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OPENING TIP
•The Washburn Ichabods will wrap up a four-game homestand facing No. 9-ranked Central Oklahoma at 3 p.m. in Lee Arena on Saturday.
•The Ichabods (12-7, 9-4 MIAA) have won six of their last seven games and eight of their last 10 overall.
•The Ichabods are coming of  an 91-61 win over Newman on Wednesday night.
•Central Oklahoma (17-2, 12-1 MIAA) rallied from a four-point halftime deficit to beat Emporia State 88-83 in Emporia last time out and have won its last 13 games in a row.
•The Bronchos won the first meeting between the two teams in overtime 97-87 in Edmond.
•The Ichabods trail the all-time series with the Bronchos 18-16 after the win earlier this season.
•Central Oklahoma leads the MIAA in scoring at 83.9 ppg while the Ichabods are averaging 74.1 ppg. The Bronchos scoring margin of +14.9 is second in the league trailing only Northwest Missouri's 17.3 scoring margin.
•The 2021-22 season marks the 117th season of Ichabod basketball.
•Washburn was picked second both the MIAA Coaches and Media preseason polls.

ICHABOD BITS
•Tyler Geiman will be making his 100th start as an Ichabod against the Bronchos … he leads the Ichabods in scoring averaging 13.8 ppg with 6.4 rpg and 6.6 apg in 12 games this season … in the lat five games he is scoring 18.4 ppg with 7.8 rpg and 7.0 rpg … Geiman is ranked second in the NCAA D2 ranks in active assists with 637 and 12th in assist average at 5.1 … overall Geiman is ninth in all divisions of active career assists.
•Jalen Lewis is scoring at 12.8 ppg hitting 40 of 104 3-pointers (.385) … he is the 27th member of the Ichabod 1,000-point club and is currently 12th on the Ichabod all-time scoring chart with 1,260 career points in 107 career games … he has 237 career 3-pointers which ranks second all-time at Washburn behind all-time leader Shannon Kruger who hit 242 in 122 games.
•Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 9.7 ppg and has averaged 14.8 ppg in is last four games.
•Michael Keegan is scoring 9.5 ppg with 6.0 rebounds per game, 1.1 blocks per game and 1.5 steals per game … he is third in the MIAA in blocked shots, ranks eighth in the MIAA in rebounds, ninth in steals and 21st in minutes played.
•Jeremy Harrell recorded his first double double at Washburn against Newman last time out with 12 points and 11 rebounds and is averaging 8.9 ppg with 4.2 rpg.
•Jonny Clausing is scoring is averaging 7.9 ppg adding 4.0 rpg and in the last three games he is scoring 11.0 ppg with 6.0 rpg going 13 of 19 from the field.
•Tyler Nelson is scoring 7.4 ppg with 2.6 rpg and 2.6 apg in seven games playing an average of 24.0 minutes a game.
•Tyler Geiman became the 26th member of Washburn's 1,000-point club and his career point total stands at 1,557 points in 127 career games, which is eighth all-time on the Ichabod chart … next on the chart is Ewan Auguste who scored 1,636 points from 1997-2001 … Geiman's 223 career 3-pointers is third all-time at Washburn and his 604 career 3-point attempts is first on the Ichabod charts passing Shannon Kruger's 584.

CHART TIME
Senior Tyler Geiman has left his name all over the Ichabod career record book. Below is where he ranks in each category
3-point field goals attempted: 1st (604)
Assists: 2nd (637)
Assists average: 2nd (5.0)
Minutes: 2nd (3858)
3-point field goals made: 3rd (223)
Field goals attempted: 5th (1245)
Steals: t-5th (130)
Games played: t-5th (127)
Defense rebound avg: 6th (4.5)
Games started: 7th (99)
Minutes average: 7th (30.4)
Points: 8th (1557)
Field goals made: 8th (556)
Rebounds: 8th (631)
 
Jalen Lewis is another Ichabod who has placed his name in the Washburn record book. Below are Lewis' career rankings.
3-point field goals made: 2nd (237)
Free throw percentage: 2nd (.852)
3-point field goals attempted: 3rd (562)
3-point FG percentage: 7th (.422)
Minutes: 9th (3005)
Field goals attempted: t-11th (965)
Points: 12th (1260)
Minutes average: 13th (28.1)

COACHES
WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
•is 94-45 in his fifth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 127-75 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 4-4 against Central Oklahoma.
 
