•The Washburn Ichabods will face Northwest Missouri for the MIAA Tournament Championship on Sunday afternoon in Municipal Auditorium at 3:30 p.m. with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line. It is the fourth time in the last five years the Ichabods and Bearcats have faced each other in the MIAA Tournament Championship game. Overall the Ichabods and the Bearcats have meet six times in the MIAA Tournament Championship game (2001, W 81-74 … 2004, L 78-71 … 2018; L 80-74 … 2019 L 82-53 … 2021 W 69-68 and 2022)
•The Ichabods are the defending MIAA Tournament Champion winning the 2021 title at Northwest Missouri last season in a 69-68 win on March 6 as games were moved to campus sites due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
•The Ichabods (21-9, 16-6 MIAA) dispatched the top-seeded Central Oklahoma Bronchos 79-65 on Saturday in Kansas City.
•The Bearcats are the No. 2 seed in the MIAA Tournament topped Fort Hays State 53-50 holding the Tigers without a point over the final 7:59 of the game rallying from a 50-42 deficit for the come-from-behind three-point win.
•Washburn and Northwest Missouri played twice this season with each team winning on the other's home court … the Bearcats winning in Topeka 71-63 on Jan. 17 and the Ichabods winning in Maryville 60-59 on Feb. 19.
•The Ichabods lead the all-time series with the Bearcats 63-51.
•The Ichabods are ranked fifth in the MIAA in scoring defense allowing 69.3 ppg while the Bearcats are third in the league in scoring offense at 77.4 ppg.
•The Ichabods are ranked second in the league in opponents field goal percentage at 42 percent while the Bearcats lead the league in field goal percentage at 51 percent shooting.
•The Ichabods improved to 42-23 all-time in the MIAA Championship Tournament with the win over Emporia State.
•In MIAA Tournament games played in Kansas City, the Ichabods are now 18-13.
•In semifinal games played in Municipal the Ichabods are 6-3 and in MIAA Tournament championship games the Ichabods are 6-7 overall.
•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 Ichabods are making their fourth tournament title game appearance in five years under Brett Ballard.
•The Ichabods have won their last five MIAA Tournament games and Ballard moved to 9-3 in MIAA Tournament games.
•The Ichabods are making their fourth tournament title game appearance in five years under Brett Ballard.
•Tyler Geiman is playing in his fourth MIAA Tournament Championship game … the only other Ichabod to do so is Jordan Canfield who  played in four MIAA Tournament Championships winning three (1992, 94, 96).
•A win over the Bearcats would be the Ichabods' sixth MIAA Tournament game win in a row.
•A win over the Bearcats would be the Ichabods' seventh  MIAA Tournament Championship (1992, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2012, 2021).
•Only two No. 4 MIAA Tournament seeds have won the conference tournament …Truman did in 1981 and Southeast Missouri did in 1987 …overall the No. 4 seed is 29-39 in the MIAA Tournament counting Washburn's two wins this year.
•Tyler Geiman has scored 161 points in 12 MIAA Tournament games … the most points all time passing Ryan Murphy who had 154 in 10 games … the 12 games are also tied the record for the most games played in the MIAA Tournament with Jordan Canfield.
•Tyler Geiman's 161 points is also seventh on the MIAA Tournament career scoring chart.
•Jalen Lewis has scored 140 points in nine games … the 140 points are now fourth on the Ichabod MIAA Tournament scoring list.
•Jalen Lewis has made 27 career 3-pointers in the MIAA Tournament … the most in school history.
•Tyler Geiman has hit 20 career 3-pointers in the MIAA Tournament tying Randy Staats for second on the Ichabod MIAA Tournament chart.
•The 14 3-pointers by the Ichabods tied the Washburn MIAA Tournament single game high when the Ichabods hit 14 against Missouri Western last season in the 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 (4,267) … Geiman passed Keith Downing for the most appearance in Washburn history with his 138th against Central Oklahoma … Geiman has led the Ichabods in assists 100 career games … Geiman made his 100th start as an Ichabod against the Bronchos … he leads the Ichabods in scoring average at 15.7 ppg with 6.0 rpg and 6.6 apg … in the last 13 games he is scoring 18.1 ppg with 6.4 rpg and 7.0 apg … Geiman is ranked second in the NCAA D2 ranks in active assists with 711 and 11th in assist average at 5.2 … overall Geiman is fifth in all NCAA divisions of active career assists.
