The Lipscomb Bisons and the Wichita State Shockers meet in college basketball action from the Charles Koch Arena on Monday night.

Lipscomb Team Preview

The Lipscomb Bisons come into the 2023-24 season looking to build on a decent 2022-23 campaign where they finished 20-13 overall and 11-7 in ASUN conference play. The Bisons took out Stetson in the ASUN tournament quarterfinals before losing to Kennesaw State in the semifinals. The Bisons lose four players from last year’s team, including Ahsan Asadullah (6.8 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 3.2 APG), but bring back two double-digit scorers in Jacob Ognacevic (17.7 PPG, 4.4 RPG) and Derrin Boyd (10.5 PPG) as well as Will Pruitt (9.9 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.9 APG). Owen McCormack transfers in from Presbyterian to provide some size at 6’9”.

Wichita State Team Preview

The Wichita State Shockers come into the 2023-24 season looking to rebound from a 17-15 season including a 9-9 mark in AAC conference play. The Shockers knocked off Tulsa in the first round of the AAC tournament before falling to Tulane in the quarterfinals. Wichita State loses four double-digit scorers from last year’s team, including leading scorer Jaykwon Walton (13.9 PPG, 5.3 RPG), Craig Porter (13.5 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 4.9 APG), Jaron Pierre (10.6 PPG, 3 RPG) and James Rojas (10.3 PPG, 6.1 RPG). The Shockers filled the void slightly by bringing in Colby Rogers (14.1 PPG) from Siena and Jacob Germany (12.3 PPG, 8.3 RPG) from UTSA. Kenny Pohto is the top returning talent from last year’s squad after putting up 8.7 PPG & 5.7 RPG last season.

Chris’ Pick

I get the case to be made for Wichita State at home, where they’ve historically played their best ball going back some time now. However, I’m a bit concerned about the continuity for Wichita State and while they got a couple of decent transfers, I’m not sure if the Shockers actually got better with the transfers or just filled necessary voids left. Lipscomb didn’t go hunting for transfers to drastically improve the team, but the pieces coming back are solid and this is a Lipscomb team that can put a scare into some teams. Wichita State probably wins, but I think there’s value with Lipscomb and the points.