•The (17/NABC)/(No. 17/D2SIDA) Washburn Ichabods will make their 15th NCAA Postseason appearance when they will face Missouri Western for the fourth time this season in the NCAA Central Regional in Aberdeen, South Dakota on Saturday, March 13 at 8:45 p.m. on the campus of Northern State.
•Washburn (19-6) is the No. 3 in the regional and will face the Griffons (14-10) for the second time in eight days after defeating Missouri Western 101-72 in the MIAA Tournament semifinals on March 5 in Bearcat Arena.
•The Ichabods won their sixth MIAA Postseason Tournament in a 69-68 win over No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri on March 6 in Maryville.
•The regional tournament will look like two mini-conference tournaments with the Northern Sun Conference in one half and the MIAA in the other half of the bracket as the Northern State Wolves and host squad will be the No. 1 seed and they will take on the winners of No. 4 Wayne State and No. 5 seed Minnesota State Moorhead.
•The winner of the Washburn/Missouri Western game will face Northwest Missouri in the regional semifinals. The Bearcats are the No. 2 seed in the region.
•The Griffons swept the two regular season meetings with the Ichabods winning 74-67 in St. Joseph on Jan. 9 and 81-77 in Topeka on Feb. 18 with the Ichabods winning the MIAA Tournament semifinals in Maryville.
•This season the Griffons are shooting 34 percent from 3-point range connecting on 185 of 557 attempts … in their two wins over the Ichabods this season Missouri Western has hit 18 of 43 attempts for a 42 percent average.
•The Ichabods lead the all-time series with Missouri Western 56-42.
•The Ichabods are 2-2 against the Griffons in neutral site games with three of them coming in Kansas City during the conference tournament and the last one in Maryville.
•The Ichabods are third in the MIAA in scoring at 82.0 ppg and the Griffons are fifth averaging 79.3 ppg.
•The Ichabods are ranked second in the league in field goal percentage at 49 percent and Missouri Western is 13th at 43 percent … defensively the Ichabods lead the MIAA in opponent field goal percentage at 44 percent while the Griffons are eighth at 46 percent.
•The Ichabods are second in the MIAA in 3-point field goal percentage at 41 percent (278 of 678) and the Griffons are 10th at 33 percent hitting 198 of 596 … defensively the ichabods are fourth in opponent 3-point field goal percentage at 33.9 percent while the Griffons are second at 33.8 percent.
•The Ichabods have never faced Missouri Western in the NCAA Tournament.
•The Ichabods are 14-14 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. •Tyler Geiman leads the team in scoring (21.2 ppg - 3rd in the MIAA), assists (6.4 apg - 1st in the MIAA and is 3rd in the NCAA), rebounds (6.6 rpg - 10th in the MIAA), second in steals (1.5 spg - 6th in the MIAA) and minutes (36.1 mpg - 2nd in the MIAA and 2nd in the NCAA) … he also ranks 12th in the MIAA in field goal percentage (.528).
•Jalen Lewis is averaging 13.8 ppg (17th in the MIAA) hitting 68 of 134 3-point attempts this season (51 percent) … he is second in the MIAA in 3-point field goal percentage he is third in the MIAA in 3-pointers per game at 2.7 … he scored a career-high 29 points against Missouri Western in the MIAA Tournament semifinals and enters the game with the Griffons with 999 career points.
•Tyler Nelson is scoring 11.1 ppg … he is tied for sixth in the MIAA in steals at 1.6 per game … he has reached double figures in nine of the last 11 games averaging 15.3.
•Jonny Clausing returned to action at Central Missouri after missing the previous seven games with an injury …he is scoring 9.8 ppg with 4.2 rpg and 1.0 bkpg … he also leads the MIAA in field goal percentage at 62 percent.
•Levi Braun is averaging 7.0 ppg this season … 53 of his 56 field goals this season have been from 3 and he has attempted 10 shots inside the 3-point line … Braun's 53 3-pointers is third on the Ichabod freshman chart and his 108 attempts are fourth … the Ichabod freshman 3-point record is 58 set by Jalen Lewis during the 2018-19 season.
•Jace Williams is averaging 5.4 ppg with 4.0 rpg recording 23 blocks tallying his first career double double at Washburn with 10 points and 10 rebounds against Rogers State and played in his 100th game against Northwest Missouri as an Ichabod last time out.
•Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 5.6 ppg with 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
•Rathen Carter is scoring 4.4 ppg with 2.3 rpg.
•Will McKee is scoring 3.4 ppg with 4.3 rpg.
•Tyler Geiman became the 26th member of Washburn's 1,000-point club at Missouri Western … his career total is 1,374 in 113 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 27th on the Ichabod all-time scoring chart with 999 career points.
•Tyler Geiman became the first Ichabod to have at least 1,000 points, 500 assists, 500 rebounds and 100 steals going over that mark against Missouri Western during the regular season … he became the 12th Ichabod to reach at least 1,000 points and 500 rebounds … he was the seventh Ichabod to reach at least 1,000 points and 100 steals … he was also the 10th Ichabod to reach at least 1,000 points and 200 assists and now the first Ichabod to reach at least 1,000 points and 500 assists in a career … if that's not enough he recorded the first triple double in Washburn history with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists against Northeastern State on Feb. 23.
