•    The Washburn Ichabods will finish-off a two-game Missouri Waltz with Lincoln on Saturday afternoon in Jefferson City, Mo.
•    Washburn (9-5, 5-3 MIAA) had its four-game winning streak snapped at Central Missouri on Jan. 10 in an 82-71 loss.
•    The Blue Tigers (10-4, 5-3 MIAA) are coming off a 71-63 win at home to Emporia State on Jan. 12.
•    The Ichabods received votes in the latest NABC Top 25 Coaches Poll.
•    Washburn leads the all-time series 33-6 over the Blue Tigers, but have lost the last two in the series with both games coming during the 2022-23 season.
•    The Ichabods are 15-2 all-time in games played in Jefferson City.
•    In 39 all-time games, the Ichabods have averaged 83.4 ppg.
•    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. •    The Ichabods will be without Jordan Vincent, Bradley Lightbourne, Tyson Ruud and Zach Davidson who will miss the season after injuries, surgeries or recovering from recent surgeries.
•    Sam Ungashick leads the Ichabods in scoring averaging 15.1 ppg averaging 3.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game … he leads the team with team with 21 steals … he's ranked sixth in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage hitting 32 of 65 attempts.
•    Andrew Orr is scoring 13.4 ppg this season going 41 of 44 from the free throw line  which ranks 13th in the nation in percentage at 93.2 … he is shooting 55 percent from the field hitting 73 of 132 attempts.
•    Jack Bachelor is scoring 12.5 ppg this season and leads with 46 assists … he scored a career-high 24 points against Northeastern State on Dec. 19 … he's reached double figure scoring in seven-straight games and is 9 of 16 from deep in the last four games and averaging 17 ppg in the last three contests.
•    Brady Christiansen is averaging 8.2 ppg with a team-high 7.4 rpg … he is 5 of 10 from 3-point in the last two games.
•    Jarmell Johnson is averaging 7.8 ppg and 3.0 rpg scoring … he is shooting 11 of 23 from 3-point range this season.
•    Michael Keegan is scoring 7.4 ppg with 5.9 rpg and averaging 8.3 ppg with 6.4 rpg … he is averaging 11.0 ppg in his last three games going 14 of 23 from the field with 8.3 rpg in the last three games.
•    Jake Schadegg is averaging 6.8 ppg and 1.6 apg … he is 11 of 15 from the free throw line this season.
•    Emmanuel Byrd is scoring 4.6 ppg with 3.8 rpg …he is shooting 71 percent from the free throw line.
•    Brayden Shorter is averaging 3.9 ppg hitting 2 of 3 3-pointers against Central Missouri last time out.
•    Zaid Dajani is scoring 1.9 ppg and Kevin Eman is averaging 1.0 ppg.
•    The Ichabods are fourth in the nation in 3-point shooting 42.1 percent hitting 120 of 285 attempts … Washburn is second the MIAA in 3-pointers made per game at 8.6 per contest.
•    The Ichabods are first in the MIAA in scoring averaging 81.3 ppg and ranked eighth in scoring defense allowing 71.0 ppg.
•    Washburn's 48.4 field goal percentage is third in the MIAA and 37th in the nation.
•    Washburn is +7.8 in rebounding margin this season which leads the MIAA and ranked ninth nationally … the Ichabods also leading the MIAA in total rebounds at 38.9 per game.
•    This season overall, Ichabod opponents have shot 21 more free throws than the Washburn has … Washburn is 210 of 282 at the charity stripe this season while opponents are 219 of 304.
•    The Ichabods have outscored their opponents by 39 points in the first half (531 to 492) and by 95 points (607 to 512) in the second half.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
•    is 127-69 in his seventh season as the Ichabods' head coach and 160-99 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 6-3 against Lincoln.
 
LINCOLN HEAD COACH JIMMY DREW ...
•    is 27-14 in his second 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 2-0 against Washburn.
  •    Lincoln is 10-4 and 5-3 in the MIAA after defeating Emporia State 71-63 on Thursday night at home.
•    DJ Richardson is scoring 16.9 points per night scoring a season-high 29 points against the Hornets … Franck Yetna, is scoring 13.0 points per contest and Elijah Farr is averaging 12.1 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.
•    Lincoln is averaging 73.9 ppg and allowing 67.1 ppg which is fifth in the MIAA … the Blue Tigers are tied for second in the MIAA with the Ichabods at 8.6 3-pointers made per game … Lincoln is ranked ninth in rebounding at 33.4 and is +3.6 in rebound margin.
  •    Saturday's meeting will be the 40th in the series history and Washburn leads 33-6.
•    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 15-2 against Lincoln in Jefferson City all-time having their 15-game winning streak snapped in the last meeting on Feb. 16, 2023.
•    In Topeka, the Ichabods are 16-3 .
•    In neutral site games Washburn is 2-1.
•    The teams have never met in the MIAA Tournament.
