> The Washburn Ichabods start the final week of the regular season with a pair of road games at No. 1 Northwest Missouri on Thursday and the regular season finale at Missouri Western on Saturday.
> The Ichabods (16-10, 11-6 MIAA) topped Lincoln 72-67 last time on Feb. 22 in Topeka.
> The No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri Bearcats rang up Missouri Western on Feb. 25 in St. Joseph, 92-69.
> The Ichabods have clinched a spot in the MIAA Tournament and currently sit fifth in the MIAA standings with three games to go in the regular season. Missouri Western is one game ahead of the Ichabods at 12-6 in the conference standings. 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 15.2 ppg as well as assists (5.7) and minutes (35.0) and he is second in rebounds (5.8).
> Geiman has 145 3-pointers in his Washburn career … he is 11th on the all-time 3-point chart.
> Geiman's 385 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 12.8 ppg while Drew Maschoff is scoring 10.9 ppg and Jonny Clausing is scoring 10.0 ppg.
>  Clausing leads the team in rebounds at 7.2 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.
> Keven Biggs is scoring 5.9 ppg off the bench after starting the first 12 games of the season.
> Rathen Carter is scoring 5.8 ppg with 2.3 rpg … he scored a career-high 18 points against Central Missouri in the first meeting.
> Tyler Nelson is scoring 5.3 ppg coming off a career-high 16 points against Central Missouri and Jace Williams is scoring 4.7 and Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 4.6
> The Ichabods are currently ninth in the MIAA in field goal percentage at .455 and they rank eighth in field goal defense at .443.
> The Ichabods are currently sixth 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 113 of 145 attempts … Jalen Lewis is 41 of 45 (91 percent) in the last five minutes of games this season and 51 of 56 (91 percent) for his Washburn career.
> Tyler Geiman is third in the MIAA in assists (5.7 apg) and is third in the MIAA in minutes per game at 34.9 and is 12th in scoring while ranking 10th in rebounds, ninth in field goal percentage, fourth in 3-point field goal percentage, 16th in free throw percentage, 18th in steals and seventh in 3-pointers made per game.
  >  Tyler Geiman's 67 3-pointers made is 10th.
>  Jalen Lewis' 62 3-pointers made is 14th
>  Tyler Geiman's 164 3-point attempts 11th
>  Jalen Lewis' 160 3-point attempts 14th
>  Tyler Geiman's .409 3-point percentage is 24th
>  Tyler Geiman's 148 assists is 6th
>  Tyler Geiman's 5.7 assist average is 3rd
>  Jonny Clausing's 44 blocks is 7th
>  Jonny Clausing's 1.7 blocks per game average is 5th
>  Tyler Geiman's 35.0 minutes per game is 3rd
>  Jalen Lewis' 32.0 minutes per game is 19th
>  The Ichabods' 242 3-pointers made is 4th (293 is the record set in 2018-19)
>  The Ichabods' 655 3-point attempts is 3rd (752 is the record set in 2018-19)
>  The Ichabods' .369 3-point percentage is 18th
>  The Ichabods' 84 blocked shots is 19th >  Only two Ichabods in program history have averaged at least 15.0 points, 5.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds in a season.
Player                  Year      PPG  RPG  APG
Tyler Geiman                    2019-20    15.2     5.8      5.7
De'Andre Washington       2010-11     16.0     6.4      5.1
  >  Brett Ballard has 62 wins in his first three seasons as the Ichabod head coach … he needs one win to tie and two to pass former Ichabod head coach Bob Chipman who had 63 wins in his first three seasons on the Washburn bench. Glenn Cafer recorded 52 wins in his first three seasons at Washburn.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
>  is 62-28 in his third season as the Ichabods' head coach and 95-58 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 0-6 against Northwest Missouri.
 
NORTHWEST MISSOURI HEAD COACH BEN MCCOLLUM
>   is 268-76 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 15-6 against the Ichabods.
  WASHBURN 72 (16-10, 11-6 MIAA)
LINCOLN (10-16, 7-10 MIAA)
FEB. 22, 2020
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods finished off the home slate with a 72-67 win over the Lincoln Blue Tigers improving to 16-10 and 11-6 in the MIAA. 
In the first half it was all Ichabods as they jumped out to a 47-24 lead as Washburn led 20-8 9:48 into the game after shooting 64 percent from 3-point range hitting 9 of 14 attempts holding Lincoln to 9 of 21 in the half as Jalen Lewis hit all three of his 3-point attempts scoring 15 points in the first 20 minutes and Tyler Geiman had 12.
