WYOMING (18-14) at [3] WICHITA STATE (22-11)
NIT First Round
Tuesday, March 17, 2026 | 6:00 p.m. CDT
Wichita, Kan. | Charles Koch Arena
 
TV: ESPNU with Rich Hollenberg & Mark Adams
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy, Dave Dahl and Bob Hull
 

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OPENING TIPS
• The Wichita State Shockers open the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at home in Charles Koch Arena vs. Wyoming on Tuesday, March 17 at 6 p.m. on ESPNU.
• Wichita State is making its 15th appearance in the NIT and second straight. The Shockers are hosting an NIT game for the first time since 2011 when they rattled off five straight wins to win the championship.
• Wichita State is 11-13 all time in the NIT, which includes one NIT title.
• At 13-5, Wichita State tied for second in the American standings with Tulsa. Wichita State's 13 American Conference victories were the most since 2017-18.
• Wichita State has its first 20-win season since 2019-20.
• Paul Mills now has 56 wins through his first three seasons at Wichita State, 3rd most in school history.
• Three Shockers earned American Conference honors, led by First Team All-Conference & All-Newcomer Team selection Kenyon Giles. Will Berg was named the Sixth Man of the Year and • Karon Boyd was named to the Third Team. Berg and Giles were also on the American All-Tournament Team.
• Wichita State is one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the country at 14.8 per game - good for 4th nationally. That mark would be the best in a single season in school history.
• Wichita State currently owns the longest streak in the nation with 27 straight games of 10+ offensive rebounds.
• Dillon Battie is coming off his first career double-double behind a career-high 22 points and 12 rebounds. Over his last 4 games, he's averaging 12.8 PPG and 5.4 RPG on 69% FG Pct.
• Giles has scored 10+ points in 29 of the 33 games this season, including 17 games of 20+ and 2 games of 30+.
• He scored 20+ in 6 straight games, 5th longest in school history, before it was snapped on March 7 vs. FAU.
• Giles is only the fourth Shocker since 2000 to have multiple games of 30 or more points in a season, joining Jason Perez (1999-00), Joe Ragland (2011-12) and Markis McDuffie (2018-19).
• Giles' 17 20-point efforts are 4th most in a single season.
• Giles is currently averaging 19.2 PPG for the season, which would be the highest by a Shocker since Jason Perez in 2000.
• His 19.2 PPG ranks 2nd in the American. In league play, Giles ranks 2nd at 21.3 PPG with 12 20-point outings in 18 games. Giles' 12 games of 20+ in conference play are second most in school history only behind Xavier McDaniel's 15.
• Giles ranks 7th nationally in total 3-pointers made (113) and 10th in 3-pointers/game (3.42). His 7 made 3-pointers vs. Tulsa in the semis set a school conference tourney record.
• His 113 made three-pointers are the most in a single season at Wichita State. He broke the record on March 1 at UTSA.
• Giles is one of only four players in the country with 100 made three-pointers, 45 assists and 50 steals.
• He poured in a career-high 33 points vs. North Texas, the most by a Shocker since Markis McDuffie (34) in 2019.
• Will Berg ranks 4th in the American in rebounding at 8.4 per game. His 3.36 offensive rebounds per game rank 3rd. In conference games, he averaged 3.6 o-boards, second most.
• Karon Boyd (81) and Berg (111) account for 39.7% of Wichita State's offensive rebounds this season.
• Six different Shockers have recorded a double-double: Berg (9), Boyd (4), Williams (1), Battie (1),  Michael Gray Jr. (1) and Emmanuel Okorafor (1).

