>The Washburn Ichabods men's basketball team will open the regular season on Nov. 8 at noon against Minnesota State in Kansas City at the Central Regional Challenge in historic Municipal Auditorium.
>Following the game with the Mavericks, the Ichabods will take on their second Northern Sun foe in Winona State at 2:15 on Nov. 9.
>The Ichabods are coming off a 66-56 loss to Kansas State in their lone exhibition game of the season on Oct. 30.
>The Ichabods received votes in the NABC Preseason poll and was ranked 24th in the D2SIDA preseason poll to start the year.
>The Mavericks fell 56-51 to Southern Illinois in their only exhibition game of the season on Oct. 22.
>The Mavericks also received votes in the NABC Preseason Poll.
>The Warriors topped NCAA Division III foe Saint Mary's (Minn.) 84-67 on Nov. 2.
>The Ichabods return two starters off of last season's 24-8 team which reached the MIAA Tournament Championship game and the NCAA Regional Quarterfinals while going 15-4 in the MIAA placing second in the regular season.
>The Ichabods were tabbed third in both the MIAA Preseason Coaches and Preseason Media Polls for the second year in a row which were released on Oct. 9 at the MIAA Basketball Media Day in Kansas City.
> The Ichabod coaching record for the most wins in their first two seasons is held by Brett Ballard with 46 wins … Bob Chipman had 41 during the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons.
> In program history the Ichabods have had 28, 20-win seasons including last season.
  > Junior guard Tyler Geiman, who started 31 of 32 games averaging 8.8 ppg with 5.5 apg and 5.2 rpg en route to Honorable Mention all-MIAA honors. At Washburn he has started 31 games playing in 59 as an Ichabod.
> Junior Will McKee started 29 games playing in 31 last season scoring 6.2 points per game with a team-best 5.5 rebounds game. Overall he has played in 58 games as an Ichabod making 29 starts.
> Sophomore guard Jalen Lewis, who broke the Ichabod freshman record for most 3-pointers in a season with 58 while averaging 8.5 ppg going 27 of 30 from the free throw line playing in all 32 games. He is the team's second-leading returning scorer behind Geiman.
> Junior forward Jace Williams will join the Ichabods at the conclusion of football season. Last season he made one start playing in 28 games scoring 67 points with 65 rebounds and nine blocks
> Sophomore forward Jonny Clausing appeared in 10 games scoring 17 points playing in 33 minutes overall and fellow sophomore, guard Isaiah Thorne, played in 13 games scoring eight points in his first season at Washburn.
  Percentage of Scoring _________ 31.5 (840/2662)
Percentage of Rebounds ________ 37.7 (459/1215)
Percentage of Field Goals ________ 31.1 (303/972)
Percentage of 3-Point FGs _______ 50.1 (147/293)
Percentage of Free Throws _______ 20.4 (87/425)
Percentage of Assists ____________ 49.2 (271/550)
Percentage of Steals _______________ 37.5 (72/192)
Percentage of Blocks ______________ 30.4 (32/105)
Percentage of Minutes _______ 41.8 (2695/6450)
  > The Ichabods will have nine newcomers joining the team this season with four freshman, two senior transfers and three junior transfers.
> Senior forward Rathen Carter, a transfer from McKendree (Mo.) where he appeared in eight games averaging 4.0 ppg and 1.9 rpg before missing the rest of the season with an injury.
> Senior guard Keven Biggs played one season at Fort Lewis as a junior and was a second team NJCAA All-American after averaging 17 points and 5.8 rebounds per game helping Pima to a second-place finish at the national tournament.
> Junior guard Drew Maschoff averaged 11.8 ppg hitting 32 percent of his 3-point attempts connecting on 49 of 154 attempts adding 5.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game as a sophomore at Pratt Community College. His freshman season was played at the University of Sioux Falls where he averaged 5.9 ppg with 2.2 rebounds hitting 35 percent of his 3-pointers making 14 starts playing in 29 games. Playing at Sioux Falls as a freshman, he was scoreless in two games against Winona State and averaged 5.5 ppg in two contests against Minnesota State.
> Junior forward Garrett Belcher averaged 8.9 points with 5.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists starting 34 of 35 games as a sophomore at Kaskaskia College. Junior guard Shannon Cordes played two seasons at Neosho County and was an all-league member at Free State High School.
