TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn men's basketball will head to Emporia to take on the Hornets and wrap up the regular season Saturday at 3:30 in White Auditorium. 

OPENING TIP

• The Washburn Ichabods will head to Emporia to take on the Hornets and wrap up the regular season Saturday at 3:30 in White Auditorium. 
• The Ichabods are 14-13 and 11-10 coming off a 84-64 win over Missouri Southern on Thursday night. 
• The Hornets (20-7, 14-7 MIAA) are coming off an 68-67 loss to Pittsburg State on Thursday night. 
• Emporia State won the first matchup between these two teams 74-63 in Lee Arena on Dec. 3. 
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series 113-105 against the Hornets and have won two of the last three in Emproia. 
• The Ichabods are 44-59 against Emporia State in games played in White Auditorium. 
• Washburn is 3-9 in road games this season.
• 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

ICHABOD BITS

• Andrew Orr leads the Ichabods in scoring at 13.8 ppg while averaging 14.3 ppg in MIAA contests. Orr recorded his third straight double figures scoring effort with 16 points against Missouri Southern. He is third on the team in rebounds at 5.6 per game. Orr leads the MIAA shooting 60 percent from the field and is 16th in the conference in scoring. 
• Tyler Nelson is averaging 11.6 ppg overall scoring 12.1 ppg in MIAA contests. He tied a career-high with 25 points against Nebraska-Kearney and has reached double digits in his last 11 of his last 14 games averaging 14.1 ppg.
• Levi Braun is scoring 9.3 ppg and has hit 61 of 136 3-pointers (45 percent). He tied a career-high with seven rebounds against Missouri Western. Of his 81 field goals this season, 61 have been from 3-point range.
• armell Johnson is scoring 8.0 ppg with 3.3 rpg. Johnson is scoring 8.6 ppg with 3.6 rpg in MIAA games tying a season-high with 16 points at Newman. He has reached double figures in five of the last seven games averaging 10.8 ppg. 
• Michael Keegan is scoring 8.1 ppg with 5.7 rpg with 26 steals and 21 blocks. He scored a career-high 21 points against Newman going 8 of 11 from the field adding nine rebounds. In MIAA games he is scoring 8.6 ppg with 5.5 rpg … he is seventh in the MIAA in blocks per game.
• Jaden Monday is scoring 6.2 ppg and has scored in double figures in three of his last six games with a career-high 23 against Missouri Southern. He also tied a career best pulling down six rebounds against the Lions. 
• Connor Deffebaugh is scoring 6.6 ppg adding 2.4 assists per game. 
• Brady Christiansen is scoring 5.3 adding 6.8 rpg which leads the team, scoring a career-high 16 against Central Oklahoma. He is ranked fifth in the MIAA in rebounds. In MIAA games is he averaging 5.5 ppg with 6.5 rpg. This season, Christiansen has 184 rebounds, which is third on the Ichabod all-time freshman chart. His 6.8 rpg average would be fifth on the chart if the season ended today.
• Jordan Vincent is scoring 3.8 ppg with 1.0 rpg and 1.4 apg. He has gone 18 of 23 from the free throw line this season. 
• Zaid Dajani is scoring 2.6 ppg in 17 appearances.
• Jake Schadegg has scored 10 points appearing in eight games while Emmanuel Byrd has scored eight points in eight games. Zach Davidson has played in eight games and Kevin Eman has appeared in three.

COACHES

WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD

• is 118-62 in his sixth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 151-92 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 7-3 against Emporia State.

EMPORIA STATE HEAD COACH CRAIG DOTY

• is 61-55 in his fifth season at Emporia State
• is in his 11th season as a head coach at the D2, NAIA, and NJCAA level he is 222-105 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 2-6 against Washburn

ABOUT EMPORIA STATE

• The Hornets are 20-7 overall and 14-7 in the MIAA 
• Emporia State has two players averaging double figures scoring led by Owen Long who is second in the MIAA with 17.4 ppg. Alijah Comithier averages 14.5 ppg and pulls down 5.5 rpg.  
• The Hornets are averaging 71.2 ppg while allowing 64.5 per game and they are +1.4 in rebound margin.

LAST MEETING WITH EMPORIA STATE

(Dec. 3, 2022)  TOPEKA, KAN. -- Cold shooting cost Washburn men's basketball (3-5, 0-2) in its conference home opener against Emporia State (7-0, 1-0) on Saturday afternoon. The Ichabods shot 32% as a team and were unable to mount a comeback in a 74-63 loss.  

The Hornets jumped out to a five-point lead in the first five minutes. Washburn's defense helped withstand a slow offensive start, and a five-minute stretch without allowing a point allowed the Ichabods to go on a 9-0 run and lead by three at the 6:29 mark.  

