• The No. 5-ranked Washburn Ichabods will be back in action on Saturday wrapping up a three-game road trip at No. 22-ranked Missouri Western in a 7:30 p.m. start.
• The Ichabods (8-0, 8-0 MIAA), who remained No. 5 in the latest NABC Coaches Poll, topped No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri in overtime 84-82 in Maryville winning their second-straight overtime contest.
• The No. 22-ranked Griffons are 7-1 overall coming off a 70-61 win over Emporia State on Jan. 7 in St. Joseph. The Griffons have won their last three games.
• It will be the first of two scheduled regular season games between the two schools as the Griffons will return to Lee Arena on Feb. 18 for the second match up.
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series with Missouri Western 55-40 and will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak to the Griffons.
• The Ichabods (83.0 ppg) and the Griffons (85.8) are the top-two scoring teams in the MIAA. Both teams are ranked first and second in turnover margin with the Griffons at +4.0 and the Ichabods are +2.88.
• The Ichabods and the Griffons lead the league with 3.75 blocks per game.
• The 2020-21 season marks the 116th season of Ichabod basketball.
  • Tyler Geiman leads the team in scoring (18.4 ppg), assists (6.4 apg - which leads the MIAA and is fourth the NCAA), rebounds (6.8 rpg) and steals (2.0 spg) … Geiman also needs eight points to become the 26th Ichabod in program history to reach 1,000 points.
• Jonny Clausing is scoring 11.9 ppg with 4.6 rpg and a team-high 1.3 bkpg.
• Jalen Lewis is averaging 11.5 ppg hitting 20 of 38 3-point attempts this season (52.6 percent).
• Drew Maschoff is averaging 11.1 ppg adding 5.0 rpg and 3.7 apg.
  • The Ichabods have hit at least one 3-pointer in 499-straight games … their last game without one was on Dec. 30, 2003 at Missouri Western … overall the Ichabods have connected on at least one 3-pointer in 862 of the last 863 games.
• The Ichabod bench has outscored their opponents bench in six of eight games this season … the Washburn bench is averaging 25.8 ppg compared to 18.1 for its opponents bench per game.
• The Ichabods have improved to 44-35 in overtime games with their last two games going into extra minutes … Washburn is now also 24-20 all-time in overtime games in road contests … the back-to-back overtime games against Northwest Missouri and Northeastern State is the ninth time in program history the Ichabods have played overtime games in consecutive outings.
• Washburn has also won its last four overtime games in a row and six of the last seven dating back to Feb. 17, 2018.
• Washburn is 39 of 61 from the free throw line in the last five minutes of games (64 percent) compared to its opponents connecting on 44 of 54 attempts (82 percent).
• Tyler Geiman has tied Jordan Canfield (1992-97) for seventh on the Ichabod all-time start chart at 96 games.
• 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 70-31 in his fourth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 103-61 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 4-2 against Missouri Western.
 
MISSOURI WESTERN HEAD COACH WILL MARTIN
• is 7-1 in his first season as the Griffons head coach after serving two seasons as an assistant coach.
• Martin, a Franklin, Tennessee native, also had three stops at NCAA Division I institutions before his arrival to St. Joseph.
• Most recently, Martin served assistant men's basketball coach and the director of athletic admissions at Martin Methodist College (NAIA).
• Prior to his tenure at Martin Methodist, Martin served as the director of basketball operations at the University of San Francisco under head coach Rex Walters.
• As a graduate student, Martin served as a graduate assistant and video coordinator for men's basketball at the University of Tulsa from 2013-2015.
• As an undergraduate, Martin served as a men's basketball manager at the University of Kentucky under head coach John Calipari. During Martin's tenure with the Wildcats, the team reached the Elite 8 on three occasions, the Final Four on two occasions and Martin served as the head manager of the 2012 National Championship team.
• Martin received his bachelors from the University of Kentucky in 2012 and obtained his Master's in Education from the University of Tulsa in 2015.
• is 0-0 against the Ichabods.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ICHABODS
#5 WASHBURN 84 (8-0)
#1 NORTHWEST MISSOURI 82 (7-1)
MARYVILLE, Mo. – The No. 5-ranked Washburn Ichabods remained undefeated with an 84-82 overtime win over the No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri Bearcats snapping the host squad's 28-game winning streak on Thursday night in Bearcat Arena. It was the first win by an Ichabod team over the No. 1-ranked team since Nov. 16, 2015 when the Ichabods topped Augustana in Las Vegas 86-84 in overtime.
