•The Washburn Ichabods will wrap up the regular season with their shortest trip of the year to face Emporia State on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. inside White Auditorium.
•The Ichabods (18-9, 15-6 MIAA) have won their last five games after finishing their home slate with an 81-69 win over Missouri Southern.
•Emporia State (20-7, 15-6 MIAA) has won its last two games with a road win at Northwest Missouri on Feb. 21 and a 75-52 win in its last game on Feb. 23 against Pittsburg State in Topeka.
•The Ichabods won the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 22 in Topeka in a 68-65 win in Lee Arena when Jalen Lewis connected on a 3-pointer as time expired for the win.
•The Ichabods lead the all-time series with Emporia State 111-104 in the most-played series in Washburn's program history.
•The meeting on Saturday will be the 216th meeting between the two schools.
•The Ichabods have lost two of their last three games played in Emporia with the last win coming in a 94-81 win on Jan. 5, 2019 …Washburn lost the last match up in Emporia 91-74 on Jan. 23, 2021.
•Saturday's game will be the first of two in a row between the two rival teams. Both squads are locked into the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds in the Citizen's Bank MIAA Championship Tournament and will face-off on Friday at 6 p.m. in Municipal Auditorium.
•The Ichabods are ranked sixth in the MIAA in scoring defense allowing 69.4 ppg while the Hornets are second in the league in scoring offense at 79.9 ppg.
•The Ichabods are ranked third in the league in opponents field goal percentage at 43 percent while the Hornets are fifth in field goal percentage at 47 percent.
•A win over the Hornets would make the Ichabods the No. 4 seed in the postseason tournament in Kansas City.
•A win by the Ichabods would be the seventh in the last 10 meetings with the Hornets.
•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 (4,152) … Geiman needs three games played to pass Keith Downing for the most appearance in Washburn history with 137 … Geiman is tied with Greg Wilson (135) for second in games played … Geiman made his 100th start as an Ichabod against the Bronchos … he leads the Ichabods in scoring average at 15.7 ppg with 6.1 rpg and 6.4 apg … in the last 10 games he is scoring 18.2 ppg with 6.7 rpg and 6.9 apg … Geiman is ranked second in the NCAA D2 ranks in active assists with 686 and 11th in assist average at 5.1 … overall Geiman is sixth in all NCAA divisions of active career assists.
•Jalen Lewis is scoring 12.9 ppg hitting 51 of 139 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 1,363 career points in 115 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 and eight against Missouri Southern … 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.
•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.
•Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 9.3 ppg and has averaged 10.6 ppg in is last 12 games.
•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.
•Tyler Nelson is scoring 5.9 ppg with 2.1 rpg and 2.4 apg in 15 games playing an average of 22.6 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 1,701 points in 135 career games, which is fourth all-time on the Ichabod chart after passing Will McNeil who scored 1,701 points as an Ichabod …only Javion Blake (1,829), Tom Meier (2,082) and Gary Carrier (2,626) have scored more points as an Ichabod … Geiman's 238 career 3-pointers is third all-time at Washburn and his 637 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 605 trailing only Brady Skeens who had 713 … overall Geiman is seventh all-time at Washburn in rebounds with 676.
•In the final five minutes of games this season, Jalen Lewis is hitting 23 of 50 shots from the field going 19 of 23 from the free throw line.
•As a team the Ichabods are 97 of 132 (.730) in the final five minutes of games at the free throw line compared to 111 of 145 (.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 (637)
Minutes: 1st (4152)
Defensive rebounds: 2nd (605)
Assists: 2nd (685)
Assists average: 2nd (5.1)
Games played: t-2nd (135)
Field goals attempted: 3rd (1346)
3-point field goals made: 3rd (238)
Points: 4th (1705)
Steals: 4th (145)
Games started: 4th (107)
Field goals made: 6th (610)
Defense rebound avg: 6th (4.5)
Minutes average: 6th (30.8)
Rebounds: 7th (676)
 
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 (597)
Free throw percentage: 2nd (.848)
Minutes: 5th (3266)
3-point FG percentage: 8th (.415)
Points: 10th (1363)
Field goals attempted: 10th (1036)
Field goals made: 12th (457)
Minutes average: 12th (28.4)
Games started: 14th (82)
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
•is 100-47 in his fifth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 133-77 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 5-2 against Emporia State.
 
EMPORIA STATE HEAD COACH CRAIG DOTY
•is 55-53 in his fourth season at Emporia State.
•is in his eighth season as a head coach at the D2, NAIA, and NJCAA level he is 211-99 with three national championships.
•in two seasons at Graceland, Doty went 49-22 and won the 2018 NAIA Division I National Championship in Municipal Auditorium.
•prior to Graceland, Doty spent four years as the head coach at Rock Valley College winning two national championships and appearing in three straight NJCAA Division III title games to finish with a 113-28 record.
