> It is a battle of universities from their respective state capitals as the Washburn Ichabods travel to Jefferson City, Mo., to face the Lincoln Blue Tigers on Wednesday night starting a two-game road trip for the Ichabods.
> Washburn (11-7, 6-3 MIAA) won its third game in a row with an 80-67 win over Newman on Saturday in Lee Arena.
> The Blue Tigers are 7-11 overall and 4-5 in conference play and have lost two in a row with defeats at Northeastern State (90-71) on Jan. 23 and at Rogers State (76-67) last time out on Jan. 25.
> 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 14.7 ppg as well as assists (5.8) and minutes (35.1) and he is second in rebounds (5.4).
> Geiman has 121 3-pointers in his Washburn career … he is 12th on the all-time 3-point chart.
> Geiman's 342 career assists in now second all-time at Washburn passing Shannon Kruger who had 341 playing from 1998 to 2002 …the Ichabod all-time leader is Jordan Canfield (1992-97) who had 756, which is second on the MIAA career chart.
>  Jalen Lewis is scoring 13.3 ppg while Drew Maschoff is scoring 11.4 ppg and Jonny Clausing is scoring 10.4 ppg.
>  Clausing, who is averaging 11.1 ppg in MIAA play, leads the team in rebounds at 7.4 rpg (fourth in the MIAA) … he also leads the team in blocks at 2.1 per game which leads the MIAA and is also 19th in the latest national rankings and his total blocks is 16th overall nationwide.
> Keven Biggs is scoring 6.6 ppg off the bench after starting the first 12 games of the season.
> Jace Williams is scoring 5.8 ppg while shooting 73 percent from the field since joining the team after the conclusion of football season playing 12 games this season.
> Rathen Carter is scoring 5.1 ppg with 2.3 rpg … since moving into a starting role three games ago, he is averaging 5.6 ppg and 2.6 rpg.
> Tyler Nelson is scoring 4.8 ppg and Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 3.8 ppg.
> The Ichabods are currently eight in the MIAA in field goal percentage at .459 and they rank seventh in field goal defense at .435.
> The Ichabods are currently eighth in the MIAA in scoring average at 74.8 ppg and they rank seventh in scoring defense at 69.6 ppg.
> The Ichabods are 13th in free throw percentage in the MIAA shooting .673 and Lincoln is 14th shooting 58 percent from the free throw line.
> During the last five minutes of games however the Ichabods are shooting 81 percent from the free throw line as a team  hitting 81 of 103 attempts … Jalen Lewis is 34 of 37 (92 percent) in the last five minutes of games this season and 44 of 49 (90 percent) for his Washburn career.
> Tyler Geiman is third in the MIAA in assists (6.8 apg) and is second in the MIAA in minutes per game at 35.1 and is ninth in scoring while ranking 19th in rebounds.
> The Ichabods have been outscored in conference games in the first half 319 to 311 … in the second half they have outscored their opponents 346 to 323.
  > The Ichabods are within three games of becoming the 10th team in NCAA Division II history to join the 1,600-win club.
Team              Years   W        L    Pct.
Central Wash.         118    1,752      960    .647
McKendree               111     1,719      951    .644
Central Mo.              114    1,716      988    .636
Northern St.             117     1,693     942    .642
William Jewell         121    1,656   1,219   .577
Drury                         111     1,636     921    .639
Fairmont St.              96     1,616      909    .639
Ky. Wesleyan           112    1,607     836    .660
Fort Hays St.           111     1,604     936    .632
Washburn                 114    1,597    1,083 .595
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
>  is 57-25 in his third season as the Ichabods' head coach and 90-55 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 Lincoln.
 
LINCOLN HEAD COACH JASON MOSELEY
>  is 77-88 in his sixth year at Lincoln.
>  joined LU after helping North Carolina Central reach the second round of the NCAA Division I tournament in 2013-14 as the associate head coach.
>  is 1-5 against Washburn.
>  is 0-1 against Washburn.
  WASHBURN (11-7, 6-3 MIAA)
NEWMAN (8-12, 2-8 MIAA)
JAN. 25, 2020
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods used a 24-9 run over a 10-minute stretch midway through the second half to pull away from the Newman Jets in an 80-67 win on Saturday in Lee Arena as the Ichabods won their third in a row over Newman.
Washburn (11-7, 6-3 MIAA) never trailed in the game leading for 39 of 40 minutes in the contest as the Ichabods won its third game in a row. The Ichabods scored the first nine points of the game hitting 3 of 4 shots while forcing the Jets (8-12, 2-8 MIAA) into three turnovers to start the game. Washburn led by as many as the nine points to start the game before the Jets used a 17-9 run of their own to tie the score at 32 with 1:04 to play in the half before a jumper by Drew Maschoff sent the Ichabods to the break with a two-point lead.
