• The No. 17 (NABC)/No. 15 (D2SIDA) Washburn Ichabods will wrap up their three-game homestand in a battle of state capitals on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 6 p.m. when they will host Lincoln in a make up game originally schedule for Dec. 19 when members of the Blue Tiger squad were out because of COVID protocols.
• The Ichabods (12-3, 12-3 MIAA) are coming off an 88-77 win over Rogers State last time out on Feb. 4.
• The Blue Tigers (8-7, 8-7 MIAA) after falling in overtime 85-77 at Pittsburg State.
• Lincoln and Pittsburg State are the only two teams the Ichabods are playing only once this season.
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series 31-4 and have won the last three overall.
• The Ichabods won 28 games in a row over the Blue Tigers from Jan. 24, 1990 to Dec. 18, 2017.
• The Ichabods are 15-2 against the Blue Tigers in Topeka and have averaged 84.7 ppg in 35 all-time matchups.
• The Ichabods lead the MIAA in scoring at 82.9 ppg and the Blue Tigers are ranked fifth in scoring defense at 75.3 ppg.
• The Ichabods are ranked third in the MIAA in scoring defense allowing 71.8 ppg while the Blue Tigers are sixth in the league in scoring offense at 76.6 ppg.
• The Ichabods are ranked first in the league in opponents field goal percentage at 42.2 percent while the Blue Tigers are fifth in the league in shooting percentage at 46.8 percent.
• The 2020-21 season marks the 116th season of Ichabod basketball.
  • Tyler Geiman leads the team in scoring (21.3 ppg - 3rd in the MIAA), assists (6.1 apg - 1st in the MIAA and is 3rd in the NCAA), rebounds (6.5 rpg - 10th in the MIAA), steals (1.9 spg - 3rd in the MIAA) and minutes (36.5 mpg - 2nd in the MIAA) … he also ranks third in the MIAA in field goal percentage (.538).
• Jalen Lewis is averaging 11.3 ppg hitting 36 of 75 3-point attempts this season (50.0 percent) … he is eighth in the MIAA in 3-pointers per game.
• Jonny Clausing is scoring 10.6 ppg with 4.1 rpg and a team-high 1.3 bkpg missing the last six games with an injury.
• Levi Braun is averaging 9.3 ppg this season … all 44 of his field goals this season have been from 3 and he has attempted only three shots inside the 3-point line … he leads the MIAA in 3-pointers per game at 2.9 and 3-point field goal percentage hitting 44 of 81 attempts (.543) … Braun's 44 3-pointers is fourth on the Ichabod freshman chart and his 81 attempts are fifth.
• Tyler Nelson is scoring 8.9 ppg averaging 10.5 points a game in the last six since moving into a starting role.
• Jace Williams is averaging 6.3 ppg with 4.3 rpg recording 16 blocks coming off his first career double double at Washburn with 10 points and 10 rebounds against Rogers State.
• Rathen Carter is scoring 6.1 ppg with 2.8 rpg.
• Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 4.9 ppg with 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
• Will McKee is scoring 3.1 ppg with 4.3 rpg.
• The Ichabod bench has outscored their opponents bench in nine of 15 games this season … the Washburn bench is averaging 22.2 ppg compared to 19.9 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 1,164 in 103 career games, which is 15th all-time on the Ichabod chart … next on the scoring chart is Jemi Johnson who scored 1,215 points sitting 14th.
• Washburn is 56 of 84 from the free throw line in the last five minutes of games (67 percent) compared to its opponents connecting on 77 of 109 attempts (71 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. WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
• is 74-34 in his fourth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 107-64 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 4-1 against Lincoln.
 
LINCOLN HEAD COACH JASON MOSELEY
• is 89-103 in his seventh year at Lincoln.
• joined LU after helping North Carolina Central reach the second round of the NCAA Division I tournament in 2013-14 as the associate head coach.
• is 1-7 against Washburn.
 
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ICHABODS
WASHBURN 88 (12-3, 12-3 MIAA)
ROGERS STATE 77 (6-9, 6-9 MIAA)
TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 17-ranked Washburn men's basketball team used only seven players and five of them reached double figures as the Ichabods shot 62 percent in the second half enroute to 53 points as they topped Rogers State 88-77 on Thursday night in Lee Arena.
With the Ichabods leading 78-74 after the Hillcats used a 7-0 run turning Washburn's 11-point advantage to four the Ichabods responded with a 10-0 run over their own pushing the lead back to 14 with 15 seconds to play then Rogers State hit a 3-pointer with five seconds to play.
