• The Washburn Ichabods will be aiming to snap a two-game losing streak when they host the Ottawa Braves on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Lee Arena.
• The Ichabods are 2-3 this season coming off a 78-63 loss at Oklahoma Baptist on Tuesday night.
• The Braves earned their first KCAC victory of the season with an 87-85 overtime victory over McPherson College on Tuesday night in Wilson Field House improving their record to 4-4 on the year.
• The Ichabods have won the last 23 meetings in the series and Washburn is 30-5 against the Braves in Topeka.
• Ottawa's last win came on Dec. 29, 1959 in an 85-68 win in Ottawa.
• The Ichabods are coming off the program's 30th 20-win season and the fourth under Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard in his five seasons reaching their fourth NCAA postseason in five years under head coach Brett Ballard in 2022-23.
• The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team was tabbed fourth in both the MIAA Preseason Coaches and MIAA Preseason Media polls announced Oct. 11 by the conference at the annual Basketball Media Day held at the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City
• The 2022-23 season marks the 118th season of Ichabod basketball. • Connor Deffebaugh leads two other Ichabods in double-figure scoring with 12.0 ppg and Andrew Orr is scoring 11.6 ppg. Deffebaugh also leads the team in assists with 4.6 per game.
• Orr is coming off a career-high game against Oklahoma Baptist scoring 17 points reaching double figures for the fourth time in five games this season.
• Levi Braun is scoring 8.2 ppg hitting 11 of 26 3-pointers this season collecting seven steals in five games.
• Jaden Monday scored 10 points off the bench against OBU adding a career-high six assists and now is averaging 8.0 ppg this season.
• Jarmell Johnson scoring 7.8 ppg scoring a career-high 14 against William Jewell two games ago.
• Jordan Vincent is scoring 7.2 ppg with 2.2 rpg and 2.2 apg making is first start of his career against OBU last time out.
• Michael Keegan is scoring 7.0 ppg with 6.4 rpg and eight total steals and seven total blocks. His eight blocks is tied for the MIAA lead. In the last three games he has averaged 9.3 ppg and 5.0 rpg.
• Brady Christiansen's 7.6  rpg leads the Ichabods adding 4.4 ppg. Fellow freshman Zaid Dajani is scoring 4.4 ppg.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
• is 106-52 in his sixth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 139-82 overall in his eighth year as a head coach.
• has led the Ichabods to four NCAA postseason appearances in five 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 and Tulsa basketball programs after working under head coach Danny Manning 2012-17 seasons.
• he helped Wake Forest to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2009-10 season following the 2016-17 season.
• 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 4-2 against Ottawa going 2-0 at Washburn and 2-2 at Baker.
 
OTTAWA HEAD COACH AARON SIEBENTHALL
• is 129-91 in his eighth season as the Braves head coach.
• spent nine seasons as an assistant at Ottawa.
• is 0-2 against the Ichabods.
  • The Braves earned their first KCAC victory of the season with an 87-85 overtime victory over McPherson College on Tuesday night in Wilson Field House. Ottawa shot 43.2 percent from the floor, 37.5 percent from behind the 3-pt line, and 70 percent from the free throw line. OU led 38-28 in points in the paint and 33-24 in bench scoring. McPherson led 21-12 in fast break points, 15-10 in points off turnovers, and 11-9 in second chance points. The Braves had four players in double figures. Ian Moore and Ty Bland finished with 18 points apiece Amil Fields had a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Deondre Buggage finished the game with 12 points.
• Ottawa is led in scoring by Deondre Buggage (17), Amil Fields is OU's leader in rebounds (7.3) Cody Fredrickson and Fields are the Braves' leaders in assists (2), and Ty Bland leads the team in steals (1.3).
• The Braves are 0-2 in road games this season. Ottawa is averaging 81.5 points per game while allowing 85. Ottawa is shooting 48 percent from the floor, 25.6 percent from behind the 3-pt line, and 75 percent from the free throw line. Opponents are shooting 47.1 percent from the floor, 38.3 percent from behind the arc, and 69.1 percent from the free throw line.
• The Bison are averaging 67.7 ppg while allowing 70.3 ppg in three contests.
• Through eight games this season, Ottawa is averaging 82.3 points, 40.4 rebounds, and 11.8 assists per game. OU is shooting 44.4 percent from the floor, 31.2 percent from behind the 3-pt line, and 67.8 percent from the free throw line.
  (Nov. 20, 2019)  TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods shot a blistering 65 percent from the field and Jalen Lewis poured in a career-high 25 points in the first half as the Ichabods rolled to a 103-73 home-opening win over the Ottawa Braves.
Washburn was 22 of 34 in the first half hitting 7 of 16 shots from 3-point range and Lewis was 10 of 14 from the field and 5 of 9 from 3-point.