THE SERIES VS. WYOMING
• The series between Wichita State and Wyoming began in 1948 when the two teams met on back-to-back days in Laramie. After dropping the first meeting, Wichita State bounced back to win 42-38 the following day.
• After splitting the first four meetings, Wichita State went on to win the next six in the series.
• Nine of the 13 matchups occured between 1948-1963.
• In the 2007 win in Charles Koch Arena, Matt Braeuer scored 17 points and P.J. Couisnard had a monster game with 14 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists.
• Wichita State started the 2006-07 season red-hot and improved to 7-0 with an 83-69 win over the Cowboys in Casper, Wyo. Kyle Wilson (19) and Ryan Bradley (18) combined for 37 in the win. The Shockers forced 22 turnovers and went 24-for-36 at the free throw line.
• Jason Perez went for 25 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals in the 80-71 win over Wyoming on Jan. 10, 2000. Wichita State grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, forced 17 turnovers and went to the free throw line 30 times.

SCOUTING WYOMING
• Led by second year head coach Sundance Wicks, Wyoming enters the matchup at 18-14 and 9-11 in the Mountain West.
• Wicks spent three seasons as an assistant coach (2020-23) at Wyoming and a season season as the head coach at Green Bay, spearheading one of the best single season turnarounds in college basketball history.
• In his first year at Green Bay, Wicks was named the 2023-24 Horizon League Coach of the Year. He was also named the Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year, which is presented annually to the top rookie, first-year head coach in NCAA Division I college basketball.
• Wyoming was picked to finish 9th in the Mountain West Preseason Poll, and that is where they finished the season.
• The Cowboys finished the regular season on a high note, winning five of their last six games. They average 77.1 points per game this season and allow 73 per night. The Cowboys are grabbing 35.6 rebounds per game this season to rank fifth in the conference and are +4.4 this season on the glass. The Cowboys are grabbing just under 12 offensive rebounds per game, which leads the Mountain West.
• Wyoming is led in scoring this season by Leland Walker at 13.7 points per game good for 10th in the Mountain West. He also adds a team-high 3.6 assists per game, which ranks eighth in the conference.
• Nasir (Naz) Meyer adds 12.8 points per game and adds 4.8 rebounds per game which ranks second on the team.
• Khaden Bennett adds 10.4 points per game and owns the team lead with 4.9 rebounds per night.
• Damarion Dennis rounds out the double figure scorers at 11.0 points per game and is shooting 51 percent from the field.

NIT NUGGETS
• The 2026 NIT bracket consists of 32 teams with seeds assigned to the top 16 and the remaining schools placed by geographic fit.
• The top four seeds in the Tulsa Region are No. 1 Tulsa, No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 3 Wichita State and No. 4 UC Irvine. Tulsa hosts Stephen F. Austin, Oklahoma State hosts Davidson and UC Irvine hosts UNLV in the other first round matchups.
• Wichita State has a long history with Tulsa and Oklahoma State, while former Wichita State standout Matt Braeuer is in his first season as the head coach at Stephen F. Austin.
• The winner of the eight team bracket advances to Indianapolis for the semifinals and championship (Apr. 2 and 5). The semifinals will be held at Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse and the championship at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
• This is the 89th edition of the NIT. Its first 82 champions were crowned exclusively at New York City's Madison Square Garden (1938-2019), however, since the COVID-19 pandemic, the final site has rotated between host cities: Frisco, Texas (2021), Madison Square Garden (2022), Las Vegas (2023) and Indianapolis (2024-2026).
• The NIT in Indianapolis is part of a massive weekend that will also include championship games from all three NCAA men's divisions.

SKIP PROSSER MAN OF THE YEAR FINALIST
• Wichita State head men's basketball coach Paul Mills was named one of 25 finalists for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award. The award is presented annually to the Division I coach who wins with integrity on and off the court. The Skip Prosser Man of the Year award honors those who not only achieve success on the basketball court but who display moral integrity on and off it as well.
• Mills has led the Shockers to their first 20-win season since 2020 and has improved his win total in each of his three seasons at Wichita State. His 54 wins are tied for third most in program history through a coach's first three seasons at Wichita State.

