They’re the smallest players on the court, but the hardest to ignore.
Guards Kenyon Giles and Dre Kindell stand 5-foot-10 and 5-foot-11, respectively. The average height of a Wichita State men’s basketball player is 6-foot-5.
But in a sport where length is an advantage, their game rises to the occasion. With every drive, steal and bucket, the Shockers’ tiny terrors rewrote what it means to man the backcourt by the end of Tuesday evening’s 75-58 win over UNC Asheville.
Giles, a preseason First Team All-American Conference member, started slow — just five points on 2-of-7 shooting in the first half — but like a boxer feeling out his opponent, he grew stronger as the game wore on. By the final round, he was throwing haymakers.
He finished with a game-high 20 points, hitting 8-of-16 shots from the field and finding multiple ways to score.
“He can go get his own,” head coach Paul Mills said. “That’s why he’s here.”
His signature moment came with 3:21 left in the second half when he caught the ball in the left corner on an inbound pass.
Two seconds. Two dribbles.
A rise. A splash. A foul.
After sinking the free throw, the Shockers (1-0) led 65-56. From that moment on, UNC Asheville (0-1) couldn’t recover. The Bulldogs never got within that nine-point cushion Giles opened up.
How he made the shot was “short and simple,” as Giles put it. But with 7-foot-1 and 6-foot-7 defenders towering over him, it’s the kind of play that separates talent from the rest.
“I make those,” he said with a smile. “I couldn’t even lie to you and say, ‘Oh, I was surprised.’ If I’m shooting it, I don’t care who’s in front of me, on the side of me — I expect it to go in.”
While Giles delivered the knockout, Kindell kept Wichita State on its feet.
The Shockers made just two shots in the game’s first five minutes — too much dribbling, too many late-clock heaves. Then Kindell checked in and scored within 20 seconds, lighting a fire underneath the offense.
He played 24 minutes off the bench, dished five assists, turned the ball over just once, and added 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting. His presence was felt immediately.
“When Dre came in in the first half, that was a huge spark,” Mills said. “I thought the ball started moving. There was some execution on some sets that were able to get some opportunities and some buckets.”
That spark didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates. Senior forward Karon Boyd called Kindell’s entrance one of the game’s biggest turning points.
“Having him be a dog on the court,” Boyd said, “and really just (being) a pest. Then both of us bouncing off the same energy, it really makes it (hard) for the opposing team.”
Their energy wasn’t just felt on offense. Both guards brought heat defensively, too.
Kindell pressured the Bulldogs for 94 feet and erased his lone turnover with a steal during a 15-2 run at the end of the game that put it out of reach. Giles added a game-high four steals to his box score total.
Even when matched against bigger opponents, they held their own. Mills thought they handled that pressure well.
Giles threw the final punch. Kindell kept the rhythm. In a game built for giants, the smallest players landed the biggest blows.
