By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
With every win No. 2-ranked and 14-0 Washburn University men's basketball continues to set its bar just a little bit higher.
Senior Jacob Hanna, reacting to a basket Wednesday night, led Washburn with 21 points in a 92-74 MIAA romp past Missouri Western. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But Ichabod coach Brett Ballard also wants his team to enjoy the ride, including Wednesday's 92-74 MIAA romp past Missouri Western in Lee Arena.
"That' a very good team, with seven or eight seniors that play,'' Ballard said of the Griffons. "That's a very experienced team, so that's a good win.
"I told our guys in the locker room, 'Do not take this for granted.' This is special what these guys are doing. To beat a team like that, which is a very good team, by 18, that's a very good win.''
The Ichabods, playing their first home game in 39 days, were never seriously threatened after scoring 19 of the first 21 points of the game over the first seven minutes.
"We got off to a great start, I thought probably as well as we've played defensively all year,'' Ballard said. "The first 10 minutes were tremendous. We went through a little lull there, but I like how we responded. And then the second half, especially offensively, we were really efficient.''
Washburn, now 5-0 in the MIAA, started out the night 6 of 8 from the field and hit all six of its free throw attempts while holding the Griffons to 1 of 5 shooting and forcing four turnovers en route to jumping out to the big lead.
With Washburn holding a 39-24 lead with 3:22 left in the opening half, Western closed the half on a 10-4 run to cut the Ichabod lead to nine at 43-34 heading into halftime.
Missouri Western (10-5 overall, 2-3 MIAA) trimmed the Ichabod lead to 45-39 with 18:06 left before a 13-5 spurt by the Ichabods pushed the lead back to 14.
The Griffons would not get any closer than 12 the rest of the way as the Ichabods finished the night with six double-figure scorers, led by senior Jacob Hanna with a game-high 21 points and seven rebounds.
Sophomore Jack Bachelor was one of six double-figure scorers for Washburn with 15 points in Wednesday's 92-74 MIAA win over Missouri Western. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"We did a good job offensively and defensively,'' Hanna said. "It's tough to stay locked in for a full 40 minutes, but you can't really complain when you win by almost 20 points against a really, really good team.''
Washburn sophomore Jack Bachelor scored all 15 of his points in the second half on 5 of 8 shooting while adding five assists.
Senior Andrew Orr scored 12 points while sophomore Brayden Shorter and Brady Christiansen both added 11 points and senior Michael Keegan scored 10 with seven boards and two steals.
"I think it's just the next man up mentality,'' Hanna said of WU's team balance. "Everyone knows that it might not be their night, but everyone's going to stay aggressive and share the ball and that's why we've had a lot of success so far.''
Zane Nelson led the Griffons with 16 points while Julius Dixon had 15 points and Zion Swader and Justin Bubak 14 apiece.
Washburn shot 55 percent for the game (31 of 56) after hitting 59 percent (16 of 27) of their shots in the second half. Washburn was also 24 of 28 from the free throw line.
The Ichabods had a 32-28 rebounding advantage, including nine offensive rebounds (five by Keegan). Overall, 48 of Washburn's 92 points came in the paint.
Washburn will be back at home Saturday for a 3 p.m. conference game against Northwest Missouri, the second of the Ichabods' four-game homestand.
WASHBURN MEN 92, MISSOURI WESTERN 74
Missouri Western 34 40 -- 74
Washburn 43 49 -- 92
MISSOURI WESTERN (10-5, 2-3)
Saxon 2-4 2-2 6, Dixon 6-11 1-1 15, Swader 5-9 3-4 14, Nelson 7-15 0-0 16, Bubak 5-14 2-2 14, Blocker 1-2 1-2 3, Killgore 3-4 0-0 6, Butler 0-0 0-0 0, Nunez 0-0 0-0 0, Schneider 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-59 9-11 74.
WASHBURN (14-0, 5-0)
Orr 4-6 4-4 12, Hanna 6-10 8-10 21, Bachelor 5-8 3-4 15, Shorter 3-12 2-2 11, Keegan 5-6 0-0 10, Ungashick 0-1 0-0 0, Christiansen 4-8 3-3 11, Claussen 3-3 2-3 8, Ruud 1-2 2-2 4, Schadegg 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-56 24-28 92.
3-point goals -- Missouri Western 7-23 (Bubak 2-6, Nelson 2-5, Dixon 2-4, Swader 1-4, Saxon 0-2, Blocker 0-1, Killgore 0-1), Washburn 6-19 (Shorter 3-12, Bachelor 2-3, Hanna 1-1, Christiansen 0-2, Ungashick 0-1). Rebounds -- Missouri Western 28 (Dixon 9), Washburn 32 (Hanna 7, Keegan 7). Assists -- Missouri Western 11 (Nelson 4), Washburn 18 (Bachelor 5). Turnovers -- Missouri Western 14, Washburn 6. Total fouls -- Missouri Western 23, Washburn 14. Fouled out -- Bubak, Killgore. Technical fouls -- none.