•is 1-4 against Washburn. •The Hornets (20-7, 15-6 MIAA) winning their last two games.
•The Hornets are led by the No. 1 and No. 3 scoring tandem in the MIAA as Tray Buchanan leads the league in scoring at 26.1 ppg and Jumah'Ri Turner at 20.2 ppg.
•The Hornets are second in the MIAA in scoring at 79.9 ppg and ranked fifth in scoring defense at 68.6 ppg.
  •The meeting on Saturday will be the 216th meeting between the two schools and the Ichabods lead at 111-104. This is the most-played series for Washburn.
•The Ichabods have won 8 of the last 11 meetings.
•The two teams started the series in 1905-06, Washburn's first recorded year of basketball, and they have met every year since the 1945-46 season.
•This will be the 78th-straight year they have played each other at least once.
•The Ichabods are 28-8 against the Hornets in Lee Arena.
•Washburn is 4-1 against ESU in MIAA Postseason tournament games. (Jan. 22, 2022)  TOPEKA, Kan. – Washburn Jalen Lewis connected on a 3-pointer as time expired sending the Ichabods to a 68-65 win over Emporia State on Saturday afternoon in Lee Arena. 
The Ichabods and the Hornets (14-4, 9-3 MIAA) were tied at 55 with 4:51 to go. After ESU hit a pair of free throws to go up 58-56, Michael Keegan hit a 3-pointer staking Washburn to a 58-56 lead with 4:39 remaining. The lead was short-lived as the Hornets hit a 3-pointer of their own to go up by one, however Jalen Lewis hit a 17-foot jumper as the Ichabods went back up one at 60-59. However the Hornets came back and hit one of their own.
Washburn after the teams traded baskets again, Tyler Geiman hit a jumper and then added a free throw after an ESU miss with 26 seconds as the Ichabods led 65-63. ESU's Trey Buchanan hit a jumper in the paint tying the score with 13 seconds to play setting up Lewis' winner off of Geiman's eighth assist of the day.
Geiman led the Ichabods with 18 points adding a team-high nine rebounds and Jonny Clausing finished with 12 points and seven rebounds adding two blocks. Five of his rebounds were on the offensive side. Lewis finished with 11 points and Keegan had 10.
Jumah'Ri Turner led all scorers with 29 points.
Washburn finished 26 of 59 from the field for a 44 percent average holding ESU to 35 percent shooting and 15 points under their scoring average on the season.
  (Feb. 24, 2022) -- TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team wrapped up the home slate with an 81-69 win over Missouri Southern sweeping the season series with the Lions and winning their fifth game in a row overall as Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard won his 100th game on the Washburn sidelines. The Ichabods will take on Emporia State on Saturday in the regular season finale.
Washburn (18-9, 15-6 MIAA), who was ranked No. 9 in the latest NCAA Central Region poll, trailed by its largest margin in the game at four points at 6-2 with 17:33 to play in the opening half before a 13-2 run over the next six-plus minutes pushed the Ichabods out to a 26-16 lead with 6:29 to play in the half. A 9-2 spurt by the Lions (14-13, 11-10 MIAA) cut the lead to three with two minutes to play before the half before the Ichabods scored five straight to take a 36-28 lead into the break.
After a 3-pointer by Michael Keegan to open the second half scoring stretched the Ichabod lead to 11, the Lions whittled the lead down to five at 44-39 with 15:33 to go, but a 12-2 run by the Ichabods moved the lead to 15 but the Lions would not get any closer than nine the rest of the way. Washburn did connect on 11 of its final 12 free throws the final 2:12 of the game after Missouri Southern was down by 14.
Washburn led by as many as 18 in the game en route to the 12-point win over the Lions as the Ichabods swept the season series for the first time since the 2005-06 season as Washburn improved to 24-8 all-time against the Lions in Lee Arena.
Tyler Geiman led the Ichabods with 23 points scoring 17 in the first half adding eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. He passed Will McNeil for fifth on the Ichabod all-time scoring chart with 1,705 points. Jalen Lewis scored 18 points while Connor Deffebaugh had 15 and Jonny Clausing had 11 points. Clausing also added two blocks.
Missouri Southern was led by Avery Taggart who scored a game-high 26 points hitting four 3-pointers and RJ Smith scored 16 and Winston Dessesow had 12 before fouling out.
Washburn shot 42 percent in the game hitting 25 of 59 shots overall and went 25 of 31 from the free throw line including 17 of 22 in the second half. The Lions were 23 of 63 from the field for a 37 percent average and was 10 of 33 from 3-point range and 13 of 17 from the charity stripe. Both teams finished with 39 rebounds.
The Ichabods outscored the Lions 36 to 12 in the paint and 29 to 7 in bench points.
  •The Ichabods are 1638-1106-2 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 656-303 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 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.
  • The Ichabods will open the MIAA Tournament facing Emporia State for the second-straight game on Friday night in Kansas City's historic Municipal Auditorium.