The lights are often bright at FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn., meant to house a crowd of 18,400 for basketball games. 

Wichita State has been blinded by them since joining the American Conference, having dropped its last seven road games to Memphis. That changed Thursday night.

It wasn’t always lopsided like the 15-point win in late January, but the Shockers pulled off their first win at the Tigers’ home venue since Feb. 6, 2018 — simultaneously completing their first-ever season sweep since joining the league — in an 88-82 decision.

Wichita State went up by as many as 13 points in the second half and later watched it flip to a one-point deficit. But the Shockers managed to maintain a slim lead until a senior guard Kenyon Giles 3-pointer and junior guard Dre Kindell layup in the last 30 seconds sealed the outcome for good. The teams traded stretches where they made seven or more shots during the half.

Giles ended with a team-high 22 points and lit up the second half with 19. Senior forward Karon Boyd also scored 10 second-half points to finish with 14 on the night.

Junior center Will Berg played 23 big minutes off the bench, scoring 12 points and pulling down 12 rebounds for his seventh double-double this season. Sophomore forward Dillon Battie (12) and senior center Emmanuel Okorafor (11) also scored in double figures. 

Free throw shooting and rebounding were the widest margins in the stat sheet, however. The Shockers hit 26-of-33 from the stripe to Memphis’ 13-of-17 free throw shooting and pulled down 17 more rebounds (44-27) throughout the game.

Equally important, Wichita State kept its spot at second place in the conference standings after improving to 19-10 on the year and 11-5 in the league for its fourth consecutive win.

Next up, the Shockers can add their fifth-straight victory with a road trip to UTSA at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Convocation Center.

For now, here are three takeaways from Wichita State’s season sweep over Memphis:

Will Berg, boards and free throws save poor first-half shooting

Memphis guards Dug McDaniel and Sincere Parker looked unstoppable early Thursday, combining for the Tigers’ first 14 points and hitting shots in tough spots over Wichita State’s no-assist defensive approach.

The Shockers made just one field goal during a 6-minute and 38-second span midway through the first half, which included eight straight misses. They couldn’t find their mark at FedExForum and ended the period shooting 27.5% from the floor while Memphis hit at a 46.9% rate.

But Will Berg’s opening stint helped flip the momentum and scoreboard. The junior center shot 3-for-3 with three offensive boards and a block in three minutes. His presence allowed Wichita State to ride a 9-4 run during that time and take a 20-16 lead after trailing by three before he checked in.

Berg began to sway momentum almost as soon as he entered the game. After freshman forward TJ Williams missed a jumper, Berg was there to corral the miss and lay in the putback. He later snagged another offensive board and threw home a forceful two-hand slam, then matched it on the other end with a rejection on Parker.

Berg put in 12 points and snagged eight rebounds, turning five on the offensive end into eight second-chance points on marks of 3-of-3 from the floor and a perfect 6-for-6 at the stripe.

The Shockers fed off of Berg’s physicality on both ends of the court and led the rebounding battle 31-16 at the break, including 17 offensive boards. Getting to the foul line helped, too, as they knocked down 16-of-21 untimed shots to create and maintain a 40-35 lead at halftime, despite a poor half of shooting.

Wichita State has now grabbed 10 or more offensive boards for the 23rd-consecutive game — the longest active streak in Division I.

Shockers heat up to stave off Memphis

Wichita State improved its final field goal percentage to 43.3% by connecting on 18-of-27 shots throughout the second half.

Like Berg’s first three minutes, the Shockers began early and often by hitting nine consecutive shots at the start of the final stanza, opening up a 13-point lead at one point. But Memphis kept its first-half shooting form, too.

The Tigers connected on seven-straight shots after missing their first two to begin the half. They also got downhill, drawing fouls and cashing 7-of-10 free throws at the 12-minute mark to cut what was a double-digit deficit to three points, 59-56.

Wichita State and Memphis traded blows the rest of the way, and the Shockers maintained their three-point lead until senior guard Kenyon Giles hit three consecutive shots to break open a 77-71 lead with a little over five-and-a-half minutes remaining. But the Tigers weren’t finished.

They ripped off a 9-0 run almost immediately after, to take a 78-77 lead with less than three minutes to play — Memphis’ first since the 10:35 mark of the first half. The teams traded the lead six more times after that until Giles and Kindell’s late scores sealed it.

Kenyon Giles still within hunt for 3-point record

Senior guard Kenyon Giles entered Thursday’s game with the second-most 3-pointers in a single season for Wichita State with 93. 

But he made just 3-of-11 shots from beyond the arc against Memphis to bring his season total to 96. And although he didn’t have his record night at FedExForum, he’s still well within the race with two games in the regular season, plus some at the conference championship from March 11-15.

Giles will need just three more triples before the season ends to tie Colby Rogers’ record of 99, set in 2023-24. Giles would be the second player in Paul Mills’ three years as head coach at Wichita State to rewrite history books should he break Rogers’ record.