By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The top-ranked Washburn Ichabods men's basketball team continued its perfect start to the 2025-2026 season Saturday in Maryville, Mo, pulling away in the second half for a 76-53 MIAA road win over Northwest Missouri State.
Senior Bryson Smith led Washburn with 16 points Saturday as the Ichabods improved to 16-0 on the season. [File photo/TSN]The Ichabods improved to 16–0 overall and 6–0 in MIAA play, going wire-to-wire for the victory.
Washburn jumped out quickly, scoring the first 10 points of the game and holding the Bearcats without a field goal for nearly three minutes.
The Ichabods went on to build a 21-2 lead at the 12:38 mark of the opening half, but the Bearcats clawed back into the game, trimming the Ichabod advantage to two at 29-27 with 1:33 to play in the first half before the Ichabods closed the half on a 7-0 run to take a 36–27 lead into break.
Washburn dominated the paint early, outscoring the Bearcats 24 to 2 while the Bearcats finished the first 20 minutes with seven 3-pointers out of their nine first-half field goals.
Washburn pushed its lead to 11 at 41-30 with 19:02 to play in the game before the Bearcats (9-8, 2-4) hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the Ichabod lead back to three with 16:19 to play.
After a free throw by WU senior Bryson Smith, a basket from Northwest's Jack Ratigan cut the lead down to two with 14:47 remaining.
But Washburn outscored the Bearcats 22-7 to open up a 64-47 lead with 7:41 to play.
Northwest scored the next two points of the game, and then another 9-0 spurt by Washburn stretched the lead to 73-49.
For the game, Washburn hit 30 of 59 shots from the field (50.8 percent), including a strong 26-of-39 (66.7) on two-point attempts, leading to a 50 to 14 advantage in points in the paint.
The Ichabods went 4 of 20 from 3-point range (20.0%) and 12 of 16 at the free throw line (75.0%).
Washburn held Northwest to 40.0% shooting overall, limiting the Bearcats to only three second- half 3-pointers. Washburn also dominated on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 43 to 21.
Individually, Smith led all scorers with 16 points, knocking down 6 of 11 shots, while adding three assists and two steals in 31 minutes.
Sophomore Dillon Claussen scored 10 points with a game-high 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocks, recording the third double-double of his career.
Junior Jeremiah Jones added 12 points, hitting 5-of-10 shots from the floor, while also contributing seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Senior Sam Ungashick chipped in with seven points and five rebounds off the bench.
The Ichabods will return to action at Emporia State next Thursday, facing the Hornets for the second time in 12 days.