The Jets cut the lead to one on three different occasions in the second half before the Ichabod mid-half spurt pushed the lead to 16 at 71-55 with 3:54 to go and would go on to lead by as many 18 with 61 second to play before Newman scored the final five points of the game trimming it to a 13-point Washburn win.
Tyler Geiman scored 13 of his team-high 19 points in the second half leading four Ichabods in double figures followed by Jalen Lewis with 17, Jonny Clausing with 12 and Maschoff with 11. Jace Williams had a team-high seven rebounds with three on the offensive end of the court. Marshawn Blackmon led the Jets with a game-high 20 points.
Washburn hit 20 of 23 free throws in the game including all 15 attempts in the second half for an 87 percent clip. Newman was 17 of 26 from the charity line. Washburn shot 50 percent from the field overall hitting 26 of 52 shots after shooting 54 percent in the first half. Newman was 22 of 50 overall.
The Ichabods outrebounded the Jets 34 to 27 and forced 15 turnovers leading to 17 Ichabod points.
  > Lincoln is 7-11 this season and 4-5 in MIAA games.
> The Blue Tigers have lost their last two games overall in road contests at Northeastern State and Rogers State, but have gone in 4-2 in home games picking up home wins over Missouri Western, Culver-Stockton, Central Missouri and Pittsburg State.
> Jonell Burton leads the team in scoring at 14.3 ppg and he scored 40 against Harris-Stowe on Nov. 22.
  > Wednesday's meeting will be the 34th in the series history and Washburn leads 29-4.
> Washburn had won the last 28 meetings in the series which began on Dec. 18, 1957 with the Blue Tigers winning 93-80 until the Ichabods' 75-73 loss to the Blue Tigers on Jan. 31, 2019.
> Overall the Ichabods are 12-1 against Lincoln in Jefferson City all-time having won their last 12 games with the lone loss coming in 1957 in the first meeting in the series.
> In Topeka, the Ichabods are 15-2 .
> In neutral site games Washburn is 2-1.
> The teams have never met in the MIAA Tournament.
  WASHBURN 75 (21-5)
LINCOLN 70 (16-10)
Feb. 23, 2019
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods shook off a slow start and rallied late to pick up a 75-70 win over Lincoln.
The Ichabods (21-5, 14-3 MIAA) trailed 67-63 with 3:26 to go in the game and the Ichabods cut it to one at 67-66 on a 3-pointer by Javion Blake with 3:09 to play. After a Lincoln free throw pushed the lead to two at 68-66, David Salach connected on a 3-pointer off a Blake assist to take the lead at 69-68 with 1:19 seconds to play.
Devyn Wilson hit two free throws after a Lincoln miss to put Washburn up 71-68 and then Tyler Geiman hit 1 of 2 free throws with 32 seconds as Washburn was up 72-68.  A Will McKee steal sent Geiman back to the line again with 19 seconds to play again and hit 1 of 2 as Washburn was up 73-68. A missed 3-pointer by Lincoln was returned with two free throw misses by the Ichabods.
A layup by the Blue Tigers (16-10, 9-8 MIAA) with seven seconds left cut the lead to 73-70 and was followed by a turnover by the Ichabods. After a Blue Tiger timeout, Lincoln missed a 3-pointer and Geiman hit both free throws after grabbing the rebound and was fouled and hit both free throws with three seconds to go sealing the 75-70 win.
To start the game, the Ichabods fell behind 15-3 to start the game as the Blue Tigers led by 12 with 15:45 to play in the opening half as the Ichabods were 1 of 7 from the field. The lone bucket for Washburn was a 3-pointer by Javion Blake which game him 1,702 points moving him past Will McNeill for third all-time on the Washburn scoring chart.
The Blue Tigers led 33-27 with 3:40 to go in the first half and a 10-0 run by the Ichabods put Washburn in front 37-33 with 1:11 to go as the Blue Tigers hit their fifth 3-pointer of the frame to cut the Ichabod lead to one at 37-36 entering the locker rooms.
Wilson led the Ichabods with 18 points on 4 of 5 shooting from 3-ponters and six of 10 overall from the field. Salach and Geiman finished with 13 while Geiman added nine rebounds and five assists.
Amariontez Ivory led the Blue Tigers with a game-high 21 points.
Washburn finished 25 of 62 from the field hitting 40 percent from the field. The Blue Tigers were 27 of 60 for a 45 percent average. Washburn was outrebounded 40 to 29 in the game, but forced 17 Blue Tiger turnovers leading to 20 Ichabod points. Washburn also had 28 points off the bench compared to zero for the Blue Tigers.
  >  The Ichabods are 1597-1082-2 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 616-283 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 453-92 (.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 be back in action at Central Missouri on Feb. 1. Washburn will return to Lee Arena on Feb. 6 when they will face Missouri Southern followed by Pittsburg State on Feb. 8.