By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Unversity men's basketball team played well enough Monday night to beat a lot of teams ... just not quite well enough to knock off the defending Division II national champions.
The Ichabods made run after run at No. 2-ranked Northwest Missouri State, leading by as many as five points in the first half, but the Bearcats answered each and every run with one of their own, taking a 71-63 MIAA victory at Lee Arena.
Washburn, which had its four-game winning streak snapped by the Bearcats, trailed by just four points at the half (34-30), but Northwest Missouri, which improved to 16-1 overall and 9-0 in the MIAA, took control with a quick start to the second half, building a 14-point advantage at the 11:01 mark, and Ichabods were in chase mode the rest of the way.
"I thought we played really hard and competed at a high level,'' said Washburn coach Brett Ballard, whose Ichabods fell to 10-7 overall and 7-4 in the conference. "We didn't play great the first five minutes of the second half and sometimes that's all it takes against a team as elite as that.
"We played 35 minutes of really good basketball, but that five kind of dug ourselves a hole and then we could never quite get over the hump.''
Connor Deffebaugh (right) scored a team-high 17 points for Washburn in Monday's 71-63 loss to Northwest Missouri State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn senior Tyler Geiman scored 14 points in the Ichabods' 71-63 loss to Northwest Missouri Monday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But the Ichabods, who are starting to round back into form after being short-handed much of the season, showed a lot of positive signs Monday that they could be ready to mount a charge the second half of the season.
"We are so much more of a team than we were a month ago and we're coming along,'' Ballard said. "I think we're playing a lot better on both ends. I'm pleased with the progress we've made and the direction we're going.
"Obviously there's no moral victories here and that's not why you come to Washburn, but I feel like if we can come out and fight and compete like that every night ... we showed we can do that against the best team in the country. Now we've got to back it up.''
Sophomore Connor Deffebaugh led the Ichabods with 17 points while senior Tyler Geiman added 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists for WU before fouling out late in the game and Jonny Clausing had 12 points.
"We've been prepping for these guys for a long time and obviously they're the best team in the country,'' Deffebaugh said. "We just didn't have some things go our way late, but we're going to adjust.
"We've got a good team in the locker room and we all are connected, so we're going to get better. We're going to learn from this.''
Former Manhattan star Trevor Hudgins scored a game-high 26 points for the Bearcats, while Wes Dreamer added 18 points.
Washburn will return to action Saturday, hosting Emporia State at Lee Arena.
NORTHWEST MISSOURI MEN 71, WASHBURN 63
Northwest Missouri 34 37 -- 71
Washburn 30 33 -- 63
NORTHWEST MISSOURI (16-1, 9-0)
Dreamer 5-11 4-4 18, Bernard 3-7 3-4 9, Jackson 2-3 0-0 4, Hudgins 9-23 2-2 26, Waters 2-5 2-2 7, Abreu 0-2 0-0 0, Alexander 3-3 1-1 7. Totals 24-54 12-13 72.
WASHBURN (10-7, 7-4)
Harrell 1-8 2-2 5, Deffebaugh 6-8 3-4 17, Geiman 6-14 0-0 14, Lewis 1-2 2-2 5, Keegan 0-0 0-0 0, Nelson 1-9 0-0 2, Clausing 4-6 4-5 12, Ellis 3-6 0-0 8. Totals 22-53 11-13 63.
3-point goals -- Northwest Missouri 11-30 (Hudgins 6-16, Dreamer 4-8, Waters 1-3, Bernard 0-2, Abreu 0-1), Washburn 8-20 (Deffebaugh 2-3, Geiman 2-5, Ellis 2-2, Harrell 1-5, Lewis 1-2, Nelson 0-3), Rebounds -- Northwest Missouri 31 (Dreamer 9), Washburn 29 (Geiman 5). Assists -- Northwest Missouri 15 (Hudgins 5), Washburn 11 (Geiman 4, Nelson 4). Turnovers -- Northwest Missouri 9, Washburn 10. Total fouls -- Northwest Missouri 14, Washburn 18. Fouled out -- Geiman. Technical fouls -- none.
