• The Washburn Ichabods return home on Saturday for the 218th meeting with the Emporia State Hornets at 3 p.m. in Lee Arena.
• The Ichabods are 3-4 and 0-1 in the MIAA after falling in overtime at Northeastern State 81-78 on Monday night.
• The Hornets are 6-0 after winning their final non-conference game of the season in a 110-66 win over Saint Mary's.
• ESU is ranked No. 23 in the latest NABC Top 25 coaches poll.
• The Ichabods have won the last four in the series with Emporia State sweep all three contests last season.
• The meeting on Saturday will be the 218th meeting between the two schools and the Ichabods lead at 113-104. This is the most-played series for Washburn.
• The Ichabods have won 10 of the last 13 meetings.
• Washburn has won the last 10 games played in Topeka with ESU's last win in Lee Arena coming on Feb. 23, 2011 in a 73-68 win.
• 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. • Andrew Orr leads the Ichabods in scoring at 13.6 ppg coming off a career-high 24 at Northeastern State. He scored all 24 in the second half and the overtime period. He has reached double figures in seven of the eight games and has averaged 18 points and 6.6 rebounds per game going 22 of 31 from the field. He is third on the team in rebounds at 6.1 per game.
• Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 11.6 ppg adding a team-high 4.0 assists per game.
• Levi Braun has hit 17 of 40 3-pointers this season including a season-best 6 of 8 showing against Ottawa last time in Lee Arena.
• Jaden Monday is scoring 8.0 ppg and had nine points and five rebounds in the MIAA opener at Northeastern State.
• Michael Keegan is scoring 8.0 ppg with 6.6 rpg and 10 total steals and 10 total blocks. His 10 blocks is tied for the MIAA lead. His 17 points against Northeastern State was a season-high on 7 of 10 shooting from the field.
• Jordan Vincent is scoring 6.6 ppg with 1.6 rpg and 2.4 apg. He has gone 16 of 18 from the free throw line this season.
• Jarmell Johnson scoring 6.2 ppg scoring with 2.2 rpg.
• Brady Christiansen's 7.4 rpg leads the Ichabods adding 4.3 ppg. Fellow freshman Zaid Dajani is scoring 4.3 ppg while sophomore transfer Jayden Hibbitt is scoring 4.7 ppg coming off a season-best 13 points against Ottawa followed by a nine-point game at Northeastern State.
• Tyler Nelson has played in the last two games returning from an injury.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
• is 107-53 in his sixth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 140-83 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 7-2 against Emporia State.
 
EMPORIA STATE HEAD COACH CRAIG DOTY
• is 61-55 in his fifth season at Emporia State.
• is in his 11th season as a head coach at the D2, NAIA, and NJCAA level he is 222-105 with three national championships.
• in two seasons at Graceland, Doty went 49-22 and won the 2018 NAIA Division I National Championship in Municipal Auditorium.
• prior to Graceland, Doty spent four years as the head coach at Rock Valley College winning two national championships and appearing in three-straight NJCAA Division III title games to finish with a 113-28 record.
• is 1-6 against Washburn.
  • Emporia State is 6-0 and ranked No. 23 in the latest NABC Top 25 coaches poll.
• Alijah Comithier leads the team in scoring at 16.2 ppg pacing a total of four Hornets in double figures with Mayuom Buom scoring 13.5 ppg, Owen Long at 12.0 ppg and Atavian Butler scoring 10.3 ppg.
• The Hornets are averaging 76.8 ppg this season while allowing 58.5 ppg. 
  (March 4, 2022)  KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods swept all three games from Emporia State this season with their 88-81 win over the Hornets in Municipal Auditorium. Washburn improves to 20-9 on the season while the Hornets end their at 20-9.
The game was tied at the break at 35 before the Hornets used an 11-7 run to take a 48-42 lead with 16:38 to play. Washburn responded with a 20-5 over a 5:34 stretch scorching the nets hitting 7 of 9 shots from the field connecting on all 3-point attempts led by Jalen Lewis' eight points during the run building a 62-53 lead. Lewis would go on to score the Ichabods' next nine points as Washburn pushed the lead to 11 at 71-60 as the lead would be as many as 13 with 6:30 to play.
In a game of runs, the Hornets came back with a 12-2 run spurt of their own to trim the lead to three at 75-72 with 3:04 to go. ESU cut the lead to three a total of three more times with the last coming 79-76 with 1:44 to play before Tyler Geiman buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key sending Washburn to an 82-76 lead and Washburn would hit 6 of 8 free throws in the final 41 seconds to move into the MIAA semifinals.
All five Ichabod starters reached double figures and Geiman and Lewis both finished with 20 points. All of Lewis' points came in the second half as he hit 7 of 9 shots and 3 of 4 from deep. Connor Deffebaugh scored 14 points while Michael Keegan scored 12 and Jonny Clausing finished with 11. Clausing added eight rebounds and Geiman had seven assists.
ESU was led by Jumah'Ri Turner who had a game-high 23 points and Tray Buchanan finished with 22.
Washburn finished 30 of 55 from the field hitting 16 of 27 second half shots for a 59 percent average going 54 percent for the game. Washburn hit 19 of 26 free throws and 9 of 17 from deep. Emporia State was 25 of 61 from the field for a 41 percent clip and was 12 of 38 from deep and 19 of 25 from the free throw line.
