> The Washburn Ichabods wrap up their three-game home stand facing No. 2-ranked Northwest Missouri on Saturday afternoon in Lee Arena.
> Washburn (8-5, 3-1 MIAA) has won its last two in the friendly confines of Lee Arena with wins over Emporia State (80-78) on Jan. 4 and Missouri Western (86-76) on Thursday night.
> The Bearcats are 14-1 this season and 4-1 in the MIAA after topping Emporia State on Thursday 71-56.
> Northwest's lone conference loss was on Dec. 7 at Northwest Missouri 72-60.
> 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 15.6 ppg as well as assists (6.5) and minutes (36.1) and he is tied for second in rebounds (5.8).
> Geiman has 109 3-pointers in his Washburn career … he is 14th on the all-time 3-point chart.
> Geiman's 321 career assist chart is tied for fourth all-time at Washburn  with Randall Smith (2015-18) … he needs two to pass Javion Blake for third with 322 career assists.
> Jalen Lewis is scoring 12.9 ppg while Drew Maschoff is scoring 12.6 ppg and Jonny Clausing is scoring 10.8 ppg.
> Clausing leads the team in rebounds at 8.4 rpg (fourth in the MIAA) … he also leads the team in blocks at 2.5 per game which leads the MIAA and is also 10th in the latest national rankings.
> Rathen Carter leads the team in scoring off the bench at 5.4 ppg.
> Connor Deffebaugh made his first start at Washburn against Missouri Western scoring four points with three rebounds playing 15 minutes.
> The Ichabods are currently ninth in the MIAA in field goal percentage at .447 (365 of 817) and they rank seventh in field goal defense at .426 (333 of 781) … Northwest is first in field goal percentage at .522 and eighth in field goal defense at .428.
> Tyler Geiman is second in the MIAA in assists (6.5 apg) and leads the MIAA in minutes per game at 36.1 and is ninth in scoring.
> In their six home games this season, the Ichabods are shooting 48 percent from the field compared to Ichabods opponents shooting 42 percent, however from 3-point range, the Ichabods are being out shot 34 percent (52 of 151) to 31 percent (54 of 172).
> Ichabod opponents are shooting 65 percent from the free throw line (60 of 93) compared to 70 percent for the Ichabods (83 of 119).
> Jalen Lewis is hitting 43 percent of his 3-point attempts in Lee Arena (19 of 44).
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
> is 54-23 in his third season as the Ichabods' head coach and 87-53 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 0-5 against Northwest Missouri.
 
NORTHWEST MISSOURI HEAD COACH BEN MCCOLLUM
> is 255-76 in his 11th season as the Bearcats' head coach.
> he is a 2003 graduate of Northwest Missouri.
> named the 20th head coach in Bearcat history.
> played for Northwest going 51-12 in two seasons including a 29-3 mark during a run to the NCAA Elite Eight during the 2001-02 season.
> is 14-6 against the Ichabods.
  WASHBURN (8-5, 3-1 MIAA)
MISSOURI WESTERN (7-9, 3-2 MIAA)
JAN. 10, 2020
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods used a balance scoring attack putting five players in double figures as the Ichabods won their fourth-straight game over Missouri Western on Thursday night in Lee Arena in an 86-76 win. 
The first half was a back and forth affair as there were six lead changes and seven ties as the Ichabods took a 10-point margin into the locker room after hitting 16 of 32 shots going 9 of 10 from the free throw line. Missouri Western took an early seven-point lead with 12:37 to play in the frame before Drew Maschoff scored 12 points the rest of the half pushing Washburn to a 46-36 lead at the break. Maschoff finished with 17 points in the half en route to a game-high-tying 23 points.
In the second half with the Ichabods holding a 58-53 lead with 13:22 to play, Missouri Western ripped off a 10-0 taking a 60-58 lead, but it was short-lived as Jalen Lewis hit his first 3-pointer of the night, but the Griffons (7-9, 3-2 MIAA) went back in front on a 3-point play by Tyrell Carroll who also scored 23 points for Missouri Western.
From that point, a 15-2 run by the Ichabods over the next 4:39 stretched the lead to 11 with 4:44 to go. However Western scored seven-straight to cut the lead to four at 76-72 with 1:21 to play. Washburn then hit all eight free throw attempts in the final 39 seconds sealing the win.
