• The Washburn Ichabods open the 2023 calendar year hosting Central Missouri on Jan. 5 in Lee Arena.
• The Ichabods are 4-7 and 1-4 after falling at No. 9-ranked Central Oklahoma 72-57 on New Year's Eve.
• The Mules are 6-6 and 2-4 in the MIAA after dropping a 57-46 contest to Fort Hays State on Dec. 31. The Mules will take on Nebraska-Kearney on Jan. 2 in Warrensburg before facing the Ichabods on Jan. 5.
• Twelve of Central Missouri's 14 games this season have been home games.
• The Ichabods have won the last five in the series against the Mules and lead the overall series 56-52.
• Washburn is 34-19 against the Mules in Topeka.
• The Mules' last win in the series was on Feb. 1, 2020 in a 59-56 win over the Ichabods.
• The Mules' have not won in Topeka since a 63-55 win over Washburn on Jan. 27, 2018 - a losing streak of four games.
• 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 14.5 ppg while averaging 17.6 ppg in five MIAA contests. He has reached double figures in nine of 11 games this season. He is second on the team in rebounds at 6.0 per game. He recorded his first Washburn double double against Emporia State with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
• Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 10.2 ppg adding 3.4 assists per game.
• Levi Braun is scoring 9.3 ppg and has hit 27 of 59 3-pointers this season going 10 of 13 in his last two games against Missouri Western and at Central Oklahoma scoring 17 points in each game.
• Michael Keegan is scoring 8.4 ppg with 6.1 rpg with 13 steals and 11 blocks. In MIAA games he is scoring 10.6 ppg with 5.6 rpg.
• Jaden Monday is scoring 6.9 ppg and has gone 15 of 35 from 3-point range including 5 of 9 from behind the arc in MIAA play.
• Tyler Nelson is averaging 6.2 ppg overall.
• Jordan Vincent is scoring 5.3 ppg with 1.3 rpg and 2.4 apg. He has gone 16 of 19 from the free throw line this season.
• Jayden Hibbitt is scoring 5.2 ppg with 2.3 rpg and in MIAA play he is scoring 7.0 ppg with 3.0 rpg.
• Jarmell Johnson scoring 4.7 ppg with 2.7 rpg.
• Brady Christiansen made his second start of the season against Missouri Western and is scoring 4.5 adding 7.1 rpg which leads the team.
• Zaid Dajani is scoring 3.3 ppg in 11 appearances.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
• is 108-56 in his sixth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 141-86 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 7-2 against Central Missouri.
 
CENTRAL MISSOURI HEAD COACH DOUG KARLESKINT
• is 129-107 in his ninth season as the head coach at Central Missouri and 218-141 overall in his 13th season as a head coach.
• spent five seasons at Arkansas Tech, including the last four as head coach.
• has compiled a 90-34 (.726) record with the Wonder Boys with four conference championships and four trips to the NCAA-II National Tournament, including a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2012.
• is 4-9 against Washburn.
  • The Mules are 6-6 overall and 2-4 in the MIAA after falling 57-46 against Fort Hays State on New Year's Eve. UCM will face Nebraska-Kearney on Jan. 2.
• Mikel Henderson leads the team in scoring entering the UNK contest with 14.6 ppg and Gavin Pinkley is scoring 13.1 ppg.
• The Mules are averaging 71.8 ppg while allowing 63.8 ppg.
  (Feb. 12, 2022)  TOPEKA, Kan. – The Ichabods won their fifth consecutive game against Central Missouri for the first time since 2004. Washburn defeated the Mules, 85-74, and did not give up the lead for the entire game.
The Washburn Ichabods (15-9, 12-6 MIAA) grabbed the first points with a Tyler Geiman triple and never looked back. Geiman scored seven points and three assist in the first six minutes to help the Ichabods to a 17-9 lead. In the next eight minutes, Washburn slowly built its lead to double-digits. Then the Mules went on a 10-4 run to bring the score to 33-28. The half ended with the Ichabods leading 38-30 after Geiman hit a triple and a layup.