•Washburn is 81 of 120 from the free throw line in the last five minutes of games (68 percent) compared to its opponents connecting on 120 of 158 attempts (76 percent).
•With the one point win over Northwest Missouri last time out, the Ichabods are now 75-75 all-time in games decided by one point.
•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.
  •Prior to meeting the Griffons for the fourth time this next match up coming up at the regional, the Ichabods have played the same team four times in a single season only two times as members of the NCAA since the 1989-90 season - both times against Northwest Missouri.
        • Northwest Missouri 2003-04 – WU goes 2-2 winning regular both regular season meetings and losing in both the MIAA Tournament Championship game and the second round of the NCAA Regional.
        • Northwest Missouri 2000-01 – WU goes 3-1 with each team winning on the other's home court during the regular season and the Ichabods winning in both the MIAA Tournament Championship game and the regional final both played in Topeka. WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
•is 81-37 in his fourth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 114-67 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 5-4 against Missouri Western.
 
MISSOURI WESTERN HEAD COACH WILL MARTIN
•is 14-10 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 2-1 against the Ichabods.
 
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ICHABODS
WASHBURN 69 (19-6)
NORTHWEST MISSOURI 68 (23-2)
MARYVILLE, Mo. – In a game that saw 10 lead changes and seven ties including three lead changes in the final 46 seconds, Tyler Geiman connected on a 3-pointer at the buzzer from 10-feet on the Northwest Missouri side of half court as the Ichabods won their sixth MIAA Tournament Championship in a thrilling 69-68 win over the No. 1 Bearcats for their first MIAA Tournament title since 2012.
After Diego Bernard hit a pair of free throws with 2.7 seconds left after an Ichabod foul after a Washburn miss, Jace Williams inbounded the ball to Geiman who launched the ball after a pair of dribbles from what is the volleyball 10-foot line on the court hitting nothing but net sending the Ichabods to the title and the MIAA's Automatic Qualifier for the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament.
Northwest Missouri (23-2) led by four with 5:31 to go on a 3-pointer by MIAA MVP Trevor Hudgins giving him 18 points as the Bearcats went up 56-52. A 3-pointer by Connor Deffebaugh pulled the Ichabods within one with 5:01 to play. MIAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Jalen Lewis hit two free throws putting the Ichabods back in front and then would hit a 3-pointer with 3:52 to play giving the Ichabods a 60-57 lead.
A Bernard layup and two more free throws by Deffebaugh with 2:31 to play, Washburn led 62-59. Two free throws by Hawkins cut the lead back to one at 64-63 and then two more free throws with 1:14 to play put the Bearcats back in front at 65-64. A Geiman layup with 46 seconds to play set the scene for the final 46 seconds and the win for Washburn.
The Ichabods led 30-19 at the break on the strength of 52 percent shooting from the field paced by Jalen Lewis' 6 of 8 from the field hitting 3 of 5 3-point attempts. With the score tied at 10 with 11:13 to play in the frame, Lewis scored seven-straight points for Washburn pushing the lead to 17-10. After a pair of Bearcat free throws, Washburn kicked off a 10-3 run on another bucket by Lewis followed by a layup and another 3-pointer from Lewis and a deep 3-pointer from Geiman stretched the lead to 27-15 under four minutes to play. Washburn scored four-straight points before a 3-pointer by Tyler Nelson before the buzzer increased the lead to 11 after a 3-pointer attempt by the Bearcats rimmed out.
Behind Lewis' 26 points, Geiman finished with 23 points and was named to the all-MIAA Tournament team. Washburn was 24 of 44 from the field and 10 of 21 overall from deep. The Bearcats were led by Hawkins and his 23 points. Washburn was 11 of 12 from the free throw line and the Bearcats were 26 of 31.
  •The Griffons are 14-10 after falling to the Ichabods in their last outing in the MIAA Tournamen semifinals.
•Tyrell Carroll is seventh in the MIAA in scoring, averaging 17.0 per game and he is seventh in assists at 4.2 per game.
•Will Eames is fourth in the MIAA in rebounds at 8.6 per game and is averaging 12.3 ppg.
•Offensively, the Griffons have five players averaging double figures in points. In addition to Carroll and Eames; Caleb Bennett (11.7) Reese Glover (11.2) and Q Mays (11.3) are in double figures scoring range.
  •Saturday's meeting will be the 99th between the two schools with Washburn leading the series 56-42 after snapping the Griffons' four-game winning streak in the MIAA Tournament Semifinals.
•The Ichabods are 49-35 against MWSU in MIAA games and 32-15 in games played in Topeka overall.
•The Ichabods are 22-25 in games played in St. Joseph against the Griffons.
•In the MIAA Tournament the Ichabods are 4-7 against the Griffons.
•The Ichabods lead 6-4 in overtime games including the 95-94 win on Jan. 9, 2019.
