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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn University men's basketball moved up five spots to No. 5 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches national rankings on Tuesday and then went out and showed why.

The Ichabods improved to a perfect 5-0 on the season with their fifth straight victory by at least 17 points, rolling to an 89-71 win over MIAA foe Pittsburg State in a non-conference game in Lee Arena.

Senior Jacob Hanna scored a game-high 20 points to lead five players in double figures for Washburn, which improved to 5-0 with an 89-71 win over Pittsburg State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Andrew Orr scored 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting from the field in Washburn's 89-71 win over Pittsburg State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

As they have all season, Brett Ballard's Ichabods rode their balance to the decisive victory, with all five WU starters cracking double figures. Washburn has had no fewer than four double-digit scorers in any of its five games while having as many six players reach double figures in a game.

"We have so many weapons and Ballard preaches that every single day,'' Washburn senior Andrew Orr said. "It doesn't matter who it is, we have seven, eight guys that can score 20 points on you any given night and that's the most dangerous part about our team, that we can do that and everyone plays really good defense.''

"It's a great team,'' added senior Jacob Hanna, who is his first season with the Ichabods after transferring from Illinois-Springfield. "We have a bunch of different options than get it done offensively and also on the defensive end. This team we know offense is going to come so we all just have to focus on defense and focus on the very important things.''

Hanna led the Ichabods with a game-high 20 points added seven rebounds while Orr scored 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting, Shorter finished with 15 points and Michael Keegan and Jack Bachelor added 13 points each.

"We've had some good teams but this is probably the deepest team we've had and you combine that with the experience that we have and a confident group in the right ways,'' Ballard said.

Bachelor had four steals in the game and Christiansen had seven rebounds to tie Hanna for game-high honors.

[Graphic courtesy of Washburn Athletics]

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Seven Washburn University football players earned 2024 All-MIAA recognition on Tuesday, led by sophomore wide receiver/return specialist Tre Richardson.

Richardson, a former Highland Park star, earned unanimous first-team All-MIAA honors at wide receiver and honorable mention all-conference accolades as a returner.

Former Highland Park star Tre Richardson earned first-team All-MIAA honors at wide receiver and earned honorable mention as a returner. [File photo/TSN]

Richardson ranks ninth in the nation and second in the MIAA in all-purpose yards, averaging 146.5 yards per game on thee season and he is also 16th in total receiving yards with 983 and 18th in receiving yards per game with 87.4 in the national rankings.

His 18.8 yards per reception was second in the MIAA and 23rd in the national rankings. He finished third in the MIAA in receiving touchdowns with 11. As a kick returner, he was third in the MIAA in average yards per return at 24.1 on 16 attempts. Richardson also led the Ichabods in scoring with 66 points, finishing 10th in the MIAA overall.

Named to the second team was sophomore linebacker L.J. Minner Jr., who led the Ichabods and the MIAA in tackles this season with 103 total stops including 59 solo tackles.

His solo tackles per game ranked 13th in the nation and his total tackle mark was 18th in the nation. He also tied for the team lead with 8.0 tackles for loss for 38 yards and his 5.0 sacks were second on the team. His four forced fumbles this season tied a school record as well and was seventh in the nation and led the MIAA. Minner finished the season with three straight double-digit tackle games with 15 vs Nebraska-Kearney, 10 against Central Oklahoma and 14 against Northeastern State.

Named to the third-team All-MIAA offensive unit were sophomore wide receiver Maury Sullivan and sophomore offensive lineman Jakobe Harmon.

Sullivan was second on the team in receiving yards with 550 on 39 catches with six touchdown receptions. He averaged 14.1 yards per catch and 50.0 yards receiving a game. He was third on the team in scoring with 36 total points.

Harmon helped the Ichabods to the sixth-best rushing total in the MIAA at 130.5 yards per game and the ninth-best passing offense at 229.5 yards per game. He helped anchor an offensive line that was the third-best in the MIAA in fewest sacks allowed with 17.

Selected for the third team defensive squad was junior safety Jordan Finnesy, who finished second on the team with 88 total tackles with 48 solo stops. He also added 3.5 tackles for loss for 11 yards and had nine pass breakups and an interception at Emporia State. Finnesy had a career-high 16 tackles against Central Missouri.

Recieiving MIAA honorable mention team in addition to Richardson were junior offensive lineman Nick Hogan and senior defensive tackle Chase McCoy.

Hogan started all 11 games on the offensive line for the Ichabods. He helped the Ichabods to the sixth-best rushing attack in the MIAA at 130.5 yards per game and the ninth-best passing offense at 229.5 yards per game. He helped anchor an offensive line that was the third-best in the MIAA in sacks allowed with 17.

McCoy is an honorable mention All-MIAA selection on defense for the second year in a row after leading the Ichabods with 6.5 sacks for 40 yards while adding 8.0 tackles for loss for 43 yards. He had a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown against Missouri Southern. He finished the season with 30 tackles overall and 10 solo stops.

2024 ALL-MIAA FOOTBALL