•The Washburn Ichabods are back in action after a week off for finals as they will host Rogers State on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Lee Arena.
•The Ichabods (5-5, 2-2 MIAA) are coming off a 72-61 win over Newman in their last game on Dec. 11 in Wichita.
•The Hillcats are 6-3 this season and 1-3 in the MIAA after falling at home to Missouri Southern on Dec. 11 in a 67-53 loss.
•The Ichabods lead the all-time series with Rogers State 3-1 winning the last three games.
•Washburn is 2-0 in games played in Topeka winning the last two including a 78-59 win in the first round of the MIAA Tournament on March 3 last season.
•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 team in scoring at 14.7 ppg hitting 21 of 57 3-pointers.
•Michael Keegan is scoring 13.0 ppg with team-highs of 6.1 rebounds per game, 1.1 blocks per game and 1.6 steals per game … he is averaging 14.3 ppg and 9.0 rpg in MIAA play.
•Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 9.5 ppg with 2.6 rpg.
•Jeremy Harrell is fourth on the team in scoring at 7.2 ppg in 15.5 minutes per game.
•Levi Braun scoring 7.2 ppg and 9.8 ppg in MIAA play and has hit 11 of 23 3-point field goals in conference play.
•Since returning prior to the Central Oklahoma game, Tyler Geiman is averaging 9.5 ppg with 8.0 apg and 4.0 rpg playing 35 minutes a game.
•Through 10 games this season the Ichabods have used six different starting line ups … only Michael Keegan and Jalen Lewis have started all of the games so far this season.
•Tyler Geiman became the 26th member of Washburn's 1,000-point club at Missouri Western last season and returned to the line up at Central Oklahoma … his career point total is 1,413 in 118 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 … Geiman's 209 career 3-pointers is fifth all-time at Washburn.
•Jalen Lewis is currently 16th on the Ichabod all-time scoring chart with 1,163 career points in 98 career games … Lewis also became only the sixth Ichabod to go over the 200 made 3-pointers mark now sitting with 218 which ranks second behind all-time leader Shannon Kruger who hit 242 in 122 games.
•Jeremy Harrell tied a career-high with four rebounds at Newman last time out.
•Michael Keegan tied a career-high with four assists at Newman last time out and recorded a career-high with four steals.
•Levi Braun recorded a career-high with three steals against Newman.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
•is 87-43 in his fifth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 120-73 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 3-1 against Rogers State.
 
ROGERS STATE HEAD COACH JUSTIN BARKLEY
•is 224-108 in his 12th season at Rogers State.
•served as the Hillcats' assistant coach from 2008-2010, became the third head coach in the brief history of the program when he took over in 2010.
•helped guide the Hillcats to a 52-13 record as an assistant where they claimed the school's first Sooner Athletic Conference regular season championship, reached the NAIA National Tournament, and achieved a No. 1 national ranking in 2008-09.
•Scored six points in 32 minutes with six rebounds and six assists against the Ichabods as a player at Northeastern State (his alma mater) in the NCAA South Central Regional Semifinal game when his RiverHawks topped the Ichabods 64-59 on March 15, 2003 in Stephenville, Texas - NSU would go on to win the NCAA National Championship that season.
•is 1-3 against the Ichabods.
  •The Hillcats are 6-3 overall and 1-3 in the MIAA.
•Devin Pullium leads the team in scoring at 15.9 ppg with 3.5 rpg hitting 14 of 42 3-pointers going 27 of 36 from the free throw line.
•Joey Saracco is scoring 9.7 ppg with 5.8 rpg and Gerren Jackson leads the team with 6.0 rebounds per game scoring 7.4 ppg.
•Overall the Hillcats have six players averaging at least 7.0 ppg.
•The Hillcats are averaging 71.0 ppg while allowing 64.0 ppg. (Dec. 11, 2021) WICHITA, Kan. – Washburn scores 47 in the second half to top Newman, 72-61, in Wichita on Saturday evening.
It was a low-scoring first half with a combined 47 points for both teams. Michael Keegan was the offense for the first five minutes. He scored six of the offense's eight points while he was a perfect 3-of-3 from the field.
The Ichabods led 11-5 at the 14:22 mark before letting up an 11-2 run in five minutes. Washburn slowly chipped away and then Levi Braun hit a triple to take the lead back with 5:35 remaining in the half. Keegan scored four more in the waning minutes to give the Ichabods a 25-22 halftime lead.
The fireworks began in the second half. Washburn scored the same number of points themselves as both teams combined in the first half. It started when Jalen Lewis hit a three to make it a 30-25 game. He went on the score his first eight points in the next two minutes.
Newman was able to make it a one-point game with 13:40 remaining in the game. Then, the Ichabods went on a 10-0 run to make their lead 51-40. Washburn was able to maintain the large lead by hitting from in the paint.
Keegan led the Ichabods with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Keegan also led the team with eight rebounds, four steals, and two blocks. Geiman and Braun each had 13 points as well. Geiman also dished out eight assists, that's the second game in a row.
NU was led by Stevie Strong's 21 points. Strong shot 5-of-13 from the field and hit four from deep. Ian Lee also scored 16 points.
 WU finished with just 11 turnovers compared to Newman's 19.
  •Saturday's meeting with the Hillcats will be only the fifth between the two schools with the Ichabods leading the series 3-1.
•The Hillcats won the first meeting on Feb. 15, 2020 in Claremore, Okla. 80-62.
•The Ichabods won the only meeting in the MIAA Tournament in an 78-59 win on March 3, 2021 in Topeka in the first round. (March 3, 2021) TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods opened the 2021 The MIAA Basketball Championships, presented by Citizens Bank & Trust with a quarterfinal win in Lee Arena with a 78-59 win over Rogers State.
The Ichabods (17-6) trailed at 3-2 for a total of 16 seconds before jumping out to a 14-8 lead after hitting 3 of their first four 3-pointers of the game. After the Hillcats (11-12) trimmed the lead back to four with 8:09 left in the half, Washburn finished the frame outscoring the Hillcats 16 to 9 taking a 38-27 lead into the locker room.
The Ichabods started the second half on a 13-0 run going up 51-27 and would push the lead to as many as 28 with 14:49 to go at 57-29 as the Hillcats did not get within 16 until 3:02 to play.
Washburn was led by Tyler Geiman who led all scorers with 22 points going 9 of 12 from the field adding eight rebounds and six assists. Tyler Nelson and Jalen Lewis each scored 16 and Connor Deffebaugh scored 10 off the bench.
Brewster Peacock, Devin Pullum and Destin Eke each scored 10 to lead the Hillcats
Washburn shot 46 percent from the field hitting 30 of 65 from the field at 46 percent going 13 of 34 from 3-point range. The Ichabods attempted only seven free throws hitting five while Rogers State was 16 of 21 at the stripe. Rogers State was 18 of 49 overall and 7 of 20 from deep.
Washburn had a 37 to 34 advantage on the glass and forced 20 Hillcat turnovers turning those into 17 points. Washburn outscored the Hillcats 32 to 20 in the paint.
  •The Ichabods are 1626-1102-2 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 644-299 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 468-97 (.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 finish off the first semester of action with Northeastern State on Dec. 20 in a rare 2 p.m. Monday afternoon start.