Previewing Washburn men's basketball's Elite 8 game against Lenoir-Rhyne
TOPEKA — No. 4 Washburn (29-3) punched their ticket to the Elite 8 for the first time since 2001 when they won the Central Region Championship last week. The Ichabods will take on No. 5 Lenoir-Rhyne (29-5) in their next game on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.
After coming down from the excitement of claiming the regional title, head coach Brett Ballard explained that the past few days have all been about preparing the team while staying hungry.
“I want us to keep our edge,” Ballard said. “Going into the regional off of a loss, we had some really competitive practices. I thought we got better, and I really want our guys to keep that edge this week. I want it to be competitive and at a high intensity.”
All the teams remaining are championship quality in the NCAA Division II National Tournament. Lenoir-Rhyne is no exception as it won the Southeast Regional. The Bears were the No. 3 seed in the regional.
It was the school’s first ever regional title, and it were also the team’s first South Atlantic Conference title since 2003. Just like Washburn, it’s been a historic season Lenoir-Rhyne as it's won the most games in program history.
Lenoir-Rhyne’s Conrad Luczynski is the top player for the Bears. The 7-foot-2 center was named the regional MVP after securing 19 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks.
Tasked with the matchup is Washburn’s Andrew Orr, who isn’t shying away from going toe-to-toe with Luczynski. Orr isn’t short by any means either, as he stands 6-foot-8.
“Being a big guy that has to go against other big guys, you get used to it after a while,” Orr said. “Playing against guys of that size, there aren’t that many around. Against Moorhead, it was similar, I’m going to go out and play physical, but I am also going to play my game. I’m not going to let that determine how I play.”
Washburn’s losses have been away from Lee Arena this season: two of them on the road during MIAA regular-season play and on a neutral court at the MIAA Conference Tournament.
“Lee Arena brings us a lot of energy; it makes defense a lot easier, and you are just playing with a ton of energy,” Topeka-native Jack Bachelor said. “We are going to have to bring our own energy to Evansville for sure. We have to create our own energy and play well together.”
Starting forward Michael Keegan went down with a knee injury during the Sweet 16 game. He returned to the floor and confirmed that he will play against Lenoir-Rhyne. Washburn’s athletic trainer Kolten Schulte checked Keegan’s range of motion in his knee as they tried to diagnose the issue mid-game.
“Never better,” Keegan said. “Kolton brought me back to the training room. He’s like, 'Yeah, you’re good to go, you might have just tweaked it a little bit.’ I trust him a lot.”
NCAA Division II Elite 8 Schedule
Tip-off times in Central Time Zone
- No. 3 Dallas Baptist vs No. 6 Lake Superior St., 12 p.m.
- No. 2 West Liberty vs No. 7 California St. Dominguez Hills, 2:30 p.m.
- No. 1 Nova Southeastern vs No. 8 Assumption, 6 p.m.
- No. 4 Washburn vs No. 5 Lenoir-Rhyne, 8:30 p.m.
NCAA Division II Final Location
- Ford Center, Evansville, Indiana
Watch NCAA Division II Elite 8
Liam Keating covers high school sports for The Topeka Capital-Journal. Send stats or information to him at Lkeating@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Previewing Washburn men's basketball's NCAA Division II Elite 8 game
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