The RoundHouse | 3/15/2026 8:53:00 AM
By
Paul Suellentrop
Wichita State saved its season with a win over USF on Jan. 18. The Shockers regrouped after a disappointing effort vs. the Bulls in February.
It's March and the Shockers are again 40 minutes vs. the Bulls from taking the season in a better direction.
Second-seeded Wichita State (22-10) plays top-seeded USF (24-8) in the American Conference Championship title game at 2:15 p.m. today (ESPN) in Birmingham.
The Shockers defeated third-seeded Tulsa 81-68 in Saturday's semifinal with a superb March performance by the backcourt.
Kenyon Giles scored 27 points, and the Shockers made 12 of 26 three-pointers.
Michael Gray Jr. added 13 points, six rebounds and six assists, his highest scoring game since January.
Great three-point shooting added into WSU's strengths of rebounding and defense gave the Shockers a double-digit lead most of the second half.
"Aa week off helps in regards to just being able to have legs and our players have confidence," coach
Paul Mills told the media in Birmingham. "They believe in their work. You have to trust your work."
In a conference race defined by parity and close games, the NCAA automatic bid will go to one of the top two seeds, both of whom are playing their best basketball. WSU won its seventh straight game on Saturday. The Bulls are winners of 10 in a row.
"Going to the NCAA Tournament is something we have been striving to do all season long," center
Will Berg told the media. "It's something I think all of us are hard set on doing."
Wichita State plays in its first American title game since joining the conference for the 2017-18 season. Its tournament success under Mills continued Saturday – WSU is 4-2 in his three seasons.
The Shockers did not play their best basketball in early January in an 85-67 loss at Florida Atlantic. After that game, players and coaches endured tough conversations about roles, duties and understanding about what each of them – players, coaches, managers, everyone – needs to do to help the Shockers win.
Those talks, they all say, put the team on the right track. Giles, who took five shots against FAU, knew he needed to score. The big men knew rebounding and toughness had to start with them. The reserves knew their performance in practices needed to better prepare the rotation players for games.
Wichita State beat USF 86-85 in overtime three days later and won five of their next six before a home loss to the Bulls on Feb. 11. That was the last Shocker loss.
Saturday's win over Tulsa showed the product of those conversations and how the Shockers are winning. Giles, of course, electrified the audience with his collection of baskets. He made 7 of 16 three-pointers, including one that gave the Shockers a six-point lead early in the second half and
started their game-turning run. He made another for an 11-point lead and gave the Shockers a 20-point edge minutes later from behind the arc.
"I missed a few early and just kept shooting,' Giles said. "My teammates gave me confidence, that's all it was."
WSU's defense limited the Hurricane (26-7) to 36.5-percent shooting, 11 of 32 inside the arc for its worst accuracy this season on two-pointers. Tulsa played a triple-overtime game on Friday vs. North Texas to advance, and the Shockers took advantage wore them down with occasional full-court pressure and depth.
One-man shows rarely win meaningful games in March.
Karon Boyd made 4 of 7 three-pointers.
TJ Williams scored nine of his 13 points in the first half.
While Mills was not pleased with his team's rebounding in the first half, the Shockers won the rebound battle in the second half and limited to Tulsa – playing most of the half without injured starter David Green – to two second-chance points. Berg totaled seven of his 13 points and eight of his 14 rebounds in the second half.
"We were able assert ourselves on the glass because at the end, this becomes a possession game" Mills said. "This guy to my right (Berg) had a lot to do with us having that ability."
A win over the Bulls puts the Shockers in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021, when they went as an at-large team. The last impression USF made on the Shockers was its dominating defense in a 66-58 win at Koch Arena in February. The Bulls held the Shockers to 8-of-30 shooting in the second half and effectively wrap up the regular-season title.
Mills called that game a "punking" by the Bulls. Throughout the conference season, Wichita State responded well to adversity. It is 40 minutes away from banishing that memory.
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
