• The Washburn Ichabods will make their third trip to the Sooner State in nine games played this season as they will face Rogers State on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in Claremore, Okla.
• The Ichabods are 3-5 and 0-2 in the MIAA falling to No. 23-ranked Emporia State 74-63 on Dec. 3.
• The Hillcats are 6-3 (2-1 MIAA) after beating No. 16 Emporia State on Thursday night 75-68 handing the Hornets their first loss of the season.
• Rogers State also won at Nebraska-Kearney 78-58 in its conference opener and lost at Fort Hays State 65-55 in its other MIAA games.
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series 4-2 over the Hillcats.
• Rogers State won the last meeting 77-60 on Feb. 7 in Claremore.
• 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 14.1 ppg and reached double figures in seven of eight games and he is averaging 21 ppg in his last two contests with 8.0 rebounds per game. He is second on the team in rebounds at 6.6 per game. He recorded his first Washburn double double against Emporia State with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
• Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 12.3 ppg adding a team-high 3.6 assists per game.
• Levi Braun 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 7.6 ppg with 6.4 rpg and 12 total steals and 10 total blocks. .
• Jaden Monday is scoring 7.3 ppg and had nine points and five rebounds in the MIAA opener at Northeastern State.
• Jarmell Johnson scoring 5.8 ppg scoring with 2.8 rpg.
• 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.
• Jayden Hibbitt is scoring 5.7 ppg with 2.6 rpg. He has averaged 11.3 ppg in the last three games off the bench.
• Zaid Dajani and Brady Christiansen are scoring 4.0 ppg with Christiansen adding a team-high 6.9 rpg. Dajani has hit 4 of 7 3-pointers this season.
• Tyler Nelson has played in the last three games returning from an injury.
• Washburn is looking to avoid its first three-game losing streak since the final three games of the 2019-20 season when they lost at Northwest Missouri and at Missouri Western in the final two regular season games of the season and then again to Missouri Western in the opening game of the MIAA Tournament.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
• is 107-54 in his sixth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 140-84 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 Rogers State.
 
ROGERS STATE HEAD COACH JUSTIN BARKLEY
• is 240-123 in his 12th season at Rogers State.
• served as the Hillcats' assistant coach from 2008-2010, became the third head coach in the brief history of the program when he took over in 2010.
• helped guide the Hillcats to a 52-13 record as an assistant where they claimed the school's first Sooner Athletic Conference regular season championship, reached the NAIA National Tournament, and achieved a No. 1 national ranking in 2008-09.
• Scored six points in 32 minutes with six rebounds and six assists against the Ichabods as a player at Northeastern State (his alma mater) in the NCAA South Central Regional Semifinal game when his RiverHawks topped the Ichabods 64-59 on March 15, 2003 in Stephenville, Texas - NSU would go on to win the NCAA National Championship that season.
• is 2-4 against the Ichabods.
  • The Hillcats are 6-3 and 2-1 in the MIAA after topping No. 16 Emporia State on Thursday 75-68.
• Three Hillcats finished in double figures in the win. Chris Whitaker paced RSU with a career-high 23 points to go with a game-high four assists, two rebounds and a block. Joey Saracco put together his second-straight double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds as well as three assists and two steals. Kofi Hamilton contributed 14 points with five rebounds, an assist and a steal.
• Saracco leads the team in scoring at 14.1 ppg adding 6.8 rpg.
• Chris Whitaker is scoring 12.7 ppg and has hit 10 of 15 shots from 3-point range. Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. is scoring 9.3 ppg.
  (Feb. 7, 2022)  CLAREMORE, Okla. – The end of the first half and the end of the game spelled disaster for the Ichabods as Rogers State scoring runs toward the end of each frame led to a 77-60 loss for the Ichabods.
To end the first half, the Ichabods (13-9, 10-6 MIAA) led 32-26 with 4:36 to play, but the Hillcats (14-8, 8-8 MIAA) finished the first half on a 15-2 run as they took a 41-34 lead into the break.
