>The Washburn Ichabods will start the first of their final two home games of the season starting on Thursday with Central Missouri on Feb. 20 in Lee Arena.
>The Ichabods (14-10, 9-6 MIAA) are coming off a 1-1 Oklahoma roadtrip topping Northeastern State on Feb. 13 86-72 before falling last time out at Rogers State 80-62 on Feb. 15.
>The Mules (10-15, 5-11 MIAA) snapped a four-game losing streak with a 69-62 win over Lincoln on Tuesday night for their first win since beating the Ichabods on Feb. 1 in Warrensburg 59-56.
>The Ichabods have clinched a spot in the MIAA Tournament and currently sit in a tie for fifth in the MIAA standings with four games to go in the regular season. Central Missouri is tied for 11th in the conference race. The top 10 teams in the final standings will be in Kansas City March 4-8 for the postseason event.
>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 15.0 ppg as well as assists (5.5) and minutes (34.8) and he is second in rebounds (5.8).
>Geiman has 139 3-pointers in his Washburn career … he is 11th on the all-time 3-point chart.
>Geiman's 370 career assists at Washburn and is second all-time on the Ichabod chart … 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 13.2 ppg while Drew Maschoff is scoring 11.5 ppg and Jonny Clausing is scoring 10.0 ppg.
> Clausing leads the team in rebounds at 7.3 rpg (fourth in the MIAA) … he also leads the team in blocks at 1.8 per game which leads the MIAA and is also 20th in the latest national rankings and his total blocks is 18th overall nationwide.
>Rathen Carter is scoring 6.3 ppg with 2.4 rpg … he scored a career-high 18 points against Central Missouri in the first meeting.
>Keven Biggs is scoring 5.8 ppg off the bench after starting the first 12 games of the season.
>Tyler Nelson is scoring 4.7 ppg and Jace Williams is scoring 4.7 and Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 4.4.
>The Ichabods are currently ninth in the MIAA in field goal percentage at .453 and they rank sixth in field goal defense at .437.
>The Ichabods are currently seventh in the MIAA in scoring average at 74.5 ppg and they rank seventh in scoring defense at 70.0 ppg.
>The Ichabods are 13th in free throw percentage in the MIAA shooting 67 percent.
>During the last five minutes of games however the Ichabods are shooting 78 percent from the free throw line as a team hitting 104 of 133 attempts … Jalen Lewis is 40 of 43 (93 percent) in the last five minutes of games this season and 50 of 55 (91 percent) for his Washburn career.
>Tyler Geiman is third in the MIAA in assists (5.5 apg) and is third in the MIAA in minutes per game at 34.8 and is 12th in scoring while ranking 12th in rebounds, ninth in field goal percentage, fourth in 3-point field goal percentage, 16th in free throw percentage, 16th in steals and seventh in 3-pointers made per game.
  > Tyler Geiman's 61 3-pointers made is 15th.
> Jalen Lewis' 59 3-pointers made is 19th
> Jalen Lewis' 152 3-point attempts 15th
> Tyler Geiman's 148 3-point attempts 18th
> Tyler Geiman's .412 3-point percentage is 25th
> Tyler Geiman's 133 assists is 9th
> Tyler Geiman's 5.5 assist average is 4th
> Jonny Clausing's 41 blocks is 8th
> Jonny Clausing's 1.7 blocks per game average is 5th
> Tyler Geiman's 34.8 minutes per game is 4th
> Jalen Lewis' 32.0 minutes per game is 14th
> The Ichabods' 222 3-pointers made is 9th
> The Ichabods' 604 3-point attempts is 10th
> The Ichabods' .368 3-point percentage is 19th
> The Ichabods' 77 blocked shots is 22nd
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
> is 60-28 in his third season as the Ichabods' head coach and 93-58 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 2-2 against Central Missouri.
 
CENTRAL MISSOURI HEAD COACH DOUG KARLESKINT
>   is 104-70 in his sixth season as the head coach at Central Missouri and 192-104 overall in his ninth season as a head coach.
>   spent five seasons at Arkansas Tech, including the last four as head coach.
>   he compiled a 90-34 (.726) record with the Wonder Boys with four conference championships and four trips to the NCAA-II National Tournament, including a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2012.
>   is 4-4 against Washburn.
