Wichita State basketball set to play former Missouri Valley rival in closed scrimmage

A former Missouri Valley Conference foe will be returning to Koch Arena this fall to take on the Shockers behind closed doors.

The Wichita State men’s basketball team will host Missouri State in a closed scrimmage on Saturday, Oct. 29, The Eagle has learned through an open records request.

It will be the first time the Bears make their way to Wichita since the Shockers departed the Missouri Valley five years ago. There’s also a WSU connection with fifth-year Missouri State head coach Dana Ford, who was an assistant coach on Gregg Marshall’s staff for the 2011-12 season.

The meeting will be the first outside competition of the season for WSU. Although the Shockers have yet to publicly release their 2022-23 schedule, an exhibition game will likely follow the closed scrimmage with the season opener likely set for Wednesday, Nov. 7 at Koch Arena against Central Arkansas.

The scrimmage pits two teams who have had to navigate significant turnover through the transfer portal this offseason. The Shockers return just two players from last season’s rotation, while Missouri State returns just one.

Much like Isaac Brown, Ford has attempted to retool his roster through his own additions in the transfer portal following a 23-win season that ended with an NIT appearance. Missouri State hopes to remain competitive with transfer additions Kendle Moore (Colorado State), Matthew Lee (St. Peters), Dalen Ridgnal (Georgia), Chance Moore (Arkansas), Bryan Trimble Jr. (Akron), James Graham (Maryland) and Alston Mason (Oklahoma).

Wichita State will lean on senior point guard Craig Porter, while sophomore center Kenny Pohto also figures to play a prominent role for the team. Brown has added new talent through the portal with Colby Rogers (Siena), Jaron Pierre Jr. (Southern Miss), Gus Okafor (Southeastern Louisiana), James Rojas (Alabama), Xavier Bell (Drexel), Quincy Ballard (Florida State) and Jaykwon Walton (Georgia).

While the 40-minute scrimmages officiated by college referees typically draw the most attention from the day’s events, WSU has typically used the first part of the day as a joint practice session. WSU will likely compete against Missouri State in controlled situations where coaches can freely blow their whistles and make changes, as the teams practice against zone defenses, out-of-bounds play and half-court sets.

Wichita State has competed in closed scrimmages against Texas Tech (2021), Nebraska (2019) and Oklahoma State (2018) in recent seasons.