Wichita State basketball takeaways: Shockers pull out miracle 2-OT win at ECU
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Wichita State rallied for a 92-89 double-OT win, improving to 17-10 overall.
- Kenyon Giles produced 24 points and decisive plays to force and extend overtime.
- Redshirt freshman T.J. Williams scored a career-high 27 to seal the double-OT victory.
Every basketball team in a conference championship hunt needs some luck along the way.
Wichita State saved its luck for the right night, stealing a 92-89 double-overtime win over East Carolina on Wednesday at Minges Coliseum by turning what looked like a brutal road loss into a stunning escape act.
Kenyon Giles supplied two separate miracles — first with a four-point play to force overtime, then with a last-second steal and jumper to extend it again — and redshirt freshman T.J. Williams kicked the door down for the Shockers in double overtime.
The Wichita native delivered the best game of his young career in Greenville, North Carolina, pouring in a career-high 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting as WSU improved to 17-10 (9-5 American Conference). After all that, the Shockers held firm in second place in the league standings with Giles supplying 24 points as well.
East Carolina fell to 9-17 (4-9), even with Jordan Riley authoring a career night of his own with 40 points on 16-of-37 shooting.
Here are three takeaways from the wildest game of the season for the Shockers:
1. T.J. Williams proved to be the hero in double overtime
WSU and ECU were running on fumes by the second overtime, but the shot-making never stopped. When ECU pulled ahead 84-81, Williams was there to clean up a miss for an offensive-rebound putback.
Even when breaks went against them — like a missed out-of-bounds call that turned into ECU free throws and a botched goaltending call — Williams kept dragging the Shockers back. He floated in a runner in the paint while absorbing contact, trimming the difference to 86-85 with 2:23 left.
Williams was in such a groove that WSU head coach Paul Mills scrapped the usual offense and simply put the ball in Williams’ hands and let him make a play out of a ball screen.
After ECU pulled back in front by three, Williams diced up ECU’s defense with a pocket pass to Emmanuel Okorafor in the pick and roll for a dunk to trim it to 89-88 with 1:07 left. That’s when Williams authored the defining play of the night.
With 22 seconds left, Williams gained the advantage going toward the basket and finished with his left hand through a foul to put WSU in front, 90-89. The free throw didn’t fall, but the Shockers had their first lead of the second extra period.
ECU unraveled yet again when it failed to get the ball in bounds, as Riley was whistled for stepping out. That put WSU’s Kenyon Giles on the line for two free throws he banked to extend the lead with 14 seconds left. Riley forced up a heavily-contested 3 at the other end, but missed and WSU survived.
By the end of the night, ECU had no answer for Williams, who scored 11 of his points in the two overtime periods. On top of the 11-of-15 shooting, Williams added eight rebounds in 35 rugged minutes.
It was the strongest reminder this season of Williams’ raw ability, the kind that won him Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year award during his senior season at Wichita Heights.
2. Kenyon Giles was Wichita State’s miracle worker
Giles authored two last-ditch escapes that kept Wichita State alive when the game looked finished — once at the end of regulation and again at the horn in the first overtime.
Down 69-65 with 18.8 seconds left in regulation, WSU needed a miracle and found it in a play drawn up out of a timeout. Giles curled off a screen and buried the 3, then the home crowd collectively gasped when they heard a whistle.
Not only had Giles drained the 3, but he was fouled in the process. The senior calmly knocked down the free throw to complete an improbable four-point play with 11.9 seconds left, tying the game and forcing overtime after ECU’s last look missed.
The Shockers were on the ropes again in overtime.
Giles missed a deep 3 for the lead, ECU secured the rebound with 5.2 seconds left and seemed poised to escape with a two-point lead and the ball. But after a timeout, the Pirates struggled to get the ball inbounds.
The pass was deflected into a scramble, squirted loose and landed right in Giles’ hands. He gathered, double-clutched through traffic and hit a free-throw line jumper with 1.4 seconds left to stun the home crowd again and send it to a second overtime.
After coughing up an 18-point lead in an eventual double-overtime loss at Charlotte earlier in the season, it was like if WSU reversed roles and was the team that had its prayers answered.
3. Wichita State basketball overcame slow start for halftime lead
WSU didn’t exactly come out with a spark, coughing up five early turnovers and digging an immediate 13-6 hole.
But the Shockers settled in and spent the rest of the first half clawing back, fueled by Kenyon Giles finding a rhythm and WSU flexing its edge on the glass and around the rim. Giles scored 11 points before halftime and drilled a deep 3 to knot it at 19, a sign the offense was finally waking up.
From there, Karon Boyd’s short jumper in the paint pushed WSU back in front and the Shockers began to control the game with physicality and second chances. The lead grew to seven when T.J. Williams cleaned up an offensive rebound for a putback that made it 33-26 and forced East Carolina into a timeout.
WSU went to the break up 37-33 after shooting 50% and winning the paint.
This story was originally published February 18, 2026 at 8:47 PM.
.jpg)