Shots stopped falling for Washburn and on the other end Emporia State stayed aggressive, leading to 15 first half free throw attempts for the Hornets. A 14-4 Emporia State run to close the half gave them a 34-28 lead.  

Out of the break Connor Deffebaugh scored six points in the first four minutes, tying the game for the Ichabods with 16 minutes left. The Hornets continued to attack the paint, finishing with 30 points in the blue for the game. A string of shots at the basket provided Emporia State with a nine-point advantage at the 11-minute mark.  

Both sides traded baskets over the next five minutes. Washburn was able to cut the lead down to four on a 3-pointer by Jayden Hibbitt after he pulled down an offensive rebound. Emporia State continued to have answers, winding the shot clock down and knocking down shots late.  

Back-to-back 3-pointers put the lead up to 12 with 2:37 left to play. It was cut to under 10 one more time before the final buzzer with the Hornets winning 74-63.  

Andrew Orr led the Ichabods with 18 points, and had a double-double, pulling down 10 rebounds as well. Connor Deffebaugh finished with 17 points on 7-14 shooting but was limited to 29 minutes after fouling out with five minutes remaining. Jayden Hibbitt finished with a season-high 12 points and pulled down six rebounds off the bench.  

Owen Long had 19 for Emporia State to lead all scorers, he knocked down five triples with six rebounds. The Hornets finished with three players in double figures.  

Washburn had a lot of opportunities, winning the rebounding battle overall 46-35, including pulling down 22 offensive rebounds. They were unable to convert on the extra possessions, shooting 31.9% overall, and 19% from three, both season lows.  

The Ichabods had only 12 turnovers in the game but were held to just seven assists. 
SERIES HISTORY WITH EMPORIA STATE

• The meeting on Saturday will be the 219th meeting between the two schools and the Ichabods
• lead at 113-105. This is the most-played series for Washburn
• The Ichabods have won 10 of the last 14 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 Ichabods are 44-59 against the Hornets on the road. 
• This is the third consecutive season that these two teams will finish the regular season against eachother with Washburn on the road in both of the last two contests which have both been victories for the Ichabods. 
• Washburn is 5-1 against Emporia State in MIAA Postseason tournament games. 

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ICHABODS

(Feb. 23, 2023) TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn men's basketball won its second game in a row and finished out its regular season schedule with a 84-64 senior night win over Missouri Southern on Thursday night. The Ichabods finish the 2022-23 season with a 10-3 record inside of Lee Arena and were led in the finale by Jaden Monday who poured in a career-high 23 points.  

Seniors Tyler Nelson and Connor Deffebaugh were recognized on the court before the game for their contributions to the program in their four-year careers. 

The Lions (16-11, 12-9 MIAA) led for the first three minutes of action but after a layup from Andrew Orr with 16:52 left in the first half Washburn (14-13, 11-10 MIAA) took a 7-5 lead and never trailed again. After both teams were tied at 10, Washburn went on a 10-0 run to create a double-digit lead that was capped off by a fast break dunk by Michael Keegan.  

The 10-0 run was part of a larger 31-6 burst for the Ichabods that spanned from the 13:47 mark to the 5:08 point in the first half. In that time Washburn knocked down seven 3-pointers including four on consecutive possessions, three from Levi Braun and one from Jarmell Johnson.  

After the lead had ballooned up to 25 points at the five-minute mark but was bumped under 20 by halftime with Washburn in front 46-27.  

The Ichabods continued the strong offensive performance in the second half and the lead never dropped below 18 because of it. Jaden Monday drilled a 3-pointer at the 12:13 mark in the second half to push the lead all the way up to 26 points. In the final minutes it grew to almost 30 points after Tyler Nelson knocked down a step-back 3-pointer.  

Thirteen players checked into the game for Washburn as they closed out the 20-point victory. The Ichabods shot a scorching 52.8% from the field and were 11-20 from behind the arc while also getting to the line 24 times.  

Jaden Monday knocked down five 3-pointers on his way to 23 points, going 9-15 from the field while also adding five assists and six rebounds. Andrew Orr chipped in 16 points on 7-13 shooting with four rebounds.  

Michael Keegan was also in double figures, scoring 14 on 4-6 shooting, with six rebounds and three steals and Tyler Nelson had 12 points, five rebounds and a team-high six assists in his final home game.  

On the defensive end Washburn held Missouri Southern to just 37.5% shooting and the Lions were ice cold behind the arc, going 5-29. The Ichabods also controlled a 15-10 assist advantage and had the upper-hand on the boards 42-27.  

Sam Thompson led Missouri Southern with 15 points while Avery Taggart added 11.

ICHABOD BASKETBALL HISTORY

• The Ichabods are 1,658-1121-2 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 674-315 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.

HOME SWEET HOME

• The Ichabods are 487-102 (.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.

UP NEXT

• Washburn has qualified and will play in the MIAA tournament beginning Wednesday, March 1 in Kansas City, Mo.