  ROGERS STATE 80 (20-5, 12-4 MIAA)
WASHBURN 62 (14-10, 9-6 MIAA)
FEB. 15, 2020
CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Washburn Ichabods fought foul trouble and cold shooting in the second half as they fell 80-62 to Rogers State in the first meeting between the two schools.
Washburn shot 8 of 32 from the field in the second half and 4 of 16 from deep as the Hillcats turned a two-point halftime lead at 38-36 into a lead as many as 24 at 80-56 in the second half.
The Ichabods (14-10, 9-6 MIAA) started off slow in the game falling behind 21-11 with 13:05 to go in the game, but used a 28-15 run to finish off the frame.
Drew Maschoff led the Ichabods with 11 points and Jalen Lewis had 10. Keven Biggs had seven rebounds to pace the Ichabods on the glass.
Marques Sumner score a game-high 23 to lead the Hillcats (20-5, 12-4 MIAA) hitting 6 of 9 3-pointers. Christopher Miller scored 18 points.
Washburn finished 21 of 61 from the field while the Hillcats were 28 of 58 overall. Washburn was also 9 of 16 from the free throw line while Rogers State was 16 of 22 and held a 40-36 advantage on the glass.
  >Central Missouri is 10-15 this season and 5-11 in MIAA games.
>The Mules topped Lincoln 69-62 on Tuesday night snapping a four-game losing streak.
>The Mules are 9-7 in home games this season and 0-8 in games away from Warrensburg.
>Gaven Pinkley leads the team in scoring at 13.4 ppg and in rebounds at 5.4 rpg.
>The Mules average 66.4 ppg while allowing 67.5 ppg are they are -4.8 in rebounds a game.
  >  Saturday's meeting will be the 104th between these two teams
>  The UCM leads the series 52-51 after the winning the last meeting on Feb. 1.
>  Washburn is 21-9 against UCM in Lee Arena and 26-22 in all-time MIAA games.
>  In road MIAA games played in Warrensburg, the Ichabods are 10-16.
>  The Ichabods have won nine of the last 15 meetings.
>  The last time the teams met in the conference tournament was during the 2010 season when the Ichabods as the No. 8 seed topped the No. 1-seeded Mules 79-60.
>  The Ichabods are 5-1 all-time against Central Missouri in the MIAA Tournament.
  CENTRAL MISSOURI 59 (9-11)
WASHBURN 56 (12-8)
Feb. 1, 2019
WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods jumped out to an early lead but could not hold on in a game that saw 50 combined fouls in a 59-56 loss at Central Missouri on Saturday snapping the Ichabods' four-game winning streak.
With the Ichabods trailing by three with eight seconds left, Washburn (12-8, 7-4 MIAA) was unable to get a shot off down the stretch as taking the three-point loss in a game that saw all points for both teams after the 6:04 mark of the game come at the free throw line.
In the opening half, the Ichabods led by as many as 15 at 23-8 over Central Missouri but went cold from the field not hitting a field goal the final 5:09 of the frame. The Mules finished the half on a 12-1 run going 5 of 6 from the field while the Ichabods were 0 of 6 from the field, 0 of 5 from deep and 1 of 4 from the free throw line as the Mules cut the lead to two at the break. Washburn also committed nine turnovers in the first half going 10 of 27 from the field.
The Ichabods after being down by four in the second half at 53-49 went on to take a 55-53 lead with 2:35 to play but was outscored the rest of the way by the Mules 6 to 1 the final 1:13 of the game as the Ichabods missed eight of their final nine shots from the field.
Rathen Carter led the Ichabods scoring 18 points setting a career high while Tyler Geiman has 17 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for his fifth double double of the season adding five assists.
Washburn finished 10 of 18 from the free throw line while Central Missouri connected on 19 of 29 attempts. Washburn was whistled for 27 fouls while the Mules had 23. The Ichabods committed 16 turnovers leading to 14 Mule points. The Ichabods had a 42 to 35 advantage on the glass. Washburn finished the game 19 of 53 from the field and 8 of 28 from deep while the Mules were 17 of 49 overall and 6 of 16 from 3-point range.
  > The Ichabods are 1600-1085-2 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 619-286 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 454-93 (.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 wrap up the home slate with Lincoln on senior night on Feb. 22. The Ichabods will finish off the regular season at Northwest Missouri on Feb. 27 and Missouri Western on Feb. 29 before starting the MIAA Championship Tournament on March 4 in Kansas City.