• The 2022-23 Washburn Ichabods will officially open the 118th season of men's basketball with a pair of games at the Central Region Challenge in Kansas City starting Nov. 11 facing Henderson State and then Augustana (S.D.) the following day.
• The Ichabods are receiving votes in the 2022-23 NABC Preseason Coaches Poll.
• The Ichabods are coming off a 22-11 season recording the program's 30th 20-win season and the fourth under Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard in his five seasons.
• Washburn reached the second round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs falling to the eventual 2022 champion Northwest Missouri.
• The Washburn Ichabod basketball reached their fourth NCAA postseason in five years under head coach Brett Ballard last season.
• 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
• Washburn will open the home slate with William Jewell on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. in Lee Arena.
• The Ichabods fell in an exhibition game at Kansas State 76-49 on Nov. 1.
• The 2022-23 season marks the 118th season of Ichabod basketball. • Michael Keegan, the 2021-22 MIAA Freshman of the Year, is the Ichabods' leading returning scorer this season scoring 9.4 ppg with 6.1 rebounds per game, 1.4 assists per game and 1.0 blocks per game … he pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds in the win over UCO in the MIAA Tournament semifinals … Keegan's 32 starts last season is the most by a freshman in program history and his 33 games played is tied for sixth.
• Connor Deffebaugh is the teams' second-leading scorer at 9.1 ppg adding 2.5 rpg and 1.6 apg.
• Tyler Nelson scored 6.5 ppg with 2.1 rpg and 1.7 apg in 20 games playing an average of 21.6 minutes including hitting the game-winner against Northwest Missouri sending the Ichabods to a 60-59 win with his 3-pointer.
• The Ichabods will be without their top three scorers from last season with graduation as Tyler Geiman, 15.3 ppg, 5.9 rbpg and 6.8 apg; Jalen Lewis, 13.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.6 apg; and Jonny Clausing, 10.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg have all graduated.
• Overall the Ichabods return 40 percent of their scoring, 38 percent of their rebounds, 40 percent of their field goals, 40 percent of their 3-pointers, 40 percent of their free throws, 34 percent of their assists, 47 percent of their steals, 60 percent of their blocks and 46 percent of their minutes played from a season ago.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
• is 104-49 in his sixth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 137-79 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 0-1 against Augustana and has never faced Henderson State
 
HENDERSON STATE HEAD COACH JIMMY ELGAS
• is in his eighth season as the coach at Henderson State.
• has a 108-86 record.
• from 2007-2015, Elgas served as the top assistant coach at the University of Evansville.
• Prior to his stint at Evansville, Elgas spent a year at the University of Utah, and the previous six years at Kansas State. As an assistant coach at Kansas State.
• has never faced the Ichabods.
 
AUGUSTANA HEAD COACH TOM BILLETER
• enters his 20th season at Augustana, Billeter has led the Vikings to a 359-198 record and the 2016 NCAA Division II National Championship.
• In his 25th season of coaching he is 456-249.
• has directed the Vikings to nine NCAA Tournament appearances, three NSIC Championships, two NSIC Tournament Championships, and has coached 10 players to 11 conference player of the year awards.
• Led the Vikings to the 2016 National Championship with a 90-81 win over Lincoln Memorial.
• is 2-1 against Washburn. • Henderson State was selected to finish second in the Great American Conference Preseason Poll, for the second time in program history.
• Highlighting the returnees from last season's GAC Tournament team is 2022 All-GAC Honorable Mention Malik Riddle and junior guard Alvin Miles, along with seniors Franck Kamgain and Ryan Boyce. Miles, Riddle and Kamgain all averaged over 20 minutes per game, with Miles leading the team in scoring at 10.2 points per game.
• Riddle was second in both scoring (9.5) and rebounds (4.7), while Boyce shot 45 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from beyond the arc. 
  (Dec. 16, 1988)  TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods held off a second half surge by Henderson State in a 92-85 win. The Ichabods had a 14-point, 45-31 lead at the break before  HSU outscored the Ichabods 54-47 in the second half.
