•The (No. 11/NABC)/(No. 22/D2SIDA) Washburn Ichabods men's basketball team returns to the court on Tuesday night hosting Oklahoma Baptist in Lee Arena at 7 p.m.
•The Ichabods are coming off a 90-47 win over Baker last time out in its 32nd consecutive home-opening win on Nov. 20.
•Oklahoma Baptist was ranked No. 17th in the latest NABC rankings entering the game with a 2-1 record after a 74-71 loss at Missouri Western on Nov. 19 in St. Joseph.
•The Ichabods lead the all-time series with Oklahoma Baptist 3-0.
•The two teams have never played in Topeka and all three meetings have been played on neutral courts prior to Tuesday's match up.
•Washburn won 99-96 on Nov. 9, 2018 in Bethany, Oklahoma. Washburn also won 74-69 in Ottawa, Kan. on Dec. 28, 1960 and 35-18 on Dec. 18, 1938 in Oklahoma City.
•The game will be the second-to-last non-conference game for the Ichabods as they face Benedictine on Nov. 27 and then begin the 22-game MIAA slate with Fort Hays State on Dec. 1.
•The 2021-22 season marks the 117th season of Ichabod basketball.
•Washburn was picked second both the MIAA Coaches and Media preseason polls. •Jalen Lewis leads the Ichabods at 12.3 ppg and Michael Keegan is scoring 10.3 ppg.
•Levi Braun scored a career-high 21 points last time out against Baker and has hit 7 of 13 3-pointers this season.
•Andrew Orr scored a career-high 12 points against Baker last time out off the bench and Isaiah Thorne dished out a career-high four assists while tying a career-high with three steals.
•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 19th on the Ichabod all-time scoring chart with 1,065 career points in 92 career games … Lewis also became only the sixth Ichabod to go over the 200 made 3-pointers mark now sitting with 204. WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
•is 84-40 in his fifth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 117-70 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 Oklahoma Baptist.
 
OKLAHOMA BAPTIST HEAD COACH JASON EAKER
•is in his fourth season as the Bison head coach going 55-30.
•In three seasons, Eaker has revitali•ed the OBU men's basketball program, winning 54 games in the last three seasons including a 16-6 record and a 14-3 mark in conference play to earn the GAC Western Division Championship in 2021.
•The Bison earned their second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and picked up the program's first tournament win since joining NCAA Division II in a 76-57 victory over Arkansas-Monticello.
•is 0-1 against the Ichabods.
  •The Bisons are 2-1 after topping Wayne State 74-61 and Minnesota-Moorhead 90-87 in double overtime and falling at Missouri Western last time out 74-71 on Nov. 19.
•Burke Putnman leads the team in scoring at 25.0 ppg going 28 of 55 from the field.
•Brantly Thompson is scoring 18.7 ppg and Harrison Stoddart is scoring 10.0 ppg.
•As a team the Bison are averaging 78.3 ppg while allowing 74.0 ppg.
•The Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team was picked to finish first in the 2021-22 Great American Conference preseason coaches'polls.
•The Bison posted their best year yet in 2020-21, recording a 16-6 overall record along with a 14-3 conference tally that garnered the GAC Western Division championship. OBU made its deepest run in the NCAA Tournament in school history before falling to No. 2 seeded Lubbock Christian in the NCAA South Central Region Semifinals.
•Head Coach Jason Eaker returns for his fourth season with an overall mark of 54-29, including a 38-16 record over the last two seasons. Eaker earned GAC Coach of the Year honors for the first time in his career last season after leading the Bison to an NCAA Tournament appearance for a second consecutive year.
•Oklahoma Baptist returns all five starters, including two all-conference selections in Brantly Thompson and Harrison Stoddart. Thompson was tabbed with first-team honors after an exceptional junior campaign, where he ranked third on the team averaging 13.8 points per game and knocked down a team-high 49 three-pointers. He also ranked fifth in the league with 86 assists, averaging 3.9 per game. (Nov. 20, 2021) Topeka, Kan. – The Ichabods (2-2) won in dominating fashion, 90-47, over the Baker Wildcats on Saturday afternoon. Washburn made over 51 percent on their shots including, nine 3-pointers.