Washburn had a 40 to 24 advantage in the paint and 17 to 6 in fastbreak points.
  • The meeting on Saturday will be the 218th meeting between the two schools and the Ichabods lead at 113-104. This is the most-played series for Washburn.
• The Ichabods have won 10 of the last 13 meetings.
• The two teams started the series in 1905-06, Washburn's first recorded year of basketball, and they have met every year since the 1945-46 season.
• This will be the 79th-straight year they have played each other at least once.
• The Ichabods are 28-8 against the Hornets in Lee Arena.
• Washburn is 5-1 against ESU in MIAA Postseason tournament games. (Nov. 28, 2022) TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Washburn Ichabods closed the second half of a 5-2 run tying the score at 72, but were whistled for a season-high 32 fouls falling in their MIAA opener at Northeastern State 81-78 in overtime on Monday night in Tahlequah, Okla. 
In the extra period, NSU drew first blood scoring on a layup by Obi Agu with 3:40 to play taking a 74-72 lead. NSU hit a jumper with 2:45 to go taking a 76-72 lead before Andrew Orr scored off an offensive rebound with 2:12 left scoring his 20th point of the night.
NSU hit a two of three free throws after a foul on a 3-point attempt by Damon Bailey as the RiverHawks pushed the lead to 78-74. Orr hit a pair of free throws as Washburn pulled with two at 78-76 with 1:24 to go.
NSU came up empty on their next trip and Orr scored again with 37 seconds to go tying the score at 78. NSU drew a foul with two seconds on the shot clock and nine on the game clock but Christian Cook was fouled on a 3-point attempt going on to hit all three taking an 81-78 lead. Washburn's potential game-tying 3-pointer was off the target and the Ichabods fell to the RiverHawks for the third game in a row.
The Ichabods trailed at the break 31-28 after jumping out to a lead of 7-0 as Michael Keegan scored five of Washburn's first seven points. Washburn led 28-27 with 2:24 to go in the half but the RiverHawks scored the last five points of the frame from the free throw line taking the three-point lead into the locker room.
Washburn shot 12 of 28 in the first half from the field, but went 0 of 6 from 3-point range while the RiverHawks were 10 of 19 and 2 of 7 from deep. NSU was also 9 of 16 in the first 20 minutes going out to the one-possession lead.
To start the second half on a 14-4 run to take a 42-35 lead with Andrew Orr scoring six straight points for Washburn. The teams traded baskets and after a jumper by Levi Braun putting Washburn up 46-43, NSU ripped off an 8-0 run taking a 50-46 lead with 10:43 to play on a pair of back-to-back dunks.
After Washburn trimmed the RiverHawk lead back to one at 50-49, NSU pushed out to a 57-53 lead with 7:59 to go. NSU would then go on to lead by seven with 5:48 to play before a Jayden Hibbitt 3-pointer pulled Washburn back within four at 65-51 with 5:21 to play.
After a pair of free throws by Brady Christiansen and another jumper by Hibbitt, the Ichabods were down one at 66-65 with 3:48 to play. The teams traded baskets and after an Ichabod foul, NSU went back up 70-67 with 2:04 remaining.
Orr scored on a layup with 1:40 to go and was fouled and after hitting the free throw tied the score at 70. NSU came back with a bucket of its own to regain the lead with 1:31 to go at 72-70. On Washburn's next possession, their jumper came up short and then NSU was fouled with 39 seconds to go but missed free throws to hold on to its two-point lead. Washburn's Christiansen was fouled on the ensuing possession and hit both free throws tying the score at 72 with 20 seconds to play. The RiverHawk layup was missed sending the game to overtime.
The 32 fouls by the Ichabods were the most by a Washburn squad since being called for 30 at Central Oklahoma on Dec. 9, 2021. Overall three of Washburn's starters fouled out in the game with Orr finishing with four.
Orr led the Ichabods finishing with a career-high 24 points on 9 of 13 shooting going 6 of 7 from the free throw line. Keegan had 17 with seven boards. Hibbitt and Jaden Monday each had nine. Cook had 28 to lead all scorers going 12 of 13 from the free throw line.
Washburn finished 29 of 58 from the field going 3 of 15 from deep and 17 of 24 from the free throw line. NSU was 25 of 43 for a 58 percent clip hitting 5 of 14 from three while attempting 42 free throws connecting on 26 of them - the 42 being the most attempted by an Ichabod opponent by UCO last season.
Washburn falls to 21-12 all-time in MIAA openers since joining the league and to 44-38 in overtime games, 24-22 in overtime away games and 25-26 vs MIAA opponents and 2-1 against NSU in overtime contest. • The Ichabods are 1647-1112-2 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 663-307 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 478-99 (.848) all-time in Lee Arena.
• The 2022-23 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.
  • After another trip to Oklahoma to face Rogers State on Dec. 10, Washburn will host Missouri Western on Dec. 17 before making yet another trip to Oklahoma on Dec. 31 to battle Central Oklahoma. Washburn returns home to open the new year on Jan. 5 hosting Central Missouri and Lincoln on Jan. 7.