•    The Washburn Ichabods return to Lee Arena for a pair of games before heading out on a four-game road trip hosting Missouri Southern on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Topeka.
•    Following the match up with the Lions, the Ichabods will face Pittsburg State on Jan. 20 before leaving for road games at Fort Hays State, Nebraska-Kearney, Rogers State and Northeastern State.
•    Washburn (10-5, 6-3 MIAA) is coming off a 70-69 win at Lincoln rallying from a 12-point deficit for the win as Andrew Orr hit a free throw with 1.6 seconds left to put the Ichabods ahead.
•    Missouri Southern (6-9, 4-5 MIAA) topped Nebraska-Kearney last time out 88-78 scoring 44 points in each half in the win.
•    The Ichabods received votes in the latest NABC Top 25 Coaches Poll.
•    Wednesday's meeting will be 90th between these two schools in a series that dates back to 1968-69.
•    Washburn leads the all-time series 51-37 … the Ichabods have averaged 77.9 points a game against the Lions in the 89 previous meetings.
•    Washburn is 32-12 against the Lions in home games and 19-22 in road contests.
•    The two teams have met at least once a year since 1976-77.
•    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 14.9 ppg averaging 3.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game … he leads the team with team with 23 steals and has reached double-figure scoring in 11 of 15 games.
•    Andrew Orr is scoring 13.7 ppg this season going 45 of 49 from the free throw line  which ranks fifth in the nation in percentage at 91.8 … he is shooting 57 percent from the field hitting 80 of 141 attempts … he is seventh in the MIAA in field goal percentage.
•    Jack Bachelor is scoring 12.1 ppg this season and leads the team with 49 assists and was named the MIAA Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 8.
•    Brady Christiansen is averaging 8.1 ppg with a team-high 7.1 rpg … he is 6 of 11 from 3-point in the last three games.
•    Jarmell Johnson is averaging 8.1 ppg and 3.2 rpg scoring … he had a career-high 18 field goal attempts against Lincoln last time out.
•    Michael Keegan is scoring 7.7 ppg with 6.2 rpg and averaging 8.6 ppg with 6.9 rpg in MIAA play … he is averaging 11.0 ppg in his last four games recording two double doubles.
•    Jake Schadegg is averaging 6.3 ppg and 1.9 apg … he is 11 of 15 from the free throw line this season.
•    Emmanuel Byrd is scoring 4.5 ppg with 3.6 rpg.
•    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 third in the nation in 3-point shooting 42.1 percent hitting 124 of 300 attempts … Washburn is third the MIAA in 3-pointers made per game at 8.3 per contest.
•    The Ichabods are first in the MIAA in scoring averaging 80.5 ppg and ranked eighth in scoring defense allowing 71.5 ppg.
•    Washburn's 47.7 field goal percentage is fourth in the MIAA and 38th in the nation.
•    Washburn is +7.9 in rebounding margin this season which leads the MIAA and ranked ninth nationally … the Ichabods also leading the MIAA in total rebounds at 39.3 per game.
•    This season overall, Ichabod opponents have shot eight more free throws than the Washburn has … Washburn is 226 of 305 at the charity stripe this season while opponents are 227 of 313.
•    The Ichabods have outscored their opponents by 35 points in the first half (564 to 529) and by 100 points (644 to 544) in the second half.
•    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.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
•    is 128-69 in his seventh season as the Ichabods' head coach and 161-99 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 5-6 against Missouri Southern.
 
MISSOURI SOUTHERN HEAD COACH SEAN McMAHON ...
•    is 23-22 in his second season as Missouri Southern's head coach.
•    he is in his second stint roaming the sidelines at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center as he served as an assistant and later associate head coach for the Lions for six seasons.
•    he was an assistant coach at Division I Southeast Missouri for the past two seasons.
•    is 1-1 against Washburn.
  •    The Lions are 6-9 overall and 4-5 in MIAA contests going 2-4 in road games this season.
•    Darius Dawson leads the team in scoring at 13.5 ppg with a team-best 6.7 rebounds per game adding 18 blocks. Dawson is ranked fifth in the MIAA in scoring, seventh in rebounding and sixth in blocks. Vinson Sigmon, Jr. is scoring 11.1 ppg and Cam William is scoring 10.5 ppg.
