Wichita State basketball newcomers enjoy Shocker Madness, anticipate Saturday scrimmage
A total of 11 players on the Wichita State men’s basketball team experienced playing in front of fans at Koch Arena for the first time on Thursday.
Fans looking for a glimpse on how the new-look team might play this upcoming season in the annual 10-minute Shocker Madness scrimmage were instead treated to a pick-up game more fit for the Steve Clark YMCA across campus.
The ball movement and hard-nosed defense was saved for earlier in the day in Thursday’s practice, while the team’s public debut later that night featured mostly uncontested 3-pointers and dunks.
If the goal was to have fun and stay healthy, the Shockers accomplished it in an injury-free night that saw the teams combine for 13 3-pointers and 57 points in the 10-minute scrimmage won by the black team, 32-25.
“We’ve been practicing since June against ourselves, so seeing all of the fans in the stands really stood out,” WSU coach Isaac Brown said.
“I want to thank the fans for coming out. We’ve got the best fans in the country. We appreciate all of the fan support. I thought the guys really had fun tonight.”
After months of practicing in an empty gym, the double-digit newcomers on the team enjoyed their first experience playing in front of fans at Koch Arena.
Wichita native Xavier Bell couldn’t stop grinning after opening the scrimmage by drilling a 3-pointer, his first points in a WSU uniform. Others felt the same way, even if the 1,000 or so fans in attendance on Thursday was far from the peak atmosphere in the Roundhouse with a sell-out crowd of 10,502.
Isaac Abidde, a redshirt freshman, led the black team with 10 points and five rebounds, while Gus Okafor, a first-year transfer forward, scored a game-high 11 points for the yellow team.
“Everybody has been telling me about the atmosphere here, so it was fun to finally experience it for myself,” said first-year guard Shammah Scott, who won the dunk contest.
“It felt good the first time really playing in front of fans at Koch Arena,” said transfer Colby Rogers, who took home the 3-point contest title. “I was just happy to be out there playing. Shooting is what I do, so I expected to win (the contest).”
While Thursday’s scrimmage was a no-stakes affair, the intensity will soon ramp up for WSU when it hosts Missouri State in a closed practice on Saturday at Koch Arena.
While a small taste of Koch Arena was nice on Thursday, the outside competition coming in on Saturday is the real treat of this week for the players.
“We’re really excited for the scrimmage,” Rogers said. “Practices have been good. We’re starting to get locked in for the start of the season, but we’re tired of playing against each other. I can’t wait for Saturday.”
“We want to play somebody different,” said transfer Jaron Pierre Jr. “We’re definitely looking forward to it. I feel like we’re coming along really well right now in practice. They’ve been getting longer, but they’re going great and we’re just excited to start playing.”
The Shockers will play their lone exhibition game this coming Wednesday, Nov. 2, against local NCAA Div. II foe Newman in a 7 p.m. game at Koch Arena.
But the only Div. I competition they will see before the season-opener against Central Arkansas on Monday, Nov. 7 will be Missouri State.
“It’s going to be a test for us,” Rogers said. “Playing a different team with players that will have different tendencies will be a test to see where we’re at and hopefully we’ll come out with a win.”
Shocker Madness basketball scrimmage box score
Black team | FG | 3FG | Pts | Reb. | Ast. |
Craig Porter | 1-1 | 1-1 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
Xavier Bell | 1-1 | 1-1 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
Jaykwon Walton | 1-2 | 1-1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Isaac Abidde | 4-7 | 2-4 | 10 | 5 | 1 |
Quincy Ballard | 1-2 | 0-0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Colby Rogers | 1-4 | 1-4 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler | 1-1 | 1-1 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
Henry Thengvall | 1-3 | 1-1 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
Trevor McBride | 0-3 | 0-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 11-24 | 8-16 | 32 | 13 | 7 |
Yellow team | FG | 3FG | Pts | Reb. | Ast. |
Shammah Scott | 1-3 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
Jaron Pierre Jr. | 1-4 | 0-2 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
Jalen Ricks | 2-4 | 2-4 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
Gus Okafor | 5-8 | 1-1 | 11 | 2 | 0 |
James Rojas | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Kenny Pohto | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
Melvion Flanagan | 1-2 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
Totals | 10-24 | 5-13 | 25 | 11 | 4 |
Women’s basketball team finds positives in closed scrimmage
Similar to the men’s team, the Wichita State women had just finished a practice and treated the 10-minute scrimmage purely for fun. The yellow team won 23-10 behind nine points from Fairleigh Dickinson transfer Aniya Bell, who delivered them all in a flurry of three straight 3-pointers.
WSU coach Keitha Adams has been pleased with how the team has been practicing ahead of its lone exhibition game coming up at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Koch Arena against Missouri Southern. The Shockers open their regular season the following Wednesday, on Nov. 9, at home against Alcorn State.
“It’s been intense. We’ve been really working hard and getting after it and working on areas we feel like we need to improve,” Adams said. “We had a closed scrimmage, which was really good. That always shows some positives and areas you want to work on. They’ve been working extremely hard and we’re ready to play next week. It’s time. They’ve been going up against each other for quite a while and now it’s time to go up against opponents and they’re really looking forward to it.”
The closed scrimmage Adams was referring to was last weekend against Missouri State, a team picked to finish sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference this season. WSU played well in the first 20-minute segment and won by 12 points with Ornella Niankan, Jane Asinde and Trajata Colbert as the standouts. With the score wiped for the second 20-minute segment and WSU rotating all of its players in, Missouri State won by 14 points.
Niankan, a 6-foot-1 sophomore forward from Montreal, Canada, is in her first season with the Shockers after an all-conference season at Odessa College, where she averaged 16.2 points and 7.3 rebounds.
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