•The (No. 11/NABC)/(No. 22/D2SIDA) Washburn Ichabods will make their first first appearance on the Lee Arena court on Saturday at 2 p.m. when they will take on Baker.
•The Ichabods will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak after falling at William Jewell on Wednesday in Liberty, Mo. with a 56-52 game.
•Baker is 3-4 this season and 0-1 in the Heart of America Conference after dropping its last game at Mid-America Na•arene 78-55.
•The game will count as an exhibition game for the Wildcats.
•Baker will also be playing exhibition games against Pittsburg State and Central Missouri this season.
•Ichabod head coach Brett 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.
•The Ichabods are 36-1 in home openers in Lee Arena winning their last 31 lidlifters in a row.
•The only loss for the Ichabods in the first game of the season came against Friends in an 89-88 loss on Nov. 16, 1990.
•The 2021-22 season marks the 117th season of Ichabod basketball.
•Washburn was picked second both the MIAA Coaches and Media preseason polls. •Michael Keegan leads the Ichabods this season scoring 12.7 ppg and rebounding at 4.3 per game.
•McNeese State transfer Jeremy Harrell is scoring 12.0 ppg and Jalen Lewis is scoring 11.7 ppg.
•Tyler Geiman became the 26th member of Washburn's 1,000-point club at Missouri Western last season … his career total is 1,394 in 116 career games, which is ninth all-time on the Ichabod chart … next on the chart is Dan Buie who scored 1,484 in two seasons from 1995-97.
•Jalen Lewis is currently 119th on the Ichabod all-time scoring chart with 1,051 career points in 91 career games …Lewis also became only the sixth Ichabod to go over the 200 made 3-pointers mark now sitting with 202.
•Connor Deffebaugh tied his career block records against the Cardinals with two last time out.
•The 52 points scored by the Ichabods on Wednesday was the 11th fewest points scored in program history in a loss.
•The combined 108 points between the Ichabods and the Cardinals is tied for 10th on the Ichabod lowest score combined chart.
•Tyler Geiman led the team in scoring last season (20.8 ppg - 3rd in the MIAA), assists (6.2 apg - 1st in the MIAA and is 3rd in the NCAA), rebounds (6.5 rpg - 10th in the MIAA), second in steals (1.6 spg - 6th in the MIAA) and minutes (36.0 mpg - 2nd in the MIAA and 2nd in the NCAA) … he also ranked 11th in the MIAA in field goal percentage (.518). WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
•is 83-40 in his fifth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 116-70 overall in his eighth year as a head coach.
•has led the Ichabods to three NCAA postseason appearances in four full 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 1-0 against Baker.
 
BAKER HEAD COACH SEAN DOOLEY
•is in his 10th season as the Baker head coach.
•played college hoops at Penn Valley before transferring to Columbia College.
•is 0-2 against the Ichabods.
  •Baker is 3-4 this season after falling in the conference opener to MidAmerica Nazarene on Wednesday in Olathe, Kan. 78-55.
•Xavier Elam led the Wildcats with 14 points in the game while Kobe Buffalomeat had 12 and Michael Brooks had 10.
•Baker is scoring 75.6 points per game.
•On the season, Jalen Patterson leads the team in scoring at 18.3 ppg while Elam is scoring 13.3 and Buffalomeat is scoring 11.6 ppg. (Nov. 18, 2021) LIBERTY, Mo. – A late run by the William Jewell Cardinals turned a two-point Washburn lead into a three-point deficit as he Ichabods fell 56-52 on the road Wednesday night.
Trailing 38-34 with 9:03 to play in the game, the Ichabods (1-2) used a pair of free throws by Jeremy Harrell and a 3-pointer by Michael Keegan to take a 39-38 lead with 7:30 to go in the Cardinals' home opener. Washburn twice pushed its lead to two at 42-40 on a Harrell 3-pointer and a lay up by Jaden Monday and again on a lay up by Keegan with 2:54, but the Cardinals (2-1) used an 8-2 run over the next 2:01 going 3 of 3 from the field while the Ichabods were 0 of 4 from the field taking a 52-48 lead with 41 seconds to play.
