By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
For the second straight game No. 3-ranked Washburn University men's basketball allowed an opponent to remain within striking distance in the first half Saturday against Peru State in Lee Arena.
And, for the second straight contest, the Ichabods came out smoking after the break, opening the second half with a 12-0 run and a 31-7 start over the first 10 minutes en route to an 82-56 non-conference win over the Bobcats in WU's final home game of 2024.
Washburn senior Andrew Orr (24) paced five Ichabods in double figures with 14 points in the Ichabods' 82-56 win over Peru State Saturday in Lee Arena. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Like it had a week earlier against William Jewell, Washburn never trailed against NAIA school Peru State, but the Bobcats were still within four points well into the first half and trailed by just eight (42-34) at halftime.
But after being reminded by WU coach Brett Ballard that they needed to step it up, the Ichabods did just that, turning in a dominating 40-22 scoring edge over the final 20 minutes.
"Stern is a good word to use,'' senior Andrew Orr, who led five Ichabod double-figure scorers with 14 points, said about Ballard's halftime chat. "He wasn't as turned up as he sometimes is because he knew that we would come out second half and take care of business and that's what we did.''
"I wasn't too animated,'' Ballard said. "These guys are mature and they understood we just didn't play really worth a flip in that first half, so a lot of things we needed to clean up and I was much more pleased with our defensive effort in the second half.
"I was glad they responded. They came out the second half and I thought the first 10 minutes we were very good.''
During the second-half run, eight different Ichabods scored and the Washburn defense held the Bobcats (7-3) to 1 of 13 shooting as the Ichabods turned the game into a rout.
Washburn jumped out to a 14-point lead with 9:35 left in the first half after a fastbreak bucket by Jacob Hanna to cap a 10-0 run.
However, the Bobcats answered with a 10-point run of their own to cut the Ichabod lead back to four at 34-30 with 4:47 to play in the opening half before WU extended its advantage back to eight at the break.
Washburn would go on to lead by as many as 35 points at 80-45 with 5:59 to play in the game and cruised the rest of the way.
For the second time in the last three games, all five Ichabod starters reached double figures.
Sophomore Brayden Shorter, scooping up a loose ball, scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Washburn's 82-56 win over Peru State Saturday in Lee Arena. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
In addition to Orr's 14 points, Brayden Shorter added 12 with eight rebounds while Hanna had 11 points and nine boards. Michael Keegan finished with 11 points and seven boards and Jack Bachelor had 10 points and nine assists.
Overall, nine different Ichabods scored, including seven with at least eight points.
Donzell Johnson scored 16 points to lead Peru State.
The Ichabods will now be on the road for the entire month of December, beginning MIAA play on Thursday at Nebraska-Kearney.
WASHBURN MEN 82, PERU STATE 56
Peru State 34 22 -- 56
Washburn 42 40 -- 82
PERU STATE (7-3)
Tomlinson 1-5 0-0 3, Tidlane 0-2 0-0 0, Poat 1-2 0-0 2, Griggs 1-4 0-0 2, Johnson 6-15 2-2 16, Coleman Jr. 2-6 3-4 7, Miller 1-2 1-3 3, Wright 2-3 1-1 5, Lee 2-5 5-5 11, Poindexter 1-3 0-2 2, Brown 0-1 1-2 1, Hall 1-4 0-0 2, Riley 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 19-55 13-19 56.
WASHBURN (7-0)
Orr 5-11 4-6 14, Hanna 5-6 1-3 11, Bachelor 5-12 0-0 10, Shorter 4-14 1-2 12, Keegan 5-7 1-2 11, Christiansen 4-7 0-0 9, Claussen 3-6 2-5 8, Schadegg 2-3 0-0 5, Cook 0-1 2-4 2, Parker 0-0 0-0 0, Dajani 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 33-67 11-23 82.
3-point goals -- Peru State 5-21 (Johnson 2-9, Lee 2-4, Tomlinson 1-3, Coleman Jr. 0-2, Wright 0-1, Poindexter 0-1, Riley 0-1), Washburn 5-14 (Shorter 3-8, Christiansen 1-2, Schadegg 1-1, Bachelor 0-3). Rebounds -- Peru State 34 (Tomlinson 5, Wright 5), Washburn 44 (Hanna 9, Shorter 8). Assists -- Peru State 11 (Wright 4), Washburn 16 (Bachelor 9). Turnovers -- Peru State 19, Washburn 7. Total fouls -- Peru State 17, Washburn 15. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- Washburn bench.
