WICHITA, Kan. - Kenyon Giles poured in 31 points and Wichita State locked in defensively over the final 2:00 minutes to take down Tulsa, 81-77, Saturday night in front of a season-high 7,569 fans.

Wichita State (16-10, 8-5) moved into a tie for fourth place in the American Conference standings with five games to go, while remaining just one game back of second. South Florida is a game ahead of the pack.

Giles recorded his second 30-point game of the season on 13-of-27 shooting. He dropped 31 points despite going just 1-of-7 from three-point range. He had success all night getting to the rim and to his midrange jump shot.

Dillon Battie added his third straight game in double figures with 13 points on 6-of-7 from the field. Will Berg was a handful down low, forcing nine fouls on the Tulsa frontcourt. He finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. 

Wichita State shot 63.0 percent after halftime and 50.0 percent for the game, while missing 12-of-14 three-point attempts. Wichita State finished the night with only six turnovers, as well.

Wichita State trailed for nearly 34 minutes in the game and held a lead for just 2:54, but they got the lead when it mattered most. With 2:42 remaining, Wichita State grabbed its first lead since the 16:12 mark of the first half, and never gave it back.

Tulsa struck first and set the tone early. Tylen Riley opened the scoring with a pull-up jumper, and the Golden Hurricane quickly built a 4-0 advantage behind aggressive paint scoring and early rebounding.

Wichita State answered with strong interior play from Battie, who converted a second-chance layup to tie the game at 4–4. Still, Tulsa maintained control through much of the half.

A key sequence midway through the period pushed Tulsa ahead: Ade Popoola finished a fast-break layup to make it 14-10 and Jaylen Lawal followed with a driving layup and later a three-pointer. Miles Barnstable knocked down multiple threes, including a pull-up triple to extend the lead to five. Despite repeated scoring bursts from Giles, Tulsa maintained the edge.

Giles kept Wichita State within striking distance with aggressive drives, reaching 12 first-half points, but Tulsa closed the half on key free throws and a late tip-in from Lawal to take a 41-35 halftime lead.

Tulsa immediately extended its lead to 46-37 just over two minutes into the half, its largest advantage of the night. That's when Wichita State began its push.

Berg scored on back-to-back interior buckets to spark the rally, and Giles followed with a pull-up three to cut the deficit to six. The Shockers began dominating inside, repeatedly scoring in the paint and on second chances.

With 7:54 to go, Tulsa held a 70-65 lead, but Wichita State scored five in a row to tie the game at 70. Wichita State seemingly had momentum and the crowd fully engaged, but every time Wichita State had a chance to take the lead Tulsa had answer.

After a Tylen Riley three-pointer put Tulsa back up by three with 4:03 remaining, Wichita State would hold them to just two points the rest of the way. A pair of Michael Gray Jr. free throws cut the deficit to just one and then the next possession down, Giles converted a pair at the line to give him 31 points on the night and Wichita State a one-point lead.

Wichita State made a defensive stand the next possession and then Karon Boyd dropped in his first points of the game to give the Shockers a 78-75 lead. Riley again kept Tulsa within a possession on a corner jumper to make it 78-77.

Boyd came right back down and score two more on a tough hook shot in the lane to put Wichita State up 80-77.  A forced Tulsa three-pointer glanced off the rim and a Boyd rebound sent him to the line to ice it with just 8 seconds left. After missing the first and a Tulsa timeout, Boyd swished the second to seal the win.

Up Next
Wichita State heads to East Carolina on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. CT tip in Greenville.