For the first time this season, the Wichita State men’s and women’s basketball teams played in front of fans at the annual Black and Yellow Scrimmage. 

Last season, both teams were marked with inexperience and each lost seniors heading into the offseason.

Here’s a recap of what was seen at the scrimmage:

Women

After a disappointing 2018-19 season, in which the team struggled to score the basketball, the Shockers have placed a focus on tempo and adding more offense.

Their part of the event started off with a series of drills, including a three-point contest in which Carla Bremaud was victorious over teammate Maya Brewer.

Bremaud was the team’s leading scorer a year ago.

In the scrimmage portion, the yellow team came out victorious by a score of 22-19. Despite having more experience, the black team, which included returners Ashley Reid, Seraphine Bastin, and Carla Bremaud, struggled to get much going offensively.

Despite the struggles offensively, Head Coach Keitha Adams said she liked how aggressive the trio was in getting into the paint.

“With them playing together last year, there is some familiarity and comfort level with one another,” Adams said. “The black group got in the paint almost every time.”

Reid, who is coming off a knee injury two years ago, said she feels healthy and more confident heading into the season.

“I worked really hard in the summer — I still need to work a little harder, but I think I’m in better shape,” Reid said. “I’m more confident in my knees and my shot, so I’m really excited to be out there playing again.”

On the yellow side, Maya Brewer, Trajata Colbert, and Shyia Smith each tallied five points and combined for 12 rebounds. 

The team will kick off their season on Nov. 4 against Missouri Southern State. The exhibition game will start at 6:30 p.m. inside Charles Koch Arena.

Men

The Wichita State men ended last season on a hot streak, advancing to the NIT semifinals and winning 14 of their last 18 games. 

This season, the Shockers welcome the most-heralded recruiting class in the school’s history to go along with seven returners from a year ago.

One of the newcomers that caught Gregg Marshall’s eye was junior college transfer, Trey Wade. Marshall said he was impressed with Wade’s play on both the offensive and defensive ends. Wade recorded eight points, six of which came off of three-pointers.

“As a veteran player that we brought in to try to have some immediate impact, I thought he did a pretty good job,” Marshall said. “To me, it’s energy. When he plays with a lot of energy and it’s just flying around, that’s when he’s at his best.”

Sparked by Wade’s play, the yellow team came out victorious, 21-19. Wade led all scorers with his eight points. Asbjørn Midtgaard and Jamarius Burton combined for 13 of the black team’s 19 total points.

The play of the scrimmage, for Marshall, was a pick-and-roll between Burton and Midtgaard, he said. Midtgaard finished it off with a nice up-and-under move and completed the play, despite being fouled.

“I thought that was the nicest play of the scrimmage,” Marshall said. “[Burton] spoon-fed him (Midtgaard) for a layup. He’s comfortable with the ball screen stuff.”

WSU’s offense was never able to consistently get going, but Midtgaard said he feels confident the team can sort it out before the time the season starts. 

“The games don’t start for a couple of weeks,” Midtgaard said. “We’ll address it in practice, watch film, and just go from there.”

“We’ll keep getting better.”

The Shockers will kick-start their season with an exhibition matchup against Northeastern State on Oct. 29. The game is set to tip-off at 7:00 p.m. in Charles Koch Arena.