Playtime is over. 

The Wichita State men’s basketball team opens its regular season on Saturday against North Carolina Central, the first of 16 games to be played in Koch Arena this year. 

Tipoff is at 7 p.m. 

WSU defeated Pittsburg State 100-56 on Monday in its lone exhibition game. Coach Gregg Marshall went very deep into his bench, something he doesn’t plan on doing throughout the regular season. 

“We had to be deeper than I really wanted tonight,” Marshall said following Monday’s game. “I don’t think we’ll be 12 deep. Somebody is going to have to redshirt, probably, if they are smart.”

Who that will be is anyone’s guess. A likely candidate is freshman Zach Bush, one of two Shockers that didn’t see any playing time in the exhibition. 

After that it will be a handful of players battling it out for the final spots, including transfers Chadrack Lufile, Cleanthony Early and Nick Wiggins. Freshman Derail Green is another redshirt option. 

Despite Marshall’s wishes, redshirting is up to the player. Former Shocker Graham Hatch decided not to redshirt and went on to become the National Invitation Tournament MOP in 2011 as a senior. 

What’s more important to Marshall than who redshirts is winning, something the Shockers have done a lot of over the past two seasons. Marshall said one thing all of his winning teams have had is chemistry. It’s too early to know if this year’s squad will be able to gel like previous teams. 

“I’m not sure about chemistry, whether that creates wins or wins create chemistry. It’s kind of like the chicken and the egg,” Marshall said. “I want them to stick together. I want them to be positive with one another. There are going to be some mistakes and I don’t want them pointing fingers at someone else.”

North Carolina Central is a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, which includes reigning champion Norfolk State. NCCU was 17-15 a year ago, going 10-6 in the MEAC. 

After that the schedule gets a little more difficult for the Shockers. They travel to Richmond, Va., on Tuesday to play Virginia Commonwealth, the same team that knocked them out of the NCAA Tournament a year ago.