•    The Washburn Ichabods will be on the road with a two-game trip through the Show-Me State beginning with Central Missouri on Jan. 10 in Warrensburg.
•    Washburn (9-4, 5-2 MIAA) has won its last four games including a 92-83 win over Newman on Jan. 6 in Topeka.
•    The Mules (6-6, 1-5 MIAA) are coming off a 76-73 win at Nebraska-Kearney last time out rallying from a 16-point deficit just before halftime.
•    The Ichabods received votes in the latest NABC Top 25 Coaches Poll.
•    The Ichabods lead the all-time series with Central Missouri 58-52 winning the last seven games in the series winning nine of the last 10 overall.
•    The Ichabods have won the last three games played in Warrensburg.
•    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. •    During the Ichabod four-game winning streak, Washburn has averaged 83.5 ppg while allowing 69.0 ppg.
•    Jack Bachelor has led the Ichabods in scoring during the streak averaging 17.5 ppg.
•    Sam Ungashick leads the Ichabods in scoring averaging 15.5 ppg averaging 3.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game … he is averaging 15.7 ppg in MIAA contests including a career-high 26 against Missouri Western and he's ranked fifth in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage hitting 31 of 62 attempts.
•    Andrew Orr is scoring 13.3 ppg this season going 37 of 40 from the free throw line  which ranks 13th in the nation in percentage at 92.5 … he is shooting 55 percent from the field hitting 68 of 124 attempts … He scored 21 points in 22 minutes against Newman last time out.
•    Jack Bachelor is scoring 12.1 ppg this season and tied for the team lead with 42 assists … he scored a career-high 24 points against Northeastern State on Dec. 19 … he's reached double figure scoring in six-straight games and is 7 of 12 from deep in the last three games.
•    Brady Christiansen is averaging 8.2 ppg with a team-high 7.7 rpg … he was 3 of 5 from 3-point range against Newman last time out.
•    Jarmell Johnson is averaging 8.0 ppg and 3.3 rpg scoring 11 last time out against the Jets … he's 13 of 18 from the free throw line in the last three games.
•    Michael Keegan is scoring 7.4 ppg with 5.7 rpg and averaging 8.3 ppg with 6.1 rpg … he recorded his first career double double against Newman with 10 points and 11 rebounds last time out.
•    Jake Schadegg is averaging 7.3 ppg hitting 4 of 9 shots from deep in the last two games averaging 8.5 ppg in his last four contests.
•    Emmanuel Byrd is scoring 5.0 ppg with 4.1 rpg.
•    Brayden Shorter is averaging 3.8 ppg while Zaid Dajani is scoring 1.8 ppg and Kevin Eman is averaging 1.0 ppg.
•    The Ichabods are four in the nation in 3-point shooting 42.3 percent hitting 112 of 265 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 82.1 ppg and ranked eighth in scoring defense allowing 70.9 ppg.
•    Washburn's 48.7 field goal percentage is third in the MIAA and 37th in the nation.
•    Washburn is +8.0 in rebounding margin this season which leads the MIAA and ranked ninth nationally … also leading the MIAA in total rebounds at 39.3 per game.
•    This season overall, Ichabod opponents have shot 21 more free throws than the Washburn has … Washburn is 195 of 261 at the charity stripe this season while opponents are 201 of 282.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
•    is 127-68 in his seventh season as the Ichabods' head coach and 160-98 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 9-1 against Central Missouri.
 
CENTRAL MISSOURI HEAD COACH ADAM BOHAC ...
•    Adam Bohac is 6-6 as the head coach at Central Missouri in his first season and 318-151 in his 16th season overall.
•    he was named the 25th head coach in the 118-year history of Central Missouri Mules basketball in March of 2023 after 15 seasons as head coach of the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm where he had an overall record of 312-146 including 221-98 in GAC play.
•    His teams have made nine post season appearances including four of the previous six seasons being in the NCAA Tournament. In 2022-23, the Storm reached the Sweet Sixteen and in 2019-20 were a two-seed in the tournament.
•    He is 1-0 against the Ichabods winning a meeting as Southern Nazarene's head coach. 
  •    Central Missouri is 6-6 overall and 1-5 in the MIAA after winning at Nebraska-Kearney 76-73 rallying from a 16-point deficit right before halftime.
•    The Mules have played only three home games this season going 2-1.
•    Caleb Neo leads the team scoring 13.8 ppg … he is shooting 35 percent from 3-point range hitting 31 of 89 attempts … also averaging double figures is Jalen Knott (12.0), Keith Kiner III (11.9) and Tim Jordan, Jr. (10.2).
•    The Mules are scoring 65.2 ppg while allowing 64.5 ppg.
  •    Wednesday's meeting will be the 111th between these two teams.
