• The Washburn Ichabods are back in action on Saturday inside Lee Arena hosting the Lincoln Blue Tigers at 3 p.m.
• The Ichabods are 5-7 and 2-4 in the MIAA after dispatching Central Missouri 55-47 in the fifth-lowest combined scoring game in Washburn's history during the shot clock era.
• The Blue Tigers are 7-4 overall and 3-4 in MIAA play after falling at Emporia State 57-48 after scoring 20 points below their season average of 72.4 ppg.
• The Ichabods have won the last five in the series against the Blue Tigers and lead the overall series 33-4.
• Washburn is 16-2 in games played in Topeka and 29-1 during conference match ups.
• The lone MIAA loss to the Blue Tigers was on Jan. 31, 2019 in a 75-73 contest that snapped a 28-game winning streak over Lincoln and a 14-game winning streak in games played in Topeka.
• 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 14.9 ppg while averaging 18.0 ppg in MIAA contests. He has reached double figures in 10 of 12 games this season. He is second on the team in rebounds at 6.1 per game. He recorded his first Washburn double double against Emporia State with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Orr tied a career high with three assists last time out against Central Missouri. Orr is 10th in the MIAA in scoring average and third in the MIAA in field goal percentage at 59 percent.
• Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 10.2 ppg adding 3.4 assists per game missing the Central Missouri game with an injury.
• Levi Braun is scoring 9.3 ppg and has hit 30 of 66 3-pointers this season going 13 of 20 in his last three games.
• Michael Keegan is scoring 8.3 ppg with 5.8 rpg with 14 steals and 11 blocks. In MIAA games he is scoring 10.0 ppg with 5.0 rpg. Keegan tied a career high with four assists last time out against Central Missouri.
• Jaden Monday is scoring 6.6 ppg and has gone 16 of 37 from 3-point range including 6 of 11 from behind the arc in MIAA play.
• Tyler Nelson is averaging 6.3 ppg overall scoring 7.0 ppg in MIAA contests.
• Jordan Vincent is scoring 5.0 ppg with 1.4 rpg and 2.4 apg. He has gone 18 of 21 from the free throw line this season. Vincent had a career high two steals last time out against Central Missouri.
• 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 4.6 adding 7.8 rpg which leads the team. He is ranked third in the MIAA in rebounds.
• Zaid Dajani is scoring 3.0 ppg in 12 appearances.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
• is 109-56 in his sixth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 142-86 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 6-1 against Lincoln.
 
LINCOLN HEAD COACH JIMMY DREW
• is 7-3 in his first season as Lincoln's head coach.
• Drew came to LU following a six-year run on the staff at Division I Central Florida. Drew helped lead UCF to a pair of 20-win seasons and a berth in the second round of the NCAA tournament, and he coached three players who went on to play in the NBA.
• is 0-0 against Washburn.
  • Lincoln is 7-4 overall and 3-4 in MIAA games.
• Artese Stapleton is second in the MIAA in scoring at 19.3 ppg and Kevin Kone is 12th adding 14.6 ppg with a league- and NCAA D2-leading 13.4 rpg.
• Lincoln is sixth in the MIAA in scoring average at 71.4 ppg and fourth in scoring defense allowing 61.1 ppg.
  (Feb. 10, 2022)  JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods won their 15th game in a row at Lincoln remaining unbeaten since the Eisenhower Administration in Jefferson City in a 77-61 win over the Blue Tigers Thursday night in Jason Gym. 
The Washburn Ichabods (14-9, 11-6 MIAA) led 39-26 at the break after jumping out to a 10-2 lead 3:35 into the game  as Jalen Lewis scored seven of Washburn's first 12 points of the game. Lincoln cut the lead to 12-9 but the Ichabods used a 10-0 to push the lead back to 22-9. Washburn stretched the lead to 15 but three-straight lay ups by the Blue Tigers (2-18, 1-14 MIAA) forced an Ichabod timeout before Washburn finished with four in a row to take the 13-point lead into the locker room.
