• The Washburn Ichabods are back in action on Saturday in Lee Arena hosting Missouri Western at 3 p.m.
• The Ichabods are 3-6 and 0-3 in the MIAA after falling 88-81 in their last game at Rogers State on Dec. 10.
• The Griffons are 5-2 and 2-0 in the MIAA and have not played since a 79-65 win at Missouri Southern on Dec. 3 missing games with Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State due to COVID-19 protocols.
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series with Missouri Western 59-42 and have won the last four overall.
• The Griffons' last win in the series came on Feb. 18, 2021 in an 81-77 win in Topeka.
• 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 15.1 ppg while averaging 21.7 ppg in three MIAA contests. He has reached double figures in eight of nine games this season. He is second on the team in rebounds at 6.3 per game. He recorded his first Washburn double double against Emporia State with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
• Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 12.0 ppg adding a team-high 3.3 assists per game. In MIAA play he is scoring 10.3 ppg.
• Jaden Monday is scoring 7.9 ppg and has gone 15 of 33 from 3-point range including 5 of 7 from behind the arc in MIAA play.
• Levi Braun is scoring 7.6 ppg and has hit 17 of 46 3-pointers this season including a season-best 6 of 8 showing against Ottawa in Lee Arena.
• Michael Keegan is scoring 7.0 ppg with 6.3 rpg and 13 total steals and 10 total blocks.
• Jordan Vincent is scoring 5.8 ppg with 1.4 rpg and 2.1 apg. He has gone 16 of 18 from the free throw line this season.
• Jarmell Johnson scoring 5.7 ppg scoring with 3.0 rpg.
• Jayden Hibbitt is scoring 5.4 ppg with 2.3 rpg and in MIAA play he is scoring 8.0 ppg with 3.0 rpg.
• Tyler Nelson made his first start of the season against Rogers State scoring a season-high 15 points adding a career-high eight assists playing all 40 minutes.
• Brady Christiansen is scoring 4.2 adding 6.4 rpg and  Zaid Dajani is scoring 4.0 ppg.
• Washburn is looking to avoid its first four-game losing streak since Dec. 30, 2009 to Jan. 9, 2010 when they lost five in a row total.
• The last time the Ichabods started MIAA 0-4 in MIAA play was the same 2009-10 season when Washburn started the year 0-7 in MIAA.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
• is 107-55 in his sixth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 140-85 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 9-4 against Missouri Western.
 
MISSOURI WESTERN HEAD COACH WILL MARTIN
• is 32-31 in his third 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).
• 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 2-4 against the Ichabods.
  • The Griffons are 5-2 overall and 3-2 in the MIAA last playing on Dec. 3 in a 79-65 win at Missouri Southern. Overall the Griffons have won their last four games.
• Julius Dixon leads a balanced attack with three players averaging in double figures with 13.0 ppg. Taye Fields is scoring 12.7 ppg with a team-high 8.4 rpg. Will Eames is scoring 12.1 ppg with 6.3 rpg.
• The Griffons are scoring 70.6 ppg while allowing 63.3 ppg.
  (Feb. 17, 2022)  ST. JOSEPH, Mo. –Washburn led for all but 11 seconds and for that span they were tied as a hot-shooting Ichabod team topped Missouri Western for the fourth-straight game sweeping the regular season series in a 79-64 win. 
Making his first start of the season, Jonny Clausing scored 24 points on 12 rebounds for his seventh career double double adding a career-high 36 minutes on 9 of 14 shooting. He was +23 in plus/minus minutes in the game.
Washburn (16-9, 13-6 MIAA) led 45-32 at the break after hitting 67 percent of its shots from the field going 18 of 27 overall and perfect 5 of 5 from deep while holding the Griffons to 12 of 33 shooting in the opening 20 minutes.
The Ichabods opened the second half on an 8-2 run pushing out to a game-high 19-point lead over the Griffons (12-14, 8-10 MIAA). A 3-pointer by the Griffons capping a 22-11 run trimmed the Ichabod lead back to eight at 64-56 with 7:43 to go. Washburn then went on a 13-3 run of its own over a 4:26 stretch building the margin back to 18 at 77-59 as the Ichabods went on to the 15-point win.
Following Clausing's 24 points, which was one shy of his career-high was three other Ichabod starters in double figure scoring with Jalen Lewis scoring 14 and Tyler Geiman and Michael Keegan each going for 13. Geiman added eight assists and three steals and Keegan chipped in four boards and two blocks.
Will Eames led the Griffons with 16 points.
Washburn finished the game 61 percent from the field hitting 30 of 49 shots overall going 6 of 11 from 3-point range and hit 13 of 18 free throws. The Griffons were held to 40 percent shooting on 22 of 55 shooting and hit 12 3-pointers in the game going 8 of 15 from the line.
The Ichabods outscored the Griffons 44 to 16 in the paint and 11 to 2 in fast break points. Washburn also outrebounded Missouri Western 30 to 27 in the game.
  • Saturday's meeting will be the 102nd between the two schools with Washburn leading the series 59-42 and have won the last three in the series.
• The Ichabods are 51-35 against MWSU in MIAA games and 33-15 in games played in Topeka overall.
• The Ichabods are 23-25 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 only met once in the NCAA Tournament coming in Washburn's 72-46 win on March 13, 2021 in Aberdeen, S.D. in the first round of the regional (Dec. 10, 2022) CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Washburn Ichabods scored a season-high 54 points in the first half taking a 17-point lead into the break but let the lead slip away falling 88-81 at Rogers State on Saturday. 
After shooing 57 percent in the first half hitting 20 of 35 shots and 7 of 13 from the 3-point line, the Ichabods cooled to 6 of 22 shooting in the second half for a 27 percent clip and hit 3 of 8 from the 3-point stripe in the loss. Opposite of the Ichabods, the Hillcats were 14 of 25 from the field in the opening half, Rogers State heated up in the final 20 minutes hitting 16 of 25 shots for a blistering 64 percent.
With the Ichabods leading 54-37 at the break, the Hillcats came out on an 11-5 run over the first 5:19 of the second half, but after a 3-pointer by Jaden Monday and a layup by Andrew Orr, Washburn pushed the lead back to 16 at 64-48 with 13:33 to go. An 8-0 by the Hillcats trimmed Washburn's lead to 64-56 with 11:43 to go and then.
A jumper by Tyler Nelson with 8:25 to go pushed the back to 10 at 75-65, but that point the Hillcats outscored the Ichabods 23-6 including an 11-0 over the final 4:13 of the game to send Washburn to its third-straight loss.
Orr led the Ichabods with 23 points pacing four Ichabods in double figures with Tyler Nelson scoring 15 making his first start of the season. Monday had 13 and Connor Deffebaugh had 10.
Joey Saracco had 22 points to lead the Hillcats.
Washburn finished 19 of 24 from the free throw line with Orr going 7 of 9 while the Hillcats were 24 of 31.
The Hillcats outrebounded the Ichabods 27 to 26 while scoring 26 points off of 17 Washburn turnovers. • The Ichabods are 1647-1114-2 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 663-309 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 478-100 (.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.
  • The Ichabods will make 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.