•For the eighth - yes eighth - time in the last two seasons the Washburn Ichabods (22-10) will face Northwest Missouri (29-5). The winner of Sunday's NCAA Regional Semifinals will advance to Tuesday's regional championship game at 7 p.m. in Sioux Falls, S.D.
•The Ichabods and the Bearcats played exactly one week ago in the MIAA Tournament Championship game with the Bearcats winning 84-76 in Kansas City.
•In the eight meetings in the past two seasons, the Ichabods are 3-4 against the Bearcats entering Sunday's semifinal contest.
1/7/2021     W(ot), 84-82   Maryville, Mo.
2/20/2021    L(ot), 85-88   Topeka, Kan.
3/6/2021     W, 69-68       Maryville, Mo.
3/14/2021    L, 44-85       Aberdeen, S.D.
1/17/2022    L, 63-71       Topeka, Kan.
02/19/2022   W, 60-59       Maryville, Mo.
03/06/2022   L, 76-84       Kansas City, Mo.
03/13/2022   TBD            Sioux Falls, S.D.
•In the NCAA Tournament, the Ichabods are 2-2 against the Bearcats.
•The Ichabods won a regional final contest against the Bearcats in Topeka on March 10, 2001 advancing to the Elite Eight in Bakersfield, Calif., after a 67-61 win.
•The Washburn Ichabods (22-10) are making their 16th NCAA appearance and their fourth in five years under head coach Brett Ballard.
•The Bearcats are the No. 3 at the regional and topped Minnesota Moorhead in their first game at the regional winning 69-54.
•The Ichabods are 16-15 all-time in the NCAA Tournament in 15 previous appearances and reached the NCAA Championship game once during the 2001 season falling to Kentucky Wesleyan 72-63.
•Against teams from the Northern Sun Conference, the Ichabods are now 1-1 after beating Minnesota Duluth on Saturday. The Ichabods fell to Northern State in the 2018 first round game by a score of 91-75.
•The Ichabods recorded the program's 30th 20-win season and the fourth under Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard with the win over Central Oklahoma in the MIAA Tournament semifinals.
•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 (4,344) … Geiman passed Keith Downing for the most appearances in Washburn history with his 139th against Central Oklahoma … Geiman has led the Ichabods in assists 101 career games … Geiman made his 100th start as an Ichabod against the Bronchos earlier this season … he leads the Ichabods in scoring average at 15.8 ppg with 6.0 rpg and 6.7 apg … in the last 14 games he is scoring 18.3 ppg with 6.6 rpg and 7.8 apg … Geiman is ranked second in the NCAA D2 ranks in active assists with 727 and 11th in assist average at 5.3 … overall Geiman is fifth in all NCAA divisions of active career assists.
•Jalen Lewis is scoring 13.8 ppg hitting 65 of 169 3-pointers (.385) … he became the 27th member of the Ichabod 1,000-point club and is currently 10th on the Ichabod all-time scoring chart with 1,459 career points in 120 career games … he has 262 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 10th all-time at Washburn.
•Since moving into the starting lineup eight games ago, Jonny Clausing is averaging 15.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game playing an average of 28.0 minutes per game and in those games he is 41 of 70 shooting 59 percent from the field … for the season he is averaging 10.7 ppg with 5.2 rpg.
•Michael Keegan, the 2021-22 MIAA Freshman of the Year is scoring 9.2 ppg with 6.1 rebounds per game, 0.9 blocks per game … he pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds in the win over UCO in the MIAA Tournament semifinals … Keegan's 31 starts this season is the most by a freshman in program history and his 32 games played is tied for eighth … his 196 rebounds are fourth on the all-time freshman chart and his .554 field goal percentage is fourth on the Ichabod freshman chart.
•Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 9.3 ppg with 2.5 rpg and 1.7 apg … he went 4 of 7 from deep in the in the MIAA Tournament and has reached double figure scoring in five of his last seven games.
