• The Washburn Ichabods will open a four-game homestand starting on Wednesday in Lee Arena when they will host Fort Hays State at 7:30 p.m.
• The Ichabods are 6-9 and 3-6 in the MIAA after blasting Pittsburg State 93-63 on Saturday in Pittsburg.
• The Tigers (12-5, 7-4 MIAA) are coming off a 57-55 win over Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday in Hays.
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series 98-71 over the Tigers and have gone 62-22 in home games.
• The Tigers won the only meeting last season in Topeka winning 68-58 on Dec. 1 in the MIAA opener.
• The win over Pittsburg State was Washburn's 1,650th win in program history improving to 1,650-1117-2. Washburn is the 10th-winningest program in NCAA Division II history by victories.
• The Ichabods are coming off the program's 30th 20-win season and the fourth under Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard in his five seasons reaching their fourth NCAA postseason in five years under head coach Brett Ballard in 2022-23.
• The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team was tabbed fourth in both the MIAA Preseason Coaches and MIAA Preseason Media polls announced Oct. 11 by the conference at the annual Basketball Media Day held at the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City
• The 2022-23 season marks the 118th season of Ichabod basketball. • Andrew Orr leads the Ichabods in scoring at 13.1 ppg while averaging 14.0 ppg in MIAA contests. He has reached double figures in 10 of 15 games this season. He is third on the team in rebounds at 5.7 per game. He recorded his first Washburn double double against Emporia State with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Orr is 12th in the MIAA in scoring average and fourth in the MIAA in field goal percentage at 56 percent.
• Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 10.2 ppg adding 3.4 assists per game missing the last four games with an injury.
• Levi Braun is scoring 9.8 ppg and has hit 37 of 84 3-pointers (44 percent) this season going 20 of 38 in his last six games.
• Tyler Nelson is averaging 9.2 ppg overall scoring 10.0 ppg in MIAA contests. He scored a season-high 23 points against Pitt State last time out going 4 of 6 from deep.
• Michael Keegan is scoring 8.1 ppg with 5.5 rpg with 16 steals and 13 blocks. In MIAA games he is scoring 9.1 ppg with 4.8 rpg.
• Jarmell Johnson scoring 6.6 ppg with 2.8 rpg. Johnson has had career-highs in each of his last two games scoring 15 at Missouri Southern and 16 last time out against Pitt State going 11 of 19 from the field in the last two contests.
• Jaden Monday is scoring 6.5 ppg and has gone 18 of 44 from 3-point range this season and tied a career-high with six assists against Pitt State last time out.
• Jordan Vincent is scoring 5.1 ppg with 1.3 rpg and 2.1 apg. He has gone 18 of 21 from the free throw line this season.
• Brady Christiansen is scoring 5.3 adding 8.2 rpg which leads the team. He is ranked third in the MIAA in rebounds. In MIAA games is he averaging 5.9 ppg with 8.4 rpg.
• Zaid Dajani is scoring 2.7 ppg in 15 appearances.
• Washburn assistant coach Jonathan Raney played the 2001-03 seasons at Fort Hays State going 44-15 overall with an NCAA Tournament appearance his senior year en route to all-RMAC honors.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
• is 110-58 in his sixth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 143-88 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 and Tulsa basketball programs after working under head coach Danny Manning 2012-17 seasons.
• he helped Wake Forest to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2009-10 season following the 2016-17 season.
• 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 6-1 against Fort Hays State.
 
FORT HAYS STATE HEAD COACH MARK JOHNSON
• is the all-time coaching wins leader in FHSU history with a career record of 418-208 in his 22nd season at FHSU, ranking among the top 30 active NCAA Division II men's basketball coaches in winning percentage (.667).
• has led the Tigers to seven NCAA Tournament appearances in his time at FHSU.
• became the all-time wins leader in Fort Hays State history on January 11, 2014 in a victory at home over Lincoln University, recording his 258th win.
• he reached his 300th career win on February 13, 2016 in a victory at Missouri Southern.
• has coached four All-Americans, 54 all-conference selections, a conference player of the year, a conference freshman of the year, and three conference defensive players of the year in his time at FHSU.
• is 15-17 against Washburn.
  • The Tigers are 12-5 overall and 7-4 in MIAA play after topping Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday 57-55 as Kaleb Hammeke hit a driving layup with six seconds remaining to lift the Tigers to the win.
• Hammeke leads the team in scoring at 16.1 ppg and is the team's only player averaging double figures, however the Tigers have eight players averaging at least 5.5 ppg.
• The Tigers are holding opponents to a MIAA-low 57.5 ppg while scoring 68.2 ppg which is 11th in the league.
• FHSU is second in the MIAA in opponent field goal percentage at 39.1 percent.
  (Dec. 1, 2022)  TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team fell in its MIAA opener to Fort Hays State 68-58 on Wednesday night in a game which the two teams combined for 47 fouls.
The Ichabods (3-4, 0-1 MIAA) jumped out to a 6-0 lead on basketball from three different players and would go on to lead 14-10 after the first media timeout before the Tigers (5-0, 1-0 MIAA) used a 7-0 run to take a 17-14 lead. After Washburn regained the lead at 20-17 with 8:33 to play, the Tigers used an 11-3 run pushing their lead to five at 28-23 eventually going up seven taking a 36-29 lead into the break.
