Wichita State basketball finds breakthrough win in OT at Northern Iowa
Wichita State returned to the McLeod Center for the first time since 2017 and found the breakthrough it had been chasing.
In the cold and snow of Cedar Falls, a familiar setting to some of their fiercest battles of the old Missouri Valley days, the Shockers delivered their most impressive win of the season with a 74-69 win in overtime over Northern Iowa on Saturday night.
The road triumph snapped WSU’s four-game skid away from Koch Arena and secured WSU’s first top-100 NET victory of the season, which momentarily counts as a Quad 1 win with UNI spotted at No. 74 in the latest rankings. And while Saturday night didn’t fully mirror the high-stakes clashes that once defined this rivalry, the Shockers’ performance revived some of that old edge with their backs against the wall.
“That’s a good win,” WSU head coach Paul Mills said in a phone interview with The Eagle. “You need to be able to do the things necessary to win games like that. Whether we won or lost this game, I thought we showed some real grit and some fight to us that necessarily wasn’t always there in the previous (losses). I was really proud of the way we leveled up.”
WSU freshman T.J. Williams scored a game-high 18 points with nine rebounds, while Mike Gray Jr. scored 15 points with four assists and Karon Boyd chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds. UNI (7-2) lost its first home game of the season and was led by 16 points from Tristan Smith, although the Panthers were just 3-of-18 beyond the arc.
Here are three takeaways:
1. T.J. Williams rescues the Shockers in overtime
UNI appeared to seize control early in overtime when Trey Campbell buried back-to-back three-pointers in a 40-second burst, pushing the Panthers ahead 66-61.
But Wichita State refused to fold, and T.J. Williams took over.
The freshman forward slashed to the rim for a bucket, then delivered another finish through contact, converting the three-point play to pull WSU within striking distance.
After UNI nudged ahead 69-66, Williams responded again, scoring in the paint and drawing a foul with 1:14 left. He missed the tying free throw, but shortly after, 7-foot-2 center Will Berg cleaned it up, grabbing the offensive rebound and scoring the go-ahead basket for a 70-69 lead with 24 seconds remaining.
The Shockers tightened the defense from there. Tristan Smith missed a shot inside, Williams hauled in the rebound and was fouled with 6.1 seconds left. He banked in the first free throw before UNI called timeout, then calmly added another after the break. Williams scored nine of his team-high 18 points in overtime and finished with nine rebounds.
It was especially important considering WSU’s leading scorer, Kenyon Giles, fouled out with 1:31 left in overtime. He was held to 12 points on just 5-of-18 shooting.
Up three in the closing seconds, WSU fouled strategically, UNI missed both free throws, and Mike Gray Jr. sealed the win at the other end — a breakthrough road victory built on toughness when it mattered most.
2. Shockers blow a double-digit lead, then rally to force OT
After leading by 12 early in the second half, WSU found itself on its heels when UNI ripped off a 9-0 run to seize a 47-46 lead with 7:20 remaining. In fact, the Panthers would lead by as much as 56-50 before the Shockers rallied.
Gray buried a corner 3 to pull WSU within a point, then a T.J. Williams layup trimmed the deficit to 58-57 after a UNI jumper. The Shockers had a chance to tie or take the lead under a minute, but a contested turnaround by Karon Boyd came up empty.
UNI’s Trey Campbell split free throws for a 59-57 edge with 19 seconds left, setting up WSU’s final push. Gray attacked the rim, drew contact, and calmly sank both free throws with 10.8 seconds remaining to tie it. Campbell had a chance to win it at the horn, but Boyd’s pressure forced a short jumper, sending the game to overtime.
3. Dre Kindell gave the Shockers a first-half spark
WSU appeared stuck in neutral midway through the first half, down 16-10 and searching for a spark.
Dre Kindell supplied it.
The junior point guard ignited the Shockers by pushing the tempo off the bench, first slicing to the rim for a layup, then driving and kicking to Mike Gray Jr. for a rhythm 3. Kindell followed with three free throws after being fouled beyond the arc, then found a cutting T.J. Williams for another basket. He scored or assisted on all 10 points in the burst that flipped the momentum.
But the surge didn’t end there. Brian Amuneke buried a corner 3, then Gray added another transition bucket to stretch the run to 15-2, prompting UNI coach Ben Jacobson to burn a timeout as WSU surged ahead 25-18 with 6:31 remaining.
Kenyon Giles, who missed his first seven shots of the first half, broke his scoreless streak in the final minute with a deep 3 that sent the Shockers into the locker room with a 35-28 lead.
This story was originally published December 6, 2025 at 9:25 PM.
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