•The Washburn Ichabods return home for the final time during the 2021-22 season to face Missouri Southern on Senior Night at 7:30 p.m.
• It will be the final home games for Tyler Geiman, Jalen Lewis, Jeremy Harrell, Jonny Clausing, Shannon Cordes and Isaiah Thorne.
•The Ichabods (17-9, 14-6 MIAA) have won their last four games including the 60-59 win over a No. 7-ranked Northwest Missouri State in Maryville for their third-straight win over the Bearcats in Bearcat Arena.
•Missouri Southern (14-12, 11-9 MIAA) topped Missouri Western 71-68 in St. Joseph last time out snapping a three-game losing streak.
•The Ichabods won the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 13 in Joplin in an 87-72 win … the win snapped a three-game losing streak for Washburn in Joplin.
•The Ichabods lead the series with Missouri Southern 50-36 as Washburn has won two of the last three games.
•Washburn is looking to sweep the regular season series with the Lions for the first time since the 2005-06 season when two regular season home games were played.
•In games played in Lee Arena, the Ichabods are 23-8 in the series history.
•The Ichabods are ranked sixth in the MIAA in scoring defense allowing 69.4 ppg while the Lions are third in the league in scoring offense at 74.6 ppg.
•The Ichabods are ranked fourth in the league in opponents field goal percentage at 43 percent while the Lions are seventh in field goal percentage at 45 percent.
•A win over the Lions would give Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard is 100th win as the Ichabod head coach.
•A win over Missouri Southern would give Ichabod Tyler Geiman his 100th win as a member of the Ichabods, which would be 10th all-time at Washburn.
•A win over Missouri Southern would give Ichabods Jalen Lewis, Isaiah Thorne and Jonny Clausing their 78th win as a member of the Ichabods.
•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 (4,115) … Geiman needs four games played to pass Keith Downing for the most appearance in Washburn history with 137 set by Keith Downing … only Greg Wilson (135) and Downing have played more games in an Ichabod uniform … Geiman made his 100th start as an Ichabod against the Bronchos … he leads the Ichabods in scoring average at 15.3 ppg with 6.0 rpg and 6.5 apg … in the last 10 games he is scoring 17.8 ppg with 6.8 rpg and 7.0 apg … Geiman is ranked second in the NCAA D2 ranks in active assists with 682 and 11th in assist average at 5.1 … overall Geiman is sixth in all NCAA divisions of active career assists.
•Jalen Lewis is scoring 12.7 ppg hitting 51 of 134 3-pointers (.381) … he is the 27th member of the Ichabod 1,000-point club and is currently 10th on the Ichabod all-time scoring chart with 1,345 career points in 112 career games … he has 248 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 missed the last game against Missouri Western and only played five minutes against Northwest Missouri … he 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 9.0 ppg with 5.7 rebounds per game, 1.0 blocks per game and 1.2 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 10.1 ppg in is last 11 games.
•The reigning MIAA Player of the Week Jonny Clausing is coming off his best two games of the season in his first start at Missouri Western after scoring 24 points on 9 of 14 shooting playing a career-high 36 minutes adding two blocks … his 24 points was one shy of his career high … against Northwest Missouri, he played 34 minutes scoring 12 points with 10 rebounds with a career-high six assists …he is averaging 9.9 ppg adding 4.5 rpg this season.
•Tyler Nelson is scoring 6.4 ppg with 2.0 rpg and 2.4 apg in 11 games playing an average of 24.1 minutes a game and hit the game-winner against Northwest Missouri sending the Ichabods to a 60-59 win with his 3-pointer.
•Tyler Geiman became the 26th member of Washburn's 1,000-point club and his career point total stands at 1,682 points in 134 career games, which is fifth all-time on the Ichabod chart after passing Ryan Murphy who scored 1,654 and Harold Brown who scored 1,651 against Missouri Western … next on the chart is Will McNeil who scored 1,701 points as an Ichabod … Geiman's 236 career 3-pointers is third all-time at Washburn and his 633 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 598 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 85 of 118 (.720) in the final five minutes of games at the free throw line compared to 104 of 136 (.765) 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 (633)
Minutes: 1st (4115)
Defensive rebounds: 2nd (598)
Assists: 2nd (681)
Assists average: 2nd (5.1)
Field goals attempted: 3rd (1332)
3-point field goals made: 3rd (236)
Games played: 3rd (134)
Steals: 4th (143)
Games started: 4th (106)
Points: 5th (1682)
Defense rebound avg: 6th (4.5)
Minutes average: 6th (30.7)
Field goals made: t-6th (604)
Rebounds: 7th (668)
 
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 (248)
3-point field goals attempted: 2nd (592)
Free throw percentage: 2nd (.844)
Minutes: 5th (3232)
3-point FG percentage: 8th (.419)
Points: 10th (1345)
Field goals attempted: 10th (1024)
Field goals made: 12th (451)
Minutes average: 12th (28.4)
Games started: t-14th (81)
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
•is 99-47 in his fifth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 132-77 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 3-5 against Missouri Southern.
 
MISSOURI SOUTHERN HEAD COACH JEFF BOSCHEE
•is in his eighth season as the head coach at Missouri Southern going 151-83.
•served four seasons as an assistant and associate head coach.
•was named the head coach of the Lions on July 1, 2014.
•spent three years at the Barstow School in Kansas City where in 2010 his team went 22-4.
•was the Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 1999-2000 and was a third team All-Big 12 pick his senior season. He helped lead the Jayhawks to a Final Four appearance in 2002 and previously held the conference record for three pointers made in a career with 338.
•holds the Kansas record for three's made in a career and is second all-time in games started.
• is 9-3 against the Ichabods. •Missouri Southern (14-12, 11-9 MIAA) has snapped a three-game losing streak in defeating Missouri Western 71-68 on Feb. 21.