•Jalen Lewis is scoring 13.5 ppg hitting 62 of 161 3-pointers (.386) … he became the 27th member of the Ichabod 1,000-point club and is currently 10th on the Ichabod all-time scoring chart with 1,421 career points in 118 career games … he has 259 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 six games ago, Jonny Clausing is averaging 15.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game playing an average of 31.5 minutes per game and in those games he is 37 of 62 shooting 59 percent from the field … for the season he is averaging 10.88 ppg with 5.2 rpg.
•Michael Keegan, the 2021-22 MIAA Freshman of the Year is scoring 9.2 ppg with 6.0 rebounds per game, 0.9 blocks per game … he pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds in the win over UCO last time out.
•Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 9.2 ppg with 2.5 rpg and 1.7 apg …he has hit 6 of his last 12 3-pointers this season including 3 of 4 attempts in the MIAA Tournament.
•Jeremy Harrell missed the last game against Missouri Western and only played five minutes against Northwest Missouri and eight against Missouri Southern and seven against Emporia State in the regular season finale and 11 in the MIAA Tournament Quarterfinals … he recorded his second double double at Washburn against Lincoln with 11 points and 10 rebounds and he is averaging 8.4 ppg with 4.4 rpg.
•Tyler Nelson is scoring 6.3 ppg with 2.1 rpg and 2.4 apg in 18 games playing an average of 22.0 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 1,754 points in 138 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 246 career 3-pointers is second all-time at Washburn and his 652 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 619 trailing only Brady Skeens who had 713 … overall Geiman is seventh all-time at Washburn in career rebounds with 691.
  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 (652)
Games played: 1st (138)
Minutes: 1st (4267)
3-point field goals made: 2nd (246)
Defensive rebounds: 2nd (619)
Assists: 2nd (710)
Assists average: 2nd (5.1)
Field goals attempted: 3rd (1384)
Points: 4th (1754)
Steals: 4th (148)
Games started: 4th (110)
Field goals made: 5th (627)
Defense rebound avg: 6th (4.5)
Minutes average: 6th (30.9)
Rebounds: 7th (691)
Free throws made: 15th (254)
 
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 (259)
3-point field goals attempted: 2nd (619)
Free throw percentage: 2nd (.848)
Minutes: 5th (3361)
3-point FG percentage: 8th (.418)
Points: 10th (1421)
Field goals attempted: 10th (1077)
Minutes average: 11th (28.5)
Field goals made: 12th (478)
Games started: t-12th (85)
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
•is 103-47 in his fifth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 136-77 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 3-10 against Northwest Missouri.

NORTHWEST MISSOURI HEAD COACH BEN MCCOLLUM
•is 326-83 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. •Northwest owns the MIAA record for tournament victories (49), tournament titles (9), consecutive championships (5), consecutive tournament victories (17) and No. 1 seeds awards (10).
•The Bearcats are 27-5 this season winning their last four games.
•Trevor Hudgins leads the team in scoring at 23.2 ppg adding 4.2 apg playing 37.4 mpg.
•Wes Dreamer is scoring 13.3 ppg with 5.2 rpg and Diego Bernard is scoring 12.0 ppg with 5.6 rpg.
•The Bearcats are shooting 40 percent from 3-point range and have a scoring margin of +14.9 this season.
  •Sunday's meeting will be the 115th between the two schools and Washburn holds a 63-51 lead in the series.
•The Bearcats have won 16 of the last 20 meetings.
•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 4-7 against Northwest after falling in the 2018 and 2019 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 43-23 all-time in the MIAA Championship Tournament.
•  The Ichabods are 2-2 in first round games (since expanding to 12 teams) … 21-7 in the quarterfinals, 14-7 in the semifinals and 6-7 in championship games.
• In games played in Kansas City, the Ichabods are 18-13.
• In quarterfinal games played in Kansas City, the Ichabods are 10-5. In semifinal games played in Municipal the Ichabods are 6-3 and in championship games in Kansas City the Ichabods are 1-5.
