What can go wrong in a single half of basketball? For Wichita State, just about everything did in a rocky opening 20 minutes Saturday night against Milwaukee.
The Shockers endured nearly seven scoreless minutes, coughed up seven turnovers, and misfired on eight of their first nine 3-point attempts — a stark reversal a little over a week after setting a program record with 16 threes against Loyola-Chicago.
At halftime, head coach Paul Mills challenged the team’s effort and reminded them of their physical edge. The message landed. Wichita State came out of the locker room looking like a different team.
Within 10 minutes, the Shockers surged on an 11-1 run that grew into a 17-point cushion, securing a 75-58 win. Wichita State (4-1) stayed perfect at Koch Arena this season, while Milwaukee (2-4) continued its search for its first road win.
“That’s the plan,” TJ Williams said. “Protect home court. That’s what we’re here to do.”
Williams, a redshirt freshman guard, delivered a career night with 15 points, eight rebounds and a flawless 5-for-5 showing at the free-throw line.
The Wichita Heights alum’s impact was most evident after a first-half stretch when, with him on the bench, Milwaukee ripped off a 15-0 run that silenced the arena. Once Williams returned, the Panthers never strung together more than two baskets in a row.
“I thought the key was TJ Williams,” Mills said. “I thought TJ was the advantage, and I thought the players on the floor recognized it. We were really just trying to continue with that. TJ probably played 15 minutes in the second half, then (Kenyon Giles) was able to get loose. But we were just trying to center this around an advantage we thought we had with TJ Williams.”
Williams’ fingerprints were all over the turnaround. In a 20-second stretch during the second half, he scored a pullup jumper, forced a steal, and sank two free throws to give Wichita State a 44-43 edge. Later, he grabbed an offensive rebound that led to free throws for redshirt junior center Will Berg.
As Mills noted, Williams’ ability to attack the rim opened space for others — especially Giles. After scoring just six points in the first half, the senior guard caught fire, finishing with a team-high 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-7 from deep and 6-of-8 at the line.
The Shockers’ second-half surge wasn’t just about offense. They clamped down defensively, holding Milwaukee to 33% shooting and 16.7% from beyond the arc while forcing five turnovers. Wichita State also dominated the glass, winning the rebounding battle 45-36 and grabbing 74% of available defensive boards — continuing a season-long trend of out-rebounding every opponent.
“Coach puts an emphasis on rebounding every day,” senior center Emmanuel Okorafor said. Okorafor scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench. “So I feel like every day, that’s our mission — to come out there and just out-rebound the opponent.”
Ball movement improved as well. After seven turnovers and four assists in the first half, the Shockers flipped the script with six assists and a single turnover after halftime. Mills thought the team stopped overdribbling as well.
Next up, Wichita State heads to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis from Nov. 26-28. The Shockers open against Saint Mary’s on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
Box score breakdown
WSU – 28; 47 – 75
UWM – 30; 28 – 58
Shooting totals (fg-3p-ft)
WSU (41.7% – 35.3% – 67.9%)
UWM (35.6% – 26.1% – 62.5%)
Leaders
Points — WSU: Kenyon Giles (24), TJ Williams (15), Karon Boyd (12), Emmanuel Okorafor (11). UWM: Danilo Jovanovich (12), Seth Hubbard (10), Amar Aguillard (9), Stevie Elam (8).
Rebounds — WSU: TJ Williams (8), Emmanuel Okorafor (8), Will Berg (8), Karon Boyd (5), Michael Gray Jr. (5). UWM: Faizon Fields (8), Aaron Franklin (7), Sekou Konneh (5).
Assists — WSU: Dre Kindell (3), Mike Gray Jr. (2), Kenyon Giles (2). UWM: Seth Hubbard (5), Danilo Jovanovich (2).
