•The No. 13 (NABC)/No. 5 (D2SIDA) Washburn Ichabods look to return to their winning ways as they will face Newman on Thursday in Wichita.
•The Ichabods (10-2, 10-2 MIAA), fell to No. 13 from No. 7 in the latest NABC Coaches Poll and were ranked 12th in the D2SIDA poll.
•The Jets (2-9, 2-9 MIAA) has lost their last five games including an 81-70 loss to No. 3-ranked Northwest Missouri on Jan. 21.
•The Ichabods won the first meeting of the season with the Jets 100-61 in Topeka on Dec. 5.
•The Ichabods lead the all-time series with the Jets 25-7 and have won the last four in the series.
•The meeting on Thursday will be the 33rd meeting between the two schools.
•The Ichabods are 20-1 in home games against the Jets and 4-5 against Newman in games played in Wichita having lost 2 of the last 3 meetings.
•The Ichabods are second the MIAA in scoring at 82.3 ppg and the Jets are ranked No. 10 in scoring defense allowing 76.2 ppg.
•The Ichabods are ranked fourth in the MIAA in scoring defense allowing 71.4 ppg while the Jets are last in the league in scoring offense at 66.9 ppg.
•The Ichabods are ranked second in the league in opponents field goal percentage at 41.4 percent while the Jets are 13th in the league in shooting percentage at 40.9 percent.
•The 2020-21 season marks the 116th season of Ichabod basketball.
  •Tyler Geiman leads the team in scoring (19.8 ppg - 3rd in the MIAA), assists (6.3 apg - 1st in the MIAA and is 3rd in the NCAA), rebounds (6.6 rpg - 10th in the MIAA), steals (1.8 spg - 7th in the MIAA) and minutes (36.5 mpg - 2nd in the MIAA) … his 100th game in an Ichabod uniform was last 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 11.0 ppg hitting 29 of 55 3-point attempts this season (52.7 percent).
•Tyler Nelson is scoring 9.3 ppg averaging almost 12 points a game in the last three since moving into a starting role.
•Levi Braun is averaging 8.2 ppg this season … all 30 of his field goals this season have been from 3 and he has attempted only three shots inside the 3-point arch.
•Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 5.6 ppg with 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
•Jace Williams is averaging 5.5 ppg with 3.6 rpg recoridng 11 blocks.
•Rathen Carter is scoring 5.1 ppg with 2.9 rpg.
•Will McKee is scoring 3.1 ppg with 4.3 rpg.
•The Ichabod bench has outscored their opponents bench in nine of 12 games this season … the Washburn bench is averaging 25.3 ppg compared to 17.9 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 1,083 in 100 career games, which is 18th all-time on the Ichabod chart … up next is Tom Carlson and Todd Alexander who are tied for 17th with 1,099 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 61 of 79 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 72-33 in his fourth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 105-63 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 3-0 against Newman.
 
NEWMAN HEAD COACH R.J. ALLEN
•is 45-51 in his fourth season as the Jets' head coach.
•spent six seasons as an assistant at Newman.
•is 0-3 against Washburn.
 

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ICHABODS
EMPORIA STATE 91 (7-6)
WASHBURN 74 (10-2)
EMPORIA, Kan. – The No. 7 Washburn Ichabods men's basketball team lost a tough battle to rival Emporia State, 91-74, on Saturday afternoon.
The Ichabods (10-2) opened scoring early as Tyler Nelson sank a shot from behind the arc to give Washburn the 3-0 lead 50 seconds into the game. The Hornets (7-6) quickly responded, going on an 8-0 run in the next 1:40 to take an 8-3 lead. The next 17 minutes of the half entailed a back-and-forth battle of fighting for the lead.
In the last minute and a half of the first half, two made free throws by Levi Braun and a made shot from deep by Tyler Geiman gave Washburn the lead. Emporia answered all five of those points to knot up the score at 43 at halftime.
The Hornets opened the second half with a 10-0 run in the first four minutes to regain a 53-43 lead over the Ichabods. Washburn attempted to chip away throughout the second half, reducing its deficit to one point with a three-pointer by Geiman at the 11:44 mark to make the score 62-61 in favor of Emporia. Aided by two 10-0 runs and a 14-0 run in the second half, Emporia held on to its lead for the remainder of the game to take the 91-74 victory over Washburn.
Four Ichabods hit double digits in points: Geiman (24), Nelson (17), Braun (14) and Connor Deffebaugh (10). Geiman also led the team with eight assists. Braun and Jace Williams each collected four rebounds.
Jumah'Ri Turner led the Hornets with 27 points, while also recording five rebounds and four assists. Dallas Bailey had the most rebounds (seven) and steals (three) for Emporia, while also contributing 17 points.
  •The Jets are 2-9 after losing at Northwest Missouri 81-70 on Jan. 21 and have lost their last five games.
•Joel Boyce leads the team with 13.3 ppg and Branden Bunn is scoring 12.4 ppg … Boyce also leads the team in rebounds at 6.7 per game.
  •Thursday's meeting with the Jets is the 33rd all-time.
•The Ichabods lead the all-time series 25-7.
•The Ichabods have won the last 20 of the last 22 meetings with the Jets and the last four overall.
•Washburn is 4-5 against Newman in games played in Wichita having lost 2 of the last 3 meetings.
•Washburn is 20-1 against Newman in Topeka with the lone loss coming on Feb. 12, 1980 in a 68-56 defeat.   
  Dec. 5, 2020 -- TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods opened the game on a 14-2 run and never looked back as they picked up their largest margin of victory in the series with the Newman Jets in a 100-61 win on Saturday afternoon in Lee Arena.
Adding to the 14-2 run over the Jets, the Ichabods also had runs of 15-3, 12-0 and started the second half on a 15-0 run cruising to the win improving to 4-0 in MIAA play.
Washburn shot 53 percent in the first half hitting 7 of 12 3-pointers taking a 47-22 lead into the break while holding the Jets (0-3, 0-3 MIAA) to 8 of 32 from the field and 3 of 14 from deep.
Moving to the second half the Ichabods outscored the Jets 19 to 3 the first 6:41 of the frame building a 66-25 lead pushing their lead to as many as 43 at 7:35 to go in the game after a Will McKee 3-pointer.
Washburn was led by Tyler Geiman who scored 21 points adding nine rebounds, eight assists and five steals leading all scorers in the game. Jonny Clausing had 15 points adding seven rebounds and five blocks. Jalen Lewis scored 14 off the bench hitting 3 of 4 3-pointers.
 Jorge Oliva scored 13 points off the bench to lead the Jets.
 The Ichabods finished 36 of 69 from the field for a 52 percent clip while hitting 12 of 24 shots from 3-point range. The Jets were 22 of 65 for the game and 9 of 27 from 3-point territory. The Ichabods held the Jet starters to 5 of 27 shooting from the field.
 Washburn outscored the Jets 34-0 in fastbreak points and 46-24 in points in the paint.
 The 39-point win is the largest in the 32-game history between the Ichabods and the Jets topping the 38-point win on March 3, 1984 in Topeka in a 128-66 win and was the fourth-straight victory for the Ichabods in the series.
  • The Ichabods are 1612-1092-2 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 630-289 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 is on the road on Saturday at Central Oklahoma and then will return home to face Rogers State on Feb. 4 and Northeastern State on Feb. 6 and Lincoln on Feb. 9 (a rescheduled game from Dec. 19) in Lee Arena.