• The Washburn Ichabods will face their second top-10 team in three days as they will host No. 4-ranked Northwest Missouri on Valentine's Day in Lee Arena at 7:30 p.m.
• The Ichabods are 12-11 and 9-8 coming off a 75-55 win over No. 6 Central Oklahoma on Saturday in Lee Arena.
• The Bearcats are 23-2 and 16-2 in the MIAA and have won their last nine games including a 79-53 win over the Ichabods on Feb. 4 in Maryville.
• The Bearcats topped Northeastern State on Feb. 11 in a 79-43 win.
• Washburn leads the series 63-54.
• The Ichabods are 9-2 in Lee Arena this season.
• The Ichabods are 14-6 all-time on Valentine's Day.
• 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 2022-23 season marks the 118th season of Ichabod basketball. • Andrew Orr leads the Ichabods in scoring at 13.8 ppg while averaging 14.5 ppg in MIAA contests. Orr recorded his second double double of the season against Newman when he had 14 points and 10 rebounds. He is third on the team in rebounds at 5.7 per game. Orr is 11th in the MIAA in scoring average and third in the MIAA in field goal percentage at 60 percent going 55 of 79 from the field in his last seven games averaging 16.2 ppg. He has also averaged 5.5 assists per game in the last two contests.
• Tyler Nelson is averaging 11.8 ppg overall scoring 12.4 ppg in MIAA contests. He tied a career-high with 25 points against Nebraska-Kearney and has reached double digits in his last nine of his last 10 games averaging 15.5 ppg.
• Levi Braun is scoring 10.2 ppg and has hit 58 of 127 3-pointers (46 percent). He tied a career-high with seven rebounds against Missouri Western last week. Of his 77 field goals this season, 58 have been from 3-point range.
• Michael Keegan is scoring 8.3 ppg with 5.9 rpg with 20 steals and 18 blocks. He scored a season-high 21 points against Newman going 8 of 11 from the field adding nine rebounds. In MIAA games he is scoring 9.4 ppg with 5.8 rpg … he is seventh in the MIAA in blocks per game.
• Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 7.7 ppg adding 3.0 assists per game He is 10th in the MIAA in assists per game at 3.0.
• Jarmell Johnson is scoring 7.7 ppg with 2.9 rpg. Johnson scoring 8.3 ppg with 3.1 rpg in MIAA games tying a season-high with 16 points at Newman.
• Brady Christiansen is scoring 5.7 adding 7.2 rpg which leads the team scoring a career-high 16 against Central Oklahoma last time out. He is ranked fourth in the MIAA in rebounds. In MIAA games is he averaging 6.2 ppg with 6.9 rpg. This season, Christiansen has 165 rebounds, which is fifth on the Ichabod all-time freshman chart. His 7.2 rpg average would be third on the chart if the season ended today.
• Jaden Monday is scoring 5.4 ppg and has gone 21 of 64 from 3-point range this season. He has averaged 10.5 ppg and 4.0 rpg in the last two contests.
• Jordan Vincent is scoring 4.5 ppg with 1.1 rpg and 2.0 apg. He has gone 18 of 23 from the free throw line this season.
• Zaid Dajani is scoring 2.6 ppg in 17 appearances.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
• is 116-60 in his sixth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 149-90 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 3-14 against Northwest Missouri.
 
NORTHWEST MISSOURI HEAD COACH BEN MCCOLLUM
• is 357-85 in his 14th season as the Bearcats' head coach.
• is a 2003 graduate of Northwest Missouri.
• named the 20th head coach in Bearcat history.
• played for Northwest going 51-12 in two seasons including a 29-3 mark during a run to the NCAA Elite Eight during the 2001-02 season.
• is the first five-time NABC Division II National Coach of the Year and a seven-time MIAA Coach of the Year.
• led Northwest to the 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022 NCAA National Championship.
• is 21-10  against the Ichabods.
  • The Bearcats are 23-2 and ranked No. 4 in the latest NABC Top 25 poll.
• Northwest is in the midst of a nine-game win streak with its defense leading the way.
• In its nine-game win streak, Northwest is limiting the opposition to 48.2 points per game.
• Diego Bernard leads the team in scoring at 16.9 ppg with a team-high 5.1 rebounds per game recently going over the 2,000-point mark in scoring.
• Bennett Stirtz is scoring 12.6 ppg followed by Wes Dreamer at 11.2 ppg and Luke Waters at 9.3 ppg and.
• The Bearcats rank No. 2 in the nation in scoring defense by allowing only 56.5 points per game. Southern Nazarene leads the country by allowing 56.3 points per contest.