CENTRAL OKLAHOMA HEAD COACH BOB HOFFMAN
•is 41-31 in his third season as the Bronchos' head coach.
•comes to UCO from Mercer, where he led the Bears of Macon, Ga. to 209 wins in his 11-year stint there.
•Hoffman won 209 games at Mercer from 2008-19, including 119 conference games. He led the Bears to its first ever NCAA Tournament win in 2014 – a major upset of Duke in the opening round of March Madness. And he also became the first coach in NCAA history to win a tournament game in all four Division I postseason tournaments in a four-year span.
•is 1-2 against Washburn.

ABOUT CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
•UCO is 16-2 this season and 11-1 in the MIAA after topping Emporia State 88-83 on Wednesday in Emporia and have won their last 13 games overall in a row.
•Isaiah Wade leads four players in double figures averaging 19.3 ppg with 8.8 rpg.
•Camryn Givens is scoring 15.1 ppg with 5.8 rpg. Jaden Wells is scoring 14.7 ppg and Callen Haydon is scoring 13.7 ppg.
•Isaiah Wade is third in the MIAA in both scoring and rebounding.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ICHABODS
(Jan. 26, 2022) TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods closed the first half on an 18-4 run and opened the second half with an 18-2 run rolling to a 91-60 win over the Newman Jets on Wednesday night in Lee Arena.
The Ichabod deciding run started after Newman cut the lead to three at 28-25 with 4:46 to play in the opening frame with a Jonny Clausing free throw. During the first half spurt, Tyler Geiman scored seven and Clausing finished with five as Washburn led 49-26 at the break after shooting 50 percent from the field and hit six 3-pointers.
The second half onslaught covered the first 5:12 of the stanza as Washburn pushed out to a 64-31 lead with 14:10 to play eventually going up by a game-high 34 points with 11:46 to go as the Jets fell to 1-20 in games played in Topeka in the series as the Ichabods have won the last 18-straight meetings in the capital city.
Overall the 36-6 run covered 10:36 of the game where the Ichabods hit 14 of 24 shots adding four 3-pointers while holding Newman (4-12, 1-10 MIAA) to 2 of 14 from the field forcing nine turnovers during the stretch. The Ichabods outscored the Jets 29 to 2 in points off turnovers in the game.
Geiman led all scorers with 20 points while dishing out 10 assists recording his 13th career double double and his fourth with at least 20 points and 10 assists. Jeremy Harrell picked up his first Washburn double double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Connor Deffebaugh added 15 points as 13 of the 14 Ichabods who saw action scored.
Deandre Johnson led the Jets with 11 points.
The Ichabods outscored the jets 42-22 in the paint and Washburn's bench had a 37 to 25 advantage.

SERIES HISTORY WITH CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
•Saturday's meeting will be the 35th in the series history.
•UCO leads the all-time series 18-16 after winning the last meeting.
•The Ichabods lost the first match up as MIAA schools on Jan. 5, 2013 in a 72-67 loss in Edmond and in the MIAA tournament quarterfinals on March 3, 2013 in a 99-88 defeat in Kansas City.
•Washburn's two highest-scoring combined games in school history came against UCO. In 1992 the two teams scored 246 points (132-114, UCO) and in 1998 they scored 218 points (111-107, UCO).
•In the Jan. 13, 2018 meeting, the 49 points was the fewest by the Ichabods in a win in the shot clock era and the 96 combined points were the second fewest scored by Washburn and its opponent in the shot clock era.
•In 34 games, the Ichabods have averaged 76.6 points per game with the Bronchos.
•WU has scored at least 100 points against UCO three times and the Bronchos have done so twice.   

