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
OPENING TIPS
• The Wichita State Shockers open the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at residence in Charles Koch Arena vs. Wyoming on Tuesday, March 17 at 6 p.m. on ESPNU.
• Wichita State is making its fifteenth look within the NIT and second straight. The Shockers are internet hosting an NIT sport for the primary time since 2011 after they rattled off 5 straight wins to win the championship.
• Wichita State is 11-13 all time within the NIT, which incorporates one NIT title.
• At 13-5, Wichita State tied for second within the American standings with Tulsa. Wichita State’s 13 American Conference victories have been probably the most since 2017-18.
• Wichita State has its first 20-win season since 2019-20.
• Paul Mills now has 56 wins by his first three seasons at Wichita State, third most at school historical past.
• Three Shockers earned American Conference honors, led by First Team All-Conference & All-Newcomer Team choice Kenyon Giles. Will Berg was named the Sixth Man of the Year and • Karon Boyd was named to the Third Team. Berg and Giles have been additionally on the American All-Tournament Team.
• Wichita State is without doubt one of the high offensive rebounding groups within the nation at 14.8 per sport – good for 4th nationally. That mark can be the very best in a single season at school historical past.
• Wichita State presently owns the longest streak within the nation with 27 straight video games of 10+ offensive rebounds.
• Dillon Battie is coming off his first profession double-double behind a career-high 22 factors and 12 rebounds. Over his final 4 video games, he is averaging 12.8 PPG and 5.4 RPG on 69% FG Pct.
• Giles has scored 10+ factors in 29 of the 33 video games this season, together with 17 video games of 20+ and a couple of video games of 30+.
• He scored 20+ in 6 straight video games, fifth longest at school historical past, earlier than it was snapped on March 7 vs. FAU.
• Giles is simply the fourth Shocker since 2000 to have a number of video games of 30 or extra factors in a season, becoming a member of 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 presently averaging 19.2 PPG for the season, which might be the best by a Shocker since Jason Perez in 2000.
• His 19.2 PPG ranks 2nd within the American. In league play, Giles ranks 2nd at 21.3 PPG with 12 20-point outings in 18 video games. Giles’ 12 video games of 20+ in convention play are second most at school historical past solely behind Xavier McDaniel’s 15.
• Giles ranks seventh nationally in complete 3-pointers made (113) and tenth in 3-pointers/sport (3.42). His 7 made 3-pointers vs. Tulsa within the semis set a college convention tourney report.
• His 113 made three-pointers are probably the most in a single season at Wichita State. He broke the report on March 1 at UTSA.
• Giles is one among solely 4 gamers within the nation with 100 made three-pointers, 45 assists and 50 steals.
• He poured in a career-high 33 factors vs. North Texas, probably the most by a Shocker since Markis McDuffie (34) in 2019.
• Will Berg ranks 4th within the American in rebounding at 8.4 per sport. His 3.36 offensive rebounds per sport rank third. In convention video 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 completely 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 collection between Wichita State and Wyoming started in 1948 when the 2 groups met on back-to-back days in Laramie. After dropping the primary assembly, Wichita State bounced again to win 42-38 the next day.
• After splitting the primary 4 conferences, Wichita State went on to win the subsequent six within the collection.
• Nine of the 13 matchups occured between 1948-1963.
• In the 2007 win in Charles Koch Arena, Matt Braeuer scored 17 factors and P.J. Couisnard had a monster sport with 14 factors, 14 rebounds and 5 assists.
• Wichita State began 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) mixed for 37 within the win. The Shockers pressured 22 turnovers and went 24-for-36 on the free throw line.
• Jason Perez went for 25 factors, 8 rebounds and 5 steals within the 80-71 win over Wyoming on Jan. 10, 2000. Wichita State grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, pressured 17 turnovers and went to the free throw line 30 occasions.
SCOUTING WYOMING
• Led by second yr head coach Sundance Wicks, Wyoming enters the matchup at 18-14 and 11th of September within the Mountain West.
• Wicks spent three seasons as an assistant coach (2020-23) at Wyoming and a season season as the top coach at Green Bay, spearheading the most effective single season turnarounds in faculty basketball historical past.
• In his first yr at Green Bay, Wicks was named the 2023-24 Horizon League Coach of the Year. He was additionally named the Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year, which is introduced yearly to the highest rookie, first-year head coach in NCAA Division I faculty basketball.
• Wyoming was picked to complete ninth within the Mountain West Preseason Poll, and that’s the place they completed the season.
• The Cowboys completed the common season on a excessive word, successful 5 of their final six video games. They common 77.1 factors per sport this season and permit 73 per night time. The Cowboys are grabbing 35.6 rebounds per sport this season to rank fifth within the convention and are +4.4 this season on the glass. The Cowboys are grabbing slightly below 12 offensive rebounds per sport, which leads the Mountain West.
• Wyoming is led in scoring this season by Leland Walker at 13.7 factors per sport good for tenth within the Mountain West. He additionally provides a team-high 3.6 assists per sport, which ranks eighth within the convention.
• Nasir (Naz) Meyer provides 12.8 factors per sport and provides 4.8 rebounds per sport which ranks second on the workforce.