Behind Maschoff's 23 points, Johnny Clausing scored a career-high 19 points recording his fourth double double at Washburn adding 11 rebounds and five blocks. Tyler Geiman scored 14 points with seven rebounds and seven assists while Jalen Lewis and Rathen Carter each scored 10. The 10 points was a Washburn high for Carter.
The Ichabods held a 49 to 36 advantage on the glass and finished the game 27 of 58 from the field for a 47 percent average hitting 6 of 20 3-pointers going 26 of 32 from the free throw line. The Griffons were 30 of 73 overall from the field hitting 11 of 36 shots going 5 of 12 from the charity stripe.
  > The No. 2-ranked Bearcats are 14-1 overall and 4-1 in the MIAA.
> The Bearcats are riding a six-game winning streak after suffering their only loss (72-60 at Central Missouri) on Dec. 7.
> Ryan Hawkins leads the team in scoring at 23.0 ppg scoring 20.4 in MIAA play … he leads the team in rebounds at 7.2 rpg.
> Trevor Hudgins is scoring 18.3 ppg while scoring 20.2 ppg in MIAA play …he is second in the MIAA behind Geiman in assists at 6.4 apg.
> Diego Bernard is scoring 15.4 ppg averaging 7.1 rpg.
> The Bearcats have four players averaging at least 32 minutes per game.
> The Bearcats are scoring 85.5 ppg allowing 62.0 ppg.
  >   Saturday's meeting will be the 107th between the two schools and Washburn holds a 60-46 lead in the series.
>   The Bearcats have won 11 of the last 12 meetings and the last nine in the series with the last Ichabod win coming in Bearcat Arena on Jan. 10, 2015 in a 70-64 win over Northwest.
>   The series dates back to the 1940-41 season and they have played each other every year since WU joined the MIAA in 1989-90.
>   The Ichabods are 21-12 against the Bearcats in Lee Arena.
>   Since the 1956-57 season, Washburn is 21-22 in Maryville and since joining the MIAA during the 1990-91 season, the Ichabods are 12-11 on the road.
>   In the MIAA Tournament, the Ichabods are 3-7 against Northwest after falling in the 2018 and 2019 MIAA Championship games.
>   In the NCAA Tournament, the Ichabods are 2-1 against the Bearcats after winning in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 2012 in Wichita Falls.
>   The Ichabods won a regional final contest against the Bearcats in Topeka on March 10, 2001 advancing to the Elite Eight in Bakersfield, Calif., after a 67-61 win.
  NORTHWEST MISSOURI 82 (32-0)
WASHBURN 53 (24-7)
MARCH 10, 2019
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods fell in a rematch of the 2018 MIAA Tournament Championship game in an 82-53 loss to No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri.
The Ichabods (24-7), who were making their 12th MIAA Tournament Championship game appearance, jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on a 3-pointer by Javion Blake who would go on to lead the Ichabods in scoring with 17 points hitting five shots from behind the arc. Washburn would also lead at 5-4 and 7-4 after back to back layups by David Salach and Tyler Geiman.
Will McKee knotted the score at 9-9 in the first half. With back to back scores by McKee on a dunk and Salach on his sixth-point of the first half bring the Ichabods within three at 24-21 with 7:15 to play in the opening stanza, the Bearcats (32-0) would close the frame on a 15-2 run over the next 6:22 of the half building a 32-23 lead before a dunk before the half by Jace Williams cut the difference to 14 at 39-25.
In the second half, the Ichabods cut the lead to 12 with 17:27 to play on a Salach and another 3-pointer by Blake but a 13-0 burst by the Bearcats pushed the lead to 25 and Washburn did not get within 19 the remainder of the game.
Behind Blake's 17 points, Devyn Wilson scored 10 hitting a pair of 3-pointers as the only two Ichabods in double figures. Geiman had a team-high six rebounds and had four assists. Both Blake and Geiman were named to the MIAA All-Tournament team.
Trevor Hudgins led the Bearcats with a game-high 27 points and Joey Witthus had 25.
Washburn was 21 of 50 from the field hitting seven of 23 3-pointers and was outrebounded 33 to 27 in the game. The Bearcats were 29 of 57 form the field going 14 of 29 on 3-pointers and scored 12 points off 12 Ichabod turnovers.
  > The Ichabods are 1594-1080-2 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 613-282 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 451-91 (.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.
  > The Ichabods will open a two-game road trip starting at Nebraska-Kearney on Jan. 16 and at Fort Hays State on Jan. 18 before returning home to face Central Oklahoma on Jan. 23.