Welcome to Top Sports News

Top seed Washburn University men's basketball saw its 2025-2026 season come to an end Saturday as No. 8 seed Minnesota-Duluth survived a second-half Ichabod rally for a 64-62 win in an NCAA Central Regional quarterfinal at Lee Arena.

 

 

The Ichabods ended their season 31-2, winning the MIAA regular-season and tournament championships, while Minnesota-Duluth improved to 22-11 with its ninth straight win, advancing to a 7:30 p.m. regional semifinal on Sunday to face No. 4 seed St. Cloud State, an 83-65 winner over Missouri Western.

 

Minnesota-Duluth, which snapped Washburn's 29-game home winning streak, led 32-29 at halftime and survived a strong second-half surge by the Ichabods, who outscored the Bulldogs 33-32 over the final 20 minutes but could not overcome a cold shooting night from beyond the 3-point arc.

 

"Give Duluth a lot of credit,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "They were better tonight and I just didn't have us well enough prepared, so that's on me.

 

"We just didn't have it tonight. We just couldn't get in a rhythm offensively. Their length bothered us and we just couldn't get shots to go and some things didn't go our way, but they had a lot to do with that, so I don't want to take any credit from them, they were great.'' 

 

 

Washburn was led by senior Bryson Smith, who scored 15 points while adding five assists and two steals, before fouling out with 1:31 remaining.

 

 

Sophomore Tyson Ruud scored 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting and pulled down three rebounds while senior Brady Christiansen, junior Jack Bachelor and senior Isaiah Saams-Hoy all finished with eight points for the Ichabods.

 

Christiansen also led Washburn with a game-high eight rebounds.

 

The Ichabods played their third straight game without injured 6-foot-8 sophomore standout Dillon Claussen, a first-team All-MIAA pick.

 

Washburn finished just 3 of 18 (16.7 percent) from 3-point range, going 1 of 13 in the opening half, but found success in the paint, where it outscored Minnesota-Duluth, 40-20.

 

Minnesota Duluth placed three players in double figures, led by Matt Thompson and Caleb Siwek with 13 points each, while Noah Paulson added 12 points and six rebounds.

 

The Bulldogs shot 47.8 percent from the field and knocked down 9 of 23 3-pointers, helping offset Washburn's advantage inside.

 

The Bulldogs built their biggest lead of the game at 12 points midway through the second half, but Washburn responded with a 15-point run to take a three-point lead with just over nine minutes remaining.

 

The Ichabods tied the score with 2:23 to play and took the lead on a traditional 3-point play, putting Washburn up 58-56.

 

Minnesota-Duluth went up 62-59 after a pair of free throws with 24 seconds left but WU cut the lead to one with eight seconds to play after Bachelor was fouled on a 3-point attempt.

 

UMD hit two free throws with five seconds to play and Washburn's attempt on a rebound off an intentional missed free throw went the way of the Bulldogs, finishing up the game.

"This region is insanely loaded,'' Ballard said. "They were worthy and we just couldn't get it done. I couldn't be more proud of our team. They battled and had an incredible season. Every day was great with these guys -- preseason, practices, games. We didn't have a bad day and this stings really bad right now and it's going to sting for awhile, but we'll look back and these guys should be really proud.

 

"It's one of the greatest teams in Washburn history, and what they accomplished was amazing. There's only one team at the end of the year that's going to be happy and unfortunately tonight just wasn't our night.''

  

Washburn finished the game shooting 42.6 percent (23 of 54) from the field and 13 of 21 at the free throw line while Minnesota-Duluth went 22-of-46 (47.8) from the floor and 11 of 17 from the line.

 

Christiansen said he's very proud of what Washburn has been able to accomplish during his four seasons at the school.

 

"We were 14-15 my freshmen year and to say we'd compete for championships and to be 31-2 this season I wouldn't have believed it,'' he said. "It's sticking to a system, buying into it and really just giving it your all.

 

"It's something I'll remember for the rest of my life, the memories, the teams we've had and everything about it. It was a grind, and I just couldn't be more thankful to call myself an Ichabod.''

 

No. 3 regional seed Central Missouri was the only MIAA team to advance to the semifinals, taking an 88-77 win over conference rival Rogers State.

 

The Mules will take on No. 2 seed Oklahoma Baptist in Sunday's first semifinal at 5 p.m. Oklahoma Baptist advanced with a 77-68 win over Harding.