Washburn shot 55 percent in the opening frame hitting 15 of 29 shots and 5 of 9 from deep while holding Lincoln to 34 percent and 2 of 11 from 3-point range outrebounded the Blue Tigers 22 to 13 in the half.
To start the second half, the Ichabods outscored the Blue Tigers 11-2 over the first three minutes of the frame hitting 5 of their first 6 shots building a 50-28 lead. After the Blue Tigers cut back the lead to 16 at 56-40, Washburn used a 9-0 lead going up a game-high 25 before Lincoln finished on an 11-2 run to end the game.
Tyler Geiman led the Ichabods with 18 points pacing five Washburn players in double figures. Jeremy Harrell recorded his second double double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Lewis finished with 10 points as did Jonny Clausing hitting 5 of 6 shots off the bench. Michael Keegan had nine points and nine boards.
The Ichabods held the Blue Tigers to 39 percent shooting on 24 of 61 from the field while the Ichabods finished at 51 percent going 31 of 61 overall as Washburn led 39:18 of the game. Washburn also held a 43 to 32 advantage on the glass and outscored Lincoln 42 to 28 in the paint.
  • Saturday's meeting will be the 38th in the series history and Washburn leads 33-4.
• 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 15-1 against Lincoln in Jefferson City all-time having won their last 15 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. (Jan. 5, 2023) TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team used a 16-5 run over the first 7:16 of the second half turning a four-point halftime deficit into a 55-47 come from behind win over Central Missouri in one of the lowest scoring games in the shot clock era in program history.
Starting the game, the Ichabods (5-7, 2-4 MIAA) fell behind 6-0 before Levi Braun jump started the scoring with seven-straight points on a pair of three-pointers including a four-point play. After the Braun scoring spurt, the Mules (7-6, 3-5 MIAA) ripped off a 13-0 run to take a 19-7 lead with 12:11 to play in the first half. Washburn would get no closer than five the rest of the half as UCM took a 27-21 lead into the break.
Starting the second half, the Ichabods and Mules traded baskets and then a 14-3 run over a 6:00 period pushed Washburn's lead to 37-32 with 12:04 to go. Central evened the score at 43 with 6:01 to go in the game after a 3-point play by Jack Chapman.
After the media time out, Andrew Orr connected on a free throw and Brady Christiansen hit a layup pushing the lead back to three at 46-43. Two more Mule free throws trimmed the Washburn advantage back to one with 4:05 to go but the Ichabods outscored the Mules 9 to 2 the rest of the way going 7 of 8 from the free throw line securing the eight-point win.
Orr led the Ichabods with 20 points on 8 of 12 shooting adding seven rebounds. Braun finished with 10 points and Christiansen secured 15 rebounds with 12 on the defensive end adding six points. Michael Keegan had seven points with four assists.
Kobe Campbell led the Mules with 15 points.
Washburn held the Mules to 26 percent shooting in the second half as UCM was 6 of 23 and 1 of 9 from 3-point range en route to 15 of 51 shooting in the game for UCM for a 29 percent clip. The ichabods after going 8 of 25 in the opening half, finished the game going 10 of 22 for a 46 percent average finishing 18 of 47 overall for a 38 percent average. The Ichabods were also 15 of 19 from the free throw line in the game.
Washburn was outrebounded 34 to 33 in the game and forced 14 Mule turnovers. The Ichabods also had a 26 to 12 advantage in the paint.
The 102 combined points in the game ties the program record in the shot clock era for the fifth-fewest combined points match a 102 total ironically enough with Central Missouri in the same score on Dec. 31, 2010. The 55 points scored by the Ichabods is the second-lowest in program history in the shot clock era for points scored in a win and the 47 points scored by the Mules is the 10th-lowest points allowed in an Ichabod win. • The Ichabods are 1649-1115-2 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 665-310 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 480-100 (.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 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.