
• Michael Gray Jr. is 11 assists away from 100 for his career. He is 16 games shy of his 100th career game.
• Emmanuel Okorafor needs 2 rebounds to reach 200 for his career.
• Jaret Valencia is 94 points shy of 600 and 7 blocks away from 100 career blocked shots.

ON THIS DATE: JANUARY 11
• 1971 – Terry Benton recorded his third consecutive 20-rebound game, finishing with a school-record 28 caroms in an 82-74 win over Loyola Chicago.  Benton topped himself a month later with a 29-rebound performance against North Texas.
• 2014 – No. 6 WSU rallied from 19 down at Missouri State to improve to 17-0. The hosts led 54-35 with 11:48 to play before a 16-2 Shocker run closed the gap. Fred VanVleet scored 12 of the final 13 Shocker points, including a game-tying free throw with six seconds left in regulation. Cleanthony Early finished with a game-high 22.
• 2018 – WSU blitzed ECU in the Shockers' first-ever trip to Greenville as a  member of the American, 95-60. Rauno Nurger scored a team-high 14 points in a balanced attack. Landry Shamet scored 11 points and dished out 11 assists for a double-double. WSU shot nearly 60% from the floor and finished with 32 assists as a team.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 10-7 this season and 2-2 in American Conference play.
... Snap a two-game skid.
... Improve their record to 8-2 at home this season.
... Move them to 27-15 all time vs. North Texas and snap a four-game losing streak vs. the Mean Green.
... Make Paul Mills 44-41 as Wichita State head coach.
... Give Mills 150 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,701-1,286 all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... Drop them to 9-8 this season and 1-3 in American Conference play.
... Be their third straight loss.
... Make them 7-3 at home this season.
... Move them to 26-16 all time vs. North Texas and be their fifth straight loss in the series with the Mean Green.
... Make Paul Mills 43-42 as Wichita State head coach.
... Lower Mills' career record to 149-126.
... Drop their record to 1,700-1,287 all time.

GAME 18: at FLORIDA ATLANTIC                                                               
• Wichita State and FAU are tied 2-2 in the all time series with each team going 1-1 on its home floor.
• This will be Wichita State's third straight year making the trip to Boca Raton.
• Florida Atlantic enters the matchup at 10-6 and 2-1 in American Conference play.
• John Jakus is in his second season as the head coach at Florida Atlantic and owns a career record of 27-22.