To start the second half, the Ichabods cut the lead to 41-38 via a 9-3 run but over the next 10 minutes the Tigers moved their lead to as many as 11 at 55-44 with 6:16 to play. Washburn however outscored the Tigers 10-2 over the next 2:57 cutting the margin to three at 57-54 on a 3-pointer by Isaiah Thorne.
Fort Hays State finished the game with an 11-4 spurt hitting 9 of 11 free throws down the stretch taking the 10-point win snapping a six-game winning streak over the Tigers.
Washburn was led by Andrew Orr who scored a career-high 14 points hitting all seven of his field goal attempts adding six rebounds and two blocks. Michael Keegan had 13 points with seven rebounds and three blocks adding two assists. Thorne had a career-high six assists scoring seven points.
The Tigers were led by Nyjee Wright who had 15 and Jared Vitztum who scored 14.
Washburn finished 21 of 52 from the field hitting 3 of 14 shots from 3-point range and 13 of 19 free throws overall. The Tigers were 24 of 34 from the free throw line hitting 19 of 53 overall shots and 6 of 23 from deep.
The Tigers had a 38 to 31 advantage on the glass turning 12 offensive rebounds into 11 second chance points.
The 47 combined fouls were the most since the Ichabods and Missouri Western had 47 in a game on Jan. 9, 2021.
  • •Washburn leads the all-time series 98-71 and Wednesday's meeting will be the 170th between the two schools.
•The Ichabods have won 15 of the last 20 in the series having their six-game winning streak snapped in the last meeting.
•In Lee Arena, the Ichabods are 22-8 all-time against Fort Hays State going 10-12 in road games since joining the MIAA.
•Fort Hays State is 5-2 against WU in overtime games.
•The Ichabods are 3-0 against Fort Hays State in the MIAA Tournament including a 77-53 semifinal win in the 2018 event in Kansas City. (Jan. 14, 2023) PITTSBURG, Kan. – One game after being held to a season-low 50 points in a Thursday night loss to Missouri Southern, the Washburn Ichabods put up 46 points in the first half en route to a 93-63 win over Pittsburg State on Saturday in John Lance Arena.
The Ichabods (6-9, 3-6 MIAA) took a season-high 21-point lead into the break as they shot a blistering 64 percent in the first 20 minutes hitting 9 of 14 attempts from deep going 16 of 32 overall. Using a 23-5 run midway through the frame, Washburn was 8 of 8 from the field including a 5 of 5 showing from deep as Jarmell Johnson scored nine during the Ichabod spurt.
After the Ichabods forced a turnover on the Gorillas (2-9, 5-12 MIAA) possession, Pitt State would go on a 10-0 run as the Ichabods were scoreless for 4:54 until Jaden Monday connected on a free throw with 14:55 to go halting the run.
After a six-minute drought from the field, Tyler Nelson connected on a 3-pointer with 12:25 to go pushing Washburn back to a 52-39 lead. After a field goal by Michael Keegan, Tyler Nelson recorded a traditional 3-point play with 11:02 to go as the Ichabods went up by 13 at 56-43 and Nelson continued to pace the Ichabod attack with another field goal on the next possession stretching the lead to 15 with 10:37 to go. Washburn pushed the lead to 21 on a 3-pointer by Nelson and all told after the Ichabod lead was cut to 10, Washburn exploded for a 19-2 run with 14 points scored by Nelson and five by Levi Braun.
The Ichabods, who won their seventh in a row over Pitt State and fourth in a row in Pittsburg, were led by Nelson with 23 points with 18 in the second half. Washburn outrebounded the Gorillas 39-30 in the game led by Brady Christiansen's 11 rebounds adding 11 points for his first Washburn double double. Joining Nelson in double figures was Johnson who finished with a career-high 16 off the bench hitting 4 of 5 3-pointers, Monday had 15 with a career-high tying six assists and three steals and Braun had 13 hitting three 3-pointers.
Deshaun English II led the Gorillas with 15 points.
Washburn shot 57 percent in the second half going 17 of 30 after going 1 of 8 during their five-minute scoring drought in the frame to finish at 53 percent for the game going 33 of 62 overall. Washburn hit a season-high 14 3-pointers on 26 attempts for a 54 percent average. The Ichabods were 13 of 18 from the free throw line.
Washburn held the Gorillas to 38 percent shooting on 21 of 55 shooting and 8 of 30 from 3-point range as Pitt State was 1 of 12 in the opening half. The Gorillas were 13 of 16 from the free throw line.
Washburn outscored the Gorillas 32 to 16 in bench points and 30 to 16 in points off of Pitt State turnovers. • The Ichabods are 1650-1117-2 all-time in the 118th year in the program's history.
• Washburn is the 10th-winningest program in NCAA Division II history by victories.
• Washburn is 666-312 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 480-101 (.848) all-time in Lee Arena.
• The 2022-23 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.
  • Washburn continue its homestand followed by Nebraska-Kearney on Jan. 21, Rogers State on Jan. 26 and Northeastern State on Jan. 28.