Wichita State spent most of Wednesday afternoon fighting uphill inside a loud Bartow Arena, where UAB’s shifting defenses and early shot-making kept the Shockers off balance throughout a frustrating first half.

The Blazers fed off their early momentum, scoring on 66 percent of their possessions and keeping Wichita State guessing with a defense that changed form mid‑possession. The Shockers struggled to keep up with UAB’s morphing 1‑3‑1 and were slow to adjust to repeated pick‑and‑roll attacks.

But Wichita State weathered the entire final 20 minutes and escaped Birmingham, Ala., and their first American Conference opponent, 75-70, for its first win in a league-opener since the 2020-21 season.

The Shockers (9-5, 1-0 American) finished the game making four of their last five shots, including a three from senior guard Kenyon Giles and a dunk from junior center Will Berg that essentially sealed the win, after starting the game 0-for-7 from the floor.

Those struggles showed in the box score, as Wichita State shot 11-of-30 during the first half and turned the ball over seven times, which was 23% of its possessions. UAB (9-5, 0-1 American) turned those turnovers into eight points, and used multiple scoring runs to go up by 13 points at the break, 42-29.

“I just didn’t think that we were aggressive,” head coach Paul Mills said about the first half in a postgame radio interview. “I thought that there was a little bit of timidity there that shouldn’t have been. 

“Then at the same time, they had five offensive rebounds in the opening four minutes, and it was just like the level of physicality, our timidity offensively — that’s not a formula in order to find a way to win a basketball game.”

But Wichita State never backed down out of halftime, ripping off a 10-0 run out of the gates to cut its deficit to three points, 42-39. 

Redshirt freshman guard TJ Williams muscled his way down low for a basket less than a minute in. Then, Giles hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game before finding fellow senior guard Mike Gray Jr. for another trey that rolled in after hitting the backboard. 

Senior forward Karon Boyd capped off the 10-point surge with a second-chance layup on a possession in which the Shockers recorded three offensive rebounds.

The Blazers later upped their lead to eight, 51-43, but Giles tied the game at 56-all following five-straight points. He drilled another 3-pointer after being left wide-open on a baseline out-of-bounds play, then made a crafty move down low and finished with his right hand.

Five minutes later, Williams sank a pair of free throws that gave the Shockers their first lead of the game, 65-64. They never relinquished, using an 8-0 run to push the lead to four, 68-64. 

After taking the lead, Wichita State outscored UAB 10-6 to stave off the Blazers. Mills said that the biggest difference between the two halves was how the Shockers handled UAB’s pressure defense.

“We were looking east-west instead of north-south, and we didn’t care if a guy dribbled in there,” he said. “The ball’s got to go towards the rim; we were passing it sideline-to-sideline.”

Giles tied a career-high 26 points against UAB on 9-of-17 shooting, including eight 3-pointers — which tied for the second-most in a single game in program history. Williams tallied 12 of his own, including a 6-of-7 mark from the foul line. Will Berg, who scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds, was one bucket away from his fourth double-double this season.

After allowing the Blazers to shoot above 50% in the first half, the Shockers held them to 32% in the second. They also won the rebounding battle, 40-30, including a plus-five mark on the offensive glass, and scored five more points on second-chance opportunities.

Wichita State will look to continue its momentum as it travels to play its second-consecutive road game to begin league play against Charlotte on Saturday at 5 p.m. That game will air on ESPNU.

Box score breakdown

WSU — 29; 46 — 75

UAB — 42; 28 — 70

Shooting (fg-3pt-ft)

WSU: (44% — 45% — 75%)

UAB: (44% — 25% — 71%)

Leaders

Points — WSU: Kenyon Giles (26), TJ Williams (12), Will Berg (9). UAB: Daniel Rivera (18), Evan Chatman (15), Jacob Meyer (15).

Rebounds — WSU: Will Berg (10), TJ Williams (6), Karon Boyd (5), Emmanuel Okorafor (5). UAB: Daniel Rivera (5), Jacob Meyer (5), Ahmad Robinson (5).

Assists — WSU: Dre Kindell (3), TJ Williams (2), Mike Gray Jr. (2), Emmanuel Okorafor (2). UAB: Chance Westry (5), Ahmad Robinson (3), Salim London (2), KyeRon Lindsay-Martin (2).