• In MIAA play, Northwest leads the league in scoring defense (55.2 ppg) and Fort Hays State is No. 2 at 60.0 ppg.
  (Feb. 4, 2023)  MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods could not overcome a slow start in a 79-53 loss to No. 4-ranked Northwest Missouri on Saturday in Bearcat Arena. 
The Bearcats (21-2, 14-2 MIAA)  jumped out to a 13-4 lead eight minutes in the game, but the Ichabods came back to trim the lead back to four at 13-9 on a lay up by Brady Christansen before the Bearcats pushed out to a lead as many as 25 in the half taking a 39-16 lead into the halftime break.
After shooting 29 percent in the first half, the Ichabods improved to 46 percent in the second half hitting 11 of 24 shots and were outscored by the Bearcats 40-37 in the final 20 minutes.
Andrew Orr led the Ichabods with 17 points on 5 of 6 shooting and Jarmell Johnson had 13 off the bench. Emmanuel Byrd had six points and eight rebounds.
Northwest was led by Wes Dreamer with 25.
Washburn (10-11, 7-8 MIAA) outrebounded the Bearcats 30-29, but the Bearcats outscored the Ichabods 22 to 5 on points off turnovers as Washburn committed 16 in the game.
  • Tuesday's meeting will be the 118th between the two schools and Washburn holds a 63-54 lead in the series.
• The series dates back to the 1940-41 season and they have played each other every year since WU joined the MIAA in 1989-90.
• The Ichabods are 21-15 against the Bearcats in Lee Arena.
• Washburn is 25-26 in Maryville and the Ichabods are 33-27 in MIAA contests.
• In the MIAA Tournament, the Ichabods are 4-8 against Northwest after falling in the 2018, 2019 and 2022 MIAA Championship games before winning the 2021 Tournament in Maryville.
• In the NCAA Tournament, the Ichabods are 2-3 against the Bearcats.
• The Ichabods won a regional final contest against the Bearcats in Topeka on March 10, 2001 advancing to the Elite Eight in Bakersfield, California after a 67-61 win. (Feb. 11, 2023) TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods (12-11, 9-8) held No. 6 Central Oklahoma (21-3, 15-3) to 22 first half points and 36.7% shooting in the game to knock off the Bronchos 75-55 in Lee Arena on Saturday Afternoon.
Central Oklahoma jumped out to a 7-2 lead on two layups and a 3-pointer and did not trail in the game until the 7:22 mark of the first half. Jarmell Johnson scored five straight points off the bench, the last three coming on a corner 3-pointer to give Washburn a 19-17 lead. It was the first and only lead change of the day. 
The Ichabods' first half lead grew to as high as eight points on the final possession of the half with a layup from Andrew Orr making it 30-22 at the break. 
At 17:46 in the second half Jaden Monday knocked down a jumper to push the lead to double digits. Brady Christiansen continued Washburn's hot shooting day by knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers, giving the Ichabods a 13-point advantage. 
The Bronchos made it a single digit game with 13:40 to play and it was the last time the deficit was that close. Washburn responded with a 9-0 run with eight of the points coming from Johnson and Christiansen. 
Washburn's lead grew to a game-high 24 points at the 3:19 mark of the second half after Levi Braun knocked down his sixth 3-pointer of the game. In the final three minutes the Ichabods put the finishing touches on a 20-point win to move above .500 for the first time in 2022-23 and notch Washburn's second ranked win of the season. 
Braun's six 3-pointers accounted for 18 of his game-high 20 points for the Ichabods on 7-10 shooting. Christiansen added 16 points off the bench on only 5-7 shooting and pulled down six rebounds. Andrew Orr scored 13 points and dished out a career-high six assists and Jaden Monday had 10 points, five assists and five rebounds. 
Cam Givens led the Bronchos with 17 points on a 7-12 shooting effort, Jaden Wells added 12 points for UCO. 
As a team Washburn shot 50.9% from the field and 40.9% from three-point range while holding the Bronchos to a 4-21 effort from deep. Central Oklahoma was limited to just six assists in the game compared to 18 for the Ichabods. 
Washburn had a slight turnover advantage, 14-12, but scored 21 points on the opportunities while surrendering only four. They also had a 25-13 advantage in scoring off the bench.     • The Ichabods are 1,656-1119-2 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 672-314 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 485-101 (.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.
  • The Ichabods will take a trip to Jefferson City, Mo. to take on Lincoln on Feb. 16 and then finish with their fourth game in seven days at Central Missouri on Feb. 18.