•    The Washburn Ichabods will play their final game of the 2023 calendar season as they will host Northeastern State on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in Lee Arena.
•    Washburn (6-4, 2-2 MIAA) topped Missouri Western 83-77 last time out on Dec. 16 in St. Joseph.
•    The RiverHawks are 4-5 overall and 0-4 in the MIAA after falling at Rogers State 80-72 on Dec. 13. Northeastern State has lost its last four games since a 72-70 win over Ozarks on Nov. 20.
•    Tuesday's meeting will be the 22nd in the all-time series which the Ichabods lead 11-10 winning the last meeting 66-56 on Jan. 28 in Topeka.
•    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 the Ichabods in scoring averaging 17.3 ppg while averaging 3.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game … he has reached double figures in each of the last nine games while averaging 20.3 ppg in MIAA contests coming off a career-high 26 against Missouri Western.
•    Andrew Orr is scoring 13.2 ppg this season going 32 of 34 from the free throw line  which ranks third in the nation in percentage at 94.1 … he is shooting 53 percent from the field hitting 50 of 94 attempts.
•    Jack Bachelor is scoring 9.7 ppg this season making his first collegiate start against Missouri Western.
•    Brady Christiansen is averaging 8.5 ppg with a team-high 7.9 rpg … he's averaged 10.0 rpg in the last two contests.
•    Jarmell Johnson is averaging 8.0 ppg and 3.2 rpg … his is 9 of 17 from 3-point range this season.
•    Jake Schadegg is averaging 6.9 ppg shooting 15 of 28 from 3-point range this season.
•    Michael Keegan is scoring 6.5 ppg with 4.7 rpg and 1.1 bkpg coming off a season-high 13 points with eight rebounds, six assists, four steals and a block against Missouri Western.
•    Emmanuel Byrd is scoring 5.2 ppg adding 4.2 rpg.
•    Brayden Shorter is averaging 4.4 ppg with 2.0 rpg.
•    Zaid Dajani is scoring 2.0 ppg … Kevin Eman is averaging 1.3 ppg and Levi Braun is scoring 1.5 ppg in two appearances.
•    The Ichabods are third nation in 3-point shooting at 43.3 percent hitting 91 of 210 attempts.
•    The Ichabods are first in the MIAA in scoring averaging 81.6 ppg and ranked eighth in scoring defense allowing 72.3 ppg.
•    Washburn's 49.1 field goal percentage is second in the MIAA and 37th in the nation.
•    Washburn is +8.8 in rebounding margin this season leading the MIAA and ranked 14th nationally … also leading the MIAA in total rebounds at 38.8 per game.
•    In the last five minutes of games this season, the Ichabods have attempted 31 free throws compared to 41 by their opponents.
•    This season overall, Ichabod opponents have shot 46 more free throws than the Washburn has … Washburn is 131 of 179 at the charity stripe this season while opponents are 163 of 225.   WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
•    is 124-68 in his seventh season as the Ichabods' head coach and 157-98 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 7-3 against Northeastern State.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE HEAD COACH JA HAVENS ...
•    is 37-51 in his fourth season as the RiverHawks' head coach and 168-126 in his 11th season overall as a head coach.
•    played at Northeastern State for two seasons (1996-98) under NSU Hall of Fame head coaches Ken Hayes and Larry Gipson.
•    Havens previously coached at East Central University (Ada, Okla.) where he was head coach for seven seasons, carrying a record of 131-74, and was the fastest coach in ECU history to win 100 contests
•    He 3-4 against the Ichabods (0-1 at East Central).
  •    The RiverHawks are 4-5 overall and 0-4 in the MIAA dropping their last four games.
•    NSU has four players averaging double figures led by Anthony Allen at 15.6 ppg followed by Trey Quartlebaum at 12.2 ppg, Caison Hartloff at 10.6 ppg and Ethan Blackman at 10.4 ppg. Jaxson Jones is scoring 9.9 ppg.
•    Overall the RiverHawks are averaging 72.0 ppg while allowing 70.8 ppg.
  •    Tuesday's meeting will be the 22nd all-time between the two schools with the Ichabods leading 11-10.
•    The Ichabods have won the last nine of the last 12 meetings in the series.
•    The Ichabods and RiverHawks played in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with Washburn falling 64-59 on March 15, 2003 in Stephenville, Texas.
•    The RiverHawks went on to win the NCAA National Championship in 2003.
•    Washburn is 4-6 in games played in Tahlequah and the Ichabods are 7-3 in games played in Lee Arena and 0-1 in neutral site games.
