•The Washburn Ichabods wrap up a three-game road trip at Lincoln on Thursday night in Jefferson City looking to avoid their first three-game losing streak since the final three games of the 2019-20 season.
•The Ichabods (13-9, 10-6 MIAA) fell last time out at Rogers State in a 77-60 loss in Claremore, Okla.
•Lincoln (2-17, 1-13 MIAA) lost in the final seconds of its game with Missouri Southern on Monday night falling 63-62 as the Lions hit the go-ahead basket with 0.2 seconds on the clock.
•Lincoln and Pittsburg State are the only two teams the Ichabods are playing only once this season.
•The Ichabods lead the all-time series 32-4 and have won the last four overall.
•The Ichabods won 28 games in a row over the Blue Tigers from Jan. 24, 1990 to Dec. 18, 2017.
•The Ichabods are 16-2 against the Blue Tigers in Topeka and have won the last 14 meetings played in Jefferson City only losing the very first game in the series on Dec. 18, 1957 in a 93-80 loss … the Ichabods averaged 84.7 ppg in 36 all-time matchups.
•The Ichabods are ranked fifth in the MIAA in scoring offense at 74.3 ppg and the Blue Tigers are ranked 14th in scoring defense allowing 77.4 ppg.
•The Ichabods are ranked seventh in the MIAA in scoring defense allowing 70.3 ppg while the Blue Tigers are 13th in the league in scoring offense at 66.8 ppg.
•The Ichabods are ranked fourth in the league in opponents field goal percentage at 43 percent while the Blue Tigers are 11th in the league in shooting percentage at 44 percent.
•The 2021-22 season marks the 117th season of Ichabod basketball. •Tyler Geiman made his 100th start as an Ichabod against the Bronchos … he leads the Ichabods in scoring average at 14.4 ppg with 6.1 rpg and 6.6 apg in 15 games this season … in the last seven games he is scoring 17.4 ppg with 7.4 rpg and 7.0 apg … Geiman is ranked second in the NCAA D2 ranks in active assists with 657 and 11th in assist average at 5.1 … overall Geiman is eighth in all NCAA divisions of active career assists.
•Jalen Lewis is scoring 13.3 ppg hitting 47 of 123 3-pointers (.382) … he is the 27th member of the Ichabod 1,000-point club and is currently 12th on the Ichabod all-time scoring chart with 1,308 career points in 110 career games … he has 244 career 3-pointers which passed Shannon Kruger for the most in school history against Rogers State.
•Michael Keegan is scoring 9.4 ppg with 5.8 rebounds per game, 0.9 blocks per game and 1.4 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 11.4 ppg in is last seven games.
•Jonny Clausing is averaging 8.4 ppg adding 3.5 rpg.
•Jeremy Harrell recorded his first double double at Washburn against Newman and he is averaging 9.0 ppg with 4.5 rpg and has averaged 13.3 ppg in the last four games with 7.8 rpg.
•Tyler Nelson is scoring 6.3 ppg with 2.3 rpg and 2.4 apg in nine 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 1,608 points in 130 career games, which is eighth all-time on the Ichabod chart … next on the chart is Ewan Auguste who scored 1,636 points from 1997-2001 … Geiman's 228 career 3-pointers is third all-time at Washburn and his 618 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 581 trailing only Brady Skeens who had 713.
  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 (618)
Minutes: 1st (3968)
Defensive rebounds: 2nd (581)
Assists: 2nd (657)
Assists average: 2nd (5.1)
3-point field goals made: 3rd (228)
Games played: 4th (130)
Games started: 4th (102)
Field goals attempted: 5th (1283)
Steals: 5th (137)
Defense rebound avg: 6th (4.5)
Minutes average: 6th (30.5)
Field goals made: 7th (576)
Rebounds: 7th (646)
Points: 8th (1608)
 
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 (244)
Free throw percentage: 2nd (.847)
3-point field goals attempted: 3rd (581)
Minutes: 6th (3103)
3-point FG percentage: 8th (.420)
Field goals attempted: 11th (999)
Points: 12th (1308)
Minutes average: 13th (28.2)
Field goals made: 14th (438)
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
•is 95-47 in his fifth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 128-77 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 5-1 against Rogers State.
 
