When Wichita State and Charlotte met for the first time this season, the Shockers watched an 18-point lead crumble before them. 

They eventually took a crushing double overtime defeat right at the start of American Conference play.

Wednesday night gave WSU a chance to course-correct against the 49ers and take down a team tied at the top of the conference standings. And like Sunday’s loss at Tulsa, which is also in first place in the American Conference, it allowed the Shockers another shot at a statement win down the stretch of the regular season.

After leading by one at halftime and opening up a 15-point second-half lead, WSU left Koch Arena with a 74-64 win and was serenaded by the Shocker Sound Machine in the closing minutes.

The Shockers are now 14-9 on the season and 6-4 in the American Conference. With eight games still on the docket, they need just two to tie, three to surpass, coach Paul Mills’ most wins in league play during his three-years at the helm.

Senior Kenyon Giles scored a team-high 23 points on 9-of-21 shooting, including four 3-pointers. Senior Karon Boyd finished with 18 of his own on an efficient 7-of-12 from the floor, dished out two assists and blocked two shots. 

And after missing 16 shots around the rim against the Golden Hurricane, the Shockers improved by a big margin down low, going 13-of-20 on layups and dunks.

Next up, Wichita State gets four days of rest before traveling to New Orleans for a road matchup against Tulane Sunday at 1 p.m.

For now, here are three takeaways from Wichita State’s win:

First half belonged to Karon Boyd

Senior Karon Boyd played a near-complete first half Wednesday.

At the break, he led all scorers with 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting. And when Wichita State needed a bucket the most, he rose to the occasion.

After a scoring drought of three minutes for the Shockers, and an 8-0 burst from Charlotte, he steadied the home team with a drive and finish down low, 22-all. Senior Mike Gray Jr. came up with a steal on the next possession and Boyd ignited the crowd to give WSU the lead once more, 24-22.

Another muscling move from Boyd after the 49ers knotted the score at 24 gave the Shockers a 26-24 edge. And he wasn’t done there.

On WSU’s next possession, he drew in multiple defenders down low and slipped a pass to sophomore Dillon Battie, who threw down a dunk that rocked the Roundhouse, 28-24.

By the end of the first half, Boyd’s two-way effort (a 128 defensive rating and two forced turnovers plus his 14 points) helped the Shockers maintain a slim 35-34 advantage. 

Senior Kenyon Giles also scored 12 points during the half, and WSU turned nine Charlotte turnovers into 14 points.

Wichita State stifled Charlotte in second half

The Shockers turned up their defensive intensity out of the break, holding Charlotte to 4-of-13 shooting nine minutes into the second half to open up a four-point lead, 47-43. And even when the 49ers made trips to the line, they couldn’t convert and missed their first three free throw attempts. 

Wichita State clambered the glass, pulling down 73% of available defensive rebounds and 25% on the offensive end during that time.

It wasn’t until there were around 10 minutes to go that the Shockers pulled away as they opened up a 10-point lead on the back of a 10-0 run fueled by the defense.

Senior Emmanuel Okorafor maneuvered down low for a bruising layup, 49-43. Sophomore Brian Amuneke perfectly timed an advertent pass, picked it off and found paydirt like it was his Super Bowl, 51-43. After Battie blocked Dezayne Mingo’s next attempt, Okorafor corralled the defensive rebound, then gathered an offensive rebound off a Giles miss to extend the lead to 10 points, 53-43.

Giles, who was just 1-of-6 to begin the half, exploded after the 49ers sank a pair of free throws with back-to-back threes that deafened the arena and opened up the biggest lead of the night, 60-45. When it was all said and done, Wichita State’s run elapsed to 15-2 over a five-minute span that suffocated Charlotte.

And after blowing an 18-point lead to the 49ers earlier this season, Wichita State was determined to not let another lead slip away late. Even when Charlotte cut its deficit to seven with 3:07 to go, 65-58, the Shockers held on with timely stops and shots, including a junior Will Berg block and defensive rebound on back-to-back defensive possessions.

Redshirt freshman TJ Williams hurled a full-court pass to junior Dre Kindell for a dunk with 30 seconds left to essentially seal the outcome.

The Shockers held Charlotte to 33% from the floor and 11% from deep for the final 20 minutes.

What does the win mean for the Shockers?

For Wichita State, the win moved it within a game of second place in the conference standings and showed the Shockers can rebound when facing a team for the second time.

Mingo and Anton Bonke for the 49ers carved up the Shockers’ defense with pick-and-roll actions in the first meeting on Jan. 3 but were relatively quiet all night Wednesday. 

Bonke scored just four points, committed three fouls and turned the ball over five times, finishing minus-6 in the box plus/minus. Mingo did lead Charlotte with 24 points but didn’t dish out anywhere near the 10 assists a month ago, ending with just two and turning the ball over twice.

The 49ers were held to five assists as a team, and the Shockers turned 15 turnovers into 22 points.

Defense repeatedly turned to offense and Wichita State played its game most of the night.