OPENING TIP
• The No. 3 Washburn Ichabods continue their MIAA-opening weekend roadtrip at Fort Hays State on Saturday afternoon with a 4 p.m. tip with the Tigers.
• The Ichabods are 8-0 and 1-0 in the MIAA after topping Nebraska-Kearney in their conference opener on Thursday night in Kearney in an 87-52 win … the 35-point win was the largest margin of victory in the 50-game series between the Ichabods and the Lopers.
• The Ichabods were ranked No. 3 in the NABC top 25 coaches poll and fourth in the latest D2CIDA poll released on Dec. 3.
• The ranking is the highest by an Ichabod team since earning a No. 2 ranking on Dec. 18, 2012. The last time the Ichabods were ranked No. 3 in the nation was on Nov. 30, 2004.
• The Tigers are 4-2 and have won their last four games after topping Central Missouri in double overtime in a 70-67 win over the Mules … all four of the wins for the Tigers this season have been in Gross Memorial Coliseum.
• The Ichabods improved to 22-23 all-time in their MIAA openers dating back to 1991 when Washburn became a full member of the league with their win over the Lopers.
• The Ichabods are in search of win No. 100 against the Tigers in the series history …Washburn leads the all-time series 99-72 and Saturday's meeting will be the 172nd between the two schools.
• The Ichabods are off to their best to begin the season at 8-0 since starting the 2020-21 Covid year 8-0 … the Ichabods opened that season with an 80-78 win over Fort Hays State in Hays.
• The Ichabods finished the 2023-24 season with a 19-11 record advancing to the MIAA Tournament semifinals.
• The Ichabods have recorded 30, 20-win seasons and four under Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard in his seven seasons receiving  four NCAA postseason berths.
• The 2024-25 season marks the 120th season of Ichabod basketball.
 
BLUES CLUES
• Andrew Orr needs one point to become the 28th member of the Ichabod 1,000 point club after scoring eight last time out at Nebraska-Kearney.
• Michael Keegan has 843 career points in 104 career games as an Ichabod and he has moved into sixth all-time at Washburn in career blocks with 84.
• The Ichabods are eighth in the nation in rebound margin at +11.7 and 10th in scoring margin at 21.3.
• Jacob Hanna is 23rd in the nation in free throws made with 45 and 25th in attempts with 61.
• Andrew Orr is 23rd in the nation in field goal percentage at 63.8.
• Michael Keegan is 17th in the nation and leading the MIAA in steals with 22 and he is 33rd in the nation in assist to turnover ratio at 3.13 to 1 which also leads the MIAA.
• Jacob Hanna is closing in on 1,000 points in his collegiate career between Washburn and Illinois-Springfield - between both schools he has scored 859 career points.
• The Ichabods are sixth in the NCAA with a +12.4 rebound margin and sixth in scoring margin at +23.0.
• The Ichabods have 1,684 all-time program wins in. The Ichabods would be the seventh NCAA D2 program to reach the 1,700 win mark.

COACHES
WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
• is 145-75 in his eighth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 178-105 overall in his 10th year as a head coach.
• has led the Ichabods to four NCAA postseason appearances in seven 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 7-2 against Fort Hays State.
 
FORT HAYS STATE HEAD COACH MARK JOHNSON  ...
• is the all-time coaching wins leader in FHSU history with a career record of 455-222 in his 24th season at FHSU, ranking among the top 30 active NCAA Division II men's basketball coaches in winning percentage (.671).
• has led the Tigers to seven NCAA Tournament appearances in his time at FHSU.
• became the all-time wins leader in Fort Hays State history on January 11, 2014 in a victory at home over Lincoln University, recording his 258th win.
• he reached his 300th career win on February 13, 2016 in a victory at Missouri Southern.
• has coached four All-Americans, 66 all-conference selections, a conference player of the year, two conference freshmen of the year, and four conference defensive players of the year in his time at FHSU.
• is 16-18 against Washburn.
 