BOARD MEN
• In Wichita State's win at UTSA on March 1, the Shockers grabbed a season-high 55 rebounds. The 55 rebounds are the most in a game since Wichita State grabbed 67 vs. Savannah State on Nov. 28, 2017.
• Under Paul Mills, Wichita State has pulled down 50+ rebounds in a game six times.
• Twenty-one of those 55 rebounds came on the offensive end, marking the fourth time this season with 20+ offensive rebounds. This is the first season since 1999-00 the Shockers have had 4 games of 20 or more offensive rebounds.

20 WINS
• Wichita State recorded its 20th win of the season on the road at UTSA on March 1. It marks the first 20-win season since 2019-20 when the Shockers won 23 games. Since joining the American Conference in 2017-18, Wichita State has surpassed the 20-win mark four times including this season. This is 23rd time in program history with 20+ victories.
• Paul Mills is just the sixth Shocker coach to reach the 20-win mark by his third season on the bench, joining Ralph Miller (27 wins in Year 3), Gary Thompson (21 wins in Year 1), Gene Smithson (26 wins in Year 3), Eddie Fogler (22 wins in Year 1 and 20 wins in Year 2) and Gregg Marshall (25 in Year 3).

SOUTH FLORIDA LEFTOVERS
• Wichita State dropped to 12-5 all time vs. South Florida.
• Wichita State saw its 7-game win streak come to an end.
• Wichita State dropped to 9-8 all time in the American Conference Championship and 0-1 in the title game.
• The Shockers are 7-7 when playing on March 15.
• Under Mills, Wichita State is 9-32 when trailing at the half and 10-40 when trailing at the 5:00-minute mark.
• Wichita State has tied or outrebounded 29 of its 33 opponents this season.
• Wichita State has had 10 or more offensive rebounds in 27 consecutive games.
• Wichita State was held to a season-low 55 points, just the third time held under 60 points this season. Two of those three came in games against South Florida.
• Wichita State dropped to 1-19 under Mills when failing to score 60 or more points.
• Kenyon Giles was held to fewer than 10 points for just the fourth time this season. He was still named to the All-Tournament Team.
• His 6 rebounds tied a season high.
• Giles has made at least one three-pointer in 32 of the 33 games and multiple 28 of the 33.
• Karon Boyd set a season high with 3 steals and tied a season high with 2 blocks.
• Will Berg registered his second straight game in double figures with 10 points. He was named to the All-Tournament Team.
• Dillon Battie scored a team-high 15 points, marking his 10th game in double figures this season.

ALL-CONFERENCE AWARDS
• Wichita State had three student-athletes earn conference honors. Kenyon Giles was named to the All-Conference First Team and All-Newcomer Team, Will Berg is the American's Sixth Man of the Year and Karon Boyd picked up Third Team All-Conference honors.
• Giles is the fifth Shocker to earn first team accolades since Wichita State joined the American. This makes back-to-back seasons Wichita State has earned multiple conference honors. Berg is the second Shocker to win Sixth Man of the Year, joining Ricky Council IV in 2022.

WIN STREAK BY THE NUMBERS
• During Wichita State's 7-game win streak, the Shockers scored 83.3 points per game and beat their opponents by an average of 10.4 points. Wichita State was also dominate on the boards, outrebounding its opponent by an average of 9.0 per game, while pulling down 43.1 total rebounds a game. Wichita State's free throw shooting has also been on the rise as they converted 74.2 percent at the line, while being a sub-70 percent shooting team for the season.
• Kenyon Giles averaged 25.1 points and 3.7 rebounds during the stretch.

ON THIS DATE: MARCH 17
• 2016 – 48 hours after taking down Vanderbilt in the First Four in Dayton, 11-seed Wichita State traveled to Providence, R.I. and pulled off the upset over No. 6 Arizona, 65-55. Wichita State forced 19 turnovers to offset a 3-for-20 shooting performance from 3-point range.
• 2017 – As a 10-seed in the NCAA Tournament, Wichita State pulled off a mild upset against 7-seed Dayton in Indianapolis. A defensive battle saw the Shockers hold Dayton to 31 percent from the field in a 64-58 win. The Shockers trailed by two at halftime before pulling away late. Landry Shamet was the top Wichita State scorer with just 13 points.