Still in the hunt for a triple-bye at the American Conference Championship, Wednesday night was also Wichita State basketball’s first chance this year for a season sweep.

East Carolina — which was run out of the gym in the first meeting and lost seven of eight to start league play — found momentum entering the matchup by winning three of its last four, and didn’t make it easy for the Shockers.

They struggled to find footing early against the Pirates’ zone defense and coughed up the ball four times within six minutes of the game. 

WSU took a narrow four-point lead at halftime, but its season sweep was all but halted by a second-half surge by ECU. Senior guard Kenyon Giles hit shots at the end of regulation to force overtime, then double overtime, as the Shockers snuck by with a 92-89 win after 10 extra minutes at Minges Coliseum in Greenville, N.C.

WSU improved to 17-10 on the season and 9-5 against conference foe. The Shockers remained in a tie for second place in the league standings. The Pirates dropped to 9-17 overall and 4-9 in the American.

Freshman forward TJ Williams scored a team- and career-high 27 points and gave WSU the lead for good in double overtime with a powerful drive to the hoop. 

Giles, with his late-game heroics, finished with 24 points on 8-of-19 shooting. Senior forward Karon Boyd (13 points) and junior center Will Berg (12) also put in double figures for the Shockers.

ECU guard Jordan Riley put on a scoring clinic, finishing 16-of-37 from the floor — including just a 1-of-7 mark from behind the 3-point line — for a career-high 40 points. Two other Pirates finished in double figures.

Next up, WSU will return to Koch Arena for another chance to pull away with second place in the conference standings against Temple at 5 p.m. on Saturday. 

For now, here are three takeaways from the Shockers’ double overtime win against ECU:

Kenyon Giles forced overtime twice, while TJ Williams finished the game

The Pirates sent double team after double team at Giles throughout the second half that forced WSU’s scoring dynamo to take just four shots during the first 19 minutes of the stanza.

He couldn’t be contained for much longer, however. Giles’ first bucket cut a two-possession lead ECU held for much of the half to one point with 47 seconds left, 66-65. 

The Pirates sank three free throws shortly after to regain a four-point advantage and looked like they’d close out the final seconds. Giles had other plans. After a WSU timeout, he caught the ball beyond the arc, drew contact and converted a four-point play to knot the score at 69 and force overtime.

The free basketball was back-and-forth, as Riley scored all of ECU’s points and Williams and Giles threw haymakers of their own. The Pirates eventually went up by two and looked like they’d close out the game — again.

And once more, Giles had the answer. He coerced a steal with three seconds left and splashed a 15-foot jump shot to send the game to double overtime.

Williams took over late in the second extra period, scoring seven of the Shockers’ 14 points. His heroics with 22 seconds left to give WSU a 90-89 lead were just enough to secure the win. Giles’ last two free throws sealed it.

Wichita State held in check by ECU’s zone for most of first half

East Carolina came out in a zone look during the first half that tested decisiveness, timing and shot making. And for most of the period, WSU couldn’t find the answers to break it down.

It resulted in a 3-for-8 start from the floor for the Shockers. Untimely turnovers during that time resulted in an 11-2 Pirates run, allowing them to settle with a 13-6 advantage. 

But WSU’s cogs began to churn. Passes became quicker, drives became purposeful and the Shockers attacked the middle. Boyd eventually opened up a 21-19 advantage with 8:12 left on the clock.

That cleared the floor for seniors Emmanuel Okorafor, Giles and Boyd to convert on shots in the paint and take a 27-23 lead. Senior guard Mike Gray Jr. and Williams later hit field goals, and the Shockers went up by seven, 33-26.

The Pirates answered with baskets of their own down the stretch, cutting their deficit to two, but WSU held onto a 37-33 lead at the break. 

After starting 3-of-8, the Shockers managed to hit 50% (16-of-32) of their attempts by the end of the half. Six of those buckets were assisted.

TJ Williams and Karon Boyd kept Shockers within reach at start of second half

Williams and Boyd kept the Shockers afloat in the second half by combining for 14 of their first 18 points to keep the score knotted at 55 with a little under 11 minutes remaining. Meanwhile, Riley and ECU poured in 75% of their shots to begin the period.

Boyd hit a couple of 3-pointers to keep the away team ahead by one. Williams converted on bruising drives to the hoop that didn’t allow the Pirates to create stops and momentum.

WSU, however, couldn’t keep up with ECU’s pace by spending nearly four minutes without a point and fell into a five-point hole with 4:44 left, 64-59. The floor shrank because of the Pirates’ zone look, and the Shockers missed six straight shots during that time.

But WSU held on, and with the help of Giles’ late burst, forced two overtimes before completing the season sweep over ECU.