By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University men's basketball team will be looking for its fourth straight win in Thursday's 7:30 p.m. home MIAA game against Rogers State at Lee Arena.
The Ichabods are 8-9 overall and 5-6 in the conference after a 65-62 win over Nebraska-Kearney last Saturday. The Hillcats (11-8, 7-6) rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to top Missouri Southern 71-68 last Saturday.
Junior Tyler Nelson in coming off a 25-point performance in last Saturday's 65-62 home win over Nebraska-Kearney. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Rogers State won the first meeting between the two teams on Dec. 10, rallying from a 17-point halftime deficit to take an 88-81 win in Claremore, Okla.
Washburn coach Brett Ballard is hoping that loss can serve as motivation for the Ichabods Thursday night.
"I mentioned that to the guys, that they should be motivated,'' Ballard said. "I don't know if that time of year we felt like we deserved to win those games or believed that we should win those games. I think now there's a greater sense of belief.
"I think that was very much our team early in the year, where we allowed the emotions of the game to consume us when things started not going right for us individually. We kind of gave in and they got momentum and we couldn't turn the tide.''
Ballard feels like the Ichabods are better prepared to handle those tough situations now.
"We're playing well,'' he said. "We've held three straight opponents under 65 points. Our defense has been really solid. I feel like we are playing our best basketball of the year.
"We have to keep showing up and maintaining that, but we are playing well.''
Hayden product Levi Braun agrees with his coach that the Ichabods have turned the corner after a slow start.
"We didn't get off to the best start and I just think it took a second for some role adjustments,'' Braun said. "I think the talent and the ability was always there, it just kind of took a second for that chemistry to build. Guys understand what they have to do for the team now, but it's just a matter of us doing it at this point.''
Sophomore Andrew Orr leads the Ichabods with a 12.8 scoring average and has reached double figures in 11 of 17 games this season. Orr is third on the team in rebounds with 5.7 boards per game and third in the MIAA in field goal percentage at 57 percent.
Junior Tyler Nelson is averaging 11.1 per game and tied a career-high with 25 points against Nebraska-Kearney last time out and he has averaged 21.3 points in his last three games with 5.0 rebounds per and 3.0 assists per game.
Junior Connor Deffebaugh is averaging 10.2 points and 3.4 assists per game and could return Thursday after missing the last six games with an injury.
Braun is averaging 10.1 points and has hit 42 of 94 3-pointers (45 percent). Of his 57 field goals this season, 42 have been from 3-point range.
Freshman Brady Christiansen averages a team-high 8.2 rebounds, ranking third in the MIAA.
Joey Saracco leads Rogers State with a 15.2 scoring aveage and pulls dow 6.9 rebounds per game.
Chris Whitaker averages 13.5 points for the Hillcats.
Washburn will wrap up its four-game homestand against Northeastern State on Saturday.
