[3] WICHITA STATE (24-11) at [1] TULSA (28-7)
NIT Quarterfinals
Tuesday, March 24, 2026 | 6:00 p.m. CDT
Tulsa, Okla. | Donald W. Reynolds Center
 
TV: ESPN2 with Rich Hollenberg & Mark Adams
Radio: KEYN 103.7 FM with Mike Kennedy, Dave Dahl and Bob Hull
 

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OPENING TIPS
• Wichita State is in Tulsa to face the No. 1 seed Tulsa in NIT Quarterfinal action Tuesday night at 6 PM on ESPN2.
• The Shockers and Golden Hurricane are meeting for the fourth time this season, which has never happened in a single season between the two schools.
• In Wichita State's second round win at Oklahoma State, the Shockers made 12 3-pointers - the most in school history by a WSU team in an NIT game. Eight of those came from Kenyon Giles - tied for 2nd most in a single game in Wichita State history. He's made 8 3-pointers in a game twice this season. The 96 points were also an NIT program record. The 26-point win was WSU's largest margin of victory ever against OSU.
• Wichita State is making its 15th appearance in the NIT and second straight. The Shockers hosted an NIT game for the first time since 2011 when they rattled off five straight wins to win the championship.
• Wichita State is 13-13 all time in the NIT, which includes one NIT title (2011). Of the four No. 3 seeds in the 2026 NIT, Wichita State is the only one to advance to the second round.
• Wichita State has its first 20-win season since 2019-20. The 24 wins are the most since 2018 when they won 25.
• Paul Mills now has 58 wins through his first three seasons at Wichita State, 2nd most in school history.
• Wichita State is one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the country at 14.7 per game - good for 4th nationally. That mark would be the best in a single season 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 currently owns the longest streak in the nation with 29 straight games of 10+ offensive rebounds.
• Giles has scored 10+ points in 31 of the 35 games this season, including 18 games of 20+ and 2 games of 30+.
• Giles' 18 20-point efforts are T-2nd most in a single season.
• 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 is currently averaging 19.3 PPG for the season, which would be the highest by a Shocker since Jason Perez in 2000.
• His 19.3 PPG ranks 2nd in the American. In league play, Giles ranked 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 4th nationally in total 3-pointers made (124) and 8th in 3-pointers/game (3.54).
• His 124 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 two players in the country with 120 made three-pointers, 50 assists and 50 steals.
• Dillon Battie is coming off his first career double-double behind a career-high 22 points and 12 rebounds. Over his last 7 games, he's averaging 11.7 PPG and 6.1 RPG on 60% FG Pct.
• Karon Boyd (83) and Berg (113) account for 38.7% of Wichita State's offensive rebounds this season.
• Six different Shockers have recorded a double-double: Berg (9), Boyd (4), Williams (2), Battie (2),  Michael Gray Jr. (1) and Emmanuel Okorafor (1).

THE SERIES VS. TULSA
• The Shockers lead the series, 80-67, and have won 23 of the last 30. They're 15-6 in the American era.
• Tulsa is Wichita State's second-most-played opponent behind Drake (151). This is meeting No. 148 in a series that began in 1931. The teams were rivals in the Missouri Valley Conference from 1945-96 before reuniting in the American in 2017.
• Including non-conference games, the teams have met at least once in each of the last 16 seasons going back to 2010-11.
• Since joining the American, Wichita State has faced Tulsa more times than any other foe. This is the 22^nd meeting in 9 years. This will also be the first time the two teams have met four times in one season.
• Eric Konkol is the 20th-different Tulsa coach that WSU has faced in the series, while Paul Mills is Wichita State's 16th.

WICHITA STATE IN THE NIT
• Wichita State is making its 15th appearance in the NIT with an all time record of 13-13 after defeating Wyoming in the First Round and Oklahoma State in the Second Round.
• Each of the last three times Wichita State won its first game of the NIT, the Shockers went on to win at least three or more games (2019 semifinals, 2011 champions, 2005 round of 16).
• Wichita State is the only No. 3 seed to advance to the Second Round of the NIT. George Mason, Yale and Colorado State all lost at home in their first round games.
• Two No. 4 seeds were also upset in the first round (Utah Valley and UC Irvine).
• Wichita State is 5-5 in the Round of 32 and 3-4 in the Round of 16.
• As an underdog, Wichita State is 7-2 all time in the NIT.
• Wichita State is 3-2 against teams in the 2026 NIT (2-1 vs. Tulsa, 1-0 vs. Wyoming and 0-1 vs. Colorado State).

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.

BOARD MEN
• In Wichita State's wins at UTSA on March 1 and in the NIT vs. Wyoing, 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 seven times.
• Twenty-one of those 55 rebounds at UTSA 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).

OKLAHOMA STATE LEFTOVERS
• Wichita State improved to 12-33 all time vs. Oklahoma State.
• Wichita State moved to 13-13 all time in the NIT, marking the first postseason win since 2019 when they advanced to the NIT semifinals.
• The Shockers are 2-1 when playing on March 22.
• Under Mills, Wichita State is 49-11 when leading at the half and 48-5 when leading at the 5:00-minute mark.
• Wichita State scored 52 points in the second half, tying for a season high.
• Wichita State has tied or outrebounded 31 of its 35 opponents this season.
• Wichita State has had 10 or more offensive rebounds in 29 consecutive games.
• Kenyon Giles scored 20 or more points for the 18th time this season. He's reached double figures in 31 of the 35 games.
• Giles has made at least one three-pointer in 34 of the 35 games and multiple 30 of the 35. He's made at least one three-pointer in 16 consecutive games.
• His 8 made 3-pointers tied a career high.
• Dillon Battie collected his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
• Karon Boyd is second on the team with 22 games of 10 or more points after scoring 13 vs. the Cowboys.
• Michael Gray Jr. finished with 13 points - his 12th game in double figures this season.
• TJ Williams tied a game high with 10 rebounds. He's had 10 or more rebounds in back-to-back games.
• Dre Kindell finished in double figures for the first time since Feb. 1. It marked his 10th game this season with 10 or more points.

A SHOCKER WIN WOULD...                                                                     
... Make them 25-11 this season and advance them to the semifinals of the NIT.
... Improve their all time record in the NIT to 14-13.
... Be their first NIT semifinal appearance since 2019.
... Make them 81-67 all time vs. Tulsa and 3-1 vs. the Hurricane this season.
... Make Paul Mills 59-45 as Wichita State head coach.
... Give Mills 165 career coaching victories.
... Run their record to 1,716-1,290 all time.

A SHOCKER LOSS WOULD...                                                                     
... End their season at 24-12.
... Make them 13-14 all time in the NIT.
... Drop them to 80-68 all time vs. Tulsa, and split the season series at 2-2.
... Make Paul Mills 58-46 as Wichita State head coach.
... Lower Mills' career record to 164-130.
... Drop their record to 1,715-1,291 all time.

GAME 37: NIT - NEW MEXICO/ST. JOSEPH'S                                                                         
• Wichita State is 2-3 all time vs. New Mexico and 0-1 vs. Saint Joseph's.
• New Mexico is the top seed in its region and is 25-10 this season after NIT wins over Sam Houston and George Washington.
• Saint Joseph's is 24-11 after pulling off two upsets in the NIT. The Hawks went on the road and knocked off No. 3 seed Colorado State and No. 2 seed Cal.