TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 2-ranked Northwest Missouri State University men's basketball team won its 25th straight MIAA game with a 71-63 triumph over the Washburn University Ichabods at Lee Arena.
Northwest ran its overall win streak to 14 in a row in improving to 16-1 overall and 9-0 in MIAA play. Northwest also moved its road winning streak to 23 straight victories. The Bearcats have won 23 in a row on the road in MIAA play.
Junior
Trevor Hudgins tallied a game-high 26 points and he was joined in double-figures by sophomore
Wes Dreamer with 18 points.
For the first time in 11 games, Northwest did not shoot 50% or better from the field. Northwest shot 44.4% from the floor (24-of-54 FGs). The Bearcats drained 11-of-30 from three-point land and 12-of-13 from the free throw line. Northwest won the rebounding battle, 31-29, with Dreamer grabbing a game-high nine rebounds. Redshirt freshman
Isaiah Jackson set a career-high with seven rebounds.
The Bearcats started quickly by scoring the game's first seven points. Washburn responded and took its first lead of the game at 13-12 with 11:40 left in the opening half. The Ichabods completed a 10-2 run to take a 19-14 advantage with 8:20 on the clock.
Northwest bounced back with a 9-0 spurt on the strength of a pair of triples from
Wes Dreamer. Dreamer's second three-pointer gave Northwest a 23-19 edge with 6:56 left in the half. Northwest would not relinquish the lead before the half but could only manage a five-point bulge at 32-27. Dreamer sank a pair of free throws with :54 left to close the first-half-scoring and give Northwest a 34-30 lead at the intermission.
Northwest hit Washburn with an 8-0 run early in the second half to take a 42-32 lead. Hudgins sank a triple to put Northwest up 11 at 45-34 with 16:36 to play. Washburn responded with a 9-2 spurt to trim the Northwest advantage to four at 47-43 with 14:14 left. Northwest counter-punched with an 11-1 run that included a pair of triples from Hudgins and closed by a bucket from
Byron Alexander.
Washburn went on a 12-3 run and trimmed the Northwest lead to five at 61-56 with 4:43 to play. A Dreamer bucket surrounded on both ends by two field goals from Hudgins took the advantage back to 11 at 67-56 with 2:17 to play.
Northwest made 4-of-5 free throws in the final 1:34 to secure the 71-63 victory.
Northwest will be on the road this week with two more matchups set for Thursday at Central Oklahoma (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday at Newman (3:30 p.m.)
NOTES:
Trevor Hudgins and
Wes Dreamer each played the full 40 minutes … it is the 39th 40-minute game of Hudgins career and seventh for Dreamer … it is the first time this season that Northwest has won an MIAA game by single digits … Northwest is 15-0 when winning the rebound battle … Northwest is 113-4 over the past four seasons … Northwest is 175-9 over the past six seasons … over the last nine seasons, Northwest is 151-16 in MIAA play … over the last six seasons, Northwest is 101-6 in league play … Hudgins secured his 62nd career 20-point scoring game.
