• After opening the season with four-straight games on the road, the No. 2-ranked Washburn Ichabods will open the home slate facing Rockhurst in the newly renovated Lee Arena on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
• Washburn enters the game 4-0 after wins after picking up a pair of wins last weekend at the Central Region Challenge topping MSU Moorhead 95-63 and Winona State 88-57.
• Rockhurst is 2-0 this season after two wins in its opening weekend at the GLVC/GLIAC Challenge topping Davenport 82-72 and Purdue-Northwest 85-78.
• The Ichabods are 39-1 all-time in their home openers. The lone loss was on Nov. 16, 1990 to Friends, 89-88. Since then the Ichabods have won 34 consecutive home openers.
• The Ichabods are coming off one of the best seasons in program history with an NCAA Final Four appearance, an NCAA Central Regional Championship and an MIAA regular season title with a 30-4 overall record after going 17-2 in MIAA play.
• The Ichabods have recorded 31, 20-win seasons in program history and five under Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard in his eight seasons receiving four NCAA postseason berths coaching the 2024-25 squad to only the program's second 30-win season in school history.
• The 2025-26 season marks the 121st season of Ichabod basketball.
•  The Washburn Ichabods were picked atop the MIAA Preseason Coaches and Media polls released Oct. 6 by the league office. In the MIAA Coaches Poll, Washburn received 13 of 14 first-place votes, tallying 169 points, finishing ahead of Rogers State which had one first-place vote and 141 total points. In the MIAA media poll, the Ichabods received 23 of 25 first-place votes from the media for 346 total points. Fort Hays State had one first-place vote and 297 points, and Rogers State had a first-place vote and 286 total points.
  •  Former Ichabod Levi Braun is in his second season as a graduate assistant for the Hawks … at Washburn he played from 2019-2024 and is the school's all-time leader in 3-point percentage at .450 hitting 148 of 329 attempts and sits 14th on the all-time 3-pointer chart.
• The Ichabods are second in scoring margin in the NCAA D2 ranks at +30.8 trailing Black Hills State at +32.0.
• Jack Bachelor is eighth in the nation in assists and Dillon Claussen is fourth in the nation in double doubles with two … Claussen is also seventh in the nation in field goal percentage at 81.3, 10th in total rebounds with 35 … Jeremiah Jones leads the nation in total steals with 17 and is ranked seventh in steals per game at 4.25 per contest.
   WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
• is 171-79 in his ninth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 204-109 overall in his 11th year as a head coach.
• has led the Ichabods to five NCAA postseason appearances in eight seasons at Washburn as well as the 2021 MIAA Tournament Championship and the 2025 MIAA Regular season title.
• 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 3-3 against Rockhurst.
   
ROCKHURST HEAD COACH KYLE BLACKBOURN ...
• was named as the new head coach for the Rockhurst men's basketball program on April 16, 2024.
• is 19-12 in his second season on the Hawks' bench.
• served eight years on the University of Wisconsin men's basketball staff from 2016-24. He spent his last four years as the director of recruiting and scouting for the Badgers, while also assisting Greg Gard and the coaching staff. He was Wisconsin's assistant director of basketball operations in his first four years in Madison.
• prior to going to Wisconsin, Blackbourn was an assistant coach at Rockhurst under head coach Drew Diener in 2015-16. The Hawks ranked third in the GLVC in scoring defense that season.
• During Blackbourn's time at Wisconsin, the Badgers won two Big Ten regular season championships and played in five NCAA Tournaments. Wisconsin made an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in 2017 and advanced to the NIT Final Four in 2023.
• is 0-1 against the Ichabods.
   • Rockhurst is 2-0 this season after two wins in its opening weekend at the GLVC/GLIAC Challenge topping Davenport 82-72 and Purdue-Northwest 85-78.
• Rockhurst senior guard Jaylen Wesley was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference/Athletic Solutions Player of the Week in men's basketball, it was announced by the league office Monday … he averaged 20.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg and 3.0 steals and assists per game shooting 56 percent from the field.
• Drenin Dinkins is scoring 17.0 ppg as is Jaden Flournoy.
 
 SERIES HISTORY WITH ROCKHURST
• Wednesday's meeting will be the 66th in the all-time series.
• Washburn leads the all-time series 34-31.
• Washburn won the last meeting played in Topeka last season 82-66 on Nov. 18, 2023.
• The Ichabods are 21-9 in meetings in Topeka and have gone 11-21 in games played in Kansas City against the Hawks.
• The teams have split the last 10 match ups.
  (Nov. 15, 2025) KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The No. 10-ranked Washburn Ichabod basketball team had four players reach double figures as the team improved to 4-0 on the season in a 77-55 win over Rockhurst on Friday night in Kansas City. 
