Washburn men's basketball beats Nebraska-Kearney on late shot: 'Our offense is starting to really click'

Knowing just how badly his team, his coaches, and the fans wanted a win, Connor Deffebaugh responded.

Tied with Nebraska-Kearney 77-77 with just seconds to go Saturday, the Washburn sophomore drove the lane and, with just a few ticks left on the clock, dropped in a running shot for a 79-77 victory at Lee Arena.

Taking the last possession with 27 seconds remaining, there was no question in coach Brett Ballard’s mind what the strategy should be, nor who should have the ball in his hands.

“Tie game, we felt like (running the clock out) was the right thing to do,” Ballard said. “If you miss it, you’re hoping to just go to overtime. And I thought (Deffebaugh) had really played a good game, being aggressive and making the right decisions with the ball.

“So, without (injured guard Tyler) Geiman in the lineup, we felt like he was our best option to go try to make a play. He made a heck of a dribble move to get to the rim.”

The sophomore from Arkansas led Washburn with 19 points on 8-10 shooting from the field. He saved the biggest for last.

“Coach called the play, wanting to get something going downhill to get to the rim and hopefully draw a foul if it doesn’t go in,” Deffebaugh. “But I made the shot.

“My teammates have been putting a lot of confidence in me. My coaches have been showing me confidence. Our offense is starting to really click. Everybody is starting to get settled into their role. So it feels good.”

The Ichabods turned the game around with a 13-4 run during a two-minute stretch in the second half. Jeremy Harrell helped spearhead the spurt with a shot in the lane, followed by a three-pointer at 13:07 to put Washburn up 55-50. Harrell scored all 10 of his points in a crucial 10-minute stretch.

Still trying to get by without injured starters Geiman, Tyler Nelson and Johnny Clausing, the Ichabods are looking more and more to freshmen Michael Keegan and Andrew Orr, and to transfers Harrell and Kevaughn Ellis.

Keegan trailed Deffebaugh with 18 points and also led the team with eight rebounds. Orr added eight points. Ellis finished with 11 and Harrell 10.

Ballard pointed to a few strategies that may have decided the game: use the Washburn depth to play fast, and attack the rim, potentially drawing fouls.

It worked. The Ichabods’ bench outscored the visitors’ bench 27-7. Washburn wound up making 12-14 free throws, while the Lopers hit just 6-8.

“Kearney plays guys a lot of minutes. We always want to play with pace, but particularly against them, we did want to try to wear them down,” Ballard said. “And one of our points of emphasis going into the game was to keep trying to attack the rim. We didn’t feel like they have great rim protectors.

“I think this is the first time that we’ve had the free throw advantage. We’re still missing some wide-open threes. If we get some of those to start going down, I think our offense will start to click even better.”

Next up, the Ichabods travel to Central Oklahoma on Thursday, then Newman on Saturday. Getting this win to improve their MIAA record to 1-1 was important, Ballard and Deffebaugh both said.

“We kind of felt like we had it won a couple of times, up six late in the game,” Ballard said. “But we didn’t play very smart the last minute and a half or so. But to withstand that and make the play at the end…Every game is important, but it felt like this is a game to give us confidence.

“And you can’t dig yourself too big of a hole in this league if you want to give yourself a chance to win a championship.”

“We’ve been going through a lot of adversity lately, so this game was real good for us to come together,” Deffebaugh said. “This win is going to get us jump-started before we go on the road. It feels good to go on a high note.

WASHBURN MEN 79, NEBRASKA-KEARNEY 77

Nebraska-Kearney 34 … 43 — 77

Washburn 32 … 47 — 79

NEBRASKA-KEARNEY (3-4, 0-2)

Nebeker 8-10 3-4 20, Murphy 4-6 1-2 9, Luger 5-13 0-0 12, Simental 8-20 0-0 21, Evans 3-7 2-2 8, Cook 2-5 0-0 4, Brien 1-1 0-0 3, Badding 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-62 6-8 77.

WASHBURN (4-4, 1-1)

Orr 4-9 0-0 8, Thorne 1-1 0-0 2, Deffebaugh 8-10 1-2 19, Lewis 1-9 2-2 5, Keegan 6-12 6-7 18, Braun 2-4 0-0 6, Harrell 4-7 0-0 10, Ellis 4-7 3-3 11, Carter 0-1 0-0 0, Ross 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-60 12-14 79.

3-point goals —Nebraska-Kearney 9-27 (Simental 5-11, Luger 2-7, Nebeker 1-1, Brien 1-1); Washburn 7-19 (Braun 2-4, Harrell 2-4, Deffebaugh 2-3, Lewis 1-5). Rebounds — Nebraska-Kearney 31 (Murphy 8); Washburn 30 (Keegan 8). Assists — Nebraska-Kearney 14 (Evans 5); Washburn 16 (Deffebaugh 5). Turnovers — Nebraska-Kearney 7; Washburn 8. Fouled out — none. Attendance — 985

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Washburn men's basketball beats Neberska-Kearney with late shot