•As the No. 1 seed, the Ichabods are 21-3, at No. 2 they are 9-4, at No. 3 they are 2-1, at No. 4 they are 4-3, as the No. 5 seed they are 0-1, at No. 6 the Ichabods are 4-5, at No. 7 they are 0-1 and as the No. 8 seed they are 3-3.
• Former head coach Bob Chipman has won more MIAA Tournament games than any other coach. He has won 34 games going 34-19 recording a .653 winning percentage.
• Chipman and NWMSU's Ben McCollum are the only MIAA coaches to win five tournament titles. Tom Smith (MWSU) and Steve Tappmeyer (NWMSU), Ron Shumate (Southeast Missouri) and Kim Anderson (UCM/PSU) each have four titles.
• Overall, here's how the Ichabods have fared against MIAA opponents in the conference tournament by round and in Kansas City.
• First Round games were added for the MIAA Tournament starting in 2013 as the league expanded to 15 teams. The top four teams in the final standings received an automatic bye to Kansas City for the quarterfinals.

Team      1st Rnd  Qrts.      Semis     Finals     In KC     Total
UCM           —               4-0             1-1             —              3-1             5-1
ESU            —               5-1             —               —               4-1             5-1
FHSU          1-0             —               2-0             —              2-0             3-0
LU              —              —              —              —              —              0-0
MSSU         —               1-0             2-1             0-1             1-1             3-2
MWSU        0-1             0-1             3-2             1-2             1-2             4-6
NSU           0-1             —               —               —               —               0-1
NU             —              —              —              —              —              0-0
NWMSU     —               2-1             0-2             3-3             0-4             4-7
PSU            —               1-0             3-0             2-0             3-0             6-0
RSU           —              1-0             —              —              —              1-0            
UCO            —               0-1             1-1              —              1-1             1-1
UNK           —              1-1             —              —              1-1             1-1
--- vs former members
MS&T         —               1-1              —               —               1-0             1-1
UMSL         —               1-0             —               —               —               1-0
SEMO         —               —               —               —               —               —
SBU            1-0             2-0             1-1             1-0             —               5-1
TSU            —               2-0             1-0              —              —               3-0
UNO           —               —               —               0-1             0-1             0-1
Totals         2-2             21-7           14-7           6-7             18-13         42-23 KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods will advance to their fourth MIAA Tournament Championship game in the last five years after a 79-65 win over the top-seeded Central Oklahoma Bronchos. Washburn will face Northwest Missouri on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. in Municipal Auditorium. Washburn (21-9) picked up its eighth-straight win in the victory.
Central Oklahoma (24-6) jumped out to a 14-9 lead with 12:03 to play in the first half before the Ichabods came back with a 5-0 mini run of their own tying the score at 14. After UCO cut the lead down to four at 23-19, the Ichabods used a 10-2 run capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Tyler Geiman pushed the margin to 12 leading to a UCO timeout. Washburn led by as many as 13 in the frame on another 3-pointer by Geiman as the Ichabods took a 39-32 lead into the halftime break.
Washburn had its lead cut down to three at 55-52 with 11:34 to go until a 23-3 run by the Ichabods stretched the lead to 17 and UCO did not get closer than 12 the rest of the game as Washburn picked up wins against UCO in two of three meetings this season.
The Ichabods had four starters in double figures led by Jonny Clausing's 18 points recorded a double double with 11 rebounds. Geiman finished with 17 points adding seven assists. Jalen Lewis finished with 15 and Connor Deffebaugh had 10. Michael Keegan had seven points but added a career-high 15 rebounds with 12 defensive.
Washburn held the highest scoring team in the MIAA to 33 percent shooting and outrebounded the Bronchos 46 to 38. The Ichabods hit a season-high 14 3-pointers in 28 attempts. UCO did hit 19 of 23 free throws compared to 9 of 17 from the free throw lane. Washburn did outscore UCO 26 to 18 in the paint. (Feb. 19, 2022)  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 Bearcats have won 72 of their last 75 games with all three losses coming to the Ichabods..
  •The Ichabods are 1641-1106-2 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 659-303 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 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.
  •With a win, the Ichabods will receive the automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament …with a loss, the Ichabods will have to wait until Sunday night to see if they will receive an NCAA at-large berth to the NCAA Central Region Tournament.