• After a quick appearance in Lee Arena on Saturday in an 85-74 win over Central Missouri last time out, the Washburn Ichabods will now play three of their final four games on the road starting on Thursday night at Missouri Western.
• The Ichabods (15-9, 12-6 MIAA) have won their last two games and five of their last seven after the win over the Mules.
• Missouri Western (12-13, 8-9 MIAA) are coming off a 73-67 win at Newman on Monday night in Wichita.
• The Ichabods won the first meeting in Topeka on Jan. 8 in a 76-64 win over the Griffons.
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series with the Griffons 58-42 and have won the last three games played.
• The Ichabods are ranked fourth in the MIAA in scoring offense at 74.9 ppg and the Griffons are ranked 11th in scoring defense allowing 74.5 ppg.
• The Ichabods are ranked seventh in the MIAA in scoring defense allowing 70.0 ppg while the Griffons are eighth in the league in scoring offense at 71.3 ppg.
• The Ichabods are ranked fourth in the league in opponents field goal percentage at 43 percent while the Griffons are 11th in the league in shooting percentage at 44 percent.
• The 2021-22 season marks the 117th season of Ichabod basketball. • Tyler Geiman went over the 4,000-minutes played mark last time out against Lincoln and has now played more minutes than any Ichabod in program history … Geiman needs six games played to pass Keith Downing for the most appearance in Washburn history with 137 set by Keith Downing … he made his 100th start as an Ichabod against the Bronchos … he leads the Ichabods in scoring average at 15.1 ppg with 6.1 rpg and 6.6 apg … in the last nine games he is scoring 18.0 ppg with 7.1 rpg and 7.0 apg and averaging 15.9 ppg with 6.4 rpg and 7.0 apg in MIAA games … Geiman is ranked second in the NCAA D2 ranks in active assists with 670 and 11th in assist average at 5.1 … overall Geiman is sixth in all NCAA divisions of active career assists.
• Jalen Lewis is scoring 13.0 ppg hitting 49 of 131 3-pointers (.374) … he is the 27th member of the Ichabod 1,000-point club and is currently 11th on the Ichabod all-time scoring chart with 1,329 career points in 112 career games … he has 246 career 3-pointers which passed Shannon Kruger for the most in school history against Rogers State … he also attempted his 1,000th field goal attempt as an Ichabod at Lincoln, which is 11th all-time at Washburn.
• Jeremy Harrell recorded his second double double at Washburn against Lincoln with 11 points and 10 rebounds and he is averaging 9.4 ppg with 4.9 rpg and has averaged 13.6 ppg in the last six games with 8.0 rpg.
• Michael Keegan is scoring 9.3 ppg with 5.9 rebounds per game, 1.0 blocks per game and 1.3 steals per game … he is fourth in the MIAA in blocked shots, ranks 11th in the MIAA in rebounds and 10th in steals.
• Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 9.0 ppg and has averaged 10.3 ppg in is last nine games.
• Jonny Clausing is averaging 8.5 ppg adding 3.6 rpg.
• Tyler Nelson is scoring 6.5 ppg with 2.2 rpg and 2.4 apg in 10 games playing an average of 24.3 minutes a game.
• Tyler Geiman became the 26th member of Washburn's 1,000-point club and his career point total stands at 1,648 points in 131 career games, which is seventh all-time on the Ichabod chart … next on the chart is Ryan Murphy who scored 1,654 and Harold Brown who scored 1651 … Geiman's 231 career 3-pointers is third all-time at Washburn and his 626 career 3-point attempts is first on the Ichabod charts … since defensive rebounds were tracked in the Washburn record books starting in the 1994-95 season, Geiman is second in defensive rebounds with 589 trailing only Brady Skeens who had 713.
• In the final five minutes of games this season, Jalen Lewis is hitting 22 of 48 shots from the field going 17 of 21 from the free throw line.
• As a team the Ichabods are 81 of 112 in the final five minutes of games at the free throw lline compared to 104 of 134 by opponents.
  Senior Tyler Geiman has left his name all over the Ichabod career record book. Below is where he ranks in each category
3-point field goals attempted: 1st (626)
Minutes: 1st (4042)
Defensive rebounds: 2nd (589)
Assists: 2nd (670)
Assists average: 2nd (5.1)
3-point field goals made: 3rd (231)
Games played: 3rd (132)
Games started: 4th (104)
Field goals attempted: 5th (1309)
Steals: 5th (139)
Defense rebound avg: 6th (4.5)
Minutes average: 6th (30.6)
Points: 7th (1648)
Field goals made: 7th (590)
Rebounds: 7th (658)
 
Jalen Lewis is another Ichabod who has placed his name in the Washburn record book. Below are Lewis' career rankings.
3-point field goals made: 1st (246)
3-point field goals attempted: 2nd (589)
Free throw percentage: 2nd (.846)
Minutes: 5th (3168)
3-point FG percentage: 8th (.418)
Field goals attempted: 10th (1015)
Points: 11th (1329)
Minutes average: 12th (28.3)
Field goals made: 13th (445)
Games started: t-15th (79)
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
• is 97-47 in his fifth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 130-77 overall in his eighth year as a head coach.
• has led the Ichabods to three NCAA postseason appearances in four 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 basketball program after working under head coach Danny Manning 2014-17 seasons and at the University of Tulsa during the 2012-14 seasons.
• he helped Wake Forest to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2009-10 season following the 2016-17 season.