Starting the second half, Washburn went on a 10-2 run of its own to take a 44-43 lead after a 3-pointer by Jalen Lewis, who hit his Washburn record-breaking 243rd career 3-pointer breaking Shannon Kruger's career mark of 243 in the first half. Rogers State came back with a 6-0 run of its own, but Washburn tied the score at 49 with 10:37 to play in the game. From that point on the Ichabods were outscored 28 to 11 and with a 16-3 run to end the game over final 5:28 taking the 17-point win snapping Washburn's four-game winning streak over the Hillcats.
Washburn had four double-figure scorers led by Tyler Geiman's 15 points adding seven assists and three steals. Jeremy Harrell had 11 points and led the team with six rebounds. Lewis and Michael Keegan each had 10 points for the Ichabods.
David Pullum led the Hillcats with a game-high 23 points pacing four Roger State players in double figures.
Washburn was 21 of 59 from the field going 7 of 25 in the second half while Rogers State shot 27 of 58 including a 57 percent clip in the first half. The Ichabods were 8 of 27 from deep and RSU was 8 of 21 from deep. From the free throw line the Ichabods were 10 of 14 and the Hillcats were 15 of 15.
On the glass, the Hillcats had a 37 to 22 advantage in rebounds and their bench outscored Washburn's 21 to 12.
  • Saturday's meeting with the Hillcats will be only the seventh between the two schools with the Ichabods leading the series 4-2.
• The Hillcats won the first meeting on Feb. 15, 2020 in Claremore, Okla. 80-62.
• In games played in Claremore, the Ichabods are 1-2 while going 3-0 in games played in Topeka.
• The Ichabods won the only meeting in the MIAA Tournament in an 78-59 win on March 3, 2021 in Topeka in the first round. (Dec. 3, 2022) TOPEKA, KAN. -- Cold shooting cost Washburn men's basketball (3-5, 0-2) in its conference home opener against Emporia State (7-0, 1-0) on Saturday afternoon. The Ichabods shot 32 percent as a team and were unable to mount a comeback in a 74-63 loss. 
The Hornets jumped out to a five-point lead in the first five minutes. Washburn's defense helped withstand a slow offensive start, and a five-minute stretch without allowing a point allowed the Ichabods to go on a 9-0 run and lead by three at the 6:29 mark. 
Shots stopped falling for Washburn and on the other end Emporia State stayed aggressive, leading to 15 first half free throw attempts for the Hornets. A 14-4 Emporia State run to close the half gave them a 34-28 lead. 
Out of the break Connor Deffebaugh scored six points in the first four minutes, tying the game for the Ichabods with 16 minutes left. The Hornets continued to attack the paint, finishing with 30 points in the blue for the game. A string of shots at the basket provided Emporia State with a nine-point advantage at the 11-minute mark. 
Both sides traded baskets over the next five minutes. Washburn was able to cut the lead down to four on a 3-pointer by Jayden Hibbitt after he pulled down an offensive rebound. Emporia State continued to have answers, winding the shot clock down and knocking down shots late. 
Back-to-back 3-pointers put the lead up to 12 with 2:37 left to play. It was cut to under 10 one more time before the final buzzer with the Hornets winning 74-63. 
Andrew Orr led the Ichabods with 18 points, and had a double-double, pulling down 10 rebounds as well. Connor Deffebaugh finished with 17 points on 7-14 shooting but was limited to 29 minutes after fouling out with five minutes remaining. Jayden Hibbitt finished with a season-high 12 points and pulled down six rebounds off the bench. 
Owen Long had 19 for Emporia State to lead all scorers, he knocked down five triples with six rebounds. The Hornets finished with three players in double figures. 
Washburn had a lot of opportunities, winning the rebounding battle overall 46-35, including pulling down 22 offensive rebounds. They were unable to convert on the extra possessions, shooting 31.9 percent overall, and 19 percent from three, both season lows. 
The Ichabods had only 12 turnovers in the game but were held to just seven assists. • The Ichabods are 1647-1113-2 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 663-308 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.
  • 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.