Wichita native Xavier Bell propels Shockers past K-State for in-state rivalry win
In the bowels of Koch Arena, seconds before the Wichita State men’s basketball team took the floor, a kid from Wichita, named after an all-time Shocker great, breathed fire into his teammates.
More than anyone, Xavier Bell understood there’s nothing quite like the Roundhouse when a big-time opponent is in town to play the Shockers.
It can be a magical place for the home team, he told them, but only when Wichita State taps into that energy by being the toughest team on the court.
Bell sensed the opportunity on Saturday night, with Kansas State coming to play WSU on its home floor for the first time in more than two decades, then helped the Shockers seize it in a decisive 84-65 victory for their first win over the Wildcats since 2001. In his first start of the season, the Wichita native scored a season-high 24 points.
“Absolutely, being from here and losing to them the last two years,” Bell said. “Them coming into our place, this definitely meant more.”
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The son of a former WSU football player, Bell has a true appreciation for what it means to wear a Shocker uniform. He grew up attending games at 21st and Hillside and cheering for the Shockers in March Madness. The Andover Central graduate is well-versed in the history of “Play Angry” and “Mental Toughness Xtra Effort.”
All of those things were on his mind this week after WSU slipped up in Tuesday’s loss to Kansas City.
How much does Shocker basketball mean — truly mean to him? For 31 minutes on the court on Saturday, Bell showed just how much pride he has in WSU by delivering one of his finest performances.
“I think for him, this was definitely personal,” said Wayne Bell, his father. “Xavier understands that toughness has been a big part of the legacy here. He wants to lean into that. And he was going to do whatever it took to help tonight.”
Bell established WSU’s toughness edge immediately, scoring on his signature left-handed floater for the game’s first basket, then using his physicality to finish over K-State’s Dug McDaniel and pointing at him running back down the court. The message was clear: This is our house.
“That guy has never once complained about his role,” WSU head coach Paul Mills said. “If I told you how much he’s got in NIL, it’s the same as you got in NIL. He’s never once asked for any money. He’s never once asked to be in the starting lineup. He’s never once asked to do anything in order to generate something for himself. He just shows up every day and works. His care factor is through the roof. That kid is about winning. He’ll do whatever it takes.”
It didn’t take long for the rest of the Shockers to follow Bell’s lead.
No one conjured up more hustle plays than Corey Washington, who registered his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds. His biggest spark came early in the second half with the score tied at 41 when he missed a shot, tracked down his own miss by diving headfirst on the floor to beat two Wildcats to the loose ball, then flipped it up to Bell who skipped it to Justin Hill for a momentum-swinging 3.
“This game has a history to it, being an in-state rivalry, so it just had a lot of energy and passion behind it,” Washington said. “I’m already a passionate person, so stacking that on top of each other was a real good thing.”
While the 8,253 in attendance was just the second crowd of 8,000-plus at Koch Arena since the 2021-22 season, it’s hard to believe a WSU-KSU game in the Roundhouse wouldn’t have sold out before the coronavirus pandemic.
But a lot has changed since then, both in the college basketball world and in the program. The Shockers are on the march to restore their name as a championship contender — and win back fans in the process.
If there are traits that WSU fans appreciate the most, it’s toughness and resiliency. Saturday’s performance exemplified both.
“Snowflakes melt because of heat,” Mills said when speaking about his team’s response following the Kansas City loss. “That’s a little bit of heat. It’s fine. It happens in the game of basketball. We’re not going to overreact. We’re not going to be a bunch of snowflakes. We’re not going to listen to outside noise or distractions. We’re going to stay locked in to our job and we’re going to do our job.
“Life doesn’t always go your way. It’s your job to respond the right way when it doesn’t. The problem is when you overreact and you act like a snowflake and you can’t handle any heat, you’ll melt. Our guys didn’t do that. I’ve got men in that locker room.”
The stage was set on Saturday night, as the largest crowd of the Mills era filed into the arena to see the Shockers play the Wildcats on their home floor for the first time in more than two decades.
WSU athletic director Kevin Saal spruced up the atmosphere by installing flashing yellow lights in the aisles, implementing a special hype video for the game and cutting the overhead lights when K-State was forced to call timeout to try to stem WSU’s momentum.
“The crowd was unbelievable,” K-State coach Jerome Tang said. “They really gave them some juice.”
While it wasn’t quite the acoustics of 10,506, Koch Arena was still electric throughout the night when Bell would bully his way for another basket or Washington would dive on the floor for another loose ball or Bijan Cortes would connect with Quincy Ballard for another rim-rattling alley oop.
“This was the best atmosphere I’ve ever played in,” said Croatia native Matej Bosnjak without hesitation.
“The fans were crazy,” WSU senior Justin Hill said.
“We fed off that energy and it helped carry us,” Cortes said.
To most of the players, Saturday’s crowd felt like a revelation.
To experience more like them, the Shockers will need to continue to play like they did in the second half when they pounded K-State for 55 points and a 23-point scoring margin.
“It feels great because we put in the work and we put in the time,” Bell said. “We had to face a hard film session after that loss. We acknowledged it, we faced it and we just owned it and then we got better. That showed on the court tonight.”
“I feel like this win could spark something big, for sure,” Washington added.
This story was originally published December 22, 2024 at 9:36 AM.
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