• while at Tulsa, the Golden Hurricane played in the postseason both years, including earning a No. 13 seed in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Tulsa also participated in the 2013 CBI, finishing that season with a winning record of 17-16 overall.
• before joining Manning at Tulsa, Ballard spent two seasons as the head basketball coach at Baker University going 33-30 overall, including a 21-12 mark in his final season at the helm in 2011-12.
• 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 7-4 against Missouri Western.
 
MISSOURI WESTERN HEAD COACH WILL MARTIN
• is 25-25 in his second 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 2-3 against the Ichabods. • Missouri Western is 12-13 overall and 8-9 in the MIAA after topping Newman on Feb. 14 in Wichita in a 73-67 win for its second win in a row and its third in the last four all coming on the road.
• JaQuaylon Mays leads the team in scoring at 17.5 ppg while Will Eames is scoring 12.8 ppg with 8.1 rpg.
  • Thursday's meeting will be the 101st between the two schools with Washburn leading the series 58-42 and have won the last three in the series.
• The Ichabods are 50-35 against MWSU in MIAA games and 33-15 in games played in Topeka overall.
• The Ichabods are 22-25 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. (Jan. 8, 2022)  The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team ushered in the 2022 calendar season with a 76-64 win over Missouri Western on Saturday afternoon in Lee Arena. Washburn will be back in action on Thursday at Missouri Southern starting a two-game road trip wrapping up with Pittsburg State on Jan. 15.
The Ichabods trailed 5-0 to start the game but a 14-2 run over the next 3:15 pushed Washburn up 14-7 as the Griffons led for only 1:53 of the game as the Ichabods took a 40-25 lead into the break as Jalen Lewis connected on one of his six 3-pointers on the day to end the first stanza scoring.
In the second half the Ichabods (8-6, 5-3 MIAA) would lead by as many as 20 in the second half with 14 minutes to play over the Griffons (8-8, 4-4 MIAA) who would cut the lead back down to nine with 1:22 to play after a 14-5 run but it would be as close as Missouri Western would get in the 12-point win for the Ichabods in their third-straight win over the Griffons.
Lewis, who scored 20 points in the first half, led all scorers with 25 points going 6 of 12 from deep. Michael Keegan had 14 points and Tyler Nelson had 10 off the bench. Tyler Geiman had seven points with eight assists and six rebounds. He also became the second Ichabod in program history to go over the 600-assist plateau joining Jordan Canfield who finished with a school-record 756 assists.
JaQualon Mays led the Griffons with 23 points and Will Eames had 15.
Washburn finished 26 of 67 from the field while hitting 12 of 29 shots from 3-point range and 12 of 18 from the charity stripe. The Griffons were 24 of 59 and 8 of 27 from 3-point range going 8 of 13 from the line.
  (Feb. 12, 2022) TOPEKA, Kan. – The Ichabods won their fifth consecutive game against Central Missouri for the first time since 2004. Washburn defeated the Mules, 85-74, and did not give up the lead for the entire game.
The Washburn Ichabods (15-9, 12-6 MIAA) grabbed the first points with a Tyler Geiman triple and never looked back. Geiman scored seven points and three assist in the first six minutes to help the Ichabods to a 17-9 lead. In the next eight minutes, Washburn slowly built its lead to double-digits. Then the Mules went on a 10-4 run to bring the score to 33-28. The half ended with the Ichabods leading 38-30 after Geiman hit a triple and a layup.
Washburn shot 53 percent in the first half hitting 16 of 30 shots and 5 of 11 from three. Central Missouri shot just 36 percent from the field and 30 percent from deep. However, the Mules got to the free throw line 16 times compared to the Ichabods' two.
Jeremy Harrell caught fire in the second half, scoring seven points in the opening five minutes of the final half. He doubled his first-half scoring output. Central Missouri battled to make it a one-score game at 60-59 with 7:48 left to play. The Ichabods immediately drew fouls and got to the free throw line. Geiman made all six he attempted and Harrell also made two of his own. Washburn was once against up by 11 with a 70-59 lead.
The Ichabods were able to hold off the Mules at the charity stripe hitting 24 of 28 despite Central Missouri going 45 percent from the field. Harrell led all scorers in the second half with 11 points hitting 3 of 6 and 5 of 7 from the line. Harrell ended the game with 18 points and eight rebounds
Geiman led the Ichabods with 22 points along with 10 assists and seven rebounds. Jalen Lewis had 11 points hitting 3 of 7 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line.
The Mules had four double-digit scorers, led by Ja'Cor Nelson and Cameron Hunter with 19 points.
The Ichabods had 16 second-chance points compared to the 10 for Central Missouri.
  • The Ichabods are 1636-1106-2 all-time in the 117th year in the program's history.
• Washburn is the 10th-winningest program in NCAA Division II history by victories.
• Washburn is the winningest MIAA program since the 1989-90 season with an overall record of 654-303 since joining the conference and the NCAA.
• The Ichabods have recorded 29 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 15 NCAA Tournament bids going to three Elite Eight's appearing in the 2001 NCAA National Championship game.
  •  The Ichabods are 475-99 (.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.
  •  The Ichabods return to the road to face Northwest Missouri on Feb. 19 before returning home to host Missouri Southern on Feb. 24 for senior night and then wrap up the regular season on Feb. 26 at Emporia State before starting the MIAA Tournament March 2 or 3 depending on seeding.