The Ichabods trailed once for 29 seconds when the Hawks (2-1)  led 3-2 in the first 27 seconds of the game as neither team could build a lead of more than five points. With 4:30 to go in the opening frame, the Ichabods turned a 26-24 lead into a 41-27 halftime advantage closing the half on a 15-3 run capped by a Kade Cook dunk at the buzzer. During the run, Washburn was 5 of 10 from the field hitting a pair of 3-pointers while the Ichabod defense held the Hawks to 0 of 6 from the field.
Washburn started the second half scoring 10 of the first 14 points building a 20-point lead, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Rockhurst cut the lead to 14 at 53-37. The Ichabods scored on their next two possessions to go back up by 20 before Rockhurst hit another pair of 3-pointers, pulling within 14 with 11:25 to go but did not get any closer as the Ichabods scored eight straight to go up 22 at 70-48 with 6:55 remaining cruising to the 22-point win.
Former Great Lakes Valley Conference first-team selection Jacob Hanna scored a game-high 19 points back in familiar territory on 6 of 11 shooting adding five rebounds. Brayden Shorter scored 16 points hitting four 3-pointers and Michael Keegan had 15 with nine rebounds and five assists. Jack Bachelor scored 11 points with six rebounds and four assists.
Rockhurst was led by Jesse White who scored 18 for the Hawks.
Washburn shot a season-best 52 percent from the field hitting 29 of 56 shots overall going 8 of 23 from deep. Washburn also held a 40 to 34 advantage on the glass and outscored the Hawks 40 to 14 in the paint while turning 11 Hawk turnovers into 17 points.
The win over the Hawks snapped a four-game losing streak to Rockhurst in Mason-Halplin Fieldhosue as the Ichabods recorded their first win since a 48-47 win on Dec. 13, 2014.
  (Nov. 15, 2025) PITTSBURG, Kan. – The No. 2-ranked Washburn Ichabods improved to 4–0 on the season with an emphatic 88–57 victory over Winona State at John Lance Arena in Pittsburg, Kansas on Saturday in their final game of the Central Regional Challenge.
After falling behind 2–0 on the opening possession, Washburn responded with a 10-0 run midway through the first half, sparked by threes from Bryson Smith and Jeremiah Jones and a fast-break layup from Dillon Claussen. That surge flipped the momentum and gave Washburn a lead it would hold for the final 37 minutes. The Ichabods shot 50 percent in the opening half and knocked down eight triples to build a 41–26 advantage at the break.
from Smith and Brady Christiansen, then extended the margin with a 7-0 spurt capped by a Marcus Glock three-pointer. The lead ballooned to 33 points in the final minutes, their largest of the night.
Washburn's offense was balanced and efficient, finishing 34 of 65 from the field (52.3 percent) and 11 of 32 from three-point range. They dominated inside with 44 points in the paint and converted 21 Winona State turnovers into 33 points. The Ichabods also controlled tempo, scoring 17 fast-break points and adding 13 second-chance points.
Bachelor led the Ichabods with 14 points and five assists, hitting three triples. Claussen led the way with 12 points, six rebounds, five assists, and two steals, while. Smith chipped in 13 points and three steals, and Jones contributed 11 points and five assists on 4-of-5 shooting. Glock matched Jones with 11 points, including three three-pointers, and Wilkins provided a spark off the bench with 10 points on a perfect 5-for-5 night.
Washburn's bench combined for 34 points, outscoring Winona State's reserves 34–23.
Defensively, Washburn held Winona State to 38 percent shooting and just 17.6 percent from beyond the arc. Gavyn Hurley paced the Warriors with 19 points, but no other player reached double figures until late in the second half.
  • The Ichabods led the NCAA D2 ranks in cumulative attendance last season with 35,633  and also led the nation in average attendance at 2,229 per game.
• Washburn has a 16-game home court winning streak which is tied for the fifth-longest fin the D2 ranks. • The Ichabods are 1,712-1,137-2 all-time in the 121st year in the program's history.
• Washburn is the seventh-winningest program in NCAA Division II history by victories.
• Washburn is 714-328 since joining the conference and the NCAA.
• The Ichabods have recorded 31 20-win seasons and they have two 30-win seasons after going 35-4 during the 1986-87 NAIA Championship season and after the 2024-25 season's 30-4 record.
• Washburn has won 22 conference championships including 11 MIAA titles.
• Washburn has received 16 NCAA Tournament bids going to four Elite Eight's appearing in the 2001 NCAA National Championship game.
  • The Ichabods are 515-104 (.831) all-time in Lee Arena.
• The 2025-26 season marks the 41st 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 return to the road as they will face another GLVC opponent in William Jewell in Liberty, Mo. on Nov. 22 at 3 p.m. Washburn then returns home facing Friends on Nov. 25 and then following the Thanksgiving break, the Ichabods will host Ottawa at 2 p.m. on Nov. 29 before opening MIAA play hosting Nebraska-Kearney on Dec. 4 and Fort Hays State on Dec. 6.