WICHITA, Kan. - Kenyon Giles poured in a game-high 27 points and Wichita State won its third straight game with a 69-57 win over Temple Saturday night in Charles Koch Arena on Mike Kennedy Night.

A season-high 8,094 fans filled the Roundhouse to celebrate three MVC Championship teams celebrating anniversaries and to honor the legendary career of Mike Kennedy. Kennedy is retiring at the end of this academic season after 46 years as the Voice of the Shockers.

Wichita State (18-10, 10-5) continues to stay in the hunt for a top-2 seed in the American Conference Championship, two games back of first-place South Florida and tied in the loss column with Tulsa.

Giles notched his team-leading 14th 20-point game and fourth straight with his 27 points. He was 10-of-21 from the field and 5-of-10 from three-point range. His 14 20-point performances this season are tied for 6th most in a single season in school history. With his five made three-pointers, he now has 93 on the season, just seven away from tying the school record of 99.

Emmanuel Okorafor had a career night, logging his first double-double behind a career-high 13 points and 10 rebounds. TJ Williams put up another solid outing off the bench. He followed up a career night at East Carolina with 12 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Wichita State was plus-11 on the glass and held Temple to 36.4 percent shooting and just 5-of-13 from beyond the arc.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak vs. the Owls.

The opening 20 minutes featured six lead changes and eight ties. Temple briefly grabbed its largest lead of the half, 15-10, at the 13:09 mark following a 7-0 run.

Wichita State responded behind strong interior play from Okorafor, who scored on a dunk and multiple second-chance opportunities in the paint. The Shockers dominated the offensive glass early, turning misses into extra possessions and eight second-chance points in the first half.

Giles provided a spark from the perimeter, and Williams added timely scoring as Wichita State closed the half on a 5-0 spurt to take a 33-27 lead into the locker room.

The Shockers shot 36.7 percent in the first half but limited Temple to 11-of-30 shooting (36.7 percent) and just 1-of-6 from three-point range. Wichita State also outscored Temple 12-2 in bench points over the opening 20 minutes.

Temple trimmed the deficit to three early in the second half after a fast-break three from Gavin Griffiths made it 33-30. The Owls later cut it to six at 39-33 with 15:17 remaining.

From there, Wichita State seized control.

Back-to-back scores from Michael Gray Jr. and Williams ignited an 8-0 run that pushed the lead to 47-37 at the 12:42 mark. During that stretch, the Shockers forced key stops and converted at the free-throw line, where they would finish 21-of-29 (72.4 percent).

Temple never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.

Wichita State's biggest lead came at the 9:59 mark of the second half during that decisive run, as the Shockers stretched the margin to 18. The Shockers shot 10-of-20 (50 percent) in the final period and an efficient 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) from beyond the arc, finishing the game at 6-of-12 (50 percent) from three.

Up Next 
Wichita State travels to Memphis looking for a season sweep of the Tigers on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.