The Ichabods led 35-32 at the half, but the Hillcats came out with a 9-0 run in the first 92 seconds taking a 41-35 lead. With Rogers State holding a 44-36 with 17:13 to play, Washburn's Tyler Geiman scored 12-straight points for the Ichabods pushing the home squad's lead to 48-44 with 14:44 to go. Rogers State came back again with one of the 11 lead changes in the game to take a lead at 54-52 with 11:38 remaining, but another 10-0 by Washburn pushed the lead to 62-54 than four when Levi Braun's sixth 3-pointer of the game jump started the final push by the Ichabods to the win.
Geiman led the Ichabods (12-3, 12-3 MIAA) with 29 points adding eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals and Jace Williams recorded his first double double as an Ichabod with 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds adding two blocks. Braun finished with 18 on 6 of 9 shooting from deep adding a career-high seven rebounds while Rathen Carter had 11 and Tyler Nelson scored 10. The game was the first time since last season at Missouri Western on Feb. 29, 2020.
Darraja Parnell led the Hillcats (6-9, 6-9 MIAA) with 15 points.
The Ichabods finished 14 of 29 (after starting the game 1 of 7 from deep) compared to 6 of 26 for the Hillcats. Washburn was 12 of 14 from the free throw line and the Hillcats hit 19 of 26. Washburn finished 31 of 61 from the field for a 51 percent clip and the Hillcats were at 46 percent hitting 26 of 56 shots. Washburn forced 16 turnovers leading to 27 points and the Ichabods also had a 23 to 4 advantage in fastbreak points.
  • The Blue Tigers are 8-6 overall after falling at Pittsburg State 85-77 in overtime on Saturday.
• The Blue Tigers are in the middle of a five-game roadtrip.
• Sai Witt leads four Blue Tigers in double figures at 17.0 ppg followed by Derrick Woods at 16.7 ppg, Quinton Drayton at 16.6 ppg and Cameron Potts at 10.2 ppg. Witt also leads the team in rebounds at 8.8 ppg.
• Rogers State was picked ninth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll. • Tuesday's meeting will be the 36th in the series history and Washburn leads 31-4.
• Washburn had won the last 28 meetings in the series which began on Dec. 18, 1957 with the Blue Tigers winning 93-80 until the Ichabods' 75-73 loss to the Blue Tigers on Jan. 31, 2019.
• Overall the Ichabods are 14-1 against Lincoln in Jefferson City all-time having won their last 14 games with the lone loss coming in 1957 in the first meeting in the series.
• In Topeka, the Ichabods are 15-2 .
• In neutral site games Washburn is 2-1.
• The teams have never met in the MIAA Tournament.
  Feb. 22, 2020 -- TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods finished off the home slate with a 72-67 win over the Lincoln Blue Tigers improving to 16-10 and 11-6 in the MIAA.
In the first half it was all Ichabods as they jumped out to a 47-24 lead as Washburn led 20-8 9:48 into the game after shooting 64 percent from 3-point range hitting 9 of 14 attempts holding Lincoln to 9 of 21 in the half as Jalen Lewis hit all three of his 3-point attempts scoring 15 points in the first 20 minutes and Tyler Geiman had 12.
After the teams traded five points each to start the second half, Lincoln ripped out a 19-7 run over the next 7:19 cutting the Ichabod lead to 11 at 59-48 with 10:12 to go in the game. The Blue Tigers continued to chip into the Washburn advantage with a 16-6 run trimming the lead to four at 71-67 with eight seconds to play but Geiman hit the first of two free throws and after a Lincoln jumper was swatted by Jace Williams with his third block of the day, the Blue Tigers' 3-point attempt at the end missed as the Ichabods picked up the win.
Geiman led the Ichabods with 18 points adding five assists and four rebounds. Lewis finished with 15 points and Jonny Clausing added nine with three blocks. Keven Biggs scored with as did Tyler Nelson and Drew Maschoff finished with seven points and five assists.
Jonell Burton scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Blue Tigers.
Washburn was outrebounded 32 to 27 in the game and outscored 40 to 28 in the paint by Lincoln (16-10, 7-10 MIAA).
Lincoln shot 52 percent from the field in the second half finishing at 48 percent for the game while after hitting 60 percent of their first half shots, the Ichabods went 10 of 24 for a 42 percent average.
  •  The Ichabods are 1613-1093-2 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 632-290 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 461-93 (.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 on the road on Feb. 13 facing Central Missouri and then return home on Feb. 18 hosting Missouri Western and then Northwest Missouri on Feb. 20. Washburn will face Northeastern State on Feb. 23 in a make up game from Feb. 6.