  (Jan. 28, 2023) TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods won their fifth game in a row leading from start to finish in a 66-56 win over Northeastern State on Saturday in Lee Arena. Washburn will now venture out on a three-game roadtrip starting on Wednesday at Missouri Western.
The Ichabods jumped out to a 7-1 lead to start the game five-plus minutes into the contest holding the RiverHawks (10-9, 7-8 MIAA) to an 0 of 8 shooting mark from the outset. The RiverHawks never led in the game but tied it at 9-9 with 11:28 to play in the opening half before the Ichabods used a 7-0 run to jump out to a 16-9 lead at the under 10 timeout. Washburn would have another 7-0 spurt later in the frame and would lead by as many as 13 before taking a 33-22 lead into halftime.
Washburn (10-9, 7-6 MIAA) moved out to its biggest lead of the game at 44-29 with 16:02 on a lay up by Andrew Orr before the RiverHawks cut the lead to three at 46-43 with 10:37 using a 14-2 run as they hit 6 of 7 shots from the field while the Ichabods struggled going 1 of 9 during the 5:05 stretch.
A Connor Deffebaugh jumper pushed the lead back to five, but NSU hit a 3-pointer by leading scorer Dillon Bailey before Brady Christiansen responded with a 3-pointer of his own as the lead returned to five points.
With Washburn leading by two at 51-49 with 7:03 to go, Levi Braun connected on a 3-pointer followed by a breakaway dunk by Michael Keegan pushed the lead to seven at 56-49. NSU trimmed the lead back to five under minutes to go, but Braun hit another 3-pointer sending the lead to eight and would not get any closer than nine the rest of the way as the Ichabods snapped their three-game losing streak to the RiverHawks improving to 4-0 in games against Northeastern State played in Lee Arena.
Tyler Nelson scored 16 points to lead the Ichabods and Orr finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Jarmell Johnson had eight points and Keegan finished with seven points, eight rebounds, four assists and a steal.
The Ichabods shot 41 percent for the game going 24 of 58 and 12 of 14 from the free throw line. Northeastern State was 17 of 45 overall (38 percent) and hit 15 of 27 free throws. The Ichabods held a 39 to 29 advantage on the glass and forced 18 RiverHawk turnovers converting them into 18 points. Washburn's bench outscored NSU 23 to 2 in the game.   
  (Dec. 16, 2023) ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods picked up an 83-77 win over Missouri Western surviving a 19-2 run midway through the second half to improve to 6-4 and 2-2 in the MIAA. 
Washburn led 62-47 with 12:31 to go after back-to-back-to-back three pointers by Sam Ungashick, Jake Schadegg and Brady Christiansen before the Griffons came back with a 19-2 run over a 5:55 time period after they hit 8 of 11 while the Ichabods were limited to 1 of 10 shooting as Missouri Western took a 66-64 lead with 5:48 to go.
Michael Keegan hit a 3-pointer of his own to put the Ichabods back in front, but two free throws by Missouri Western (8-3, 3-3 MIAA) returned the Griffons to a 1-point lead at 68-67. Buckets by Christiansen and Ungashick pushed Washburn's lead back to four at 72-68 with 4:24 remaining, but the Griffons hit a deep 3-pointer cutting the lead to 72-71.
From the 3:34 mark to the end of the game, Washburn connected on 4 of its final 5 shots including using a 9-0 run taking an 81-71 lead with 1:13 to play. Missouri Western did not go away with back to back 3's by Josh Book and Zion Swader pulled the Griffons within four at 81-77, but Washburn closed out the game with a pair of free throws by Keegan and the six-point win.
Washburn led 44-39 at the break finishing the first 20 minutes on a 5-0 run after shooting 47 percent from the field. Missouri Western shot 59 percent from the field in the first half.
Ungashick led the Ichabods with a career-high 26 points hitting 9 of 16 shots and 6 of 9 from 3-point range. Keegan stuffed the stat sheet with a season-high 13 points with eight rebounds, a career-high six assists, four steals and a block. Jack Bachelor had 10 points in his first start of the season adding five assists and two steals and Christiansen had nine points and nine rebounds.
JaRon Thames led the Griffons with 16 points.
Washburn shot 45 percent for the game hitting 31 of 69 attempts overall and then hit 10 of 24 from 3-point land. The Griffons finished 30 of 53 overall shooting 57 percent from the field and 8 of 20 from 3-point range. The Ichabods also turned it over a season-best four times in the win. Washburn forced 14 turnovers in the game leading to 19 points.        •    The Ichabods are 1,674-1,127-2 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 680-319 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 491-102 (.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 return to the court on Jan. 4, 2024 hosting Central Oklahoma followed by Newman on Jan. 6.