• The No. 1-ranked Washburn Ichabods return to Lee Arena for matinee contest with Nebraska-Kearney hosting the Lopers at 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
• The Ichabods moved to 20-0 and 11-0 in the MIAA breaking the school record for the most wins to start the season with a 74-65 win over Fort Hays State.
• The Lopers are 7-11 this season and 5-5 in the MIAA coming off a 57-52 win over Central Missouri on Thursday night in Warrensburg.
• The Ichabods topped the Lopers 87-52 in the first MIAA game of the season on Dec. 5 in Kearney.
• Playing as the No. 1-ranked team in the nation in the NCAA ranks, the Ichabods are 9-2 in program history.
• The top-10 rankings places the Ichabods in the top five for nine-straight weeks for the first time in program history.
• The Ichabod record for the most wins to start the season was 19 coming in the 1992-93 season.
• The Ichabods are 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 31, 20-win seasons and five under Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard in his eight 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 1,163 career points sitting in 17th all-time … next on the chart is Jemi Johnson in 16th with 1,215 career points from 1992-95.
• Michael Keegan has 936 career points in 116 career games as an Ichabod and he has moved into a tie for fifth all-time at Washburn in career blocks with 94 tying Bobby Chipman who had 94 from 2009-13 … he is also fifth all-time in steals with 146 and he needs one assist to reach 200 for his career.
• Jack Bachelor is eighth in the nation and leading the MIAA in assist to turnover radio at 3.45, 12th in total assists at 112 and 15th in assists per game with 5.6 …in the last seven games his has had 57 assists and eight turnovers - a 7.1 to 1 ratio.
• The Ichabods are third in the nation in rebound margin at +10.4, fifth in the nation in field goal percentage at 51.6 percent, 13th in scoring defense allowing 64.4 ppg and third in scoring margin at +22.6 … in 11 MIAA games, the Ichabods are +23.2 in scoring margin leading the MIAA … the next closest team is Central Oklahoma at +6.0 ppg.
• Jacob Hanna is 24th in the nation in free throws made with 102 leading the MIAA and 20th in attempts with 139 also leading the MIAA.
• Andrew Orr is 17th in the nation in field goal percentage at 62.1.
• Michael Keegan is seventh in the nation and leading the MIAA in steals with 53 and he is ranked 13th in steals per game at 2.79 per game.
• Brayden Shorter is fifth in the nation in 3-pointers per game at 3.60 and he's ranked fifth in total 3-pointers made at 72 … his 72 3-pointers this season is second on the Ichabod sophomore record chart trailing Todd Alexander who hit 83 during the 1990-91 season.
• The Ichabods have recorded their 31st, 20-win season and fifth under Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard in his eighth season at the helm.
• The Ichabods have 1,696 all-time program wins in. The Ichabods would be the seventh NCAA D2 program to reach the 1,700 win mark.
  • The Ichabods' current 20-game winning streak is the third-longest winning streak in program history and the longest to start a season.
• Below are the top-10 longest winning streaks in program history.
Wins ___Started__________ Ended
1.      25^___ 1/17/1987____ 11/23/1987
2.     23 _____12/17/1987___ 3/8/1988
3.     20*____ 11/08/2024__
4.     19*_____11/20/1992__ 2/6/1993
5.     16*_____11/20/2003__ 1/28/2004
6.     14 ______12/3/1985___ 1/27/1986
         14 ______12/18/1993__ 2/9/1994
8.     12*_____11/22/1991___ 1/18/1992
         12 ______1/25/1968___ 3/07/1968
         12 ______11/25/2017__ 1/20/2018
*streak started the season ^final 22 games of 1986-87 season, first three games of 1987-88 season WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
• is 157-75 in his eighth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 190-108 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.
• he is 9-1 against the Lopers.
 
NEBRASKA-KEARNEY HEAD COACH MARTY LEVINSON ...
• is the 22nd head men's basketball coach in Nebraska-Kearney history (117 years) and began his duties in April 2024.
• is 7-11  in his first season.
• The Grand Island native is a Bellevue West High School and UNK graduate, played high school, college, and professional basketball in the state, and held coaching positions at Grand Island Central Catholic, UNK, Central C.C.-Columbus, and assisted with Everything to Gain (ETG), one of the top AAU programs in Nebraska.
