By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University men's basketball showed plenty of offensive firepower in Tuesday's 97-76 home non-conference win over Ottawa.
Sophomore Sam Ungashick led five double-figure scorers for Washburn in Tuesday's 97-76 win over Ottawa. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But it was the Ichabods' performance on the other end of the court that left Washburn coach Brett Ballard with a sour taste in his mouth.
Washburn, which improved to 3-2 on the season, had five players in double figures and eight players with at least seven points, but the fact that the Ichabods have now allowed four of their first five opponents to score between 76 and 85 points was a concern for Ballard.
"I'm about as disappointed as I could be after a win,'' Ballard said. "I thought our defense was as bad as it could be. We just can't guard like that and win games in our league.
"No disrespect to Ottawa, but we're trying to prepare our guys for MIAA teams and that defensive effort, you're going to get beat every night with that, so we've got some things to tighten up.''
Washburn used an 8-0 run to take a 34-18 lead over the Braves with 6:33 left in the first half and went on to lead by as many as 18 points before taking a 51-35 lead to the locker room at the half.
Ottawa wasn't able to make a serious run at the Ichabods after the break, with Washburn leading by as many as 32 points (91-59) with 5:11 remaining, but the Braves outscored the Ichabods 17-6 to end the game.
Washburn sophomore Jarmell Johnson (5) scored 13 points in Tuesday's 97-76 win over Ottawa. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore Sam Ungashick led Washburn with a game-high 16 points and also tied for game-high honors with four assists while Jarmell Johnson added 13 points, Andrew Orr 12, Jack Bachelor 11 and Michael Keegan 10 points.
Washburn junior Andrew Orr scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the Ichabods' 97-76 win over Ottawa Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Freshman Jack Bachelor (14) scored 11 points with seven rebounds and four assists in Washburn's 97-76 win over Ottawa Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"I liked our balance, which we should have, and multiple guys in double figures, which is a good thing,'' Ballard said. "I do think we have different weapons and different ways we can score.
"I thought we did some OK things, but I still think we've got to be a lot stronger around that rim and finishing those bunnies.''
Sophomore Brady Christiansen garnered a game-high 10 rebounds while Orr and Emmanuel Byrd grabbed eight boards and Bachelor seven while also tying Ungashick and Schadegg for game-high assist honors with four.
"I think that we should still be confident, but I think that there's a lot of stuff for us to work on, a lot of stuff for us to hammer home and I think we'll definitely get that done,'' Ungashick said.
Ottawa hit 15 of 27 3-point attempts against the Ichabods to account for 45 of their 76 points and the Braves had four players in double figures, led by Payton Kaiser with 14 points.
Washburn will be back at home Saturday to host Avila in a 2 p.m. contest, followed by a 4 p.m. women's game between the Ichabods and Barclay.
WASHBURN MEN 97, OTTAWA 76
Ottawa 35 41 -- 76
Washburn 51 46 -- 97
OTTAWA (4-3)
Buggage 1-10 2-2 5, Kaiser 5-7 2-3 14, Anyang 4-8 1-2 10, Klompenmaker 2-3 0-0 6, Hibbitt 4-10 1-2 9, Ferguson 4-7 0-2 12, Zambrano 4-5 0-0 12, Brown 0-3 0-0 0, Mallory 1-3 0-0 2, Hoeme 1-2 1-2 3, Biggs 0-1 0-0 0, Johnson 1-1 0-2 3. Totals 27-60 7-15 76.
WASHBURN (3-2)
Christiansen 3-5 0-0 7, Orr 5-13 2-2 12, Johnson 4-8 3-5 13, Ungashick 7-14 0-0 16, Keegan 4-5 2-2 10, Shorter 2-7 0-0 5, Byrd 3-7 3-4 9, Schadegg 3-9 0-0 8, Bachelor 4-10 1-2 11, Dajani 2-2 0-0 4, Braun 0-2 0-0 0, Eman 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 38-84 11-15 97.
3-point goals -- Ottawa 15-27 (Zambrano 4-5, Ferguson 4-6, Kaiser 2-3, Klompenmaker 2-3, Johnson 1-1, Anyang 1-1, Buggage 1-4, Brown 0-2, Mallory 0-1, Biggs 0-1), Washburn 10-29 (Ungashick 2-7, Schadegg 2-5, Johnson 2-2, Bachelor 2-4, Christiansen 1-3, Shorter 1-5, Braun 0-2, Eman 0-1), Rebounds -- Ottawa 29 (Anyang 7), Washburn 54 (Christiansen 10, Orr 8, Byrd 8, Bachelor 7). Assists -- Ottawa 16 (Buggage 3), Washburn 17 (Ungashick 4, Bachelor 4, Schadegg 4). Turnovers -- Ottawa 18, Washburn 10. Total fouls -- Ottawa 14, Washburn 14. Fouled out -- Klompenmaker. Technical fouls -- none.