•Jeremy Harrell has been limited to 26 minutes in the three MIAA Tournament games … he recorded his second double double at Washburn against Lincoln with 11 points and 10 rebounds and he is averaging 7.8 ppg with 4.2 rpg this season.
•Tyler Nelson is scoring 6.5 ppg with 2.1 rpg and 2.3 apg in 20 games playing an average of 21.6 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 1,787 points in 140 career games, which is fourth all-time on the Ichabod chart … only Javion Blake (1,829), Tom Meier (2,082) and Gary Carrier (2,626) have scored more points as an Ichabod … Geiman's 250 career 3-pointers is second all-time at Washburn and his 662 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 631 trailing only Brady Skeens who had 713 … overall Geiman is seventh all-time at Washburn in career rebounds with 703.
  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 (662)
Games played: 1st (140)
Minutes: 1st (4344)
3-point field goals made: 2nd (250)
Defensive rebounds: 2nd (631)
Assists: 2nd (725)
Assists average: 2nd (5.2)
Field goals attempted: 3rd (1416)
Steals: 3rd (151)
Points: 4th (1787)
Games started: 4th (112)
Field goals made: 5th (641)
Defense rebound avg: 6th (4.5)
Minutes average: 6th (31.0)
Rebounds: 7th (703)
Free throws made: 15th (255)
 
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 (262)
3-point field goals attempted: 2nd (627)
Free throw percentage: 2nd (.852)
Minutes: 5th (3433)
3-point FG percentage: 8th (.418)
Field goals attempted: 9th (1102)
Points: 10th (1459)
Minutes average: 11th (28.6)
Field goals made: t-11th (489)
Games started: 12th (87)
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
•is 104-48 in his fifth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 137-78 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 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 3-11 against Northwest Missouri.
 
NORTHWEST MISSOURI HEAD COACH BEN MCCOLLUM
•is 328-83 in his 13th season as the Bearcats' head coach.
•is a 2003 graduate of Northwest Missouri.
•named the 20th head coach in Bearcat history.
•played for Northwest going 51-12 in two seasons including a 29-3 mark during a run to the NCAA Elite Eight during the 2001-02 season. •Head coach Ben McCollum improved his NCAA Tournament record to 24-5 overall … Northwest has won 12 straight NCAA Tournament games and 19 of its last 20 … Northwest has won 13 of its last 15 NCAA opening round games … Northwest has won 51 of its last 52 neutral court contests … over the past four seasons, Northwest has posted a mark of 126-8 … Northwest is 188-13 over the last six seasons … Trevor Hudgins set the Northwest single-season scoring record with 797 points by surpassing the old mark of 780 set by Joey Witthus in the 2018-19 season … he is three points shy of becoming the seventh player in MIAA history to score 800 or more points in a single season.
  •Sunday's meeting will be the 116th between the two schools and Washburn holds a 63-52 lead in the series.
•The series dates back to the 1940-41 season and they have played each other every year since WU joined the MIAA in 1989-90.
•The Ichabods are 21-15 against the Bearcats in Lee Arena.
•Washburn is 25-25 in Maryville and the Ichabods are 33-26 in MIAA contests.
•In the MIAA Tournament, the Ichabods are 4-8 against Northwest after falling in the 2018, 2019 and 2022 MIAA Championship games before winning the 2021 Tournament in Maryville.
•In the NCAA Tournament, the Ichabods are 2-2 against the Bearcats.
•The Ichabods won a regional final contest against the Bearcats in Topeka on March 10, 2001 advancing to the Elite Eight in Bakersfield, Calif., after a 67-61 win. •The Ichabods are 16-15 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
•Washburn advanced to the 2001 NCAA Championship game falling 72-63 to Kentucky Wesleyan.
•Washburn is 10-10 in neutral site NCAA tournament games.
•The Ichabods are 1-2 in NCAA tournament away games.
