By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn Ichabods return to Missouri for their second straight contest Saturday as they will face Missouri Western at the St. Joseph Civic Arena at 3:30 p.m.
Washburn (5-4 overall, 1-2 MIAA) fell 68-65 last time out at Northwest Missouri on Wednesday while the Griffons (8-2, 3-2) topped Emporia State 76-54 on Thursday night.
Sophomore Sam Ungashick is Washburn's leading scorer at 16.3 points per game entering Saturday's game at Missouri Western. [File photo/TSN]
Saturday's meeting will be the 105th between the two schools with Washburn leading the series 60-44. Washburn will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak to the Griffons on Saturday.
The game will be played in the St. Joseph Civic Arena instead of on campus because of Missouri Western's graduation ceremonies.
Sophomore Sam Ungashick leads the Ichabods with a 16.3 scoring average while averaging 4.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Ungashick has reached double figures in each of the last eight games.
Junior Andrew Orr is scoring 13.9 points per game this season while going 29 of 30 from the free throw line, which ranks second in the nation in percentage at 96.7. He is shooting 58 percent from the field, hitting 48 of 83 attempts.
Freshman is scoring 9.7 points per game off the bench while adding 2.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists this season.
Brady Christiansen is averaging 8.4 points with a team-high 7.8 rebounds.
The Ichabods rank eighth in the nation in defensive rebounds per game, leading the MIAA with 28.1 per game.
The Ichabods are third nation in 3-point shooting at 43.5 percent, hitting 81 of 186 attempts.
JaRon Thames averages 17.1 points for Missouri Western and scored 25 against Emporia State last time out.
Julius Dixon is averaging 14.0 points while Zion Swader and Taye Fields are both scoring 11.4 points per game. Fields is averaging a team-high 9.3 rebounds per game after recording 12 against the Hornets.
Washburn will wrap up the 2023 calendar against Northeastern State next Tuesday with a 4 p.m. afternoon contest at Lee Arena.
