By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's basketball teams hit the road for the first time in MIAA play, facing Central Oklahoma in 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. contests Thursday.
The Ichabod men will be looking to climb above .500 in the MIAA and overall, with Washburn currently 4-4 overall and 1-1 in the MIAA.
Washburn will be facing a Centralk Oklahoma men's team that is 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
The Ichabods are coming off a 79-77 win over Nebraska-Kearney while the Bronchos are coming off a 79-60 road win over Pittsburg State.
Washburn junior Jalen Lewis drives the ball earlier this season against Fort Hays State. Lewis leads the Ichabods with a 13.3 scoring average. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Jalen Lewis leads Washburn with a 13.3 scoring average and has hit 14 3-pointers while freshman Michael Keegan averages 12.4 points and a team-high five rebounds per game.
Sophomore Connor Deffebaugh is averaging 9.8 points and a team-high 2.1 assists and hit the game-winning shot in last Saturday's win over Nebraska-Kearney.
Deffebaugh had a career-high 19 points against UNK while Keegan recorded a career-high 18 points.
Isaiah Wade leads four players in double figures for Central Oklahoma with an 18-point average and also averages seven rebounds.
Camryn Givens averages 15.3 points and 6.4 rebounds while Jaden Wells averages 12.3 points and Callen Haydon 12.1 points.
The Washburn women's basketball team is 1-6 overall and 0-2 in the MIAA on the season and will be looking to snap a five-game losing streak after falling to No. 21 Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday, 49-43.
Central Oklahoma is 5-3 and split the conference-opening week, falling to Missouri Southern, 81-74, before rolling to a 96-76 victory at Pittsburg State.
Senior Hunter Bentley averages a team-high 10.1 points for Washburn and averages 3.7 rebounds.
Mackenzie Gamble averages 7.4 points and has hit at least one 3-pointer in every game this season to give her a season total of 13 treys.
Central Oklahoma is led by Kelsey Johnson, who has already won the MIAA Player of the Week award twice this season and averages a double-double with 19.8 points and 11.3 rebounds per game..
Alayzha Knapp averages 10.0 points and 4.1 rebounds for the Bronchos.
Washburn will continue its road trip with a women's/men's twinbill at Newman on Saturday.
