Wichita State basketball takeaways from Colorado State loss in Battle 4 Atlantis
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Colorado State opened with a 15-made shot streak, handing Wichita State a loss.
- Wichita State dominated rebounds and second-chance points but lost on CSU efficiency.
- Shockers face Western Kentucky Friday and must salvage a win to avoid 0-3.
On a day built around feasts, Colorado State delivered the kind of Thanksgiving run Wichita State could’ve done without.
The Rams carved up the Shockers’ defense with a blistering 15 straight made shots in the first half, turning Thursday’s Battle 4 Atlantis consolation matchup at Imperial Arena into a hole too deep for WSU to escape.
By the time the barrage finally cooled, the Shockers were already chasing a deficit that proved insurmountable in a 76-70 loss.
WSU dominated the glass against a strong rebounding team, finishing with more offensive rebounds (20) than Colorado State had defensive rebounds (17) for a 28-5 advantage in second-chance points. But the Rams didn’t need many second tries because they shot 56% from the field, including 12 three-pointers.
Kenyon Giles led WSU with 18 points on 6-of-19 shooting, while Karon Boyd added 14 points and 11 rebounds. CSU was led by 21 points from Brandon Reichsteiner, courtesy of seven 3-pointers.
Now 0-2 in the Bahamas, Wichita State will try to avoid an empty-plate trip with a game for seventh place against Western Kentucky at 6 p.m. Central Time on Friday (TV: ESPNU).
1. Gritty comeback for Shockers fall shorts vs. CSU
Wichita State fell behind by as many as 21 points in the first half after absorbing Colorado State’s early barrage, but the Shockers never folded. Even as the Rams shot the lights out, WSU kept grinding, slowly working its way back into a game that looked on the verge of getting out of hand.
The Shockers made several pushes early in the second half, yet every time they inched toward single digits, Colorado State had an answer. The true breakthrough didn’t come until the final seven minutes. Kenyon Giles knocked down three free throws and Dre Kindell buried a 3 to slice the deficit to 70-62 with 5:38 left.
That surge sparked a 9-2 run, capped by a three-point play from Will Berg, who finished through contact on a slick feed from Giles to trim the gap all the way to 70-65.
With the crowd roaring, the bench erupting and momentum fully shifting, WSU was within striking distance with more than four minutes left on the clock. But Brandon Rechsteiner silenced the rally on the next possession, drilling his sixth three-pointer to push CSU back ahead by eight.
After T.J. Williams answered for WSU, Rechsteiner struck again — his seventh triple — stretching the lead to 76-67 with 2:12 remaining. The Shockers managed to trim the deficit to 76-70 in the final 30 seconds and even had a shot in the air that could have made it a one-possession game, but Giles’ triple misfired and WSU ran out of time.
2. Colorado State pummels WSU with 15 straight made shots
Colorado State delivered an offensive onslaught that overwhelmed Wichita State in the first half, highlighted by a remarkable stretch when the Rams made 15 straight shots over a 12-minute span.
In an era where rim attempts and 3-pointers drive efficiency, CSU was elite at generating the best shots on the floor — 12 of those 15 makes came either at the rim or from beyond the arc.
WSU wasn’t always at fault, as a few of those buckets were simply great players making tough, well-defended shots. But too often, the Shockers were a step slow on the perimeter, leading to back cuts, uncontested drives. That’s the strain Colorado State places on opponents.
The Rams entered with a top-10 offense in effective field goal percentage, fueled by a roster-wide 42% clip from 3-point range that also ranks among the nation’s best. Their perimeter gravity forces defenses into constant rotation, and on Saturday, that pressure cracked WSU repeatedly.
What was a competitive game early spiraled into a 47-26 CSU lead just before the break. By halftime, the Rams were shooting a staggering 76% from the field, sinking 19 of 25 attempts and going a perfect 13-for-13 inside the arc while posting 1.57 points per possession against a defense that has typically been stingy.
3. Shockers come up empty vs. top-100 teams in Bahamas
Wichita State arrived in the Bahamas hoping to measure itself against proven competition and while the Shockers showed they could hang with Saint Mary’s, Thursday’s missed opportunity against Colorado State will be a frustrating one for the team.
The Rams are a legitimately strong team, but WSU’s uncharacteristically poor defense in the first half turned a competitive matchup into one that simply put them in too large of a hole.
As a result, the Shockers leave themselves empty-handed in both of their tests against top-100 opponents this week. It’s not that Friday’s opponent, Western Kentucky, lacks ability — the Hilltoppers are a solid squad — but at No. 139 in KenPom, they’re unlikely to finish inside the NET top-100. That means Thursday effectively served as WSU’s final chance to secure a résumé-building win in the Bahamas.
Now the Shockers must shift from opportunity to damage control. A seventh-place game wasn’t what they envisioned when the bracket came out, but Friday still offers a chance to salvage something from a frustrating trip.
Avoiding an 0-3 showing in a mid-season tournament won’t erase the sting of letting a quality win slip away, but it would at least give WSU a step forward to take home.
This story was originally published November 27, 2025 at 9:29 PM.
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