By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
There’s no doubt that Brett Ballard's No. 17-ranked Washburn University men’s basketball team is going through some tough times.
Ichabod 6-foot-9 junior Jonny Clausing has missed five straight games with a foot injury and is doubtful for Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. home MIAA contest against Rogers State, while 6-7 junior Will McKee is also out after aggravating the knee injury that kept him out for the entire 2019-20 season and 6-5 senior Drew Maschoff has left the team to deal with a sports hernia.
Those absences have left the Ichabods short on depth, particularly up front, but Ballard promises that his Ichabods, 11-3 overall and in the MIAA, will continue to battle.
"We're just really thin right now and obviously it's disappointing on one hand, but on the other hand, you've got to play with the guys that are available,'' Ballard said. "I still like the fight of the guys we've got, but it definitely has hurt our size and our depth inside.
"It's the cards we've been dealt, so we're going to have to play them how they lie.''
Washburn, which is coming off a 74-72 heartbreaker at Central Oklahoma last Saturday, will begin a three-game homestand against Rogers State (6-8, 6-8), which is coming off an 86-75 loss to Pittsburg State.
Ballard said that despite WU's current situation he's proud that his Ichabods have continued to put themselves in position to win.
"I think our guys have responded the right way,'' he said. "We've put ourselves in position to win and have won some games and been in position to win some of these other games.
"I think what it does a little bit is it puts a little more pressure on us to make shots just because we're not as big inside. Making shots will be important and then we've got to stay solid on the defensive end and scrap and battle and make sure we rebound even though we're under-sized.''
Washburn star senior point guard Tyler Geiman is averaging 20.7 points, 6.0 assists, 6.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals, ranking second in the MIAA in scoring and first in assists.
Prior to his injury Clausing was averaging 11.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and a team-high 1.3 blocks while junior Jalen Lewis is averaging 11.6 points with 34 3-pointers.
Former Hayden standout Levi Braun is averaging 8.7 points off the bench for the Ichabods, with all 38 of his field goals coming from 3-point range.
Braun leads the MIAA in 3-pointers per game at 2.7 and 3-point field goal percentage hitting 38 of 72 attempts (.528).
Davin Pullum leads Rogers State in scoring with a 15.4 average while Darraja Parnell is scoring 11.9 points a game and Jett Sternberger 11.1.
The WU-Rogers State men’s game will follow a 5:30 p.m. women’s game between the 6-7 Ichabods and 4-10 Hillcats.
Washburn is coming off a 74-73 loss at Central Oklahoma on Saturday while Rogers State is coming off a 92-81 loss to Pittsburg State.
Ichabod senior Hunter Bentley is averaging 15.8 points to go with a 6.5 rebounding average.
Junior Nuria Barrientos is averaing 11.2 points and 8.5 rebounds while sophomore Abby Oliver averages 9.7 points and 4.5 rebounds.
Samariah Thompson is averaging 18.1 points and 4.7 assists for the Hillcats.
Washburn will be at home Saturday for an MIAA twinbill against Northeastern State, with the women's game tipping off at 1 p.m., followed by the men's contest.