•    The Lions are ninth in scoring offense in the MIAA at 74.6 ppg and 11th in scoring defense allowing 74.8 ppg. The Lions are 12th in the league in 3-point field goal percentage and ranked 11th in the MIAA with 6.9 made 3-pointers per game.

  •    Wednesday's meeting will be 90th between these two schools in a series that dates back to 1968-69.
•    Washburn leads the all-time series 51-37 … the Ichabods have averaged 77.9 points a game against the Lions in the 89 previous meetings.
•    Washburn is 32-12 against the Lions in home games and 19-22 in road contests.
•    The two teams have met at least once a year since 1976-77.
•    The Ichabods are 3-2 against the Lions in the MIAA Tournament.
•    In games played in Lee Arena, the Ichabods are 25-10.
•    The teams have met three times in the NCAA Tournament - on March 10, 2000 when the Lions picked up a 79-73 overtime win in Joplin and on March 12, 2011 when the Lions topped the Ichabods in overtime again 82-79 in Edmond, Okla., and March 16, 2019 in Maryville, Mo. with the Lions winning 101-100.
  (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 team will play one final regular season matchup on Saturday at Emporia State before heading to Kansas City for the MIAA Tournament next week. 
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.       
  JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Andrew Orr hit a free throw with 1.4 left to push the Ichabods to a 70-69 win at Lincoln on Saturday afternoon in the final road game inside Jefferson Gymnasium.
The Ichabods trailed by as many as 11 in the first half at 33-22 with 5:07 to play before cutting the Lincoln lead down to eight, but a 3-point play by Elijah Farr pushed the lead back to 10 with 3:14 to go.  A dunk by Jarmell Johnson jump started a 6-0 run to end the half cutting the Blue Tiger advantage back to four at 37-33. Washburn was 1 of 6 from deep in the first 20 minutes while the Blue Tigers were 5 of 10.
To start the second half, the Ichabods scored the first five points of the frame – all by Michael Keegan on a 3-pointer and a layup as Washburn took a 40-37 lead. Lincoln pushed its lead out to four at 48-44 before buckets by Johnson and Andrew Orr tied the score back at 48 with 12:16 to go. But the Blue Tigers came back with a 3-pointer to stretch the lead back to three at 51-48.
Lincoln pushed its lead to 61-50 with 7:06 to go using a 13-2 run before a 3-pointer by Jack Bachelor broke an 0 for 9 shooting drought by the Ichabods with 6:23 to play.
A 3-point play by Orr pulled the Ichabods to a 63-61 deficit with 3:45 to play. The teams traded empty trips on the offensive end before Orr tied the score at 63 with a layup with 2:06 remaining. With 1:30 left, Orr connected on another layup putting Washburn up two at 65-63.  The Ichabods were fouled and Sam Ungashick connected on both free throws with 16 seconds to go as Ichabods moved their lead to four at 69-65. Lincoln cut the lead to two on its next possession..
Lincoln converted a layup off an Ichabod turnover tying the score at 69 with :04 to play, but Orr was fouled with 1.4 left after Jack Bachelor quickly inbounded the ball to Michael Keegan who fed it to Orr leading to the winning free throws. He hit the second of two free throws for the in.
Orr led the Ichabods (10-5, 6-3 MIAA) with a game-high 18 points going 7 of 9 from the field adding six rebounds. Johnson and Ungashick each had 13 and Keegan recorded his second double double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds (six offensive) with four assists.
Farr led the Ichabods with 16 points.
Washburn finished the game 25 of 64 from the field and was limited to 4 of 15 shooting from 3-point range for the game. The Ichabods were 16 of 23 from the free throw line. After hitting 13 of 26 shots in the first half, the Blue Tigers cooled off to 33 percent in the second half to finish at 40 percent for the game hitting 11 of 26 shots from 3-point range.
The Ichabods were +10 on the glass turning 16 offensive rebounds into 25 second chance points outscoring Lincoln (10-5, 5-4 MIAA) 40 to 26 in the paint and 16 to 8 in bench points.      •    The Ichabods are 1,678-1,128-2 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 host Pittsburg State on Jan. 20 before setting out on a four-game roadtrip starting at Fort Hays State on Jan. 25 followed by road contests at Nebraska-Kearney (Jan. 27), Rogers State (Feb. 1) and Northeastern State (Feb. 3). Washburn's next home games will be Feb. 7 against Missouri Western and Feb. 10 against Northwest Missouri.