Washburn was led by Greg Wilson scoring 21 points followed by Mike Dickerson's 20 points and Jeff Markray's 19 points.
Dionne Dale had 23 to lead HSU.   • The Ichabods won the only meeting between the two teams in 92-85 win on Dec. 16, 1988 in Topeka.
• The meeting was in the semifinals of the 1988 WIBW Holiday Classic in Lee Arena. • Augustana men's basketball senior Isaac Fink has been named the Vikings' Player to Watch as part of the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll announced Thursday. As a team, the new-look Vikings were tabbed fourth in the NSIC South Division and sixth overall.
• The Augustana men's basketball team will open 2022-23 as the No. 18 ranked team in the country the NABC announced Nov. 1.
• In calling Augustana a new-look team, Augustana returns six players from last year's NSIC Championship and regional finalist squad. Those six players accounted for 35.6 percent of Augustana's scoring last year led by Fink's 15.
• Senior Bennett Otto averaged 15 minutes per game while sophomore Akoi Akoi accounted for 12.5 minutes per game. Other returners include graduate student Eric Tiedman and sophomores Alex Distras and Zac Johnson. The six student-athletes are joined by eight newcomers in 2022-23.
  (Nov. 13, 2021) KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Augustana Vikings jumped out to a 22-8 lead 9:20 into the game and never looked back as they handed the Ichabods their first loss of the season in a 72-58 loss. 
The Ichabods trailed 43-21 at the break as the Vikings shot 16 of 30 in the first half while the Ichabods were 7 of 29 from the field. Augustana (2-0) also held a 27 to 8 advantage on the glass in the opening 20 minutes.
Washburn rallied in the second half to turn a deficit of as many as 25 to 11 with just under four minutes to play but would get no closer.
After shooting 24 percent in the first half the Ichabods improved to 44 percent in the second half going 14 of 32 from the field while outscoring the Vikings 37 to 29.
Michael Keegan and Kevaughn Ellis led the Ichabods with 12 points as the only Washburn players to reach double figures. Isaac Fink led the Vikings with 23 points pacing three in double figures.
Washburn finished 34 percent from the field for the game and went 6 of 21 from deep and 10 of 11 from the free throw line. Augustana was 25 of 56 over all for a 45 percent average hitting 9 of 23 3-pointers and 13 of 20 from the charity stripe.
The Vikings had a 44 to 26 advantage on the glass.
  • The Ichabods trail in the all-tie series 2-1.
• All three meetings have been played on neutral sites.
• Augustana won 72-58 in the last meeting on Nov. 13, 2021 in Kansas City.
• Washburn's win over the Vikings came on Nov. 13, 2015 in an 88-86 win when the Vikings were the No. 1-ranked team in the country. (Nov. 1, 2022) MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods played their only exhibition game of the season falling in a 76-49 loss at Kansas State on Tuesday in Bramlage Coliseum. 
Washburn trailed 45-23 at the break as the Wildcats jumped out to a 27-8 lead midway through the first half holding the Ichabods to 25 percent shooting in the opening frame. In the second half, the Ichabods were outscored 31 to 26 by Kansas State limiting KSU to 0 of 7 shooting from 3-point range while forcing nine second half turnovers.
The Ichabods were led by Connor Deffebaugh who scored 11 points with two assists and Michael Keegan and Zaid Dajani had a game-high eight rebounds pacing the Ichabods. Keegan also had three steals in the game.
Washburn finished 15 of 58 from the field going 5 of 18 from 3-point range and 14 of 20 from the free throw line. KSU was 28 of 63 from the field as the Ichabods held KSU to 5 of 23 shooting from 3-point range in the game. KSU was also 15 of 29 from the free throw line, but held a 54-38 advantage on the glass.
Kansas State outscored the Ichabods 46 to 12 in the paint as Washburn turned the ball over 20 times leading to 20 KSU points. K-State had 19 turnovers leading to 13 points for the Ichabods.
  • The Ichabods are 1644-1108-2 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 660-304 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 476-99 (.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.
  • Washburn will open the home slate on Nov. 16 hosting William Jewell in Lee Arena at 7 p.m.