•The No. 7 (NABC)/No. 5 (D2SIDA) Washburn Ichabods are back in action on Jan. 23 at Emporia State beginning their second three-game conference road trip of the season.
•The Ichabods (10-1, 10-1 MIAA), moved up one spot from No. 8 to No. 7 in the latest NABC Coaches Poll and were ranked fourth in the D2SIDA poll for the second consecutive week.
•The Hornets (6-6, 6-6 MIAA) are coming off a 71-59 loss to Central Oklahoma on Jan. 21 in a game which was rescheduled from earlier in the season.
•The Hornets will make a return trip for the regular season finale on Feb. 27 in Lee Arena.
•The Ichabods lead the all-time series with Emporia state 109-103 in the most-played series of the Ichabods.
•The meeting on Saturday will be the 213th meeting between the two schools.
•The Ichabods are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings and have gone 43-58 all-time in games played in Emporia.
•The Ichabods lead the MIAA in scoring at 83.1 ppg and the Hornets are ranked No. 2 in scoring defense allowing 69.3 ppg.
•The Ichabods are ranked third in the MIAA in scoring defense allowing 69.6 ppg while the Hornets are 12th in scoring offense at 69.2 ppg.
•The Ichabods are ranked first in the league in opponents field goal percentage at 39.7 percent while the Hornets are fourth in the league in shooting percentage at 46.3 percent.
•The 2020-21 season marks the 116th season of Ichabod basketball.
  •Tyler Geiman leads the team in scoring (19.5 ppg - 3rd in the MIAA), assists (6.2 apg - 1st in the MIAA and is 3rd in the NCAA), rebounds (6.9 rpg - 12th in the MIAA), steals (1.8 spg - 5th in the MIAA) and minutes (36.4 mpg - 3rd in the MIAA) … his 100th game in an Ichabod uniform will be on Saturday against Emporia State.
•Jonny Clausing is scoring 11.6 ppg with 4.1 rpg and a team-high 1.3 bkpg.
•Jalen Lewis is averaging 11.9 ppg hitting 29 of 51 3-point attempts this season (56.9 percent).
•Levi Braun is averaging 7.6 ppg this season and has scored 19 and 15 in his last two games … he has hit 11 of 15 3-pointers in the last two games and for the season is 26 of 48 (54 percent).
•Since moving into the starting line up four games ago, Rathen Carter has been averaging 10.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg and has shot 5 of 10 from 3-point range and 15 of 23 overall.
•The Ichabod bench has outscored their opponents bench in eight of 11 games this season … the Washburn bench is averaging 25.1 ppg compared to 18.3 for its opponents bench per game.
•Tyler Geiman became the 26th member of Washburn's 1,000-point club at Missouri Western … his career total is 1,059 in 99 career games, which is 19th all-time on the Ichabod chart … up next is Alex North who sits 18th with 1,082 career points.
•Washburn is 48 of 73 from the free throw line in the last five minutes of games (65 percent) compared to its opponents connecting on 55 of 68 attempts (82 percent).
•The 2020-21 Washburn Ichabod basketball season will be one for the record books as the 22-game schedule will consist of only games against MIAA opponents as regional crossovers and non-conference matchups have been scrapped thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
•From a 16-13 team last season, Washburn returns four starters and 91 percent of its scoring, 86 percent of its rebounding, 94 percent of assists and 89 percent of minutes played a year ago while adding a returner from the 2018-19 season who returns from an injury. WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
•is 72-32 in his fourth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 105-62 overall in his seventh 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 3-1 against Emporia State.
 
EMPORIA STATE HEAD COACH CRAIG DOTY
•is 30-39 in his third season at Emporia State.
•is in his eighth season as a head coach at the D2, NAIA, and NJCAA level he is 192-88 with three national championships.
•In two seasons at Graceland, Doty went 49-22 and won the 2018 NAIA Division I National Championship in Municipal Auditorium.
•Prior to Graceland, Doty spent four years as the head coach at Rock Valley College winning two national championships and appearing in three straight NJCAA Division III title games to finish with a 113-28 record.
•is 0-2 against Washburn.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ICHABODS
WASHBURN 84 (10-1)
PITTSBURG STATE 62 (5-6)
TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 8 Washburn men's basketball team used a strong offensive performance in the second half to defeat the Pittsburg State Gorillas, 84-62, on Saturday afternoon.
FIRST HALF
Washburn opened scoring with a 4-0 run in the first three minutes of the game. Pittsburg got on the board shortly after, starting a back-and-forth battle for the lead throughout most of the first half. Down six points to the Gorillas, the Ichabods fought back with a 8-0 run in the last 4:29 of the half to reclaim the lead over the Gorillas. A made three-pointer by Rathen Carter gave Washburn the lead back with 1:23 on the clock, ending the first half up 33-31.
