Missouri and Kansas will a charity scrimmage game at Sprint Center in Kansas City on October 22 to help support hurricane relief.
The news was first reported by Carrington Harrison of 610 Sports Radio on Thursday. On Friday, both coaches and schools confirmed that the game – labeled as Showdown for Relief – would indeed be played.
It's. Happening.
? https://t.co/GK2wCBzRsz #MIZ ?? pic.twitter.com/ZZdZiE1YZz
— Mizzou Hoops (@MizzouHoops) October 13, 2017
The schools received a waiver from the NCAA to allow the extra exhibition game to be played.
“The opportunity to use the platform of college basketball to help so many people in need is the most important aspect of this event,” Mizzou head coach Cuonzo Martin said. “Buy tickets to this game, but also please donate if you are able to, as there are people in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands who need our support. This scrimmage will not only be fun for fans of Mizzou and Kansas, but also for people all over the world.”
“The opportunity to make an impact on those suffering as result of the hurricanes, through the game of basketball, is a great opportunity for our program,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “When I brought the idea to our administration we immediately decided that, if we were going to do this, it needed to be selfless, impactful, and there could be no recognized revenue as a result of the competition. With that in mind, I contacted Coach Martin and discussed the possibility of us playing an exhibition game for the benefit of so many affected by the catastrophic storms. We both felt that this would be a great opportunity to impact others.”
The game will be played at 3 p.m. with the two schools splitting the ticket allotment.
Tickets can be purchased online starting on October 18.
Lovell’s Analysis
You think a few people will show up to watch this one?
We all know the history of this rivalry, and it’s awesome to see the two sides coming together for something larger than a basketball game.
Missouri and Kansas haven’t played each other since 2012, which was right before the Tigers bolted the Big 12 to join the SEC.
And while this will be far from your regular game, it will certainly provide plenty of intrigue for fans of both schools as each is loaded with elite talent heading into the 2017-18 season.
I’d say there’s a good chance that 18,000 seat arena fills up quickly next Sunday.