Shockers run Oklahoma State off home floor, advance to NIT regional final
Wichita State kept raining 3s, kept owning the glass and, in a place where it has quietly become comfortable, kept winning.
Behind another blistering shooting night from Kenyon Giles and a bruising rebounding effort that traveled against a Big 12 front line, the Shockers rolled past Oklahoma State 96-70 on Sunday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena to punch their ticket to the regional final of the NIT.
WSU (24-11) handed the Cowboys (20-15) just their sixth home loss of the season, as the Shockers continued their recent run of success in Stillwater with a fourth win in their last five trips there since 2017. It was the largest margin of victory for WSU over the Cowboys in a series that dates back to 1934.
Now comes a familiar postseason twist.
WSU will head to Tulsa for a fourth meeting this season with the Golden Hurricane in the NIT regional final, which is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday. The winner will move on to Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for the semifinals on April 2. It is Wichita State’s deepest run in the event since the 2019 team advanced to the NIT Final Four.
Sunday’s performance looked, for long stretches, like the kind of March basketball WSU imagined when this team started to find itself late in the season.
The Shockers came out smoking and left Oklahoma State reeling early. Giles, the senior sniper who has become one of the most dangerous shot-makers in the country when he gets hot, helped spark a 22-8 start over the first nine minutes. Oklahoma State missed 13 of its first 14 shots, while WSU dictated the tempo with sharper execution and harder play around the basket.
Even when the Cowboys made their expected push, the Shockers never seemed rattled.
Oklahoma State clawed back into the game on its home floor and trimmed the deficit to 39-37 late in the first half, threatening to erase what had once been a 14-point hole. But Karon Boyd answered with five straight points in the final minute before halftime. Instead of going into the locker room with momentum swinging to the home team, WSU walked in with a 44-37 lead and a fresh jolt of confidence.
Oklahoma State opened the second half like a desperate team, and for a brief stretch it looked like the night might flip. Christian Coleman fueled a 10-2 burst in the first three minutes after halftime, scoring eight points during that run as the Cowboys erased the 14-point deficit and grabbed their first lead of the game at 47-46.
For many road teams in March, that is the moment that can become overwhelming.
Instead, WSU answered with the poise of a team that believes it still has more basketball left to play.
With the score tied at 48, Giles stepped in and changed everything again. First came the 3-pointer to break the tie. Then came the kind of shot that can drain the life from a building: a circus corner 3 with one second left on the shot clock, a bailout bucket that felt like a backbreaker. On the next key possession, Giles created one of the plays WSU has come to know as a “KG Assist” — drawing two defenders out to him, leaving the center free to crash the rim and finish the play. Emmanuel Okorafor cleaned it up to cap an 11-3 run and put the Shockers back in command at 59-51.
And from there, Wichita State turned a tense game into a runaway.
Dillon Battie used crafty footwork in the post for a bucket. Mike Gray Jr. followed with a mid-range jumper. Giles pump-faked, sidestepped and splashed another 3. Suddenly the lead had ballooned to 68-53, and Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz was forced to call timeout with 9:09 left as Gallagher-Iba grew quiet.
The break in action did nothing to quell the Shockers’ run.
Giles buried two more jaw-dropping 3s. Okorafor added a dunk. WSU pushed the margin to 83-62 and sent Oklahoma State fans streaming to the exits with more than four minutes still remaining.
Giles finished with a game-high 28 points and eight 3s, delivering another star performance to power a postseason win. Battie gave WSU another workmanlike all-around effort with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Boyd and Gray added 13 points apiece and Kindell provided an important spark off the bench with 11 points and four assists.
WSU shot 49.3% from the field, including a 14-of-26 performance from beyond the arc.
Just as important, WSU imposed its identity on a team from a power conference.
The Shockers won the rebounding battle 46-38 and dominated the second-chance battle 23-4, a telling stat line that underscored how Paul Mills’ team has built its postseason staying power. Against an Oklahoma State team that had protected its home court most of the season, WSU was the tougher team to finish possessions and the more explosive team once it turned those extra chances into points.
That combination has become a dangerous one this time of year.
And now it has the Shockers one win away from Indianapolis.
This story was originally published March 22, 2026 at 9:38 PM.
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