By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's men's basketball team will continue its four-game home stand against rival Emporia State at 3 p.m. Saturday in Lee Arena.
The Ichabods, 10-7 overall, 7-4 in the MIAA, have won four of their last five games, with three wins coming on the road. Washburn fell on Monday night to No. 2-ranked Northwest Missouri, 71-63.
Washburn will be facing an Emporia State team (14-3, 9-2) that has won its last seven games, including an 85-72 win at Missouri Southern last Saturday.
The Ichabods lead the all-time series with Emporia State 110-104 in the most-played series in Washburn's program history.
Washburn is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings with Emporia State and has gone 63-44 all-time in games played in Topeka. The Ichabods have won nine straight games over the Hornets played in Lee Arena. ESU's last win in Lee Arena was on Feb. 23, 2011 in a 73-68 victory over the Ichabods.
Junior Jalen Lewis leads Washburn with a 13.5 scoring average entering Saturday's MIAA game against Emporia State at Lee Arena. [File photo]
Junior Jalen Lewis leads the Ichabods in scoring with a 13.5-point scoring average while hitting 38 of 94 3-pointers (.402).
Senior Tyler Geiman is averaging 12.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.1 assists in 10 games this season and he is averaging 13.9 points and 6.9 rebounds in conference play.
Freshman Michael Keegan is scoring 9.8 points with 6.2 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.7 steals per game.
Sophomore Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 9.6 points per game and has averaged 18.5 points in is last two games, scoring 20 against Missouri Southern and 17 against Northwest Missouri.
Red-hot Emporia State is led by the scoring tandem of Tray Buchanan and Jumah'Ri Turner, who rank No. 1 and No. 5 in the MIAA in scoring.
Buchanan is averaging a conference-best 27.8 points while Turner averages 18.4 points. Buchanan scored 40 points against Graceland earlier in the season.
Emporia State coach Craig Doty is 49-49 in his fourth season with the Hornets.
The Hornets are second in the MIAA in scoring at 80.8 points per game and fifth in scoring defense at 69.8 points per outing.
Washburn will be back in Lee Arena to host Newman next Wednesday and Central Oklahoma next Saturday.