Washburn shot 53 percent in the first half hitting 16 of 30 shots and 5 of 11 from three. Central Missouri shot just 36 percent from the field and 30 percent from deep. However, the Mules got to the free throw line 16 times compared to the Ichabods' two.
Jeremy Harrell caught fire in the second half, scoring seven points in the opening five minutes of the final half. He doubled his first-half scoring output. Central Missouri battled to make it a one-score game at 60-59 with 7:48 left to play. The Ichabods immediately drew fouls and got to the free throw line. Geiman made all six he attempted and Harrell also made two of his own. Washburn was once against up by 11 with a 70-59 lead.
The Ichabods were able to hold off the Mules at the charity stripe hitting 24 of 28 despite Central Missouri going 45 percent from the field. Harrell led all scorers in the second half with 11 points hitting 3 of 6 and 5 of 7 from the line. Harrell ended the game with 18 points and eight rebounds
Geiman led the Ichabods with 22 points along with 10 assists and seven rebounds. Jalen Lewis had 11 points hitting 3 of 7 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line.
The Mules had four double-digit scorers, led by Ja'Cor Nelson and Cameron Hunter with 19 points.
The Ichabods had 16 second-chance points compared to the 10 for Central Missouri.
  • Thursday's meeting will be the 109th between these two teams.
• The Ichabods have won the last five in the series and lead it 56-52 overall.
• Washburn is 34-19 against the Mules in Topeka.
• The Mules' last win in the series was on Feb. 1, 2020 in a 59-56 win over the Ichabods.
• The Mules' have not won in Topeka since a 63-55 win over Washburn on Jan. 27, 2018 - a losing streak of four games.
• The Ichabods have won 14 of the last 20 meetings.
• The last time the teams met in the conference tournament was during the 2010 season when the Ichabods as the No. 8 seed topped the No. 1-seeded Mules 79-60.
• The Ichabods are 5-1 all-time against Central Missouri in the MIAA Tournament. (Dec. 31, 2022) EDMOND, Okla. – The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team was on the wrong end of a New Year's Eve match-up with No. 9-ranked Central Oklahoma falling 72-57 on the road inside Hamilton Fieldhouse.
The Ichabods led at 3-0 on a 3-pointer by Michael Keegan 14 seconds into the game and Washburn (4-7, 1-4 MIAA) and after a lay-up by Andrew Orr with 16:27 to go in the first half handing the Ichabods a 10-8 lead, UCO (12-1, 6-1 MIAA) outscored the Ichabods 32-5 the remaining of the frame leading to a 40-19 Broncho lead entering the break. During the run, the Ichabods struggled from the field going 2 of 15 while UCO hit 11 of 19 shots taking the lead into the halftime break.
Washburn outscored the Bronchos 38-32 in the second half shooting 59 percent in the stanza but could not overcome the halftime deficit.
Levi Braun led the Ichabods with 17 points off the bench hitting 5 of 7 3-pointers going 6 of 9 from the field overall. Keegan and Orr each had 15.
Jaden Wells had 18 to take game-high honors pacing UCO.                    
Washburn finished 23 of 51 from the field hitting 8 of 16 attempts from 3-point range, but went 3 of 11 from the free throw line. UCO was 25 of 50 overall and 14 of 30 hitting 8 of 12 shots from the free throw line.
UCO also held a 35 to 26 advantage on the glass. UCO also flipped the Ichabods' 17 turnovers into 27 points while Washburn scored seven off of the Bronchos' seven points. • The Ichabods are 1648-1115-2 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 664-310 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 479-100 (.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 will host Lincoln on Jan. 7 in Lee Arena. Washburn will then hit the road to face Missouri Southern on Jan. 12 and then Pittsburg State on Jan. 14 before returning to start a four-game homestand with Fort Hays State on Jan. 18, Nebraska-Kearney on Jan. 21, Rogers State on Jan. 26 and Northeastern State on Jan. 28.