Shockers wrangle Cowboys, as Wichita State basketball keeps season alive in NIT
For 32 minutes, Wichita State kept giving Wyoming reasons to believe.
The Shockers had the crowd and, at least on paper, the better team Tuesday night at Koch Arena. But in a first-round National Invitation Tournament game that felt more like a wrestling match than a showcase, WSU couldn’t shake the Cowboys.
Not after a halftime lead. Not after an early second-half surge. Not even after multiple chances to finally slam the door.
So when Wyoming grabbed its first lead of the second half down the stretch, the tension inside Koch Arena changed. What had felt like a shaky but manageable night suddenly became a real threat to end Wichita State’s season.
That was when T.J. Williams made sure it didn’t.
The Wichita native and redshirt freshman turned in another stellar performance in his young career, coming off the bench to power Wichita State to a 74-70 win over Wyoming in the program’s first home NIT game since 2011. It was the program’s first postseason win since 2019 in front of 3,733 fans.
The victory sends Wichita State (23-11) into the second round of the NIT, where the Shockers will travel to play Oklahoma State (20-14) in Stillwater on Saturday or Sunday.
Williams was everywhere when the game demanded it most on Tuesday, piling up a game-high 17 points and 14 rebounds in just 18 minutes, delivering a workmanlike double-double that changed the game and, ultimately, saved the Shockers.
In a game that offered little rhythm and even less beauty, Williams provided the force, energy and finishing touch that WSU desperately needed.
He started his closing burst with a three-point play that put the Shockers back in front, 54-52, with 5 minutes, 45 left. Moments later, he slipped free on an inbounds play for a dunk that gave WSU a 56-54 lead. After Wyoming refused to fade, Williams again answered, following a missed free throw with a tip-in for a 61-56 lead with 3:09 remaining.
Then came the plays that finished it.
Williams pushed in transition and finished a right-handed layup with 2:01 left for a 64-58 lead. Less than a minute later, he ran a pick-and-roll and dropped a pass to Emmanuel Okorafor rolling down the lane for a dunk that made it 66-60 with 1:13 to go. And with the Cowboys still lurking, Williams made one last winning cut down the lane, where Mike Gray Jr. found him for a layup and a 68-63 lead with 33 seconds left.
The Shockers still had to sweat out the final seconds. Wyoming trimmed the lead to 68-65, but Dre Kindell calmly knocked down two free throws with 13.5 seconds left to seal it.
Survive and advance rarely looks pretty in March. For WSU, it looked exactly like this.
The Shockers were led by more than Williams. Kenyon Giles added 15 points, while Okorafor chipped in nine points and 12 rebounds. Together, they helped Wichita State overcome a disjointed offensive performance with grit, rebounding and enough late execution to outlast an opponent that refused to go away.
WSU’s edge was clearest on the glass, where the Shockers eventually wore Wyoming down. Wichita State dominated the rebounding battle, 54-34, and turned that into an 18-7 advantage in second-chance points. On a night when made shots were hard to find, those extra possessions mattered.
Because for long stretches, the Shockers played like a team running on fumes.
This was WSU’s third game in four days, and it looked like it at times, especially in the first half. The opening 20 minutes were a slog, even by postseason standards, with both teams clanking shots, forcing bad offense and coughing up possessions. Wichita State still managed to take a 28-24 lead into halftime, but there was nothing smooth about how it got there.
The Shockers shot just 30.6% from the field in the first half and mustered only 0.74 points per possession. Somehow, that still topped Wyoming, which shot 27.6% and scored just 0.65 points per possession before halftime. Combined, the teams shot 29.2% from the floor and turned the ball over 15 times in a bruising, stop-and-start half that never found much flow.
Wyoming’s resistance, though, was real.
The Cowboys, who were led by Damarion Dennis with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, stayed within striking distance the whole way. Even though Wyoming finished at just 38.5% from the field, which included star guard Leland Walker scoring seven points on 2-of-16 shooting, it kept hanging around because WSU never could create separation for long.
It looked for a moment like that might change immediately after halftime.
The Shockers opened the second half with a 10-4 burst that finally injected some life into Koch Arena. Karon Boyd ignited the run with a thunderous one-handed slam over a defender, then capped it with a 3 from the top of the key as WSU built a 38-28 lead less than three minutes into the half.
That felt like the opening Wichita State needed. Instead, it was only a brief flash.
The offense bogged down again almost immediately. Missed shots in the paint and turnovers let Wyoming back into the game, and the Cowboys methodically chipped away until they sliced the deficit to 41-39 with 12:02 remaining. Even then, WSU continued to leave the door open, unable to put away the underdog despite every opportunity to do so.
Wyoming finally stepped through that open door when Nasir Meyer drilled the go-ahead 3 with 7:32 left, putting the Cowboys ahead 50-49 and forcing the Shockers into a real closing test.
That was when Williams took over, possession by possession, not with flash, but with timing, toughness and instincts.
And when Williams’ inside finishing was paired with Giles’ shot-making, WSU finally found enough answers. Giles’ biggest moment came with 4:03 left when a possession that looked dead suddenly turned into something only he seems to find. With the defense not fully set, Giles rose from beyond the arc over an unsuspecting defender and buried a 3 for a 59-54 lead, a shot that finally gave the Shockers a little breathing room.
Not much, but enough.
For now, the Shockers can exhale after a night that demanded patience more than polish.
They did not play a masterpiece. They did not shoot it well. They did not make it easy.
But behind Williams’ breakout performance, a commanding effort on the boards and just enough poise in the closing minutes, Wichita State found a way to keep playing in March.
This story was originally published March 17, 2026 at 8:10 PM.
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