By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University men's basketball passed its first test playing as the No. 1 team in the nation on Wednesday night, taking an 83-72 win over Emporia State in Lee Arena.
Senior Andrew Orr (right) scored a game-high 21 points Wednesday night as Washburn improved to 16-0 with an 83-72 win over Emporia State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Michael Keegan had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals in Washburn's 83-72 win over Emporia State Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Brett Ballard's Ichabods won their 16th straight game to open the season, improving to 16-0 overall and 7-0 in the MIAA, while handing the Hornets their sixth loss in a row.
And while Wednesday's win wasn't quite as many games during the Ichabods' win streak WU has still had just one single-digit game on the season.
"It's hard to win in this league so definitely (Ballard) is still happy, but obviously there's things we can work on,'' said Washburn senior Michael Keegan, who turned in a banner overall performance for the Ichabods. "There were some things we let go easy, but kudos to (the Hornets). They really played hard, they played well.
"Overall, we're very happy for a win. Staying undefeated is a very big thing for us right now.''
Ballard said that while his team might not have been as sharp as it wanted to to be,the Ichabods achieved their main objective of getting a win over their rival.
"I think you get somewhat spoiled,'' Ballard said. "You win a rivalry game by double-digits and you feel a certain type of way about it and I understand that. I thought that Emporia deserved a lot of credit.
"They battled us and had a nice game plan. They frustrated us on the defensive end. Luckily we got 16 offensive rebounds and that was really the difference in the game but our first-shot offense was not very good. I thought we got good looks and didn't make some of them. We're not going to apologize for winning by double-digits, but I do think a lot of things we need to clean up.''
Washburn trailed by just one point on four different occasions in the opening minutes, including a 10-9 Hornet lead with 17:23 to play in the half, but Washburn used a 7-0 run over the next 60 seconds to go in front 16-10 and never trailed again, leading for 37:59 of the 40-minute contest.
ESU (4-12, 1-6) trimmed the Ichabod advantage to three at after a 3-pointer by Dallas Bear, but a 3-pointer by Keegan and a 3-pointer and jumper by Jack Bachelor pushed the Ichabod lead back to eight.
Washburn then used a 14-2 run, led by Keegan's eight points, to take a 43-25 lead before a 3-pointer by the Hornets' Malik Edwards cut the Ichabod lead 43-28 at the halftime break.
The second half saw the Ichabods push their lead to 18 on their first possession of the frame on a 3-pointer by Keegan.
Washburn kept the Hornets at arms-length in double-digits, building its lead to as many as 21 points with 6:36 to play before a 15-4 Hornet run cut the lead to 10 at 75-65 with 2:48 to play.
ESU pulled within 10 points three different times but did not get any closer as the Ichabods went 10 of 12 the final 4:17 of the game from the free throw line to secure the 11-point win.
Senior Andrew Orr led the Ichabods with a game-high 21 points, going 7 of 11 from the field and hitting all seven free throw attempts. Sophomore Brayden Shorter scored 17 points while Keegan finished with 16 points and added eight rebounds and tied a career-high with five steals.
Bachelor finished with 14 points while Brady Christiansen scored all seven of the Ichabods' bench points while adding eight rebounds.
Arhman Lewis scored 19 points to lead the Hornets.
Washburn finished the game 26 of 62 from the field for a 42 percent clip as the Hornets outshot the Ichabods at a 44 percent average, hitting 24 of 54 attempts. Washburn was 7 of 28 from 3-point range while the Hornets were 10 of 22. Washburn hit 77 percent of its free throw attempts, hitting 24 of 31 compared to 14 of 16 for the Hornets.
Washburn also had a 38 to 29 advantage on the glass and forced 19 turnovers, leading to 15 points. Washburn also had 16 offensive rebounds, leading to 21 second-chance points.
The Ichabods will wrap up their current four-game homestand hosting Newman on Saturday at 3 p.m.
WASHBURN MEN 83, EMPORIA STATE 72
Emporia State 28 44 -- 72
Washburn 43 40 -- 83
EMPORIA STATE (4-12, 1-6)
Dixon 1-3 1-1 3, Day 2-4 2-3 6, Edwards 3-12 5-6 13, Laube 3-6 2-2 8, Lewis 7-9 2-2 19, Mack 5-9 0-0 13, Conley 0-3 0-0 0, Harris 2-3 2-2 7, Bear 1-5 0-0 3. Totals 24-54 14-16 72.
WASHBURN (16-0, 7-0)
Orr 7-11 7-7 21, Hanna 3-7 2-2 8, Bachelor 4-12 3-4 14, Shorter 5-15 5-8 17, Keegan 5-9 5-8 16, Ungashick 0-4 0-0 0, Christiansen 2-4 2-2 7, Claussen 0-0 0-0 0, Ruud 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-62 24-31 83.
3-point goals -- Emporia State 10-22 (Lewis 3-4, Mack 3-3, Edwards 2-7, Bear 1-4, Harris 1-1, Conley 0-2, Laube 0-1), Washburn 7-28 (Bachelor 3-7, Shorter 2-11, Christiansen 1-2, Keegan 1-4, Ungashick 0-3, Hanna 0-1). Rebounds -- Emporia State 29 (Day 6), Washburn 38 (Keegan 8, Christiansen 8). Assists -- Emporia State 7 (Edwards 2, Lewis 2), Washburn 12 (Bachelor 3). Turnovers -- Emporia State 19, Washburn 12. Total fouls -- Emporia State 19, Washburn 12. Fouled out -- Dixon, Day. Technical fouls -- none.