ABOUT FORT HAYS STATE
• The Tigers are 4-2 and 1-0 in the MIAA after topping Central Missouri 70-67 in double overtime last time out.
• FHSU was tabbed No. 2 in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll behind the Ichabods.
• Kaleb Hammeke leads the team in scoring at 15.0 ppg shooting 11 of 28 from the 3-point line and he is 19 of 22 from the free throw line … he ranks 12th in the nation in minutes per game at 37:02 per contest playing 48 minutes against UCM last time out.
• Shaun Riley is scoring 14.6 ppg and leads the team with 7.2 rebounds per game.
• The Tigers are averaging 75.8 ppg and allowing 65.0 ppg.
• The Tigers are second in the nation in turnovers per game at 8.5 per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH FORT HAYS STATE
• Washburn leads the all-time series 99-72 and Saturday's meeting will be the 172nd between the two schools.
• The Ichabods have won 16 of the last 22 in the series.
• In Lee Arena, the Ichabods are 23-8 all-time against Fort Hays State going 10-13 in road games since joining the MIAA.
• Fort Hays State is 5-2 against WU in overtime games.
• The Ichabods are 3-0 against Fort Hays State in the MIAA Tournament including a 77-53 semifinal win in the 2018 event in Kansas City.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ICHABODS AGAINST FORT HAYS STATE
(Jan. 25, 2024) HAYS, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods had their three-game winning streak snapped in a 71-58 loss at Fort Hays State on Thursday night in Gross Memorial Coliseum.
The Ichabods (12-6, 8-4 MIAA) led 35-34 at the half after the Tigers (14-4, 9-3 MIAA) ended the frame on a 7-0 run holding the Washburn scoreless the final 2:21 of the opening stanza. To start the game, the Tigers jumped out to a 10-2 in the first two minutes of the game before Washburn came back with an 8-0 run over its own knotting the score at 10-10. Washburn stretched its lead to four at 17-13 before Fort Hays State tied the score at 17. From that point the Ichabods built a lead of as many as eight points at 35-27 with 2:21 before the Tigers trimmed the lead back to one.
In the second half, used a 23-5 run as the No. 1 scoring defense in the country held the Ichabods scoreless 6:39 building a lead of 17 at 61-44 with 9:03 to play.  Washburn cut the lead to 12 after a lay up and a 3-pointer by Michael Keegan but the Ichabods did not get any closer than 12 the rest of the way with 3:53 to go after a 3-pointer by Jack Bachelor.
Orr led the Ichabods with 13 points pulling down seven rebounds adding two blocks and two assists. Bachelor finished with 11 points hitting three of the Ichabods' five 3-pointers on the night. Brady Christiansen had nine points and eight rebounds.
Kaleb Hammeke scored 22 points garnering game-high honors hitting 6 3-pointers in the game and Elijah Nnanbu hit 9 of 12 shots overall scoring 20 points adding seven rebounds. Hammeke also had seven assists in the game.
The Ichabods committed 21 turnovers leading to 21 Tigers points while Fort Hays State committed only nine turnovers in the game giving the Ichabods 11 points. The 58 points by the Ichabods were a season-low in MIAA contests.
Washburn shot 45 percent in the game hitting 21 of 47 attempts overall and was 11 of 12 from the free throw line. In the second half, the Ichabods were limited to 7 of 20 shooting in the second half for a 35 percent average. The Tigers were 44 percent from the field hitting 10 of 24 3-pointers.
Washburn held a 35 to 25 advantage on the glass.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ICHABODS
(Dec. 5, 2024) KEARNEY, Neb. – The No. 3-ranked Washburn Ichabods opened MIAA play with a bang recording the largest margin of victory in the 50-game series with Nebraska-Kearney in an 87-52 win on Thursday.
The Ichabods trailed 3-0 after the Lopers (1-6, 0-1 MIAA) hit a long jumper taking the early lead and after a 3-pointer by Jack Bachelor tying the score, the Lopers took a 5-3 lead, but a 17-1 run over the next 6:07 of the contest taking a 20-6 lead as Washburn was 7 of 10 during the stretch while the Ichabod defense held the Lopers to 0-7 shooting from the field.
After the Ichabods used an 8-0 run after a pair of Loper buckets, the Lopers returned serve with  an 8-0 run of their own, cutting Washburn's lead to 28-10 with 7:17 to play in the half. Washburn used another double-digit run, outscoring the Lopers 10-0 going up 20 before taking a 44-26 lead into the break.
Bachelor hit back-to-back 3-pointers pushing Washburn's lead to 23. The Lopers connected on two more jumpers before the Ichabods ripped off another big run of 17-3 going up by 33 with 8:57 left.
After the final media timeout, Bachelor connected on another 3-pointer and Jake Schadegg hit two of his own 28 seconds apart, giving Washburn its 11th 3-pointer on the evening as the Ichabods rolled to the 35-point win. The 35-point win topped the previous series victory margin of 31 in an 89-58 win over the Lopers on Jan. 16, 2019 in Topeka.
Washburn (8-0, 1-0 MIAA) snapped a three-game MIAA-opener losing streak with the win over the Lopers, recording its first win in its league lid-lifter since 2020.
Bachelor's 19 points was a game high as he finished 5 of 8 from 3-point range. Brayden Shorter had 16 hitting four 3-pointers while Jacob Hanna had 15 points with seven boards and three assists. Schadegg had 10 points off the bench and Dillon Claussen just missed a double double with nine points and eight rebounds. Andrew Orr scored eight points leaving himself needing one point to become the 28th Ichabod to reach 1,000 career points.
The Lopers were led by Chase Thompson, who had 16 points.
Washburn finished the game 31 of 58 from the field for a 53 percent clip while the Ichabods held the Lopers to 17 of 52 shooting overall at 33 percent. Washburn was 11 of 27 from deep and hit 14 of 18 from the charity stripe.
Washburn dominated the glass outrebounding the Lopers 41 to 24 turning 10 offensive boards into 17 points while outscoring the Lopers 40 to 18 in the pain and 19 to 2 in fastbreak points.
 
ICHABOD BASKETBALL HISTORY
• The Ichabods are 1,684-1,133-2 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 694-325 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 502-104 (.848) all-time in Lee Arena.
• The 2024-25 season marks the 40th season of play in Lee Arena.
• The Ichabods are 39-1 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
• The Ichabods will step out of MIAA play for the final time as they will take on St. Edward's and Texas Permian Basin in San Antonio, Texas at the River City Classic Dec. 17 and Dec. 18. Washburn will then wrap up the 2024 calendar year at Central Missouri on Dec. 21 before returning after the holiday break facing another road contest at Emporia State on Jan. 4 before finally returning home for games against Missouri Western on Jan. 8 and Northwest Missouri on Jan. 11.