Only one thing mattered on Saturday evening: winning for Mike Kennedy, for the past championship teams celebrated at halftime and for a season-best crowd of 8,094 inside Koch Arena.

Wichita State understood the message — and understood it well — with a 69-57 win over Temple in the throwback MTXE uniforms that have come to define generations of Shockers that Kenndy has called. 

Even the coaches and players on the bench wore black long sleeves with the 46th-year Voice of the Shockers’ face on them, who announced his retirement in November for the end of the 2025-26 season.

Senior guard Kenyon Giles, who coaches say loves the moment, made many more memories with 27 points on 10-of-21 field goals and 5-of-10 threes. After being held to just one make from beyond the arc in the first half, he drilled four in a row to begin the second as the crowd fed off the energy and Wichita State pulled away.

Emmanuel Okorafor impacted the game from his center position, crashing for 10 rebounds (six offensive, four defensive) and scoring 13 points down low — including a stat line of 10 points and nine rebounds at the break. It was Okorafor’s first collegiate double-double.

Wichita State controlled the glass all game, taking a plus-12 rebounding advantage with it before the halftime buzzer sounded and winning the board battle 39-28 at the end of the game. Thirteen were corralled on the offensive end, which was good for 12 second-chance points. 

With the win, the Shockers moved to 18-10 overall, 10-5 in the American Conference, and are now riding a three-game win streak while maintaining their spot in the league standings. Temple dropped its fourth-straight game and is now 15-12 on the year and 7-7 in the conference.

Up next, Wichita State will hit the road for a rematch against Memphis at 8 p.m. Thursday inside the FedExForum.

For now, here are three takeaways from the Shockers’ win on a memorable night:

Mike Kennedy, three conference title-winning teams honored at halftime

The halftime score was quickly forgotten when the 1975-76, 2005-06 and 2015-16 Shocker teams who won conference titles took the floor. 

Cheese Johnson, Doug Yoder, Steve Kalocinski, Ed Southern and Sidney Ford were in attendance and were honored for their 50th anniversary for winning the Missouri Valley Conference.

Kyle Wilson, Paul Miller, Ryan Martin, PJ Couisnard and coach Mark Turgeon were present for the 2005-06 team that went on to an NCAA Sweet 16 two decades ago. 

Ron Baker, Shaquille Morris, Zach Bush, RJ Simon, Evan Wessel and Brett Barney on the 2015-16 team were awarded, receiving arguably the loudest cheers from the crowd as their names were announced.

After the teams were commemorated, Kennedy took center court with loved ones on both his left and right sides. A tribute video played for the Voice of the Shockers, who has spent nearly half a century calling Wichita State’s games. To end the celebration, a banner was hung from the top of Section 117 at the north end of the Roundhouse.

With so many memories to cherish, the game sometimes felt like an afterthought.

Shockers surge through second half

The 1975-76, 2005-06 and 2015-16 teams that won conference titles, which were remembered during halftime, as well as the ceremony for Kennedy, must’ve provided the right juice for this year’s group of Shockers ahead of the second half.

Before the teams took the court, they caught the tail end of the festivities, and Wichita State wasted little time reminding the crowd that there were still 20 minutes to play.

Giles and senior guard Mike Gray Jr. connected on a trio of triples, Williams scored off a Temple turnover and the Shockers were ahead by double digits, 44-33. Giles, Williams and senior forward Karon Boyd connected on four-straight shots later in the period that rocked the Roundhouse, and Wichita State upped its cushion to 16 points, 60-44.

The Owls were suffocated after scoring the first bucket of the half, missing their next five shots in a row. They didn’t string together more than two makes the rest of the game.

Wichita State shot an even 50% from the floor throughout the second stanza, which included an 83.3% (5-of-6) mark from deep. The Shockers finished the half scoring 1.241 points per possession and scored 55.2% of the time.

Wichita State asserted interior presence during first half

From the Shockers’ first possession, it was clear they wanted to get in the paint.

Senior center Emmanuel Okorafor was fed a pass as the shot clock wound down, then exploded off both feet for a two-hand slam that nearly shook the rafters. Wichita State must’ve liked the matchups it got inside because it was dominating the glass for nine rebounds to Temple’s two at the first media timeout.

But the Owls’ efficiency kept them in the game. After trailing 9-7, they went on a 7-0 run that silenced the Koch Arena crowd and went up by five after their senior guard Derrian Ford drilled a 3-pointer.

TJ Williams wouldn’t let the home team fold. The redshirt freshman forward found just enough room to operate inside on back-to-back drives to the hoop and converted with his coveted left hand each time to bring the Shockers within a point, 14-13.

The rest of the half became a tit-for-tat that featured five ties and five lead changes until Wichita State outscored Temple 10-3 over the final 4 minutes, 3 seconds to open a 33-27 lead at the break.

The Shockers held on to a 25-13 advantage on the glass, which included a plus-7 mark on the offensive end. They ended up grabbing 77.8% of the available defensive rebounds and 55% of their misses, despite only being able to convert them into eight second-chance points.