Here’s how much money Wichita State basketball paid North Texas for Saturday’s loss
It didn’t take long for the realization to occur for Wichita State senior Morris Udeze answering questions following the Shockers’ stunning 62-52 loss to North Texas at Koch Arena on Saturday.
A nearly 13-minute scoring drought in the second half doomed Wichita State, about as ugly a way to take a loss at home as possible. And then Udeze pointed out what made it even harder to stomach for the Shockers.
“We paid them to come here and beat us,” said Udeze, disgusted by his own words. “It’s tough, man.
“They came in here and took a game we were supposed to win.”
Udeze wasn’t exaggerating: Wichita State really did cut North Texas a check for $70,000 in compensation, per the contract between the two schools obtained in an open records request by The Eagle, to come to Koch Arena and play the Shockers.
The act is commonly referred to in the college basketball world as a “buy” game, which typically features a team from a major conference “buying” a game against a team from a smaller conference to come play them on their home court. The bigger team usually wins the game and the smaller team takes home a check with both parties satisfied.
When the smaller team wins, like North Texas did on Saturday, the bigger team (Wichita State) faces additional humiliation.
“Wichita State loses a buy game to North Texas,” CBS Sports reporter Jon Rothstein tweeted. “The epitome of brutality.”
It is the second “buy” game that Wichita State has lost to a Conference USA team in the last four seasons, as the Shockers also paid Louisiana Tech to come to Koch Arena for what became a 71-58 loss to the Bulldogs on November 6, 2018 for the 2018-19 season-opener at home.
Before that, WSU’s last “buy” game loss was to Kansas City-Missouri on November 19, 2008.
“(North Texas) is a good team, but that’s a bad loss for us,” WSU freshman Ricky Council IV said. “That was a given game. We paid them to come here and beat us. Credit to them, but we’ve got to pick it up. We can’t keep talking about things. It’s time to put it on the court.”
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