• The top-ranked Washburn Ichabods finish up a four-game homestand on Saturday hosting the Newman Jets in Lee Arena with tip scheduled for 3 p.m.
• The Ichabods moved to 16-0 and 7-0 in the MIAA defeating Emporia State on Wednesday night for the  second time in 11 days in an 88-73 win sweeping the regular season series.
• The Jets are 10-6 this season and 3-4 in the MIAA after falling at Central Missouri 80-70 on Thursday night in Warrensburg.
• The Ichabods have won the last nine in the series with the Jets.
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series 30-7.
• The Ichabods have won the last 25 of the 27 meetings with the Jets.
• The Ichabods were last ranked No. 1 in the nation on Jan. 27, 1992.
• Playing as the No. 1-ranked team in the nation in the NCAA ranks, the Ichabods are 4-2.
• The top-10 rankings places the Ichabods in the top five for seven-straight weeks for the first time in program history.
• The Ichabods are off to their best start to begin the season at 16-0 since starting the 2003-04 season 16-0 en route to the MIAA regular season championship.
• The Ichabod record for the most wins to start the season is 19 coming in the 1992-93 season.
• The Ichabods are now one of two undefeated teams remaining in the NCAA Division II ranks joining No. 2 Daemen (14-0).
• 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.
  • Andrew Orr became the 28th member of the Ichabod 1,000 point club with a free throw at Fort Hays State earlier this season … he now has 1,116 career points moving into 18th all time passing Todd Alexander and Tom Carlson with 1,099 points … next on the chart is Mike Dickerson in 17th with 1,130 career points from 1986-90.
• Michael Keegan has 912 career points in 112 career games as an Ichabod and he has moved into sixth all-time at Washburn in career blocks with 93 needing two more to move into the top five all-time at Washburn passing Bobby Chipman who had 94 from 2009-13 … he also moved into the top 10 on the all-time steal chart with 134 sitting sixth all-time.
• The Ichabods are sixth in the nation in rebound margin at +9.6 and 12th in scoring defense at 64.4 ppg and third in scoring margin at +21.1 … in seven MIAA games, the Ichabods are +22.0 in scoring margin leading the MIAA … the next closest team is Pittsburg State at +6.7 ppg.
• Jacob Hanna is 25th in the nation in free throws made with 83 and 25th in attempts with 109.
• Andrew Orr is 15th in the nation in field goal percentage at 63.6.
• Michael Keegan is 15th in the nation and leading the MIAA in steals with 41 and he is ranked 17th in steals per game at 2.56 per game.
• Brayden Shorter is seventh in the nation in 3-pointers per game at 3.56 and he's ranked seventh in total 3-pointers made at 57.
• Brayden Shorter has 100 career 3-pointers in 45 career Ichabod games … Jalen Lewis, the Ichabod all-time 3-pointer leader hit his 100th career 3-pointer in career game No. 49 … Tyler Geiman is second on the career chart with 250 career 3-pointers and he hit is 100th career 3-pointer in game No. 69.
• Jacob Hanna is closing in on 1,000 points in his collegiate career between Washburn and Illinois-Springfield - between both schools he has scored 80 career points.
• The Ichabods have 1,692 all-time program wins in. The Ichabods would be the seventh NCAA D2 program to reach the 1,700 win mark. WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
• is 153-75 in his eighth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 186-108 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.
• is 8-0 against Newman.
 
NEWMAN HEAD COACH R.J. ALLEN ... ...
• is 80-126 in his eighth season as the Jets' head coach.
• spent six seasons as an assistant at Newman before moving into the head coaching position.
• is 0-8 against Washburn.
  • Newman is 10-6 overall and 3-4 in MIAA play after dropping an 80-70 decision at Central Missouri on Thursday night in Warrensburg.
• Aaron Murphy leads the team in scoring at 10.9 ppg.  Sam Somerhalder is scoring 10.4 ppg and also leads the team with 6.1 rpg. Boston Stanton III is scoring 10.4 ppg.
• The Jets are averaging 78.7 ppg while allowing 71.6 ppg.
• The Jets are the top rebounding team in the league averaging 41.1 rpg while the Ichabods are second at 38.4 rpg and Newman has a +9.9 rebounding margin compared to +9.6 for the Ichabods.
  • Saturday's meeting with the Jets is the 38th all-time.
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series 30-7.
• The Ichabods have won the last 25 of the 27 meetings with the Jets and the last nine overall.
• Washburn is 7-5 against Newman in games played in Wichita.
• is 22-1 against Newman in Topeka with the lone loss coming on Feb. 12, 1980 in a 68-56 defeat … a winning streak of 19 games in a row for the Ichabods in Topeka.
• the Ichabods are averaging 83.9 ppg in the 37 all-time meetings with the Jets.
  (Jan. 15, 2025) TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods passed their first test playing as the No. 1 team in the country on Wednesday night with an 83-72 win over Emporia State in Lee Arena winning their 16th game in a row to open the season while handing the Hornets their sixth loss in a row.
Washburn (16-0, 7-0 MIAA) trailed only by one point on four different occasions in the opening half with the final time of ESU holding a 10-9 lead with 17:23 to play in the first half. Washburn then used a 7-0 run over the next 60 seconds going up 16-10.  
ESU (4-12, 1-6 MIAA) trimmed the Ichabod advantage to three at after a 3-pointer by Dallas Bear, but a 3-pointer by Michael Keegan and a 3-pointer and a back-to-back jumpers by Jack Bachelor pushed the Ichabod lead back to eight. Washburn then used a 14-2 run led by Keegan's eight points to take a 43-25 lead before a 3-pointer by the Hornets' Malik Edwards cut the Ichabod lead heading to the break to a 43-28 advantage.
The second half saw the Ichabods pushed their lead to 18 on their first possession of the frame on a 3-pointer by Keegan. Washburn kept the Hornets at arms-length in double digits building a lead to as many as 21 with 6:36 to play before a 15-4 Hornet run cut the lead to 10 at 75-65 with 2:48 to play.
ESU pulled within 10 points three different times but did not get any closer as the Ichabods went 10 of 12 the final 4:17 of the game from the free throw line securing the 11-point win.
Andrew Orr led the Ichabods with a game-high 21 points going 7 of 11 from the field hitting all seven free throw attempts. Brayden Shorter scored 17 points and Keegan finished with 16 points adding eight rebounds, a career-high-tying five steals and two assists and two blocks. Bachelor finished with 14 points. Brady Christiansen scored all seven of the Ichabods' bench points adding eight rebounds.
Arhman Lewis scored 19 points to lead the Hornets.
Washburn finished the game 26 of 62 from the field for a 42 percent clip as the Hornets outshot the Ichabods at a 44 percent average hitting 24 of 54 attempts. Washburn was 7 of 28 from 3-point range while the Hornets were 10 of 22. Washburn hit 77 percent of its free throw attempts hitting 24 of 31 compared to 14 of 16 for the Hornets.
Washburn also had a 38 to 30 advantage on the glass and forced 19 turnovers leading to 15 points. Washburn also had 16 offensive rebounds leading to 21 second chance points. • The Ichabods are 1,692-1,133-2 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 700-325 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.
  • The Ichabods are 506-104 (.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.
  • The Ichabods will set out on the road for contests at Northwest Missouri (Jan. 22) and Missouri Western (Jan. 25) before beginning another three-game stretch in Lee Arena with Fort Hays State (Jan. 30), Nebraska-Kearney (Feb. 1) and Central Missouri (Feb. 8).