The Washburn victory snapped Northwest's 28-game win streak, 35-game home-court win streak and 25-game MIAA win streak. It was Washburn's first win against Northwest in the last 12 matchups between the two teams.
With Northwest Missouri leading 82-79 in overtime with 2:38 to play in the overtime period, the Ichabods scored the final seven points of the game with Rathen Carter scoring four and Tyler Geiman scoring three.
At the end of regulation, the Ichabods led 73-69 after Geiman hit a pair of free throws with eight seconds to play. The Bearcats hit one of two free throws cutting the lead to 73-71 with three seconds to play. After Washburn hit one of two free throws pushing the lead to three at 74-71, Northwest Trevor Hudgins was fouled with 0.1 seconds to play and hit all three tying the score at 74 sending the game to overtime.
Washburn (8-0, 8-0 MIAA) was led by Geiman's game-high 26 points while adding five assists and five rebounds. Jonny Clausing had 21 points with seven rebounds going 10 of 13 from the field. Rathen Carter, making his first start of the season, had 12 points with four rebounds.
Northwest (5-1, 5-1 MIAA) was led by Wes Dreamer who scored 24 points hitting 6 of 12 3-pointers.
Washburn shot 57 percent for the game hitting 32 of 56 shots after shooting a blistering 68 percent in the second half going 17 of 25. Northwest was 24 of 57 from the field hitting 12 of 31 3-point attempts. From the free throw line the Ichabods were 13 of 20 compared to 22 of 34 from the charity stripe for the Bearcats.
The Bearcats held a 35 to 32 advantage on the boards collecting 11 offensive rebounds. Washburn outscored the Bearcats 48 to 24 in the paint and 12 to 2 in bench points.
  • The Griffons are 7-1 after beating Emporia State 70-61 last time out on Jan. 7 in St. Joseph.
• Griffon Men's Basketball has been ranked in the last three NABC polls, which is the first time they've appeared in that poll since the week of February 25, 2002 when they were no. 12.  In the decade of the 90s, the Griffons were ranked every year except for the 1995-1996 season, and got as high as #2 during the 1990-91 season.
• Tyrell Carroll is fourth in the MIAA in scoring, averaging 19.1 per game and he is fifth in assists at 4.1 per game.
• Will Eames, is second in the MIAA in rebounds and is averaging a double-double per game at 14.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.
• Offensively, the Griffons have six players averaging double figures in points.  In addition to Carroll and Eames; Jaron Thames (11.5), Reese Glover (10.6), Q Mays (11.4) and Caleb Bennett (11.9) are in double figures. • Saturday's meeting will be the 96th between the two schools with Washburn leading the series 55-40 after the Griffons winning the last two meetings.
• The Ichabods are 49-33 against MWSU in MIAA games and 32-14 in games played in Topeka overall.
• The Ichabods are 22-24 in games played in St. Joseph against the Griffons.
• In the MIAA Tournament the Ichabods are 3-6 against the Griffons.
• The Ichabods lead 6-4 in overtime games including the 95-94 win on Jan. 9, 2019.
  March 6, 2020 -- KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods came up just short in a two-point, season-ending loss to Missouri Western in the MIAA Tournament quarterfinals falling 72-70 to the Griffons. The Ichabods finish the season 16-13.
Trailing by nine at 70-61 with 5:20 to go, Jalen Lewis jump started a 9-0 run over the next four minutes pulling Washburn within two with after his third 3-pointer of the evening with 54 seconds to play. However the Ichabods would get no closer coming up empty on their next two possessions with a turnover and missed shot at the buzzer ending the season for Washburn.
The Ichabods trailed 43-40 at the break as the Griffons hit 52 percent of their shots including six 3-pointers.
Lewis led five Ichabods in double figures with 18 points while senior Keven Biggs scored 14 points off the bench in his final appearance in an Ichabod uniform. Drew Maschoff scored 13 adding seven rebounds. Tyler Geiman had 11 points with six rebounds and six assists and Jonny Clausing had 10 points with 14 rebounds recording his fifth double double of the season.
Tyus Millhollin had 21 to lead all scorers.
Washburn outrebounded the Griffons 50 to 35 in the game recording 19 offensive rebounds. The 50 rebounds was a season high.
  •  The Ichabods are 1610-1090-2 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 628-287 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 458-94 (.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 will play in Lee Arena for the first time since Dec. 17 when they will face Missouri Southern on Jan. 14 followed by a Jan. 16 contest with Pittsburg State. Washburn returns to the road for three games starting with Emporia State on Jan. 24 and Newman on Jan. 28 wrapping up the trip with Central Oklahoma on Jan. 30.