The Ichabods led by 13 in the opening frame at 39-26 with 4:39 to go, but outscored the Braves (7-0) 13-3 the final 4:41 of the half to take a 52-29 lead into the halftime break.
With Washburn leading by 25 at 70-45, the Braves would go on an 11-2 run over the next 2:20 to cut the lead to 19 but the Ichabods responded with a 14-2 run of their own followed by a 13-4 run pushing the lead to 34 picking up the win improving to 35-1 all-time in home openers in Lee Arena.
Lewis finished with 25 points not attempting a shot in the second half to pace Washburn taking game-high scoring honors. Tyler Geiman had his third career double double with 16 points and 11 assists while Jonny Clausing had 15 points and Tyler Nelson scored a career-high 14 points adding three steals. Drew Maschoff had eight rebounds and five assists to go with nine points.
Mason McDow had 14 points to lead the Braves in the game which was an exhibition game for Ottawa.
Washburn finished the game 43 of 67 from the field shooting 64 percent in the second half. The Ichabods were 12 of 26 from 3-point range and hit 5 of 6 free throws. The Braves shot 48 percent from the field in the game hitting 29 of 60 shots. The Ichabods dominated on the glass outrebounding the Braves 39 to 18 and outscored the Braves 48 to 34 in the paint and 31 to 6 in fast break points.
  • The Ichabods lead the all-time series 56-17 with the 74th meeting coming up.
• The Ichabods have won the last 23 meetings in the series and Washburn is 30-5 against the Braves in Topeka.
• Ottawa's last win in the series came on Dec. 29, 1959 in an 85-68 win in Ottawa.
• Ottawa's last win in Topeka came on Jan. 27, 1952 in a 79-53 victory. (Nov. 22, 2022) SHAWNEE, Okla. – The Washburn Ichabods had a career-high points from Andrew Orr with 17 points but the Ichabods went from 57 percent shooting in the first half (16 of 28) to 25 percent in the second half (6 of 24) in a 78-63 loss at Oklahoma Baptist.
As hot as the Ichabods were in the first half, Washburn (2-3) was the opposite in the second half hitting 4 of its first 15 shots in the first 12:15 of the final stanza while the Bison (2-2) pushed out to a lead as many as 12 turning a 50-48 deficit to the Ichabods to a 64-56 lead with a 16-4 run.
Washburn trimmed the lead back to seven with just over six minutes to play but a 5-0 run by the Bison stretched the lead back to 12. Washburn pulled within 10 two more times over the final five-plus minutes, but would not get any closer as the Ichabods fell in their first trip to OBU's Noble Complex.
The Ichabods led by one at the break as the two teams each shot an identical 57 percent from the field as both Washburn and Oklahoma Baptist were 16 of 28 from the field. Washburn jumped out to an 11-3 lead hitting 4 of its first 5 shots of the game while forcing five Bison turnovers. Washburn led the entire first half until a D.J. Freeman jumper kick started an 11-1 run by the Bison as they pushed out to a 35-27 lead.
Washburn then hit its next four shots returning serve with a 10-0 run going back up 37-35. The teams traded baskets and it was not until 32 seconds remaining Jaden Monday hit a 3-pointer to push Washburn to a one-point lead heading into the locker room.
Orr led the Ichabods with his 17 points hitting 7 of 11 shots from the field adding five rebounds. Michael Keegan has 12 points and Jaden Monday had 10 adding a team-high six assists.
D.J. Freeman led the Bison with 18 points going 5 of 5 from the field and 8 of 8 from the free throw line leading six Bison in double-figure scoring as the Bison picked up their second-straight win over the Ichabods.
The Ichabods finished 22 of 52 from the field going 6 of 24 in the second half. Oklahoma Baptist kept up its hot shooting in the second half hitting 12 of 23 shots for a 52 percent clip including 5 of 10 from 3-point range. Washburn was 2 of 9 from the 3-point line in the second half finishing 6 of 19 overall.
Washburn was outrebounded 33 to 21 in the game and had a 32-24 advantage in points in the paint, 6-0 in fastbreak points and 18-16 in points off turnovers.
  • The Ichabods are 1646-1111-2 all-time in the 118th year in the program's history.
• Washburn is the 10th-winningest program in NCAA Division II history by victories.
• Washburn is 662-307 since joining the conference and the NCAA.
• The Ichabods have recorded 30 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 16 NCAA Tournament bids going to three Elite Eight's appearing in the 2001 NCAA National Championship game.
  • The Ichabods are 477-99 (.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.
  • On Monday, Nov. 28 the Ichabods will open MIAA play at Northeastern State and then face Emporia State on Dec. 3 at 3 p.m. in the conference home opener.