  (Feb. 16, 2023) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. –Washburn had its 15-game winning streak in Jefferson City in a 64-58 loss as the Ichabods struggled from 3-point range going 2 of 12 overall and 0 of 8 in the first half as Lincoln picked up the win.
The Ichabods (12-13, 9-10 MIAA) trailed 29-18 at the break after struggling from the field going 7 of 27 from the field including 0 of 8 from deep while the Blue Tigers hit 10 of 25 shots and 4 of 13 building their largest lead of as many 11 entering the half. In the opening stanza, the Ichabod starters were 4 of 17 with two field goals each from Andrew Orr and Tyler Nelson who had four points each.
Coming out of the half, Nelson connected on a 3-pointer and Jayden Monday had a breakaway layup cutting the lead to six at 29-23 in favor of Lincoln (17-6, 13-6 MIAA). Washburn cut the lead to four after another bucket by Nelson as Washburn trailed 33-29 with 14:54 to go at the first media timeout of the second half.
The Ichabods came up empty on four-straight possessions trailing by four or five points and after a free throw and a basket, Lincoln led 39-31 with 10:42 to play leading to an Ichabod timeout. After the timeout, Lincoln hit two more free throws to go back up 10.
Washburn chipped away cutting the margin to six with 7:54 to go at 44-38 on a traditional 3-point play by Orr.  Lincoln pushed its lead back to nine at 50-41 with 5:19 to go. A jumper by Nelson cut the lead to seven with 4:21 remaining entering the final media timeout.
The teams traded turnovers and after a 3-pointer by the Ichabods, Orr hit a layup in the paint with 3:10 to go as the Ichabods trailed 53-45. Orr hit another shot with 2:12 to go trimming the lead back to six, but the Blue Tigers came back with a bucket of their own pushing the margin back to eight. However Jarmell Johnson had a driving layup putting the difference back to six again at 55-49 with 1:23 to play.
After a timeout, the Blue Tigers hit a 3-pointer stretching the lead back to nine at 58-49 with 1:15 to play and Washburn would not get any closer than five with 14 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Michael Keegan.
Washburn was led by Nelson and Orr with 13 points each and Johnson scored 11 off the bench.
Sam Rautins led the Blue Tigers with 15 points going 4 of 6 from deep.
Washburn finished 24 of 54 from the field for a 44 percent clip, but was only 2 of 12 from deep. The Ichabods were 8 of 13 from the free throw line. The Blue Tigers finished 18 of 48 from the field (38 percent) but were 7 of 22 from deep and hit 21 of 34 free throws attempting 21 more from the charity stripe.
Washburn was outrebounded 40 to 31 on the glass as Lincoln had 12 offensive rebounds gaining 11 second chance points. Washburn outscored Lincoln 32 to 20 in the paint.     
  (Jan. 10, 2024) WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods had their four-game winning streak snapped by a hot-shooting Central Missouri squad in a 82-71 loss on Wednesday at the UCM Multi.
The Mules, who entered the game as a 31 percent shooting squad from 3-point range built a lead of as many as 19 in the first half hitting 8 of 14 shots (57 percent) from deep. However trailing by 19 at 40-21 with 3:20 to go in the frame, Washburn closed with a 10-0 run to trail 40-31 at the break after holding Central Missouri scoreless the final 3:20 of the half.
To start the second half, the Mules kept the Ichabods down by between 12 and 14 points as three times in the second half after Washburn connected on a 3-pointer, the Mules answered as UCM did not cool off in the second half hitting 4 of 9 from deep to finish 12 of 23 overall for a 52 percent average. Coming into the game UCM was averaging 7.7 per contest.
Twice in the final 2:49, the Ichabods (9-5, 5-3 MIAA) cut the lead to nine. Once at 2:49 to play on a 3-pointer by Sam Ungashick and a free throw by Brady Christiansen and Washburn pulled within seven at 78-71 with 1:46 to go, but the Ichabods were scoreless the rest of the way as UCM hit 4 of 5 free throws down the stretch to hang on for the win snapping Washburn's seven game winning streak over the Mules.
Jack Bachelor led the Ichabods with 18 points going 8 of 8 from the free throw line hitting a pair of 3-pointers with four assists and three steals. Andrew Orr finished with 14 points and Michael Keegan had a game-high eight boards.
UCM (7-6, 2-5 MIAA) put five players in double figures led by Corey Skillman, Jr. who had 17 points off the bench hitting all five 3-point attempts.
Washburn was plus-five on the glass outrebounding UCM 33-28, but 12 Ichabod turnovers led to 14 Mule points. The Ichabods used 13 offensive rebounds to 13 points.
The Ichabods finished 44 percent from the field hitting 24 of 54 shots while the Mules were 26 of 49 overall for a 53 percent average. The Ichabods finished 8 of 20 from 3-point range and went 15 of 21 from the free throw line while the Mules were 18 of 22 overall.        •    The Ichabods are 1,677-1,128-2 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 683-320 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 494-102 (.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 Lee Arena next week hosting Missouri Southern on Jan. 17 and Pittsburg State on Jan. 20.