Kenyon Giles didn’t want to come off the court.

The Wichita State senior already poured in 15 points, and the Shockers were rolling with 10 minutes left in the second half Wednesday against Charlotte. He’d hit half his total 3-pointers and carved the 49ers in the mid-range with step backs and floaters.

But it was inconsistent. Giles was 6-for-17 at the time. A few shots came up well short of the rim.

While the tiny terror was out, Wichita State managed its lead. It grew to 11 points before he checked back in two minutes later. Almost as soon as Giles’ shoes squeaked on hardwood again, the Shockers’ cushion ballooned to 15 on his back-to-back threes that erupted Koch Arena.

Junior center Will Berg crashed for an offensive rebound and putback to go up 17, stamping a 15-2 run that lasted five minutes. While Charlotte whittled its deficit to seven on three occasions — 65-58, 67-60 and 69-62 — it wasn’t enough to complete another late-game comeback over the team in black and yellow.

That 15-2 stretch proved decisive in the Shockers’ 74-64 rebound win over Charlotte, fueled by a string of stops and defensive pressure.

Taking Giles out of the game at that moment was part of the fire.

“It’s one of those situations where I know you’re hot. I know you’re making shots,” coach Paul Mills said after the game. “But I need you guys for the last 10 minutes. I know you’re feeling it right now, but KG wasn’t. 

“I thought a lot of that had to do with how we were able to insert some fresh bodies.”

Fresh legs forced three of Charlotte’s 15 turnovers with Giles on the bench, including two on back-to-back stands.

Before the Shockers’ star guard rested, sophomore guard Brian Amuneke picked off a pass at midcourt and raced to the hoop to put Wichita State (14-9, 6-4 American) up eight. Sophomore forward Dillon Battie blocked a shot just 13 seconds later, and senior center Emmanuel Okorafor converted on a putback. 

The Shockers led by 10. 49ers coach Aaron Fearne burned a timeout. 

Mills gritted his teeth and slapped hands with players coming off the court. The bench’s body language was a complete turnaround from the sagged shoulders after the buzzer sounded in January and the score was tied.

Down the stretch, Giles and Co. waned off Charlotte (13-10, 7-3) with timely shots and trips to the foul line. They shot 49% from the floor and 50% from the stripe. It was just enough to outlast a Charlotte squad that was bottled up and shot 33% from the floor over the last 20 minutes.

“The theme was just to dominate it from the start,” senior forward Karon Boyd said. “Coming out, not getting punked. Punking them and keeping our foot on their necks the entire game. It was all about controlling the game, controlling their shots, and not letting them score at free will.”

It wasn’t always as dominant en route to the Shockers’ 14th win on the year and sixth in the conference to knock off what was the league’s top opponent. The 49ers now sit in a tie for second place with South Florida (15-8, 7-3).

Wichita State only led by a point at halftime and was steadied by Boyd in the first half, who scored 14 points and played a complementary two-way game. His 135.9 defensive rating after 40 minutes led all players not named Spencer Elliott.

While the teams traded buckets in a tight opening 20, Boyd rang in three straight shots to keep the home team afloat. As Charlotte finally sent multiple defenders on him, he slipped a pass to Battie for a slam dunk that put the Shockers up four, 28-24.

Three of those plays were direct efforts on the defensive side of the floor.

“(Boyd) does so much on the defensive end,” Giles said. “He just rewarded himself with getting back-to-back-to-back buckets. We see what he works on. We always preach to him, ‘Play through people.’ When he did it, it was like, ‘Man, the work is showing.’ We love to see it.”

Giles ended with a team-high 23 points. Boyd scored 18. Berg put in eight and came up with big rebounds and blocks to keep Charlotte at bay. The Shockers won the rebounding battle 36-34 and committed nine fewer turnovers.

“Coming down the last five minutes or so, they’re looking for any bucket, anything to get them going,” Boyd said of Berg’s stops. “They’re going to drop to the bucket, go for a layup. With Will swatting it, getting a rebound, it kills their momentum. It kills their mood. Now they’re defeated.”

And if Tulsa’s message about physicality wasn’t clear after Sunday’s game, Wichita State sure grasped it against Charlotte.

“It came from everybody,” Berg said. “It’s way easier for us bigs to box people out when the guards are so physical and fight through every screen. The guards and the wings, they did a phenomenal job today.”

“Definitely some room for improvement,” Boyd added. “We did a pretty good job of making it difficult to shoot for them, turning shooters into drivers and really not letting them get what they wanted.”   

The Shockers showed they can compete at the top. They also showed they can bounce back with physicality and keep a “foot on their neck.”