•    The Washburn Ichabods will open MIAA this Saturday when they travel to Emporia State to face the Hornets at 3:30 p.m. in White Auditorium.
•    The Ichabods have won their last three games including a 98-50 win over Avila on Nov. 21 in Topeka.
•    The Hornets are 6-1 winning their last six after topping Indianapolis 82-72 on Nov. 26.
•    The Ichabods lead the all-time series 113-106 against the Hornets but dropped both meetings last season including an 86-64 loss in Emporia to finish the regular season last year.
•    The Ichabods are 44-60 against Emporia State in games played in White Auditorium.
•    The Ichabods have recorded 30, 20-win seasons and four under Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard in his six seasons receiving four NCAA postseason berths.
•    The 2023-24 season marks the 119th season of Ichabod basketball. •    Sam Ungashick leads three Ichabods averaging in double figures this season at 15.3 ppg while averaging 4.0 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game … he has reached double figures in each of the last five games.
•    Andrew Orr is scoring 14.8 ppg this season going a perfect 17 of 17 from the free throw line while shooting 60 percent from the field hitting 36 of 60 attempts.
•    Brady Christiansen is averaging 10.0 ppg with a team-high 7.3 rpg … he has hit at least one 3-pointer in each game this season.
•    Jack Bachelor is scoring 9.3 ppg off the bench adding 2.3 rpg and 3.7 apg this season … he has had at least four assists in four games this season and has hit 7 of 12 3-pointers.
•    Jake Schadegg is averaging 8.8 ppg shooting 11 of 22 from 3-point range.
•    Michael Keegan is scoring 6.3 ppg with 5.2 rpg and 1.3 bkpg … he has averaged 10 points, 6 rebounds and 1 block in his last two games going 7 of 8 from the field.
•    Jarmell Johnson is averaging 6.5 ppg and 3.3 rpg … he has averaged 14.0 ppg coming off a season-high 15 last time out against Avila.
•    Emmanuel Byrd is scoring 5.5 ppg adding 4.7 rpg averaging 7.5 ppg with 7.0 rpg in his last two games.
•    Brayden Shorter is coming off an 11-point, 4-rebound, 3-steal performance last time out against Avila - all season highs.
•    Zaid Dajani is scoring 2.8 ppg after scoring a season-high five points against Avila last time out … Kevin Eman scored his first points as an Ichabod against Ottawa and Levi Braun is scoring 1.5 ppg in two appearances.
•    The Ichabods are 10th in 3-point shooting in the national rankings at 43.4 percent hitting 53 of 122 attempts.
•    The Ichabods scored 97 points against Ottawa on Nov. 21 and 98 points against Avila on Nov. 25 - it marked the first time since a 91-60 win over Newman on Jan. 26 and a 96-86 win over Central Oklahoma on Jan. 29 during the 2021-22 season that the Ichabods reached at least 90 in back to back games.
•    The Ichabods are second in the MIAA in scoring averaging 84.3 ppg and ranked 10th in scoring defense allowing 72.7 ppg.
•    Washburn's 51.2 field goal percentage is second in the MIAA and its 41.2 defensive field goal percentage is ranked fourth.
•    Washburn is second in the MIAA with a 43 percent shooting rate from 3-point range and they ranked 13th in opponent 3-point shooting percentage at 39 percent with opponents hitting 57 of 148.
•    Washburn is +7.7 in rebounding margin this season ranking second in the MIAA.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
•    is 122-66 in his seventh season as the Ichabods' head coach and 155-96 overall in his ninth year as a head coach.
•    has led the Ichabods to four NCAA postseason appearances in six 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.
•    he is 7-4 against Emporia State.
 
EMPORIA STATE HEAD COACH CRAIG DOTY ...
•    is 83-65 in his sixth season at Emporia State
•    is in his 12th season as a head coach at the D2, NAIA, and NJCAA level … he is 245-115 with three national championships.
•    in two seasons at Graceland, Doty went 49-22 and won the 2018 NAIA Division I National Championship in Municipal Auditorium.
•    prior to Graceland, Doty spent four years as the head coach at Rock Valley College winning two national championships and appearing in three-straight NJCAA Division III title games to finish with a 113-28 record.
•    is 3-6 against Washburn
  •    The Hornets are 6-1 this season winning their last six after a season-opening loss to a then-ranked No. 8 UNC-Pembroke.
•    Alijah Comithier leads four different Hornets in double-figure scoring at 18.6 ppg. Owen Long is scoring 17.7 ppg while Solomon Oraegbu is scoring 16.1 ppg and Atavian Butler is scoring 15.7 ppg.
•    The Hornets are scoring 82.3 ppg while allowing 69.4.
