After a blistering start Wednesday night Washburn saw its four-game winning streak snapped, with the Ichabods falling 75-67 at Missouri Western.
Yibari Nwidadah scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in Wednesday's 75-67 MIAA road loss at Missouri Western. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods return to action on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. facing Northwest Missouri in Maryville, Mo.
The game opened quickly for Washburn (10-4 overall, 3-2 MIAA) with a 7-2 run in the first 72 seconds after senior Payton Sterk hit a jumper.
The Griffons (5-9, 1-4) battled back and would go in front 9-7 before extending the lead to eight points after a 9-0 run.
The Ichabods answered with a run of their own in a high-scoring first quarter as sophomore Brooke Gomez and senior Aniah Wayne both knocked down 3-pointers before going in front on a 3-pointer by senior Gabi Giovannetti. Shooting 52.6 percent from the floor and 4-7 from deep the Ichabods led 28-26 after the first quarter.
After scores from Sterk and senior Yibari Nwidadah to open the second quarter Washburn remained in front by two, but the next 10 points came from Missouri Western to go in front by eight.
The Ichabods went into the break trailing by six at 44-38 after Nwidadah scored the final six points of the half for Washburn in a quarter that saw them shoot 2-10 from the field.
The Griffon offense stayed hot out of halftime, pushing the lead into double figures and up to as high as 15 points at 55-40 at the 6:02 mark.
Washburn worked to chip away at the lead, with Nwidadah getting it into single digits on a layup with 1:01 left in the third quarter. Missouri Western pushed it's advantage back out to 11 and led 63-52 going into the fourth.
Twice early in the fourth the Ichabods shrunk the deficit back down to nine but both times the Griffons answered with baskets.
Washburn got to the line and shot 9-10 in the final frame but were held to just 3-13 shooting in the quarter and 0-4 from deep. The Ichabods scored the final six points of the game to cut its final deficit to eight.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 1-ranked Washburn University men's basketball remained perfect on the season Wednesday night with an 87–75 road win at Missouri Western, improving to 15-0 overall and 5-0 in the MIAA.
Senior Sam Ungashick came off the bench to score 18 points in Wednesday's 87-75 MIAA road win over Missouri Western. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods never trailed, building a commanding 48-29 first-half lead, and then withstood a second-half push by the Griffons to secure the victory.
Washburn shot a scorching 65.5 percent from the floor in the opening half (19 of 29) and knocked down 4 of 9 attempts from 3-point range while scoring 48 first-half points.
Missouri Western, meanwhile, struggled to find rhythm early, shooting just 25.0 percent (8 of 32) in the first half.
Missouri Western (11-5 overall, 3-2 MIAA) played its best basketball after halftime, shooting 53.3 percent in the second half and outscoring Washburn 46-39 over the final 20 minutes while dropping to 6-1 in home games this season.
The Griffons trimmed the Ichabod advantage into the mid-teens on multiple occasions.
However, each time the Griffons threatened, Washburn answered, keeping Western at arm's length.
Sophomore Dillon Claussen scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half, going 6 of 10 from the field for the game while adding eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Senior Sam Ungashick provided a big lift off the bench with a season-high 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting and junior Jack Bachelor added 16 points while senior Brady Christiansen contributed 13 points and nine rebounds, helping Washburn win the rebounding battle, 42–24.
As a team, Washburn finished the night shooting 56.4 percent from the field (31 of 55), 33.3 percent from 3-point range (7 of 21) and 72.0 percent at the free-throw line (18 of 25). Missouri Western shot 38.7 percent overall and just 21.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Washburn returns to the road on Saturday, continuing its four-game road trip at Northwest Missouri (3:30 p.m. start).
Wednesday's win was the fifth in a row by the Ichabods over the Griffons while improving to 8-2 in the last 10 meetings.