> Ahmad Louis averaged 25 points, three assists, three rebounds a game as a senior shooting 37 percent from 3-point range earning first team all-district and all-league honors.
> Connor Deffebaugh led his high school team in assists shooting 58 percent from the field scoring 12.0 ppg leading to first team all-league honors and first team all-state honors.
> Levi Braun led Topeka high schools in scoring at 21.1 ppg earning first team all-city, all-league and all-state honors.
> Tyler Nelson averaged 13.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.0 apg and 2.0 spg en route to all-district honors.
  > The Ichabods 24 wins were the most in a single year since winning 25 during the 2011-12 season.
> The Ichabods 100 points was a season high and Washburn fell to 69-5 when scoring at least 100 points and to 0-2 when scoring at least 100 points in the NCAA Tournament (132-114 vs UCO on March 14, 1992 in Topeka in the NCAA second round
>Tyler Geiman's 175 assists was fourth all-time at Washburn on the single season chart
> Jalen Lewis' 273 points was the 9th-most by a freshman and his 58 3-pointers were first on the freshman chart and the most since Javion Blake hit 52 during the 2015-16 season.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
> is 46-18 in his third season as the Ichabods' head coach and 78-48 overall in his fifth year as a head coach.
> has led the Ichabods to two NCAA postseason appearances in both seasons at Washburn.
> was named the Washburn Ichabod men's basketball head coach on April 6, 2017 after spending the 2014-15 to 2016-17 seasons as an assistant coach with the Wake Forest basketball program after working under head coach Danny Manning 2014-17 seasons and at the University of Tulsa during the 2012-14 seasons.
> he helped Wake Forest to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2009-10 season following the 2016-17 season.
> while at Tulsa, the Golden Hurricane played in the postseason both years, including earning a No. 13 seed in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Tulsa also participated in the 2013 CBI, finishing that season with a winning record of 17-16 overall.
> before joining Manning at Tulsa, Ballard spent two seasons as the head basketball coach at Baker University going 33-30 overall, including a 21-12 mark in his final season at the helm in 2011-12.
> prior to taking over the head coaching position at Baker, Ballard spent seven years on Bill Self's staff at Kansas, his alma mater.
> he played two years for the Jayhawks under head coach Roy Williams from 2000-02 after transferring from Hutchinson Community College in his hometown of Hutchinson, Kan. In his two seasons as a Jayhawk, the team reached the 2001 NCAA Sweet Sixteen and appeared in the 2002 NCAA Final Four in Atlanta.
> he earned his bachelor's degree in secondary education from Kansas in 2003 earning an Academic All-Big 12 selection as a senior for his efforts in the classroom.
> is 0-0 against Minnesota State.
> is 1-0 against Winona State earning his first win as the Ichabod head coach on Nov. 12, 2017 in an 84-75 win.
 
MINNESOTA STATE HEAD COACH MATT MARGENTHALER
> is 411-177 in his 20th season at Minnesota State.
> has coached the Mavericks to 14 NCAA Tournaments and seven conference championships.
> 1-0 against the Ichabods.
 
WINONA STATE HEAD COACH TODD EISNER
>  is 60-56 in his fifth season on the Warriors' bench.
> is 477-222 in is 21st season overall as a head coach.
> 0-1 against the Ichabods.
  KANSAS STATE 66
Washburn 56
OCT. 30, 2019
MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team opened the 2019-20 season with their only exhibition game falling in a hard-fought 10-point loss to the Big 12 defending champion Kansas State Wildcats in a 66-56 loss. 
The Ichabods scored the first points of the game on a 3-pointer by Keven Biggs jumping out to an early lead and would continue to lead for much of the first half as the Wildcats only built their biggest lead of five with 28 seconds to go in the first half after a dunk by Montavious Murphy, but as he opened the game, Biggs connected on a 3-pointer to send the teams to the locker room with a 32-30 lead.
The second half saw the Wildcats push out to a 50-42 lead over the first 10 minutes of the frame and to 13 at 58-45 with 6:22 to go before Washburn trimmed the lead back to eight with 51 seconds to go but would not get any closer in the loss.
Biggs led the Ichabods with a game-high 17 points and Jalen Lewis scored 13 and Tyler Geiman scored 12. Biggs also had seven steals and Jonny Clausing had a team-high seven rebounds.