•Washburn is 5-3 in NCAA tournament home games.
•The Ichabods are 10-6 in NCAA tournament first round games.
•Washburn is 3-6 in second round NCAA tournament games.
•The Ichabods are 1-3 in NCAA regional tournament games played in Missouri going 0-2 in Maryville and going 1-1 in two games played in Joplin at the 2000 NCAA Central Regional.
•The Ichabods are 1-1 in NCAA Tournament game in South Dakota. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Washburn Ichabods advanced to the round of 32 after knocking off the No. 2-seeded Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs 83-73 on Saturday at the Sanford Pentagon. The win sets up round four with Northwest Missouri, the No. 3 seed on Sunday night at 5 p.m.
The Ichabods jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first two-plus minutes of the game but the Bulldogs (25-6) came back using a 13-5 over the next five minutes built a lead of 21-15 as UMD opened 9 of 9 from the free throw line. The Ichabods battled back to tie the score at 26 and then outscored the Bulldogs 6-3 to end the half taking a 32-29 lead into the break.
In the first half, the Bulldogs were 17 of 19 from the free throw line compared to 1 of 2 for the Ichabods. UMD was 5 of 20 from the field in the opening half.
To start the second, the Bullodgs scored the first four points of the frame before a 9-2 Ichabod spurt pushed Washburn to a 41-35 lead. After a 3-pointer by the Bulldogs that cut the Ichabod lead to 46-43, Washburn used a 15-3 run stretching the lead back to 15 with 8:35 to go, but again the Bulldogs trimmed the lead to five with 2:34 to go, but Tyler Geiman hit a step back go up seven and Jonny Clausing hit four straight free throws as Washburn led by 10 and UMD would not get closer than eight.
Geiman and Jalen Lewis scored a game-high 21 points with 17 of Lewis' coming in the second half. Geiman also added nine assists and nine rebounds playing 39:37 of the game. Clausing finished with 10 points and Kevaughn Ellis scored 10 off the bench hitting 2 of 3 free throws. Michael Keegan scored seven adding eight rebounds and four blocks.
UMD was led by Drew Blair's 20 points.
Washburn held the Bulldogs to 33 percent shooting for the game as they were 17 of 52 overall hitting 10 of 28 shots from 3-point range. Washburn shot 49 percent from the field going 31 of 63 and 8 of 20 overall from deep. (March 6, 2022)  KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods fell in the finals of the MIAA Tournament 84-76, to Northwest Missouri.
In the championship game, the fourth in the last five years the Ichabods have faced the Bearcats, Washburn (21-9) trailed 38-35 at the break after hitting 50 percent of its shots going 5 of 8 from deep.
To open the second half, Tyler Geiman hit a 3-pointer tying the score at 38 with 19:28 to play, but the Bearcats (27-5) went on a 13-2 run taking a 51-40 lead.
With Washburn trailing 60-51 with 13:07 to go, Connor Deffebaugh hit four straight free throws and Washburn eventually took the lead back at 63-62 but an 11-2 run by the Bearcats stretched the margin to eight with 4:39 to go.
After a layup by Geiman and three free throws by Jalen Lewis, Washburn trailed 73-70 with 3:28 to go, but would not get any closer the rest of the way.
Lewis led the Ichabods with 17 points and Deffebaugh scored 13. Geiman finished with 12 with six assists and Michael Keegan scored 11 with nine rebounds.
Washburn shot 49 percent for the game and Northwest was 29 of 55 overall for a 53 percent clip hitting 11 of 24 from deep compared to 8 of 18 for the Ichabods. Northwest held a slim 31 to 29 advantage on the glass.
Both Lewis and Geiman were named to the All-Tournament team.
  •The Ichabods are 1642-1107-2 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 660-304 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 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.
  •With a win, the Ichabods will face the winner of the Augustana/Upper Iowa game on Tuesday with the winner advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight in Evansville, Ind.