> The Washburn Ichabods will open MIAA play on Thursday night starting a two-game road swing at Pittsburg State.
> Washburn (3-3, 0-0 MIAA) will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak after dropping both games at the 2019 Washburn Thanksgiving Classic falling to Southwestern State 84-73 and to Truman 62-60.
> The Gorillas are 4-2 this season and 0-1 in MIAA play after falling to Missouri Southern on Tuesday night 95-64 in Joplin.
> 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.
  > Tyler Geiman leads the Ichabods in scoring at 13.7 ppg as well as assists (5.7) and minutes (37.2) and ranked fourth in rebounds (6.0).
> Jalen Lewis is scoring 12.2 ppg and Drew Maschoff and Jonny Clausing each are scoring 10.2 ppg. Clausing leads the team in rebounding at 9.2 per game.
> Jonny Clausing leads the in blocks at 2.7 per game which is also seventh in the latest national rankings in blocks per game and ranked 13th overall with 16 total blocks.
> Tyler Nelson is the Ichabods' leading scorer off the bench at 5.7 ppg scoring 14, 14 and six in his last three games.
> Ichabod starters have scored 330 of Washburn's 436 points this season (75.6 percent).
> The Ichabods are currently 13th in the MIAA in field goal percentage at .406 (158 of 389) - leading only Pittsburg State at .404 -  and ranked third in field goal defense at .396 (144 of 364).
> Tyler Geiman is fourth in the MIAA in assists (5.7 apg) and is second in minutes per game at 37.2.
> Keven Biggs scored a career-high 22 points against Southwestern Oklahoma State in the opening game last weekend.
> Tyler Geiman has had 14 assists and no turnovers in three games against Pittsburg State in his Washburn career while averaging 8.7 ppg.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
>  is 49-21 in his third season as the Ichabods' head coach and 82-51 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 2-1 against Pittsburg State at Washburn.
 
PITTSBURG STATE HEAD COACH KIM ANDERSON
> is in his third season leading the Gorillas. He has compiled a pair of 17-13 records in his first two seasons at Pitt State.
> Anderson (Missouri, '79) became the Gorillas' 15th all-time head coach on Apr. 10, 2017, after coaching the previous three seasons at his alma mater – the University of Missouri.
> He has a 339-190 (.642) record in 19 seasons as a collegiate head coach, including the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championship as head coach at the University of Central Missouri as well as two more Division II Final Four appearances (2007, 2009) while compiling a 274-95 (.743) record at the school.
> Anderson led UCM to seven trips to the NCAA Division II National Tournament and seven 20-win seasons.  In his final season with the Mules he guided the squad to a 30-5 overall record and the D2 national title.
> His Mules teams captured six MIAA regular season titles (2005, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014) and four MIAA Tournament titles (2005, 2007, 2009, 2013).
> He was selected the MIAA Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2010, and the NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year in 2014.
> Is 16-13 against the Ichabods.
  TRUMAN 62 (4-3)
WASHBURN 60 (3-3)
Nov. 30, 2019
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods fell 62-60 to Truman State in the final game of the Washburn Thanksgiving Classic Presented by the Downtown Ramada Inn as a final shot at the buzzer missed sending the Ichabods to the loss.
Washburn led by 12 at 47-39 to go over the Bulldogs but went 5 of 16 down the stretch including 1 of 6 from 3-point range and 3 of 7 from the free throw line as the Bulldogs were 11 of 14 the final 13:02 of the game leading to the win.
Washburn led 35-27 at the break hitting 15 of 31 shots for a 48 percent clip while holding Truman (4-3) to 9 of 25 shooting but the script was flipped in the second half as Washburn finished 9 of 27 while Truman was held to 38 percent shooting but went 12 of 17 from the free throw line in the half while Washburn was 3 of 8.
Brodric Thomas led all scorers in the game scoring 29 points pacing the Bulldog attack.
Tyler Geiman led the Ichabods with 18 points and Jonny Clausing had 10 points and eight rebounds as well as a team-high four assists.
The Ichabods were outrebounded 38 to 36 on the glass and forced 15 Bulldog turnovers.
  > The Gorillas are 4-2 this season and 0-1 in the MIAA after losing its opener to Missouri Southern 95-64.
>  Marcel Cherry leads the team in scoring at 13.8 ppg.
>  Jah-Kobe Womack is scoring 11.7 ppg, R.J. Lawrence is scoring 11.4 ppg and Ray Elliott is scoring 11.3 ppg.
  > Thursday's meeting will be the 183rd between these two schools in a series that dates back to the first meeting on Feb. 19, 1920.
> The two games on Feb. 19 and Feb. 20 of 1920 were both played in Topeka inside an empty Thomas Gymnasium because of a flu outbreak in Topeka.
> Washburn leads the all-time series 104-78.
> The Ichabods have won the last 17 of the last 21 meetings including 10 of the last 13 and the last two overall.
> The Ichabods are 31-3 in Lee Arena against PSU and 34-16 against the Gorillas in MIAA play. The home team is 33-11 in the last 44 regular season meetings, dating back to 1996-97.
> The series goes back to 1919-20 and it has been played at least once a year since 1941-42.
> Since the 1956-57 season, the Ichabods are 27-31 in Pittsburg while going 11-12 in Pittsburg since becoming a member of the MIAA. 
> In Topeka, Washburn leads 69-22 all-time.
  WASHBURN 99
PITTSBURG STATE 94
MARCH 9, 2019
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods advanced to their 12th MIAA Championship game in school history and their second straight with a 99-94 win over Pittsburg State on Saturday in the MIAA semifinals in Municipal Auditorium. For the second year in a row the Ichabods will square off with No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri in the title game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
After leading 44-41 at the break, the Ichabods pushed their lead out to as many as 13 points with 4:30 to go in the game before the Gorillas cut the lead to five with 2:39 to go in the game. Washburn rallied and pushed the margin back to eight at 91-83 with 2:20 to go with a 3-pointer by Tyler Geiman but the Gorillas came back with to trim the margin back to as few as five on five times in the final 35 seconds but could not get any closer as the Ichabods improved to 6-0 all-time against Pittsburg State in the MIAA Tournament.
Javion Blake the Ichabods with 34 points scoring 22 in the first half. The 34 points were two shy of his career high scored in the first game of the season against Oklahoma Baptist. Blake also added five rebounds and four assists. David Salach scored 21 points with eight rebounds and Geiman had 17 points with seven assists and seven rebounds.
Washburn (24-6) shot 71 percent from the field in the second half en route to a 58 percent effort for the game hitting 37 of 64 shots compared to 45 percent by the Gorillas (17-13) in the game.
Washburn also held a 39 to 35 advantage on the glass and outscored the Gorillas 50 to 34 in the paint and 17 to 2 in bench points.
  >  The Ichabods are 1589-1078-2 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 609-281 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 447-91  (.848) all-time in Lee Arena.
>  The 2019-20 season marks the 36th 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 continue MIAA play at Missouri Southern on Dec. 7 before facing Kansas Christian on Dec. 14 in Lee Arena.