The Wichita State-Creighton basketball rivalry returning to Koch Arena in TBT game
It’s been nearly a decade since the Wichita State-Creighton basketball rivalry has been played.
As fans wait for the two programs to reach a home-and-home series during college basketball season, they can see the next best thing on Sunday afternoon at Koch Arena when the AfterShocks play the Omaha Blue Crew at 3 p.m. in the second round of The Basketball Tournament.
“This was a blast, and we didn’t even play very well,” AfterShocks coach Zach Bush said after a 60-53 win over the Ex-Pats on Friday. “Imagine if we play well and we make shots and we got a rival in here that we’ve been itching to play since they left the Valley. We haven’t been able to get a home-and-home in the non-con going, so for now, this is as close as you’re going to get. If you can’t as a Shocker fan get excited for this, I don’t know how much more you could want.”
The two sides haven’t faced each other since the 2012-13 season, where they played three battles: WSU won 67-64 at Koch Arena, while Doug McDermott poured in 41 points in a 91-79 win for Creighton in Omaha and the Bluejays won the rubber match, 68-65, in the MVC tournament championship game.
While Creighton swept the Valley titles that season, the Shockers reeled off four straight wins in the NCAA Tournament to reach the 2013 Final Four.
“We took advantage of them before we left, twice,” Blue Crew coach Josh Jones, who played at Creighton from 2009-13. “We’re looking forward to reliving those memories one more time on Sunday.”
Only one player on the AfterShocks — Clevin Hannah (2008-10) — has played against Creighton in their collegiate careers before the Bluejays exited the Missouri Valley in 2013. The Blue Crew have two players — Austin Chatman (2011-15) and Jahenns Manigat (2010-14) — who have played in Koch Arena before.
Manigat wasn’t surprised to see the alumni teams from Creighton and Wichita State on the same side of the bracket.
“I’m a conspiracy theorist when it comes to this, you guys keep trying to set up the storylines. Well, you got it,” Manigat said. “I never thought I would say this in my career, it’s been so fun to be back in Wichita right now. It’s kudos to them. It has been such a tough place for us to play when we were in the Valley. We always had wars, absolute wars against Wichita State. No matter the team, no matter the era, it was always a war. That’s what made it such a great Valley rivalry.”
.jpg)