K-State was led by Makol Mawien had 16 points and nine rebounds.
Washburn attempted 45 3-pointers in the game which would have snapped the Ichabod single game record of 37 which they have done three times had not been an exhibition game. Washburn finished 20 of 68 from the field (29 percent) and hit 14 3-pointers. The Wildcats had a 50 to 30 advantage on the glass. The Ichabod forced 21 Wildcat turnovers leading to 23 points.
  >The Minnesota State men's basketball team has been selected to finish first in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
> Senior Cameron Kirksey was named the NSIC South Division Preseason Player of the Year. Last season, Kirksey averaged a team-best 17.7 points a game, to go along with 5.9 rebounds a game. He also shot 52.9% from the field, including a 43.4% showing from behind the arc. Kirksey passed the 20-point plateau 10 times last season, including a career-high 43 points against MSU Moorhead.
  > The Ichabods and the Mavericks have played two times with MSU winning both games.
> The teams have not met since an 77-70 Maverick win on Nov. 14, 2014 at the Pentagon Basketball Showcase in Sioux Falls, S.D.
> The other meeting was on Dec. 20, 1949 in Topeka in a 74-45 Ichabod loss.
  MINNESOTA STATE 77
WASHBURN 70
NovEMBER 15, 2014
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team fell 77-70 to No. 14-ranked Minnesota State.
The Ichabods were led by Stephon Drane who recorded 15 points on 7 of 11 shooting from the field adding five rebounds. Prince Samuels scored 12 off the bench.
The Ichabods led by as many as 10 points early in the second half with 17:15 remaining after a lay up by Algie Key, but the Mavericks would go on a 21-7 run hitting 4 of 5 3-pointers during the 6:13 stretch to take a 54-48 lead with 12:32 to play.
Washburn cut the lead to two points twice before pulling out to a six-point lead but the Ichabods would not get closer than five the rest of the way before the Mavericks took the 77-70 win.
Washburn led 37-31 at the break after shooting 12 of 31 from the field while holding the Mavericks to 8 of 22. However in the second half the Mavericks improved to 12 of 23 shooting going 6 of 10 from 3-point range. Washburn finished 42 percent from the field in the game hitting 25 of 59 shots while the Mavericks finished 20 of 45 overall for a 44 percent clip.
Washburn committed 19 turnovers in the game leading to 18 points for the Mavericks. Washburn had 16 offensive rebounds gaining 19 second chance points in the contest. Overall the Ichabods led the Mavericks in rebounding 40 to 23.
  SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 56
MINNESOTA STATE 41
OCT. 23, 2019
The Minnesota State men's basketball team fell to the Southern Illinois Salukis by the score of 56-41 in their exhibition.
Senior Cameron Kirksey finished just one rebound shy of a double-double as he posted 11 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore Tre Baumgardner finished with 10 points and five rebounds, while sophomore Kelby Kramer added six points, eight rebounds and four blocks as well.
The Mavericks held an 18-17 lead at halftime, but the Salukis outscored MSU 39-23 in the second half to claim the 56-41 win.
Marcus Domask and Eric McGill led SIU with 17 points each. Domask also hauled in 10 rebounds for the double-double.
  > Winona State went 14-17 (9-13 NSIC) during the 2018-19 campaign. Head coach Todd Eisner enters his fifth season at the helm of the Warriors and could eclipse the 500-win mark for his career (477-222) with a successful season in 2019-20.
> Winona State was picked to finish sixth overall and third in the NSIC South standings.
> Caleb Wagner is the Warriors' lone senior in 2019-20 and will look to end his final season on a high note. Wagner was an All-NSIC recipient in 2017-18 and averaged 13.9 ppg a year ago while appearing in all 31 games. Wagner has shot better than 43% from downtown in each of his last two seasons.
> Junior Devin Whitelow occupies the backcourt with Wagner after setting an NCAA record across all three divisions last year for assist/turnover ratio (5.96). Whitelow started all 31 games as a sophomore and averaged 7.5 ppg while ranking fifth in the NSIC in total assists (137).
> Junior Kevion Taylor is coming off the first All-NSIC season of his career and continues to trend upward. Taylor led WSU in minutes played, scoring and rebounding last year. His 6.5 rebounds/game ranked ninth in the NSIC and his 16.6 ppg ranked 11th.
  > The Ichabods lead the all-time series 2-0 over the Warriors.