• having worked at the collegiate level for the past 17 years, Levinson has been a successful head coach at Central C.C. (2012-14), Southern Arkansas University Tech (2018-23) and Trinity Valley, Texas (2023-24). He was the first-ever coach in SAU Tech history, building the program up from the ground floor.
• has amassed a career record of 191-94 (.670 winning pct.) at the junior college level having been named District Coach of the Year five times and Region C.O.Y on four occasions. Finally, he saw five of his teams qualify for the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Tournament, finishing as high as third.
• is 0-1 against the Ichabods.
  • The Lopers are 7-11 this season going 5-5 in MIAA play.
• UNK is coming off a 57-52 win at Central Missouri last time out.
• Ja'Bryant Hill and Chase Thompson are both scoring 15.3 ppg to lead the Lopers.
• Allen Taylor is scoring 14.6 ppg and Taylor Harrell is scoring 9.7 ppg with a team-high 7.2 rpg.
• The Lopers are averaging 72.8 ppg and allowing 74.1 ppg.
  • Saturday's meeting will be the 51st in the series and the series is tied 25-25.
• The Ichabods won the last meeting over the Lopers 87-52 for the largest win in series history on Dec. 5, 2024 in Kearney.
• All-time in games in Kearney, the Ichabods are 9-17.
• Washburn leads 15-7 in games played in Topeka.
• The Ichabods have won eight of the last nine overall meetings and the last five in a row.
• The two teams have only played twice in the MIAA Tournament with the teams splitting a pair of games.
  (Jan. 30, 2025) TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 1-ranked Washburn Ichabods set a school record for the most consecutive wins to start a season improving to 20-0 and 11-0 in the MIAA with a 74-65 win over Fort Hays State on Thursday in Lee Arena.
The Ichabods scored the first pair of points on a layup by Michael Keegan pushing Washburn to an early 2-0 lead, but the Tigers (13-6, 6-4 MIAA) took the lead back scoring 7 of the next 9 of the game and would go on to build a lead of as many as seven in the opening half at 11:26 to play at 17-10.
With the Ichabods down 20-15 with 7:47 to play in the half, Washburn ripped off a 21-4 run to close the half with Jack Bachelor scoring the final nine points of the frame for the Ichabods as Washburn took a 36-24 lead into the break. Washburn was 7 of 9 during the final 7:20 of the first half while the Ichabod defense held the Tigers to 1 of 8 shooting.
In the second half, the Ichabods were holding a 17-point lead at 53-36 with 11:50 to go, but the Tigers used a 10-0 run trimming the Washburn lead to seven with 10:04 left. The Tigers would go on to cut the lead to six with 5:55 to play and for the final time with 5:16 to play before Brayden Shorter hit a 3-pointer followed by a Dillon Claussen pushed Washburn's lead back to 10 at 64-54. The Tigers would not get any closer than eight the rest of the way as Washburn hit 8 of 9 free throws in the final 3:19 securing its 20th-straight win in front of a crowd of more than 3,000 in Lee Arena.
Bachelor led the Ichabods with 20 points adding five assists. Jacob Hanna scored 15 adding seven boards. Brady Christiansen recorded a double double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Andrew Orr finished with 10. Kyle Grill led the Tigers with 25 points.
Washburn shot 47 percent from the field hitting 22 of 47 overall and held the Tigers to 44 percent shooting at 24 of 55. The Ichabods hit 25 of 33 free throws and held a 36 to 24 advantage on the glass.
Washburn committed 14 turnovers leading to 22 points for the Tigers and the Washburn bench outscored the Tiger bench 18 to 6. • The Ichabods are 1,696-1,133-2 all-time in the 119th year in the program's history.
• Washburn is the seventh-winningest program in NCAA Division II history by victories.
• Washburn is 703-325 since joining the conference and the NCAA.
• The Ichabods have recorded 31 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 508-104 (.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 wrap up their three-game homestand with Central Missouri on Feb. 8 before road games at Arkansas-Fort Smith (Feb. 13) and Northeastern State (Feb. 15) before returning home for their final two regular season games hosting Central Oklahoma (Feb. 20) and Rogers State (Feb. 22) Washburn will end the regular season with road games at Pittsburg State (Feb. 26) and Missouri Southern (March 1).