No. 2 Washburn men's basketball rolls to 95-63 win in Central Regional Challenge

Details: Created: 14 November 2025

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

The No. 2-ranked Washburn University men's basketball team put together an outstanding offensive performance on Friday night in its first of two games in the Central Region Challenge at Pittsburg State, shooting 61.4 percent from the field and scoring 53 second-half points in a 95-63 win over Minnesota State-Moorhead.

Junior Jack Bachelor led the way with 23 points Friday as No. 2 ranked Washburn improved to 3-0 with a 95-63 win over MSU-Moorhead. [File photo/TSN]

The 3-0 Ichabods took control early with balanced scoring and a surge midway through the first half, then broke the game wide open after halftime with an 18-6 burst that pushed the margin to over 20.

After trailing 5–0 in the opening minutes, Washburn responded with an 8-2 run, capped by a Bryson Smith fast-break layup.

Washburn Rural product Jack Bachelor provided a spark throughout the period, scoring 13 first-half points, highlighted by a pair of transition layups and 8-for-8 shooting at the free throw line.

A late stretch in which Washburn scored 11 of 13 points gave the Ichabods a 42-33 halftime lead.

Washburn shot 46.9 percent in the opening half while scoring 26 points in the paint, turning eight Moorhead turnovers into nine fast-break points.

The Ichabods came out firing in the second half, putting together a 7–0 run in the first 70 seconds thanks to a Brady Christiansen corner 3-pointer and a pair of fastbreak scores from Bachelor and Smith.

That stretch ballooned the lead to 49-33 and forced an early MSU-Moorhead timeout.

Another 9-2 run, capped by a step-back Smith three and a transition layup from Bachelor, extended the margin to 61–38.

The Washburn advantage reached 32 points with 6:20 left as the Ichabods continued to pile up transition points and dominate the paint.

The second-half numbers were staggering as Washburn shot 80 percent from the field (20 of 25) and 70 percent from three (7 of 10) while scoring 53 points on just 25 shot attempts.

At one point in the second half the Ichabods were 18 of 19 from the field.

Bachelor led the way with 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-6 from deep and a perfect 6-for-6 at the line.

Smith delivered a highly efficient 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting with a pair of threes. Christiansen added 11 points and seven rebounds, while Dillon Claussen was a force inside with 15 points, four rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

Jeremiah Jones added 11 points, five assists and two steals.

For the game, Washburn shot 35-of-57 overall (61.4 percent), 9-of-17 from three (52.9 percent) and 16-of-24 at the line while scoring 52 points in the paint, 22 points off turnovers, 20 fast-break points and 27 points from the bench.

Moorhead was held to 40 percent shooting and outrebounded 38–26.

Washburn will face Winona State on Saturday in Pittsburg.

Ichabod women drop 73-61 in Central Region Crossover

Washburn women's basketball led for the majority of the first half Friday but was unable to overcome a second-half run from St. Cloud State in the season-opener, falling 73-61 in day one of the Central Region Crossover in Edmond, Okla.

The Ichabods will wrap up the tournament on Saturday at 1 p.m., facing No. 18 Southwest Minnesota State.

In the opening minutes it was all Washburn (0-1) as the Ichabods led 6-0, beginning with a 3-pointer from Gabi Giovannetti in the opening minute. The Huskies (1-0) did not get on the board until the 6:54 mark, but quickly tied the game at 6-6. Back-to-back baskets inside by WU senior Yibari Nwidadah in the final three minutes of the quarter put the Ichabods in front, 18-17.

The first four points of the second quarter came from Washburn as it held St. Cloud State scoreless until the 6:31 mark in the quarter. The Ichabods led by as many as six before the Huskies turned around their offensive output, shooting 7-15 in the quarter to lead 32-31 going into the break on a last-second 3-pointer.

Coming out of the break Nwidadah got a layup to fall, putting Washburn back in front. The Ichabods held the lead until an 8-0 run by St. Cloud State midway through the quarter put them in front by five. The Ichabods were held to 6-19 (31.6 percent) shooting in the third as the Huskies expanded the lead to nine heading to the fourth.

Washburn began the fourth quarter on a 6-3 run to stay in the game. Another 3-pointer by Giovannetti with 3:01 remaining made it a four-point contest but that was as close as the Ichabods could get. St. Cloud State scored the next eight points and went on to post the 12-point win.

Both teams shot under 40.0 percent in the contest with the Ichabods at 37.7 and the Huskies at 39.7. Both teams also shot under 25.0 percent from deep, with Washburn making three triples to five for St. Cloud State.

Rebounding was dead even at 40 each, with St. Cloud State leading 16-8 in assists and using a 25-18 advantage in second-chance scoring to gain an advantage.

Nwidadah led Washburn with 15 points on 6-9 shooting while adding eight rebounds, a team-high. Payton Sterk scored in double figures with 11 points and Britany Kogbara had 10 off the bench in her Washburn debut.

Jada Eggebrecht and Alana Zarneke had 19 points each to lead the Huskies.

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