LINCOLN HEAD COACH ED WILSON
•Last spring, Ed Wilson was elevated to the position of interim head coach after serving as Lincoln's assistant coach the previous seven seasons.
•In that span, Wilson helped lead Lincoln to six postseason berths, including a trip to the semifinals of the 2019 MIAA Championship.
•Wilson has coached 16 Blue Tigers to some form of All-MIAA honor.
•is 0-0 against the Ichabods.
 
ABOUT LINCOLN
•The Blue Tigers are 2-17 overall and 1-13 in the MIAA after falling last time out on Monday night to Missouri Southern at the bu••er in a 63-62 loss.
•Lincoln is led by Derrick Woods who is scoring 9.3 ppg. Destan Williams is scoring 8.9 ppg and Ni'Sean Rigmaiden is scoring 8.4 ppg.
  •Thursday's meeting will be the 37th in the series history and Washburn leads 32-4.
•Washburn had won the last 28 meetings in the series which began on Dec. 18, 1957 with the Blue Tigers winning 93-80 until the Ichabods' 75-73 loss to the Blue Tigers on Jan. 31, 2019.
•Overall the Ichabods are 14-1 against Lincoln in Jefferson City all-time having won their last 14 games with the lone loss coming in 1957 in the first meeting in the series.
•In Topeka, the Ichabods are 16-2 .
•In neutral site games Washburn is 2-1.
•The teams have never met in the MIAA Tournament. (Feb. 9, 2021) TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 16 ranked Washburn Ichabods trailed only for 62 seconds and dished out 18 assists on 30 made field goals as the Ichabods topped Lincoln 87-72 wrapping up a three-game homestand for the Ichabods.
After the Blue Tigers (8-8, 8-8 MIAA) scored the first points of the game, and then the Ichabods ripped off a 12-0 run pushing out to a 14-3 lead holding the Blue Tigers to 1 of their first 12 from the field in the opening 10 minutes of the half. With Washburn leading by 11 at 26-15 with 7:08 to go in the first half, the Blue Tigers trimmed the Ichabod lead down to three at 29-26 with 3:59 left before Washburn went to the locker room on a 13-3 run to lead 42-31 at the break.
With Washburn (13-3, 13-3 MIAA) up by 13 with 17:30 to go in the game, the Blue Tigers responded with a 12-0 run cutting the Ichabod lead to one at 48-47 with 15:07 to go the Ichabods pushed back with a 10-0 run of their own and the Blue Tigers would not get closer than 10 the rest of the game as Washburn pushed its lead to as many as 21 rolling to the 15-point win improving to 32-4 all-time against Lincoln and 16-2 in games played in Topeka.
Jalen Lewis led the Ichabods with a game-high 20 points hitting three 3-pointers. Tyler Nelson scored 15 with six assists and six rebounds and Tyler Geiman had 13 points with six assists and seven rebounds. Rathen Carter also had seven rebounds adding eight rebounds.
Mekhi Kimble and Charles Wilson each had 14 to pace Lincoln.
Washburn shot 56 percent from the field including 58 percent in the second half going 30 of 54 overall holding the Blue Tigers to 43 percent shooting. Washburn was 13 of 27 from deep. Both teams had 34 rebounds. The Ichabods had a 26 to 8 advantage in fast break points over Lincoln.
  (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.
  •The Ichabods are 1634-1106-2 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 652-303 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 474-99 (.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 home to face Central Missouri on Feb. 12. Following two more road games at Missouri Western on Feb. 17 and at Northwest Missouri on Feb. 19, the Ichabods will 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.