Basketball Game Preview: Topeka Trojans vs. Washburn Rural Blues

Topeka is 1-9 against Washburn Rural since February of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Topeka Trojans will look to defend their home court against the Washburn Rural Blues at 7:30 p.m.

Topeka is headed into Tuesday's match looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Friday. They were outmatched by Emporia and fell 64-35. While losing is never fun, the Trojans can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 242nd, while the Spartans are ranked 77th).

Meanwhile, Washburn Rural waltzed into their game on Friday with four straight wins... but they left with five. They came out on top against the Wildcats by a score of 55-42.

Washburn Rural's win came from a few key players Topeka will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Simon Rowley, who went 8-for-15 on his way to 17 points. The contest was his third in a row with at least 17 points. John Hoytal was another key player, putting up ten points and seven rebounds.

Washburn Rural's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-4. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.8 points over those games. As for Topeka, their loss dropped their record down to 1-17-1.

Topeka took a serious blow against Washburn Rural when the teams last played on February 7th, falling 79-41. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Rowley, who went 10-for-14 en route to 21 points. Now that Topeka knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.