> Brett Ballard's first win on the Ichabod bench came against Winona State 84-75 in St. Joseph, Mo.
> The other win in the series came during the 1937-38 season in a 37-36 win at the NAIA Tournament in Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium.
  WINONA STATE 84
SAINT MARY's (MINN.) 67
NOV. 2, 2019
Kevion Taylor had 22 points on 8 of 9 shooting and Andrea Lo Biondo had 20 points hitting 9 of 14 shots in an 84-67 win over Saint Mary's (Minn.) The Warriors led by two at the break and then shot 61 percent in the second half from the field rolling to the win. The Warriors hit 15 of 18 free throws overall including 12 of 14 in the second half. The Warriors were outrebounded 32 to 20 by Saint Mary's, who also committed 21 turnovers.
  WASHBURN 84
Washburn 75
NOV. 12, 2017
ST. JOESPH, Mo. --- Fueled by seven double-figure scorers, the Washburn men's basketball gave head coach Brett Ballard his first victory as head coach as the team downed Winona State, 84-75 in the final day of the Hillyard Classic in St. Joseph, Mo.
Javion Blake finished with a team-best 13 points, while Brady Skeens and Randall Smith followed with 12 apiece. Tyas Martin and Tyler Geiman each added 11 with Cameron Wiggins and David Salach netting 10. Skeens also pulled down a game-high 11 boards for a double-double. Geiman also had a game-high as he dished out five assists.
The Ichabods trailed Winona State (1-1) for the entirety of the first half with seven points as its largest deficit of the game coming midway through the period. During the opening 20 minutes, the Warriors outshot Washburn from the field, .480-.419, three-point distance, .375-.231, and from the line, .750-.667 and narrowly won the rebound battle in the first, 36-35.
Salach's eight points led the scoring for Washburn in the first half as he knocked four jumpers, the last coming at the 2:53 mark to trim the WSU lead to 32-31. The Warriors though responded with a 4-1 spurt while eating 1:46 from the clock. Trailing, 36-32, Smith found Martin wide open up in the corner allowing him to bury a trey before the halftime buzzer cutting the Winona State advantage to 36-35 as the team headed back to the locker rooms for the break.
Washburn forced the first tie of the contest at the 18:56 mark of the second as Skeens leveled the score at 39 with a layup. The Ichabods knotted the score twice more before taking their first lead of the night with 13:28 remaining as Martin nudged them ahead 52-50.
After WSU tied the game for the fifth and final time at 52, Washburn began surging behind an 8-2 run, giving it a 60-54 lead with 11:33 to go. The run was sparked with a three-pointer from Wiggins before adding two more from the charity stripe, while Skeens filled out the balance.
WU's largest lead of the contest came with 2:57 remaining on the clock thanks in part to a 9-2 run pushing it ahead 84-71.
Collectively, the Ichabods' shooting improved in the second as they converted 51.5 percent from the field, with 37.5 percent from behind the arc. The Washburn defense meanwhile held the Warriors to 42.9 percent from the floor while completing shutting down their attempts from distance as they went 0-for-4. WU also dominated the glass in the final 20 minutes outrebounding Winona State, 23-14, including 15 defensive boards.
Skeens and Blake leading the second half charge as each dropped in 11 points with Wiggins putting up 10.
  > The Ichabods are 1,586-1,077-2 all-time in the 115th year in the program's history.
> Washburn is the 10th-winningest program in NCAA Division II history by victories.
> Washburn is the winningest MIAA program since the 1989-90 season with an overall record of 606-280 since joining the conference and the NCAA.
> The Ichabods have recorded 28 20-win seasons and they have one 30-win seasons after going 35-4 during the 1986-87 NAIA Championship season.
> Washburn has won 21 conference championships including 10 MIAA titles.
> Washburn has received 12 NCAA Tournament bids going to three Elite Eight's appearing in the 2001 NCAA National Championship game.
  > The Ichabods are 446-89  (.848) all-time in Lee Arena.
> The 2019-20 season marks the 35th season of play in Lee Arena.
> The Ichabods recorded a school-best 28-game winning streak from Nov. 19, 1993 to Feb. 8, 1995 in Lee Arena.
  > Washburn will face Rockhurst on Nov. 15 in Kansas City before opening its home slate on Nov. 20 against Ottawa in Lee Arena.