Another lay up by Monday cut the lead to two at 52-50 with 27 seconds to play but the Cardinals hit 4 of 6 free throws down the stretch to hang on for the win.
The Ichabods trailed the Cardinals 21-17 at the break after shooting 6 of 27 from the field in the first half, but held the Cardinals to a 1 of 9 performance from 3 going 8 of 28 from the field overall. Washburn hit its first 3-pointer of the game on a deep make by Jeremy Harrell, but the Ichabods would then miss the next six shots from behind the arch.
Harrell led the Ichabods with 15 points and Keegan added 13 with six boards while Jalen Lewis scored 10 in his return to his hometown.
Washburn finished 20 of 60 from the field after improving in the second half to 14 of 33 shooting. Washburn was 4 of 18 from deep for the game while the Cardinals were 2 of 12. Washburn finished 8 of 9 from the free throw line and the Cardinals finished 16 of 22.
The Cardinals also had a 43 to 29 advantage on the glass and outscored the Ichabod bench 12-0.
  •The Ichabods lead the all-time series 56-20-1 against Baker
•Saturday's meeting will be the 78th which dates back to the 1905-06 season.
•The teams have met 15 times since the Ichabods joined the NCAA ranks and the Ichabods have won all 15 meetings and overall the Ichabods have won the last 29 meetings.
•The last five games in the series have gone in Washburn's favor by an average of 32.3 points.
•Baker last beat the Ichabods, 83-75 on Dec. 28, 1954 and have not beat the Ichabods in Topeka since a 40-23 win on Feb. 11, 1942.
•The Ichabods won the last meeting 69-48 in Topeka on Nov. 15, 2017. (Nov. 15, 2017) TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods used a 16-3 run midway through the second half building a 26-point lead as Washburn won its 29th in a row over Baker in a 69-48 win on Wednesday night it the Ichabods' home debut.
Washburn trailed by as many as five in the first six minutes of the game as the Wildcats built a 13-8 lead but the Ichabods would take the lead for good scoring nine of the next 10 points in over a 4:25 stretch going up 17-14 with 10:00 to play in the first half.
Two times the Wildcats cut the lead to one in the opening stanza, but Washburn finished the frame on an 8-2 run taking a 31-24 advantage into the locker room.
The Ichabods outshot the Wildcats 41 percent to 33 percent in the first half holding Baker to 7 of 21 shooting overall.
With Washburn holding a 13-point lead at 47-34 with 14:27 to go in the game, Washburn ripped off a 20-5 run building the margin to 25 at 65-39 as Baker would not get closer than 21 right before the final buzzer.
Javion Blake led the Ichabods with 15 points and Tyas Martin scored 12 off the bench and Tyler Geiman finished with 11. Brady Skeens had 10 points adding seven rebounds and two steals. Randall Smith dished out six assists in the game.
Stephen Edwards had 14 to lead Baker.
Washburn finished 24 of 62 from the field hitting 14 of 16 free throws while holding Baker to 13 of 47 from the field. Baker did hit 19 of 25 free throws. Washburn held a 40 to 37 advantage on the glass and outscored the Wildcats 28 to 16 in the paint and 31 to 7 in bench points.
  •The Ichabods are 1622-1099-2 all-time in the 117th 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 640-296 since joining the conference and the NCAA.
•The Ichabods have recorded 29 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 15 NCAA Tournament bids going to three Elite Eight's appearing in the 2001 NCAA National Championship game.
  • The Ichabods are 465-95 (.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.
  •The Ichabods will be back in action on Nov. 23 in Topeka hosting Oklahoma Baptist at 7 p.m. and then take on Benedictine at 5 p.m. on Nov. 27. Washburn opens MIAA play hosting Fort Hays State on Dec. 1.