SECOND HALF
After a couple made free throws from the Gorillas to tie the game at 33-33 early in the second half, the Ichabods quickly responded as Jalen Lewis made a shot from behind the arc to give Washburn a 36-33 lead with 17:22 on the clock. The Ichabods retained their lead for the remainder of the game, leading by no less than 11 points for the last five minutes of the game. Washburn went on a 25-11 run in the last 10 minutes of the game to solidify its 84-62 win over Pittsburg State.
HIGHLIGHTS
Tyler Geiman led the Ichabods with 19 points, while also recording three rebounds and team-high five assists. Tyler Nelson had 16 points with five rebounds, while making all four of his free-throw attempts. Levi Braun tallied 15 points all coming from the 3-point range, shooting 5-of-8 from deep. Carter and Connor Deffebaugh contributed nine points each. Carter also led the team with six rebounds, three of which were offensive.
Bobby Arthur-Williams, Jr. led the Gorillas with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Ryan Pippins scored the second-most points for Pittsburg State with 15.
The Ichabods scored 16 points off Gorillas turnovers while Pittsburg State scored two points off Washburn turnovers. Washburn's offense outscored Pittsburg State 51-33 in the second half. The Ichabods made nine of 10 attempts from the charity stripe in the second half. The Ichabods also made 16-of-27 field goals in the second half, 10 of them from behind the arc.
  •The Hornets are 6-6 after falling at home to Central Oklahoma on Thursday night in Emporia in a 71-59 game. The Bronchos used a 17-0 run in the second half outscoring the Hornets 43-22 in the second half rallying from a nine-point halftime deficit handing ESU its second-straight loss.
•The Hornets were picked 12th in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
•Jumah'Ri Turner is averaging 16.6 ppg and Austin Downing is scoring 13.1 ppg.
  •The meeting on Saturday will be the 213th meeting between the two schools and the Ichabods lead at 109-103. This is the most-played series for Washburn.
•The Ichabods have won 7 of the last 10 meetings in the series the last two overall.
•The two teams started the series in 1905-06, Washburn's first recorded year of basketball, and they have met every year since the 1945-46 season.
•This will be the 77th-straight year they have played each other at least once.
•The Ichabods are 27-8 against the Hornets in Lee Arena.
•Washburn is 4-1 against ESU in MIAA Postseason tournament games.
  Jan. 4, 2020 -- TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods opened the new decade in big fashion shaking off a slow start rallying from a 15-point deficit with just under 13 minutes to go outscoring arch rival Emporia State 36-19 the rest of the game for a come from behind 80-78 win in Lee Arena on Saturday night.
The Ichabods trailed 39-31 at the break after hitting 10 of 29 shots going 1 of 12 from 3-point range while the Hornets connected on 16 of 28 shots overall jumping out to an eight-point margin at the break. The Ichabods held a 16-14 lead midway through the opening half, but 10-straight points by the Hornets pushed the lead to 24-16 and would go on to lead by as many as 10 on five different occasions.
Coming out of the locker rooms after the half, the Ichabods trimmed back the margin to six on a 3-pointer by Lewis with 18:19 to play and eventually cut it to five at 44-39 with 17:43 remaining and then to four after another Lewis' 3-pointer with 16:47 to play but a 13-2 run by the Hornets pushed the Ichabod deficit to 15 at 59-44 before a Jace Williams 3-point play jump started the comeback.
Behind Lewis' 25 points on 5 of 8 shooting from 3-point range and 8 of 13 overall from the field, Geiman scored 18 points adding six rebounds and seven assists followed by Jonny Clausing's 13 points and eight rebounds. Washburn shot 65 percent in the second half from the field (17-26) and 5 of 12 from deep finishing 6 of 24 overall. The Ichabods did hit 20 of 29 free throws in the game.
The Ichabods scored 38 of their 80 points in the paint and outscored the Hornets 21 to 7 in fastbreak points.
  • The Ichabods are 1612-1091-2 all-time in the 116th 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 630-288 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 460-94 (.848) all-time in Lee Arena.
• The 2020-21 season marks the 37th season of play in Lee Arena.
• The Ichabods are 36-1 all-time in home openers.
• The Ichabods recorded a school-best 28-game winning streak from Nov. 19, 1993 to Feb. 8, 1995 in Lee Arena.
  •Washburn returns to the road for two games Newman on Jan. 28 wrapping up the trip with Central Oklahoma on Jan. 30.