 After the teams traded five points each to start the second half, Lincoln ripped out a 19-7 run over the next 7:19 cutting the Ichabod lead to 11 at 59-48 with 10:12 to go in the game. The Blue Tigers continued to chip into the Washburn advantage with a 16-6 run trimming the lead to four at 71-67 with eight seconds to play but Geiman hit the first of two free throws and after a Lincoln jumper was swatted by Jace Williams with his third block of the day, the Blue Tigers' 3-point attempt at the end missed as the Ichabods picked up the win.
 Geiman led the Ichabods with 18 points adding five assists and four rebounds. Lewis finished with 15 points and Jonny Clausing added nine with three blocks. Keven Biggs scored with as did Tyler Nelson and Drew Maschoff finished with seven points and five assists.
 Jonell Burton scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Blue Tigers.
 Washburn was outrebounded 32 to 27 in the game and outscored 40 to 28 in the paint by Lincoln (16-10, 7-10 MIAA).
 Lincoln shot 52 percent from the field in the second half finishing at 48 percent for the game while after hitting 60 percent of their first half shots, the Ichabods went 10 of 24 for a 42 percent average.
  > The No. 2-ranked Bearcats are 27-1 overall and 17-1 in the MIAA already having wrapped up their seventh-straight MIAA regular season title.
> The Bearcats's 32-game home win streak ranks as the third-longest streak in the nation among all NCAA divisions. It ranks No. 2 among NCAA Division II teams trailing only West Texas A&M's streak of 40-straight home victories.
> The Bearcats have won 68 of their last 70 home games. Northwest set the MIAA record for consecutive home victories in 2018 at 48.
> The Bearcats are riding a 19-game winning streak after suffering their only loss (72-60 at Central Missouri) on Dec. 7.
> Ryan Hawkins leads the team in scoring at 22.8 ppg scoring 21.9 in MIAA play … he leads the team in rebounds at 7.4 rpg.
> Trevor Hudgins is scoring 20.1 ppg while scoring 21.7 ppg in MIAA play.
> Diego Bernard is scoring 13.7 ppg averaging 6.6 rpg.
> The Bearcats have four players averaging at least 32 minutes per game.
> The Bearcats are scoring 84.3 ppg allowing 62.8 ppg.
  >    Thursday's meeting will be the 108th between the two schools and Washburn holds a 60-47 lead in the series.
>    The Bearcats have won 12 of the last 13 meetings and the last 10 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 21-13 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 73 (15-1)
WASHBURN 68 (8-6)
Jan. 11, 2019
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods battled down to the final minute but came up short in a 73-68 loss to the No. 2-ranked Northwest Missouri Bearcats on Saturday afternoon in Lee Arena.
In the first half, the Ichabods (8-6, 3-2 MIAA) trailed by six at the break after shooting 68 percent from the field hitting 13 of 19 shots overall as Tyler Geiman scored 11 of is 13 points in the opening stanza. Geiman connected on a 3-pointer with 7:47 to go to give the Ichabods a 24-22 lead, but seven straight points by the Bearcats (15-1, 5-1 MIAA) pushed the lead to 29-24. Northwest hit 16 of 28 shots and 5 of 11 from deep.
Northwest pushed the lead to 11 at 46-35 scoring the first five points of the second half but the Ichabods used a 14-3 run over the next 4:56 tying the game at 49. After a 3-pointer and a lay up by the Bearcats, stretching the lead to three at 54-51, Washburn used a 9-2 run going up 60-56 capped by a Jalen Lewis jumper with 7:31 remaining.
Northwest tied the score at 62 with 4:17 to play, then Washburn went back up 65-62 when Lewis was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 3:57 left. An 8-0 by the Bearcats put them up 70-65 with 47 seconds to play as Washburn missed both field goal attempts and the Bearcats hit all six free throw attempts going up five.
A Lewis 3-pointer with 23 seconds left cut the Bearcat advantage to two at 70-68, but the Bearcats hit their final free throw attempts and Washburn's final field goal attempts missed as the Bearcats held on for the win.
Lewis led the Ichabods with 19 points going 6 of 11 from the field and 4 of 5 from 3-point range while Geiman finished with 13 points. Jace Williams scored nine points off the bench for Washburn. Geiman also had six assists and five rebounds.
Ryan Hawkins led Northwest with 32 points as three different Bearcats played all 40 minutes.
Washburn finished 26 of 46 from the field hitting 57 percent overall while Northwest was 23 of 44 overall at 52 percent. Washburn was 7 of 13 from the free throw line while the Bearcats were 20 of 26 including 16 of 22 in the second half.
Northwest held a 30 to 19 advantage on the glass turning 10 offensive rebounds into 12 points. The Ichabods forced 12 turnovers leading to 14 points and both team scored 32 points in the paint.
  >  The Ichabods are 1601-1086-2 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 620-287 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 455-94 (.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 finish off the regular season at Missouri Western on Feb. 29 before starting the MIAA Championship Tournament on March 4 in Kansas City.