•The two teams have never met in the NCAA Tournament. MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods will make their 13th MIAA Postseason Championship Tournament after dismantling Missouri Western in a 101-72 win. The Ichabods will face No. 1 Northwest Missouri at 6 p.m.
After the score was tied at 4-4, the Ichabods ripped off a 12-2 run taking 16-6 lead seven minutes into the game. With the Ichabods holding a 23-15 lead, the Ichabods rolled off an 18-0 taking control of the game moving out to a 41-15 lead cruising to a 57-29 halftime lead after shooting a blistering 63 percent from the field connecting on 9 of 14 3-pointers holding the Griffons to 36 percent.
In the second half, the Ichabods (18-6) put up 44 points again shooting 60 percent in the frame leading to the 29-point win. The 101 points was the 11th-highest point total in MIAA Tournament history and it was the third time the Ichabods went over the century mark and the second time against Missouri Western (105-99 – March 3, 1994 semifinals).
Behind a career-high 29 points from Jalen Lewis (on 11 of 15 shooting and 6 of 9 from 3-point range) and Tyler Geiman's double double with 21 points and 12 assists. Jonny Clausing had 16 points off the bench going 7 of 9 from the field.
The win snapped a four-game winning streak by the Griffons over the Ichabods and the 29-point win was one shy of the series largest win over Missouri Western.
Caleb Bennett scored 19 leading four Griffons in double figures.
Washburn finished 62 percent from the field hitting 38 of 62 shots overall and 14 3-pointers breaking the Ichabod record for 3-pointers in an MIAA Tournament game for the second-straight outing. •The Ichabods and the Griffons have never faced each other in the NCAA Regional.
•The Ichabods are 14-14 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
•Washburn advanced to the 2001 NCAA Championship game falling 72-63 to Kentucky Wesleyan.
•Washburn is 8-9 in neutral site NCAA tournament games.
•The Ichabods are 1-2 in NCAA tournament away games.
•Washburn is 5-3 in NCAA tournament home games.
•The Ichabods are 8-6 in NCAA tournament first round games.
•Washburn is 3-5 in second round NCAA tournament games.
•The Ichabods are 1-3 in NCAA regional tournament games played in Missouri going 0-2 in Maryville and going 1-1 in two games played in Joplin at the 2000 NCAA Central Regional.
•In NCAA tournament games vs this season's regional field, the Ichabods are : 0-1 vs No. 1 seed Northern State, 2-1 against No. 2 seed Northwest Missouri and they have never faced the No. 4 seeded Wayne State, No. 5 seeded Minnesota State-Moorhead or No. 6 seeded Missouri Western … overall Northern State is the only school from the Northern Sun Conference the Ichabods have played in the NCAA Tournament falling 91-75 on March 15, 2018 in Maryville.
  • The Ichabods are 41-23 all-time in the MIAA Championship Tournament.
•  The Ichabods are 2-2 in first round games (since expanding to 12 teams) … 20-7 in the quarterfinals, 13-7 in the semifinals and 6-7 in championship games.
• In games played in Kansas City, the Ichabods are 16-13.
• In quarterfinal games played in Kansas City, the Ichabods are 9-5. In semifinal games played in Municipal the Ichabods are 5-3 and in championship games in Kansas City the Ichabods are 1-5.
• As the No. 1 seed, the Ichabods are 21-3, at No. 2 they are 9-4, at No. 3 they are 2-3, at No. 4 they are 2-3, as the No. 5 seed they are 0-1, at No. 6 the Ichabods are 4-5, at No. 7 they are 0-1 and as the No. 8 seed they are 3-3.
• Tyler Geiman moved into fourth on the scoring chart for MIAA Tournament games with 124.
• Tyler Geiman and Jace Williams have played in 10 MIAA Tournament games  …that total is tied for second with David Salach, Andy Berlin, Troy Douglas, J.P. Meitner, Ryan Tomlins … Jordan Canfield has appeared in the most tournament games with 12.
• Jalen Lewis' 21 3-pointers made is the most by an Ichabod in MIAA Tournament play …his 29 points against Missouri Western was the sixth-best single game scoring total in Ichabod MIAA Tournament history.
• Tyler Geiman's 12 assists against Missouri Western was the second-best output in a single game behind Jordan Canfield's 13 against Central Missouri in 1997.
• The .613 (38 of 62) shooting percentage was an Ichabod single-game MIAA Tournament record against Missouri Western in the semifinals.
• The 12 steals against Northwest Missouri State was an Ichabod single game tournament record.
• Jalen Lewis scored 71 en route to Tournament MVP honors raising his career tournament points total to 105 points … it's the most points by an Ichabod in a single tournament since Will McNeil scored 66 during the 2012 tournament.
• Overall, here's how the Ichabods have fared against MIAA opponents in the conference tournament by round and in Kansas City.
• First Round games were added for the MIAA Tournament starting in 2013 as the league expanded to 15 teams. The top four teams in the final standings received an automatic bye to Kansas City for the quarterfinals.
  • The Ichabods are 1620-1096-2 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 638-293 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 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 winner of the Washburn/Missouri Western game will face Northwest Missouri in the regional semifinals. The Bearcats are the No. 2 seed in the region.