•Stan Scott is scoring 16.0 ppg to lead the team in scoring and RJ Smith is scoring 12.9 ppg while Winston Dessesow is scoring 11.5 ppg and Christian Bundy is scoring 10.8 ppg along with Avery Taggart who is scoring 10.8 ppg. Smith also leads the team in rebounding at 7.5 per game. Bundy is averaging 1.1 blocks per game.
•The Lions are averaging 74.6 ppg while allowing 76.2 ppg.
•The Lions have been outscored 949 to 882 in the first half of games this season..
  •Thursday's meeting will be 87th between these two schools in a series that dates back to 1968-69.
•Washburn leads the all-time series 50-36 … the Ichabods have averaged 78.2 points a game against the Lions in the 86 previous meetings.
•Washburn is 30-12 against the Lions in home games and 19-21 in road contests.
•The two teams have met at least once a year since 1976-77.
•The Ichabods are 3-2 against the Lions in the MIAA Tournament.
•In games played in Lee Arena, the Ichabods are 23-8.
•The teams have met three times in the NCAA Tournament - on March 10, 2000 when the Lions picked up a 79-73 overtime win in Joplin and on March 12, 2011 when the Lions topped the Ichabods in overtime again 82-79 in Edmond, Okla., and March 16, 2019 in Maryville, Mo. with the Lions winning 101-100. (Jan. 13, 2022)  JOPLIN, Mo. – A balanced scoring attack with seven different players scoring at least eight points pushed Washburn to an 87-72 win over Missouri Southern Thursday night on the road as the Ichabods picked up their third-straight win securing their fifth win in the last six games.
The Ichabods (8-6, 6-3 MIAA) led 44-38 at the half in a first 20 minutes that saw 12 lead changes and 23 points come from the Washburn bench. The Lions (8-5, 5-2 MIAA) led 22-17 before a mini 7-0 Washburn run at the midway point of the half put Washburn up by two. The Lions came back and took the lead at 34-30 with 4:45 to play, but the Ichabods finished the half on a 14-4 run capped by Washburn 3-pointer by Michael Keegan ending the scoring with the six-point advantage.
The Ichabods scored the first six points of the second half going up 12 forcing a Missouri Southern time out and would continue to push the lead up to as many as 20 in the second half rolling to the win.
Jeremy Harrell led the Ichabods with 13 points adding seven rebounds while Tyler Geiman had his 12th double double of his career with 12 points tying a career-high with 16 rebounds dishing out seven assists. With his 16 rebounds, Geiman becomes the first Ichabod to record at least 600 rebounds and 600 assists in an Ichabod career. Jalen Lewis and Jonny Clausing also had 12 points each.
Missouri Southern was led by Christian Bundy with a game-high 18 points.
The Ichabods shot 49 percent from the field hitting 33 of 68 shots and finished 14 of 16 from the free throw line making their final 14 of the game. Missouri Southern was held to 28 of 66 shooting for a 42 percent clip including 5 of 16 from 3-point range in the second half. The Ichabods also held a 43 to 35 advantage on the glass outscoring the Lions 50 to 34 in the paint as the bench finished with 35 of Washburn's 87 points.
The Ichabods committed a season-low four turnovers while forcing 13 for the Lions.
  MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Ichabods' Tyler Nelson hit his third 3-pointer of the game with :00.3 left to send Washburn to a 60-59 win over No. 7-ranked Northwest Missouri on Saturday afternoon in Bearcat Arena. The win lifted the Ichabods to 17-9 overall and 14-6 in the MIAA winning their fourth game in a row and their third-straight in Bearcat Arena over the Bearcats in the last two seasons while snapping a Bearcat 11-game homecourt winning streak.
A layup by Connor Deffebaugh with 3:44 to go put the Ichabods up 54-53 with 3:44 to go, but Northwest came back with a pair of free throws going back up by one with 3:16 to play. Deffebaugh answered with another layup with 2:49 putting Washburn back up one at 56-55. After the teams traded free throws after a Northwest jumper, Northwest of up 59-57 with 1:39 to play. Neither team would score against until Nelson hit the game-winner.
Northwest fell to 23-4 overall and 16-3 in league play.
Tyler Geiman scored a game-high 21 points that included 16 first-half points. Geiman was the only Ichabod to play all 40 minutes and he dished out three assists. Geiman went 9 of 15 from the field, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range. Nelson posted nine points on 3-of-11 shooting, including the game-winner all coming in the second half.  Jonny Clausing recorded his eighth-double double of his career and his second-straight since moving into the starting lineup scoring 12 points with 10 rebounds and a career-high six assists. Deffebaugh finished with 11 points and three steals.
Northwest's Luke Waters scored 14 of his 17 points in the first-half. Waters went 6-of-11 from the floor. Waters knocked in a team-best four three-pointers.
Northwest bounced out to a 15-6 lead with 10:56 to play in the first half. Washburn responded with a 10-0 run to take a 16-15 lead with 7:42 to play in the opening half. The squad would go to the locker rooms knotted at 31-31.
Washburn held the top-scoring team in the MIAA to 59 points as Northwest finished 20 of 47 from the field going 9 of 25 from deep and 10 of 12 from the free throw line. Washburn shot 47 percent hitting 25 of 53 shots and 6 of 15 3-pointers while going 4 of 8 from the free throw line.
Each team finished with 28 rebounds and the Ichabods had 10 offensive rebounds turning those into 14 second chance points compared to three second chance points for the Bearcats. Washburn's bench also had a 14-1 advantage in bench points.
  •The Ichabods are 1637-1106-2 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 655-303 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 will wrap up the regular season on Feb. 26 at Emporia State before starting the MIAA Tournament March 2 depending on seeding.