By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Newman's men's basketball team did a pretty good Steph Curry imitation Saturday in Lee Arena, canning seven 3-pointers in the first half and 13 on the day.
Junior Michael Keegan slams down a dunk on the way to a double-double in Washburn's 92-83 MIAA win over Newman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Junior standout Andrew Orr led Washburn with 21 points in Saturday's 92-83 MIAA win over Newman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But Washburn continued to stick with its game plan, which paid off down the stretch in a 92-83 MIAA win over the Jets, with the Ichabods improving to 9-4 overall and 5-2 in the conference.
"They were hitting some crazy shots,'' Washburn junior standout Andrew Orr admitted. "We kept our composure and I think that was important. We knew going into halftime that we didn't play as well as we were supposed to or as we can. We had just beat the No. 12-ranked team in the country (Central Oklahoma), so we know how good we can play.
"We came out a little bit flat but we ended up able to pick up in the second half. It's a long game so we were able to play the long game and we did what we needed to do.''
Newman's 3-point barrage led by a 36-32 halftime advantage and the Jets (6-7, 3-5) and Ichabods were tied at 70 with 5:26 remaining before Washburn ended the game with a 22-13 run to clinch its fourth straight win.
Washburn coach Brett Ballard said the Ichabods probably didn't do as well defending the 3-pointer as it could have, but he was proud of the way WU was able to take control down the stretch.
"They got us chasing and then got a lot of open 3s,'' Ballard said. "They made 13 and that can get you beat. We've got to be better there but offensively we were great in the second half, which is good.
"And as much as you want games to be blowouts this is still good for us to play high-pressure situations with a young team. We'll learn from this, but give Newman tons of credit. They were really good tonight.''
Orr led a balanced Washburn attack with 21 points as five Ichabods cracked double figures and seven scored at least eight points.
The 6-foot-8 Orr went 8 of 15 from the field and hit all five of his free throw attempts as he continues to rank among the national leaders in free throw shooting (37 of 40, 92.5 percent).
Orr had scored just six points in Thursday's win over Central Oklahoma but said it was part of WU's game plan on Saturday to get him more offensive opportunities against Newman.
"Newman's a little bit of a smaller team so we knew we had an advantage inside,'' Orr said. "That was the plan, to look for me inside as much as we could.''
Freshman Washburn Rural product Jack Bachelor scored 17 points while hitting both of his 3-point attempts and all five free throws while sophomore Brady Christiansen scored 13 points and sophomore Jarmell Johnson 11.
Junior Michael Keegan registered a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds while Jake Schadegg scored nine points and Sam Ungashick eight points and a team-high six assists.
Latik Murphy scored a game-high 22 points for Newman with six 3-pointers while Stevie Strong added 20 points and Sam Somerhalder and Jacob Joe 12 apiece. All 12 of Joe's points came on four 3-pointers.
Washburn will go on the road for a pair of MIAA games next week, playing a 7:30 p.m. game at Central Missouri on Wednesday and traveling to Lincoln next Saturday.
WASHBURN MEN 92, NEWMAN 83
Newman 36 47 -- 83
Washburn 32 60 -- 92
NEWMAN (6-7, 3-5)
Zevgaras 1-2 0-0 2, Murphy 8-19 0-0 22, Strong 7-22 4-6 20, Somerhalder 5-6 2-3 12, Fisher-Brown 0-4 0-0 0, Turner 1-2 3-3 5, Walker 1-2 1-2 3, Weibe 1-3 0-0 3, Stanton III 0-3 2-2 2, Agyapong 1-2 0-0 2, Joe 4-6 0-0 12, Spitzer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-71 12-16 83.
WASHBURN (9-4, 5-2)
Christiansen 4-9 2-4 13, Orr 8-15 5-5 21, Johnson 2-5 7-10 11, Ungashick 3-6 2-2 8, Keegan 3-8 4-4 10, Byrd 1-2 1-2 3, Bachelor 5-8 5-5 17, Schadegg 3-7 1-2 9, Shorter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-60 27-34 92.
3-point goals -- Newman 13-32 (Murphy 6-14, Joe 4-5, Strong 2-8, Weibe 1-1, Zevgaras 0-1, Fisher-Brown 0-1, Walker 0-1, Stanton III 0-1), Washburn 7-11 (Christiansen 3-5, Bachelor 2-2, Schadegg 2-4). Rebounds -- Newman 40 (Strong 9), Washburn 39 (Keegan 11). Assists -- Newman 16 (Strong 7), Washburn 20 (Ungashick 6). Turnovers -- Newman 13, Washburn 10. Total fouls -- Newman 20, Washburn 13. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- Murphy.
