What Wichita State basketball fans need to know from Shockers’ season-opening win
The Wichita State men’s basketball team opened up the 2023-24 season at Koch Arena on Monday night with a 76-59 win over Lipscomb.
Here is what WSU fans need to know about coach Paul Mills’ debut victory in front of 6,286 fans in the Roundhouse.
1. Colby Rogers puts on a show in WSU debut
After waiting nearly 20 months to play college basketball again, Colby Rogers made the most out of his debut at Wichita State.
The last coaching staff raved about Rogers in practices when he was forced to sit out all of last season as a second-time undergraduate transfer, and the 6-foot-4 sharpshooter showed why in Monday’s season-opener.
Rogers scored 18 of his game-high 20 points in the first half in an electric debut at Koch Arena. He cooled off in the second half but still finished 8-for-17 from the field with six rebounds, one assist, one steal and three turnovers in 31 minutes.
For much of the first half, Lipscomb insisted on guarding Rogers with 6-foot, 175-pound guard Joe Anderson. Even after Rogers used his height advantage to score over Anderson, Lipscomb continued to leave him on an island with Rogers, who fully exploited the mismatch by continuing to shoot over him both in the mid-range and at the rim.
Rogers knew he was on a hot streak when he dribbled straight into a pull-up triple right over a defender he likely didn’t even see to deliver another swish. All 18 of his first-half points came during a nine-minute stretch in the first half.
2. WSU once again takes advantage of size
The Shockers were always going to have a size advantage against their mid-major opponent from the ASUN Conference, but that advantage grew before the game when Lipscomb 6-foot-8 star forward Jacob Ognacevic, who averaged 17.7 points last season, didn’t suit up due to a knee injury.
Lipscomb entered 6-11 sophomore Grant Asman into its starting lineup but often played with one big surrounded by four guards who could all shoot.
WSU dominated the glass with a 51-33 advantage that was even larger before the final minutes of the double-digit victory. The Shockers turned 13 offensive rebounds into a 13-7 edge in second-chance points, as they secured 79% of available defensive rebounds and grabbed 36.1% of their own misses — both strong marks.
Kenny Pohto finished with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds, while Quincy Ballard notched a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds with two blocks in his first career start.
3. Paul Mills shows off the X’s-and-O’s acumen
Regarded in coaching circles as an expert X’s-and-O’s strategist, Mills didn’t disappoint in his debut in the Roundhouse.
On WSU’s opening play of the season, the Shockers executed a Spain (back screen for the on-ball screener) pick-and-roll to perfection that ended with a thunderous alley-oop dunk by 6-foot-11 junior Quincy Ballard.
Later in the second half, following a timeout, WSU came away with another alley-oop dunk on a Mills’ set-piece special on a sideline out-of-bounds play.
Lipscomb had switched to a 2-3 zone defense with WSU inbounding the ball on the right sideline. After Xavier Bell received the inbounds pass, WSU’s pair of centers, Kenny Pohto and Ballard, each set back screens on the bottom defenders of Lipscomb, which allowed Isaac Abidde a free runway along the baseline for a highlight-reel alley-oop.
Abidde finished with a career-high 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting with five rebounds, one assist and one steal in 24 minutes off the bench.
Shocker star of the game
No question here, as Colby Rogers answered that question by halftime. The 6-foot-4 sharpshooter was electric in the first half, routinely capitalizing on his size advantage over smaller defenders and rising up for mid-range jumpers. Lipscomb never found an answer for Rogers, who was superb in his WSU debut after sitting out last season following his transfer from Siena.
The game turned when...
Rogers took over midway through the first half to give the Shockers their first meaningful separation of the game. With the score tied at 13, Rogers canned a 3-pointer, back-to-back mid-range jumpers and then dished to Ballard for an easy bucket. The 9-2 spurt sparked a prolonged 24-10 run where Rogers scored 16 of WSU’s points and opened up a 37-23 lead. Lipscomb never threatened again.
What’s next for Wichita State basketball
Monday’s season-opener kicked off a busy first week for the Shockers, who will play again at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against Western Kentucky and at 1 p.m. Sunday against Friends.
Wichita State 76, Lipscomb 59 box score
This story was originally published November 6, 2023 at 8:20 PM.
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