Thursday, Nov. 1, the men’s basketball team traveled to Lawrence to take on the number one ranked Kansas University Jayhawks in an exhibition match. The Ichabods fought hard, but the Jayhawks ultimately came out on top with a score of 79-52.

The Jayhawks took possession after the opening tipoff. After multiple missed shots by both teams, the Jayhawks took a 4-0 lead. After a layup by sophomore forward Will McKee and a 3-pointer by senior guard Javion Blake, the Ichabods were up 5-4. The game then went back and forth until the Jayhawks were up 12-5.

The two teams had multiple opportunities to add on to their score, but neither scored until there were 13 minutes to go in the half when KU made a layup to make the score 14-5.

Washburn scored again after McKee made another layup to make the score 14-7. After KU went on 5-0 run, sophomore guard Tyler Geiman made a successful layup that brought the score to 21-9, KU. After two free throws from KU center Udoka Azubukie, Blake hit another layup that made the score 21-11. During a dynamic offense by the Ichabods, Geiman nailed a 3-pointer that brought the score up to 22-14.

With 3:11 left in the second quarter, Blake made two 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to make the score 29-20. After a 3-pointer by KU, Devyn Wilson knocked down a free throw. 

The Ichabods headed into second half down 35-21.

At the start of the half, senior guard Tyas Martin made a layup. Blake followed with three successful free throw attempts. Freshman forward Jonny Clausing made a layup before a Jayhawk timeout. The Ichabods would still trailed by seven points.

Senior guard Emeka Ogbonna made a layup, and freshman guard Jalen Lewis ended an eight-point KU run by scoring a 3-pointer. However, right after that, the Jayhawk’s offense came alive brought the score up 54-33. After coming out hot to begin the frame, the Ichabods were barely able to get a shot off before committing a turnover; they had a total of 17 turnovers in the game. 

With 10 minutes left in the game, Clausing made a stellar behind-the-back layup. A little while later, Lewis dropped in another three. Then, after a defensive stop, Wilson was left all alone for a wide-open layup.

With six minutes left to go, McKee successfully rebounded a missed shot for a layup. Clausing added to the Washburn tally with a short jumper. The Washburn defense came up with a turnover that allowed junior guard Drew Pyle to get open to get an easy layup. With 1:32 left, Wilson banked in another layup. However, the Ichabods’ hard fight didn’t end in an overall success.

The Jayhawks topped the Ichabods 79-52. 

After the game, head coach Brett Ballard was happy with how the team handled themselves against a Division I powerhouse.

“Our guys can leave here feeling pretty good about themselves. We didn’t shoot the ball well, we gave up too many offensive rebounds and we cannot turn the ball over 17 times. Other than those things, for the most part, we leave out of here pretty pleased,” Ballard said.

Even in a tough loss, Blake was thrilled to be able to experience what it is like to compete at Allen Fieldhouse. He also was not happy that he had committed four turnovers on the night.

“Being from Kansas, always watching them [the Jayhawks] growing up, you want to play at Allen Fieldhouse. Going out for my senior year and playing at Allen Fieldhouse is a great memory. The biggest thing for me though is that I had four turnovers on the stat sheet,” Blake said.

The Washburn regular season begins at 5:30 Friday, Nov. 9 against Oklahoma Baptist University.