•    The Ichabods have won the last seven in the series and lead it 58-52 overall.
•    Washburn is 35-19 against the Mules in Topeka.
•    The Mules' last win in the series was on Feb. 1, 2020 in a 59-56 win over the Ichabods.
•    The Mules' have not won in Topeka since a 63-55 win over Washburn on Jan. 27, 2018 - a losing streak of five games.
•    The Ichabods have won 16 of the last 22 meetings.
•    The Ichabods are 5-1 all-time against Central Missouri in the MIAA Tournament.
•    The last time the teams met in the conference tournament was during the 2010 season when the Ichabods as the No. 8 seed topped the No. 1-seeded Mules 79-60.
  (Feb. 18, 2023) WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The Washburn men's basketball team led for 37:25 of the game as they picked up a 65-53 win over Central Missouri on Saturday in Warrensburg, Mo.
After the Mules (11-15, 6-13 MIAA) scored the first four points of the game, the Ichabods (13-13, 10-10 MIAA) came back with eight-straight points. Central Missouri doubling up the Mules.  Washburn led the Mules at 21-20 with 7:33 in the first half and then would finish the half outscoring Central 13-6 to take a 34-26 lead into the break.
The Mules outscored the Ichabods 14-9 over the first eight minutes of the half cutting back the Washburn lead to 43-40 but a 16-4 spurt by the Ichabods stretched the lead to 15 at 59-44 and UCM would get no closer than 11 the rest of the way.
Washburn was led by Andrew Orr who scored 17 points adding eight rebounds on 7 of 12 shooting. Six of his rebounds were on the offensive ends. Tyler Nelson had 12 points and Jarmell Johnson had 10 points off the bench.
Jack Chapman led the Mules with 12 points off the bench as the only Mule to reach double figures.
Washburn shot 39 percent in the game hitting 18 of 22 free throws going 21 of 54 shots from the field and 5 of 16 shots from deep. The Mules were 23 of 58 shooting 40 percent from the field going 3  of 23 from deep and 4 of 4 from the free throw line during the game.
Washburn outrebounded the Mules 38 to 33 and forced 16 UCM turnovers turning them into 16 points. Washburn also had 17 second chance points.     
  (Jan. 6, 2024) TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods turned a four-point halftime deficit to a nine-point win with a 60-point second half in a 92-83 win over the Newman Jets on Saturday picking up their fourth-straight win overall and their 20th win in a row over the Jets in Topeka.
Both teams traded baskets to start the second half with Newman (6-7, 3-5 MIAA) but Washburn was kept at arms-length as the Jets continued to lead by four, but a 9-2 run by the Ichabods midway through the frame capped by a Sam Ungashick lay-up put the Ichabods up 50-46 with 13:28 to play. Newman came back to tie the score at 50 and took the lead at 52-51 before a 13-4 run put Washburn up 64-56 with 8:49 left.
One of the Jets' 13 3-pointers in the game cut the Ichabod lead to three and a couple of minutes later, the Jets cut the lead to one and would eventually tie the score with 5:26 to go before a 3-pointer by Jack Bachelor, a pair of Brady Christiansen free throws and a lay-up by Jarmell Johnson moved the margin to seven at 77-70 with 4:25 to go.
With Washburn leading 79-72, Jake Schadegg scored eight-straight points for the Ichabods as the Jet deficit to 10 and Newman came back with back to back 3's of its own trimming the lead to six with 1:16 remaining but would get no closer as the Ichabod picked up the nine-point victory improving to 9-4 overall and 5-2 in the MIAA.
Washburn trailed 36-32 at the break after shooting 33 percent in the opening half hitting three 3-pointers while the Jets hit 7 of 17 attempts overall and would go on to finished 13 of 32 from deep. The Ichabods were 7 of 11 from deep. In the second half the Ichabods were a blistering 18 of 27 from the field for a 67 percent clip going 4 of 5 from behind the arch and 20 of 23 from the charity stripe. For the game Washburn finished 27 of 34 from the free throw line.
Andrew Orr led the Ichabods with 21 points as five Ichabods reached double figures. Bachelor scored 17 points with five assists. Brady Christiansen scored 13 with six boards and Michael Keegan had a double double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Ungashick led the team with six assists as Washburn had 20 assists on 29 field goals.
Latik Murphy had a game-high 22 points hitting six 3-pointers to lead Newman.
Washburn was outrebounded 40-39 in the game and outscored the Jets 44-26 in the paint and turned 13 Jet turnovers into 19 points.        •    The Ichabods are 1,677-1,127-2 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 683-319 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 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 Missouri to face Lincoln in Jefferson City on Jan. 13 before hosting Missouri Southern on Jan. 17 and Pittsburg State on Jan. 20.