The No. 2 ranked Washburn Ichabods turned a two-point first-half deficit into a dominant 28-point victory Thursday night in Lee Arena, defeating Nebraska-Kearney 92-64.
Marcus Glock came off the bench to tie for game-high scoring honors with 15 points, including three 3-pointers, in Washburn's 92-64 win over Nebraska-Kearney. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Bryson Smith scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds in Washburn's 92-64 win over Nebraska-Kearney Thursday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Ichabods improved to 9-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play after erasing a 41-39 halftime deficit with a 53-23 second half.
Nebraska-Kearney (4-4, 0-1) controlled much of the first half, building its largest lead of seven points at the 14:59 mark.
Washburn responded with a 9-0 run midway through the period, highlighted by Marcus Glock's 3-pointer and Bryson Smith's transition basket, to briefly take the lead.
The Lopers regained momentum late in the half behind Clayton Moore and Kendrick Gilbert, who combined for 17 first-half points, and went into the break ahead by two.
But the second half was all Washburn.
The Ichabods opened the half with a 7-0 spurt to reclaim the lead and then delivered the knockout blow with an 11-0 run.
"We've still got to get off to better starts,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "We dig ourselves a hole again and we need to be better the first five and we just didn't rebound the ball in that first half. We had 10 rebounds as a team and they had six offensive rebounds to our one in the first half.
"The second half I thought we were much better rebounding the ball and I thought our depth really paid off. We wore them down and the last 15 minutes of the game we kind of forced them into some tough shots and offensively we were able to get into the paint and to the rim more.''
Washburn's relentless pace produced 26 fast-break points and 54 points in the paint for the game. The Ichabods also dominated the glass, grabbing 40 rebounds to UNK's 33, and converted nine offensive boards into 16 second-chance points.
Soiphomore Glock came off the bench to lead Washburn with 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting, including three 3-pointers, while senior Bryson Smith also had 15 points and added six rebounds.
"I'd say the biggest thing is to just come in and bring energy and play as hard as I can for the minutes that I'm in,'' Glock said. "My teammates did a great job of finding me today and I was lucky enough for them to go in.''
Sophomore Dillon Claussen contributed 13 points, four rebounds, and two blocks while sophomore Tyson Ruud, who had fought through injuries the previous two years, came off the bench to record his first double-double with 13 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
"It feels amazing,'' Ruud said. "I feel like I'm in a good spot physically and mentally right now and I'm playing with tons of gratitude out there and I'm just happy to be on the floor after a long two years.''