LAST MEETING WITH CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
(Dec. 9, 2021) EDMOND, Okla. – Washburn rallied from a 15-point deficit to send the game at Central Oklahoma to overtime but they were outshot at the free throw line 42 to 15 on the night in a 97-87 loss to the Bronchos.
The Ichabods (4-5, 1-2 MIAA) trailed 44-33 at the break behind some hot shooting from the Bronchso as UCO hit 8 of 17 shots from deep for a 47 percent mark and was 15 of 27 overall from the field. The Ichabods were 6 of 21 from 3 and 13 of 33 overall.
Starting the second half the Ichabods went on a 9-0 after UCO scored the first points of the frame cutting the lead to four at 46-52 after a 3-pointer by Levi Braun forcing UCO (6-2, 2-1 MIAA) into a timeout.
A 3-pointer by Jalen Lewis pulled the Ichabods within three at 50-47 with 14:19 to play in the game and a traditional 3-point play pulled the Ichabods within two after the made free throw with 13:16 to go.
UCO then pushed the lead back to six at 56-50 with over 11 minutes to play but Washburn railed to cut the lead to three at 57-54 with 10:14 to go.
Again UCO went back up stretching its lead to seven at 63-56, but back to back 3's by Levi Braun cut the lead to one at 63-62 with 8:17 to play. Washburn tied the score at 66 with 6:48 to play on a free throw by Connor Deffebaugh and then took its first lead since the 18-minute mark of the first half on a lay up by Michael Keegan.
The Ichabods pushed their lead to 73-68 after Braun's fifth 3-pointer of the game, but UCO cut the lead back to one at 73-72 with 3:37 to play after coming up empty on their next three possessions.
A jumper by Lewis put Washburn up 75-74, however a free throw by UCO tied the score at 75 with 2:45 to play and then Braun connected on a 3-pointer with 2:30 to go stretching the Ichabod advantage to 78-75.
UCO was fouled on the next drive but went 1 of 2 from the line as the Ichabods led 78-76 with 1:54 to play. The teams traded misses from 3-point range and the Ichabods came up empty on their next possession, but a foul on the Ichabods and two free throws tied the score at 78 with 1:31 to play in the game.
The tie lasted 10 seconds as a floater by Lewis put the Ichabods right back up two with 1:21 remaining.
UCO hit two more free throws to tie the score again with 66 seconds to play.
Lewis put the Ichabods back up by two at 82-80 with 40 seconds left, but an Ichabod foul sent UCO to the line where they hit both free throws tying the score at 82. UCO's final possession was a turnover and Geiman's half court heave hit the rim as the game went to overtime.
In the extra frame, the Ichabods led 85-84 after a 3-pointer by Lewis and then after a UCO score, Isaiah Thorne's layup with 3:08 put the Ichabods up 87-86. UCO hit back to back layups to go up 90-87. However UCO scored its final eight points from the free throw line.
Lewis tied a career-high 30 points and Braun had 18 hitting six 3-pointers. Lewis was 11 of 17 from the field. Geiman had eight assists in his first action since the season opener.
UCO was led by Cameron Givens' 40 points.
WU finished 9 of 15 from the free throw line while UCO was 36 of 42.

ICHABOD BASKETBALL HISTORY
•The Ichabods are 1633-1104-2 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 651-301 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.

HOME SWEET HOME
• The Ichabods are 473-99 (.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.

UP NEXT
• The Ichabods will be on the road for their next three games starting with Rogers state on Feb. 3 and then Northeastern State on Feb. 5. The Ichabods will travel to Lincoln on Feb. 9 and then return home to face Central Missouri on Feb. 12. Following two more road games at Missouri Western on Feb. 17 and at Northwest Missouri on Feb. 19, the Ichabods will host Missouri Southern on Feb. 24 for senior night and then wrap up the regular season on Feb. 26 at Emporia State before starting the MIAA Tournament March 2 or 3 depending on seeding.