The Ichabods wasted no time, getting up 9-0 in the first three and half minutes. Rathen Carter, in his first start of the season, racked up seven of the Ichabods' first 12 points. Their lead continued to increase, hitting three shots from outside the arc. Washburn led by as much as 22 at four minutes remaining. Washburn went into halftime leading 44-27, and three Ichabods led with eight points.
In the second, the Ichabods maintained their 20-plus point lead while trading baskets. At 11 minutes remaining, Levi Braun went on to score all of his 13 second-half points in three minutes while hitting two threes on three attempts and shooting 3-for-4 at the line. Braun ended the game with a career-high 21 points while shooting 67 percent from the field and 57 percent from deep.
Down 70-41, the Wildcats struggled to hold onto the ball. Baker turned the ball over in four of its next six possessions. All four turnovers led to fast-break points for the Ichabods. Washburn scored 25 total fast-break points and 28 off turnovers.
Washburn's defense held the Wildcats to under 40 percent shooting and stole the ball 15 times. The Ichabods also outrebounded Baker by 11.
Braun led the team with 21 points, and Jalen Lewis, Connor Deffebaugh and Andrew Orr had over 10. Isaiah Thorne tallied four assists and three steals. Both A•eem Ross and Kevaugh Ellis recorded team-high five boards and three steals.
  •The Ichabods lead the all-time series with Oklahoma Baptist 3-0.
•The two teams have never played in Topeka and all three meetings have been played on neutral courts prior to Tuesday's match up.
•Washburn won 99-96 on Nov. 9, 2018 in Bethany, Oklahoma. Washburn also won 74-69 in Ottawa, Kan. on Dec. 28, 1960 and 35-18 on Dec. 18, 1938 in Oklahoma City. (Nov. 9, 2018) BETHANY, Oklahoma –Senior guard Javion Blake started the season off in a big way scoring a career-high 36 points including the 14 of the final 16 points for Washburn as the Ichabods rallied from a five-point deficit with 2:29 to play picking up a 99-96 win over Oklahoma Baptist in the season opener.
With Washburn leading 84-75 with 6:39 to play in the game, Oklahoma Baptist (0-1) ripped off a 17-3 run to take a 92-87 lead setting up the final comeback by the Ichabods. Blake was fouled on a layup trimming the lead to 92-90 with 2:07 to play and after another bucket by the Bison, Blake returned serve with a layup of his own with 1:22 to go with the Bison still holding a two-point lead at 94-92. Blake was fouled and hit one free throw, but OBU's Antonio Wade scored his 29th and 30th points of the game with 1:06 to play.
Tyas Martin hit a driving layup for his 18th point of the night as the lead was cut to one at 96-95. Washburn forced a turnover on a steal by Emeka Ogbonna and a layup by Blake pushed the Ichabods back in front at 97-96. OBU missed a 3-pointer with five seconds to play and after he pulled down the rebound, Blake was fouled and hit both free throws as the Ichabods went up 99-96 and the three-quarter court shot by OBU missed and Washburn picked up the win.
The Ichabods led 45-43 at the break after hitting 12 of 31 shots from the field going 17 of 20 from the free throw line as David Salach hit 9 of 10 attempts from the charity stripe. Tyas Martin had 12 points hitting 5 of 8 shots from the field in the first half. In the frame it was a back and forth game as there were 10 ties and eight lead changes.
Following Blake's career high 36, Martin tied a career-high with 18 points and Salach had 18 going 10 of 12 from the free throw line adding a game-high nine rebounds. Geiman reached 13 points hitting 3 3-pointers adding six assists and four rebounds.
Washburn finished 33 of 65 from the field and 7 of 13 from 3-point range and went 26 of 34 from the free throw line.
Wade led the Bison with 30 points hitting all four 3-point attempts as the Bison were 15 of 23 from deep for a 65 percent average.
  •The Ichabods are 1623-1099-2 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 641-296 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 466-95 (.848) all-time in Lee Arena.
• The 2021-22 season marks the 38th season of play in Lee Arena.
• The Ichabods are 37-1 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 wrap up the non-conference slate on Nov. 27 hosting Benedictine at 5 p.m. Washburn opens MIAA play hosting Fort Hays State on Dec. 1.