By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 1-ranked Washburn University men's basketball scored 94 points Wednesday night against Northwest Missouri State, had four players crack double figures and shot 54.4 percent from the field.
But it was the Ichabods' defense that stole the show as Washburn improved to 19-0 overall and 9-0 in the MIAA with a 94-44 home MIAA win over the Bearcats in Lee Arena.
Junior Jeremiah Jones tied a Washburn school record with nine steals in Wednesday's 94-44 MIAA win over Northwest Missouri. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Jeremiah Jones tied a school record with nine steals, seven in the first half, while the Ichabods limited Northwest Missouri (9-11, 2-7) to a meager 14 first-half points as Washburn took command, 40-14.
"Defense was great,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "I think JJ had more steals in this game than I had in my entire college career. He was great and I thought we were really connected on that end.
"I thought we did a good job of keeping everything in front and really challenging everything. Just really a team effort and we forced a lot of turnovers (26) as well. From the last time we played them we definitely played a better, more complete game.''
"We came out and we knew if we pressured them early and we trapped them and we contained the ball and kept them out of the paint we knew they weren't going to be able to score,'' Jones said. "Their point guard, No. 4 (Royce Williams) is really, really good and me putting pressure on him throughout the whole game and taking him out of his game, he wasn't confident at all.''
The Ichabods controlled the game from the opening tip and never looked back en route to its 24th straight win at home, tying for the second-longest streak in program history, and Washburn now owns the longest winning streak in the nation at 19 with Daemen's 79-61 loss to Gannon.
Washburn jumped out to a 20-8 lead at the midway point of the first half and would turn a 24-12 advantage into a 26-point halftime lead, closing the final seven minutes of the half on an 18-2 run while holding the Bearcats to one of 10 shooting, including zero of seven from 3-point range.
Overall, the Ichabods shot 50 percent (15 of 30) in the opening half while the Bearcats were limited to six of 24 from the field.
In the second half, Washburn doubled up the Bearcats at 56-28 with 13:38 to go and then went on a 20-3 run over the next 5:06 of the game, moving the lead to 74-31 with 8:53 to play.
From that point on, the Ichabods outscored Northwest Missouri 20-13, rolling to the 50-point win.
Sophomore Dillon Claussen scored a game-high 18 points, going 10 of 10 at the free throw line, in Wednesday's 94-44 MIAA win over Northwest Missouri. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore Dillon Claussen paced Washburn with a game-high 18 points on a 4-of-5 shooting night from the field while going a perfect 10 for 10 at the free-throw line.
But Claussen agreed that defense set the tone for the night.
"Defense is something that we work on every day and focus on that first,'' Claussen said. "That's where we hang our hat on, so to come out here and hold a team to 44 points in a game and 14 in the first half, that was insane.
"Our scout team's been pushing us in practice every day and they were kind of kicking us in the butt a little bit the other day in practice so they just helped us prepare for this game. And to come out and play like that for 40 minutes was insane.''
Junior Jack Bachelor scored 14 points with three 3s in Wednesday's 94-44 Washburn win over Northwest Missouri. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Jack Bachelor added 14 points, including three 3-pointers, while former Bearcat Marcus Glock scored 14 points with a pair of treys and Brady Christiansen contributed seven points and pulled down 11 rebounds, helping the Ichabods to an 38 to 24 advantage on the glass.
Sophomore Tyson Ruud finished with 11 points and four rebounds and Jones chipped in seven points with five rebounds and three assists in addition to his nine steals.
Washburn's bench out-scored the Bearcats 44-19 while turning 26 Bearcat turnovers into a 43-3 advantage in points off turnovers and outscoring Northwest 40-18 in the paint and 20-0 on fastbreak points.
As a team, Washburn shot 79 percent on two-point field goal attempts and finished 23 of 32 at the free throw line.
Defensively, Washburn held Northwest Missouri to just 34 percent shooting overall and 20 percent from 3-point range as Robert Garcia led Northwest with 10 points off the bench.
The 50-point win over the Bearcats is the largest in the series history.
Washburn is scheduled to host Missouri Western on Saturday, but due to the forecast of inclement weather, that game may be moved to another day.
WASHBURN 94, EMPORIA STATE 44
Washburn (19-0, 9-0) -- Christiansen 3-5 0-0 7, Claussen 4-5 10-10 18, Smith 2-6 0-0 4, Bachelor 5-11 1-2 14, Jones 3-7 1-2 7, Ruud 5-7 1-3 11, Glock 4-8 4-5 14, Ungashick 2-3 2-2 8, Wilkins 0-1 2-4 2, Cook 1-1 2-4 4, Saams-Hoy 0-0 0-0 0, Lewis 1-2 0-0 2, Parker 1-1 0-0 3, Ballard 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-57 23-32 94.
3-point shots -- Northwest Missouri 5-25 (Abdul-Hamid 3-6, Walters 1-7, Gair 1-6, Williams 0-3, Garcia 0-3), Washburn 9-29 (Bachelor 3-8, Glock 2-6, Ungashick 2-3, Parker 1-1, Christiansen 1-2, Claussen 0-1, Smith 0-4, Jones 0-2, Ruud 0-1, Lewis 0-1). Rebounds -- Northwest Missouri 24 (Garcia 5), Washburn 38 (Christiansen 11). Assists -- Northwest Missouri 8 (Three with 2), Washburn 19 (Smith 6). Turnovers -- Northwest Missouri 26, Washburn 12. Total fouls -- Northwest Missouri 22, Washburn 12. Fouled out -- Ratigan. Technical fouls -- none. Attendance -- 2,025.