• Khaden Bennett provides 10.4 factors per sport and owns the workforce lead with 4.9 rebounds per night time.
• Damarion Dennis rounds out the double determine scorers at 11.0 factors per sport and is capturing 51 % from the sphere.
NIT NUGGETS
• The 2026 NIT bracket consists of 32 groups with seeds assigned to the highest 16 and the remaining faculties positioned by geographic match.
• The high 4 seeds within 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 within the different first spherical matchups.
• Wichita State has a protracted historical past with Tulsa and Oklahoma State, whereas former Wichita State standout Matt Braeuer is in his first season as the top coach at Stephen F. Austin.
• The winner of the eight workforce bracket advances to Indianapolis for the semifinals and championship (Apr. 2 and 5). The semifinals can be held at Butler University’s Hinkle Fieldhouse and the championship at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
• This is the 89th version of the NIT. Its first 82 champions have been topped completely at New York City’s Madison Square Garden (1938-2019), nonetheless, for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic, the ultimate web 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 a part of an enormous weekend that may even embrace championship video games from all three NCAA males’s divisions.
SKIP PROSSER MAN OF THE YEAR FINALIST
• Wichita State head males’s basketball coach Paul Mills was named one among 25 finalists for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award. The award is introduced yearly to the Division I coach who wins with integrity on and off the courtroom. The Skip Prosser Man of the Year award honors those that not solely obtain success on the basketball courtroom however who show ethical integrity on and off it as nicely.
• Mills has led the Shockers to their first 20-win season since 2020 and has improved his win complete in every of his three seasons at Wichita State. His 54 wins are tied for third most in program historical past by 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 probably the most in a sport since Wichita State grabbed 67 vs. Savannah State on Nov. 28, 2017.
• Under Paul Mills, Wichita State has pulled down 50+ rebounds in a sport six occasions.
• Twenty-one of these 55 rebounds got here on the offensive finish, marking the fourth time this season with 20+ offensive rebounds. This is the primary season since 1999-00 the Shockers have had 4 video games of 20 or extra offensive rebounds.
20 WINS
• Wichita State recorded its twentieth win of the season on the highway at UTSA on March 1. It marks the primary 20-win season since 2019-20 when the Shockers received 23 video games. Since becoming a member of the American Conference in 2017-18, Wichita State has surpassed the 20-win mark 4 occasions together with this season. This is twenty third time in program historical past with 20+ victories.
• Paul Mills is simply the sixth Shocker coach to succeed in the 20-win mark by his third season on the bench, becoming a member of 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 noticed its 7-game win streak come to an finish.
• Wichita State dropped to 9-8 all time within the American Conference Championship and 0-1 within the title sport.
• The Shockers are 7-7 when enjoying on March 15.
• Under Mills, Wichita State is 9-32 when trailing on the half and 10-40 when trailing on the 5:00-minute mark.
• Wichita State has tied or outrebounded 29 of its 33 opponents this season.
• Wichita State has had 10 or extra offensive rebounds in 27 consecutive video games.
• Wichita State was held to a season-low 55 factors, simply the third time held below 60 factors this season. Two of these three got here in video games towards South Florida.
• Wichita State dropped to 1-19 below Mills when failing to attain 60 or extra factors.
• Kenyon Giles was held to fewer than 10 factors for simply the fourth time this season. He was nonetheless named to the All-Tournament Team.
• His 6 rebounds tied a season excessive.
• Giles has made no less than one three-pointer in 32 of the 33 video games and a number of 28 of the 33.
• Karon Boyd set a season excessive with 3 steals and tied a season excessive with 2 blocks.
• Will Berg registered his second straight sport in double figures with 10 factors. He was named to the All-Tournament Team.
• Dillon Battie scored a team-high 15 factors, marking his tenth sport in double figures this season.
ALL-CONFERENCE AWARDS
• Wichita State had three student-athletes earn convention 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 workforce accolades since Wichita State joined the American. This makes back-to-back seasons Wichita State has earned a number of convention honors. Berg is the second Shocker to win Sixth Man of the Year, becoming a member of Ricky Council IV in 2022.
WIN STREAK BY THE NUMBERS
• During Wichita State’s 7-game win streak, the Shockers scored 83.3 factors per sport and beat their opponents by a mean of 10.4 factors. Wichita State was additionally dominate on the boards, outrebounding its opponent by a mean of 9.0 per sport, whereas flattening 43.1 complete rebounds a sport. Wichita State’s free throw capturing has additionally been on the rise as they transformed 74.2 % on the line, whereas being a sub-70 % capturing workforce for the season.
• Kenyon Giles averaged 25.1 factors and three.7 rebounds throughout the stretch.
ON THIS DATE: MARCH 17
• 2016 – 48 hours after taking down Vanderbilt within 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 pressured 19 turnovers to offset a 3-for-20 capturing efficiency from 3-point vary.
• 2017 – As a 10-seed within the NCAA Tournament, Wichita State pulled off a gentle upset towards 7-seed Dayton in Indianapolis. A defensive battle noticed the Shockers maintain Dayton to 31 % from the sphere in a 64-58 win. The Shockers trailed by two at halftime earlier than pulling away late. Landry Shamet was the highest Wichita State scorer with simply 13 factors.
