Three takeaways from Wichita State basketball’s troubling home loss to Rice
Wichita State returned home hoping to purge the lingering frustration of its blown 18-point lead in a double-overtime loss at Charlotte.
Instead, the Shockers found themselves confronting an even harsher reality.
In a result that raised uncomfortable questions about its place in the American Conference race, WSU suffered a troubling 66-64 home loss to the Rice Owls, one of the league’s preseason bottom dwellers.
WSU trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half, summoned a late rally to briefly tie the game, then watched familiar defensive breakdowns undo the comeback in the closing minutes.
Rice (7-9, 1-2 American) snapped a three-game losing streak, while WSU slipped to 9-7 overall and 1-2 in conference play after losing for the second straight game to a team projected to finish near the bottom of the league standings. WSU dropped to 2-7 this season in games decided by six points or fewer.
Mike Gray Jr. led WSU with a season high 25 points, including a 12-of-14 performance at the foul line, to go with 10 rebounds, while Kenyon Giles could only muster 13 points on 19 shots. WSU finished the game shooting 29.8% from the field, while Rice shot 44.8% and earned its first win at Koch Arena behind 22 points from Trae Broadnax.
Here are three takeaways from Wednesday night’s game...
A WSU comeback that comes up short vs. Rice
Rice built its lead to as many as 13 midway through the second half, but Wichita State made one final push in front of a sparse yet engaged Koch Arena crowd.
The Shockers trimmed the deficit with an 8-0 run that came entirely at the free-throw line, pulling within 53-51 with 6:44 remaining. Rice piled up 11 fouls in the first 13 minutes of the half, and WSU took full advantage by repeatedly getting to the stripe. After Trae Broadnax halted the surge with a corner 3, WSU kept coming.
Emmanuel Okorafor swatted a shot on one end and scored on the other, then Mike Gray Jr. capped the rally with a twisting transition layup to tie the game at 56 with 4:27 left, giving him a season-high in points.
The comeback, however, was short-lived.
Defensive lapses robbed WSU of the momentum it had spent so long building in the matter of a minute, as the Shockers tripped up to give an uncontested layup by Jimmy Oladokun and an open 3 from Cam Carroll. Meanwhile, WSU’s offense sputtered, allowing Rice to rip off a decisive 7-0 run and regain control down the stretch.
Trailing 66-63 with less than 10 seconds left, WSU actually forced a turnover to get the ball back with a chance to tie.
For a second, it appeared that the Shockers would have a chance to win. A whistle blew right when Mike Gray’s turnaround 3-pointer was in the air, but as the shot swished through the net the official waved it off, determining a foul occurred before the shot. Instead of a potential four-point play and the lead, Gray was left to make the first free throw and then miss the second one intentionally.
Rice rebounded to snuff out WSU’s best chance.
The Shockers squandered the chance for a fresh start
Halftime was supposed to be a reset for WSU, a chance to wash away a first half in which the offense ground to a halt and reassert control as a double-digit favorite against Rice.
Instead, the hole only deepened.
The Shockers opened the second half looking much like they did before the break, stuck in neutral offensively and unable to generate clean looks. WSU went another six minutes between field goals and scored just two points — both at the free-throw line — during a five-minute stretch that flipped the game. Rice capitalized at every turn, pushing its lead to 49-36 as frustration mounted inside Koch Arena.
The Owls’ surge was fueled by shot-making and confidence. Rice connected on 9 of its first 14 shots after halftime, carving up the Shockers’ defense and shooting 64% from the floor during the rally to build a double-digit advantage on the road.
What was meant to be a response instead became a continuation of WSU’s offensive unraveling. The Shockers never led for the final 24 minutes of the game.
An ugly first half for Wichita State
WSU looked eager to bury the lingering sting of its road loss at Charlotte when it came out firing, drilling three early 3s to grab a 13-6 lead over Rice. What followed, however, was as disjointed and unproductive a stretch of basketball as the Shockers have played all season.
Over its final 23 possessions of the first half, WSU managed just 12 points against a Rice defense ranked No. 274 nationally in KenPom’s efficiency metrics.
The droughts piled up quickly. The Shockers missed 10 consecutive shots at one point and went seven straight minutes without a field goal. Even more jarring, Brian Amuneke’s layup stood as WSU’s lone made basket during an 11-minute stretch in which it missed 17 of 18 shots from the floor.
The only saving grace was defense. WSU limited Rice to 28 first-half points, keeping the deficit to 28-25 at the break.
It was such a slog that the halftime baby race drew the loudest reaction from the Koch Arena crowd in the game’s first hour.
This story was originally published January 7, 2026 at 8:47 PM.
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