ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The No. 1-ranked Washburn Ichabods remained perfect on the season and in MIAA play with an 87–75 road win at Missouri Western on Wednesday night, improving to 15–0 overall and 5–0 in the conference. The Ichabods never trailed, building a commanding first-half lead, and then withstood a second-half push to secure the victory at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

Washburn shot a scorching 65.5 percent from the floor in the opening period (19-of-29) and knocked down 4-of-9 attempts from 3-point range while scoring 48 first-half points. Missouri Western, meanwhile, struggled to find rhythm early, shooting just 25.0 percent (8-of-32) in the first half as Washburn built a 48–29 advantage at the break.

Missouri Western (11-5, 3-2 MIAA) played its best basketball after halftime, shooting 53.3 percent in the second half and outscoring Washburn 46–39 over the final 20 minutes while dropping to 6-1 in home games this season. The Griffons trimmed the Ichabod advantage into the mid-teens on multiple occasions. However, each time the Griffons threatened, Washburn answered, keeping Western at arm's length.

Dillon Claussen scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half, going 6-of-10 for the game, adding eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Sam Ungashick provided a big lift off the bench with a season-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting and Jack Bachelor added 16 points while Brady Christiansen contributed 13 points and nine rebounds, helping Washburn win the rebounding battle 42–24.

As a team, Washburn finished the night shooting 56.4 percent from the field (31-of-55), 33.3 percent from three-point range (7-of-21), and 72.0 percent at the free-throw line (18-of-25). Missouri Western shot 38.7 percent overall and just 21.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Washburn returns to the road, continuing its four-game roadtrip at Northwest Missouri on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. from Bearcat Arena.

Notes:
• The win was the fifth in a row by the Ichabods over the Griffons improving to 8-2 in the last 10 meetings.
• The 18 Ichabod turnovers were the most by the Ichabods since committing 20 against Dallas Baptist in the season's second game.
• The 75 points were the third-most scored by an Ichabod opponent this season.
• Dillon Claussen fouled out of his first game as an Ichabod in his 49 games played at Washburn.
• Claussen also went over the 500-point mark in his second season as an Ichabod in his 49th game overall.