  •    The meeting on Saturday will be the 220th meeting between the two schools and the Ichabods lead at 113-106. This is the most-played series for Washburn
•    The Ichabods have won 10 of the last 15 meetings.
•    The two teams started the series in 1905-06, Washburn's first recorded year of basketball, and they have met every year since the 1945-56 season.
•    The home team has won 16 of the last 20 meetings.
•    The Ichabods are 44-59 against the Hornets on the road.
•    This season will be the fourth consecutive season that these two teams will finish the regular season against each other.
•    Washburn is 5-1 against Emporia State in MIAA Postseason tournament games.
•    According to ESU records, Saturday's game will be the 221st meeting between the two schools with Washburn leading 113-107.
  (Feb. 25, 2023) EMPORIA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team closed out the regular season losing 86-64 to Emporia State.
The Ichabods only trailed 34-32 at the half but were outscored 52-32 in the second half as the Hornets completed a sweep of the 2022-23 season series.
Jaden Monday picked up where he left off after scoring a career-high 23 points on Thursday, scoring the first nine points for Washburn including back-to-back 3-pointers to open the game. Monday had 11 of the first 13 points for the Ichabods but his shot was the only one dropping early and Emporia State was able to build a 10-point lead by the 10:43 mark. 
Inside the final five minutes of the half jumpers by Monday and Michael Keegan brought the lead down to just one point on two separate occasions but both times the Hornets had a response. Tyler Nelson knocked down a 3-pointer just before halftime with Washburn trailing 34-32.
The Ichabods hung around to start the second half, pulling back within five after a layup by Andrew Orr with 12:56 remaining. Following that basket the Hornets went on a 9-0 all on 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to go up by 14 with 11:15 left. 
From that point on the lead never dipped below 10 points. Washburn got it down to that mark twice but both times Emporia State went on a run of their own to create more separation. In the final 90 seconds the Hornets made it a 20-point game and won with the largest lead of the game, 86-64. 
Tyler Nelson led the Ichabods with 18 points on 6-11 shooting with 11 points in the second half. Jaden Monday finished with 17 points and had a team-high four assists. Andrew Orr had a near double-double, with 13 points and nine rebounds, Jarmell Johnson had 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench. 
Owen Long led Emporia State with 26 points going 9-15 from the field and 6-10 from deep. As a team the Hornets shot 57.4% and drilled 14-27 from long range. Washburn was a respectable 8-21 from beyond the arc but could not make up the difference by the hot shooting Hornets at the free throw line as both teams went 10-13. 
On the defensive end it was the first time all season the Ichabods did not come away with a steal, while also not blocking any shots on that end of the floor for the fifth time in the campaign. 
  (Nov. 25, 2023) TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team wrapped up the non-conference slate with a 98-50 win over Avila on a snowy afternoon in Topeka prior to entering MIAA play coming up next Saturday against Emporia State. Washburn improved to 4-2 with the win.
The Ichabods started the game on a 12-0 run in the first 2:58 of the game holding the Eagles scoreless until the 15:40 mark of the first half. The Eagles chipped away at the Washburn lead cutting the margin to 17-9 before the Ichabods put up another 12-0 run over the next 2:14 taking a 29-9 lead.
The Ichabods finished the half on a 6-0 run taking a 41-21 lead into the break after shooting 57 percent from the field hitting 5 of 9 3-point attempts.
In the second half the Ichabods put up 57 points in the second half again shooting 57 percent in the frame hitting 20 of 35 shots overall.
Eleven different Ichabods scored led by Andrew Orr's 25 points on 10 of 13 shooting from the field with six rebounds. He led five total Ichabods in double figures. Jarmell Johnson had 15 points followed by Brayden Shorter with a career-high 11 points, Michael Keegan with 10 and Sam Ungashick also with 10. Keegan had seven rebounds to lead the Ichabods and Jack Bchelor had five assists.
George Williams had 11 points to lead the Eagles.
Washburn's season-high 98 points came on the heels of its 97 points against Ottawa on Nov. 21. Washburn finished 57 percent from the field for the game holding the Eagles to 20 of 65 for a 31 percent clip. Washburn was 17 of 22 from the free throw line in the win while the Eagles were 5 of 11.
The Ichabods also had a 44 to 34 advantage on the glass outscoring the Eagles 54 to 28 in points in the paint and 25 to 5 in fastbreak points.        •    The Ichabods are 1,662-1,125-2 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 678-317 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 490-102 (.848) all-time in Lee Arena.
•    The 2023-24 season marks the 38th season of play in Lee Arena.
•    The Ichabods are 38-1 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 take on Rogers State on Dec. 9 at home and then have road contests at Northwest Missouri on Dec. 13 and Dec. 16 at Missouri Western before wrapping up the 2023 calendar hosting Northeastern State on Dec. 19.