• The No. 2-ranked Washburn Ichabods will host the Ottawa Braves on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Lee Arena in their final tune up before starting MIAA on Dec. 4 hosting Nebraska-Kearney.
• Washburn is 7-0 after going over the century mark against Friends on Tuesday in a 105-51 win.
• Ottawa is 5-3 this season and 2-1 in the KCAC after falling 84-69 to McPherson on Nov. 22 in its last outting.
• 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.
  • The Ichabods are fifth in scoring margin in the NCAA D2 ranks at +27.2 and fourth in field goal percentage at 54.4 percent - that also leads the MIAA …Washburn is also eighth in assists per game (20.0), 15th in assist/turnover ration (1.62) and sixth in effective field goal percentage (.610) and eighth in rebound margin (+14.0).
• Washburn went over the 100-point mark for the 83rd time in program history improving to 78-5 all-time in the 105-51 win over Friends last time out … the 54-point win was the largest in the series history.
• Jack Bachelor is fifth in the nation in 3-pointers made with 18 while leading the MIAA and Dillon Claussen is eighth in the nation in double doubles with two … Claussen is also 11th in the nation in field goal percentage at 73.3, 17th in total rebounds with 45 … Jeremiah Jones is second the nation in total steals with 19 and is ranked 13th in steals per game at 3.17 per contest.
• Jack Bachelor and Dillon Claussen have scored in double figures in all seven games this season and after going scoreless in the season opener, Bryson Smith has scored no fewer than 12 points in each of the last six games including 22 points against Rockhurst.
• Washburn has a 18-game home court winning streak which is the fifth-longest in the D2 ranks behind Nova Southeastern (89), Lincoln Memorial (25), Miles (21) and Alabama-Huntsville (20).
  • The 54-point win over the Falcons was the eighth-largest victory margin in Washburn's program history.
• The Ichabods recorded 17 steals in the game tying a Brett Ballard-era record.
• The 42 field goals made by the Ichabods were the most in a single game since hitting 43 against Emporia State on Jan. 4, 2025 last season.
• The 80 field goal attempts were the most by an Ichabod squad since attempting 84 against Ottawa on Nov. 21, 2023.
• Tyson Ruud tied a career high with 13 points and his three assists and three blocks were career highs.
• Tyler Salmon had career highs in points (7) and rebounds (3).
• Amalachi Wilkins had a career with eight rebounds against the Falcons.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
• is 174-79 in his ninth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 207-109 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 7-2 against Ottawa going 5-0 at Washburn.
   
OTTAWA HEAD COACH JAMIE BATISH ...
•  is in his first full season as head men's basketball coach. He coached the final 10 games of the 2024-25 season, finishing with a record of 5-5 and 10-8 overall.
• is in his seventh season as a member of the OU men's basketball staff, spending four seasons as an assistant coach and two as a graduate assistant coach.
• is in his six seasons with the program, he has coached 18 All-KCAC performers, two NAIA All-Americans, one KCAC Player of the Year, two KCAC Newcomers of the Year, two KCAC Defensive Team selections, and one KCAC Freshman of the Year. Batish was part of the staff for the 2019-20 KCAC regular season championship team and helped the Braves to the NAIA Men's Basketball Division II Round of 16.
• is 0-0 against the Ichabods.
   • The Braves are 5-3 this season and 2-1 in the KCAC falling in their last game out against McPherson 84-69 on Nov. 22.
• The Braves averaged 83.8 ppg and have allow 83.8 ppg this season.
• Rich Martelly leads the team in scoring at 16.3 ppg while Micah Willis is scoring 15.0 ppg followed by Landyn Tyler at 12.8 ppg and Cameron Lawson at 11.3 ppg.
   • The Ichabods lead the all-time series 59-17 with the 77th meeting coming up on Saturday.
• The Ichabods have won the last 26 meetings in the series and Washburn is 33-5 against the Braves in Topeka.
• Ottawa's last win in the series came on Dec. 29, 1959 in an 85-68 win in Ottawa.
• Ottawa's last win in Topeka came on Jan. 27, 1952 in a 79-53 victory.
  (Nov. 12, 2024) TOPEKA, Kan. -- The No. 10 ranked Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team began its home schedule inside Lee Arena with a 97-57 win over Ottawa on Tuesday night in Lee Arena. The Ichabods won their 500th game in program history improving to 500-103 (.829) in 40 seasons of action.
Andrew Orr had the first two buckets of the game for Washburn with the score knotted at four two minutes into the game. The Ichabods (3-0) scored the next seven points with the last five coming from Brayden Shorter to go up 11-4. A free throw from Michael Keegan with 11:38 to play in the half pushed the lead to double figures at 21-11.
The free throw was the first of a 9-0 run, which was capped off by another free throw from Keegan at the 9:36 mark. Back-to-back triples from Shorter pushed the lead up to 25 points with 2:57 left in the half. Washburn led by as many as 28 in the first half before going into the break up by 25 at 51-26 over the Braves (4-1).
A 20-4 run midway through the first half pushed the Ichabod lead to a game-high 45 points at 85-40 with 7:09 remaining in the game.
Shorter finished with a career-high 26 points pacing five Ichabods in double figures on 10 of 19 shooting including 4 of 9 from deep. The reigning MIAA player of the week, Andrew Orr had 14 points adding four steals while Jacob Hanna had 13 points followed by Michael Keegan's 12 points and five steals and Jake Schadegg's 12 points. Jack Bachelor had a career-high 11 assists adding six points. Keegan finished with a game-high nine rebounds.
P.J. Twa led the Braves with 11 points.
Washburn shot 49 percent in the game (35 of 72) holding the Braves to 22 of 55 shooting (40 percent). Washburn also held a 49 to 28 advantage of glass as the Ichabods outscored the Braves 48 to 28 in the pain while turning Ottawa over 22 times leading to 33 points.
  (Nov. 25, 2025) TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 2-ranked Washburn Ichabods delivered its highest point output of the early season, overwhelming Friends University 105–51 on Tuesday night at Lee Arena. The Ichabods controlled all 40 minutes, building a 25-point halftime lead before exploding for 59 more points in the second half to remain unbeaten at 7–0.
The Ichabods (7-0) forced 30 Falcon turnovers, turning those mistakes into 29 points, while surrendering only six turnovers of their own. Washburn piled up 66 points in the paint, 33 second-chance points, and 25 fast-break points, dominating the interior and pushing tempo on every rebound and steal.
Washburn shot 52.5 percent for the game (42-for-80) and hit 7-of-27 from three, while holding Friends to just 28.3 percent shooting overall and 25 percent from beyond the arc. The Ichabods hammered the Falcons on the glass as well with a 52–35 rebounding advantage, grabbing 21 offensive rebounds scoring 33 second-chance points.
Offensively, the scoring balance was overwhelming. Dillon Claussen led the way with 19 points, shooting 9-of-11 while adding six rebounds, two steals, and a block. Jack Bachelor followed with 16 points, six assists, five steals, and three rebounds, hitting four threes and controlling the game at both ends. Bryson Smith added 14 points, three assists, and three steals.
Off the bench, Tyson Ruud tied a career-high with 13 points, four rebounds, three blocks, and a steal. Amalachi Wilkins gave Washburn powerful minutes inside with 12 points, eight rebounds, and four offensive boards in 15 minutes of play reaching double figures for the second-straight game.
Marcus Glock scored eight points and hit two threes; Brady Christiansen added six points, four rebounds, and three assists; and Jeremiah Jones finished with nine points, six rebounds, three assists.
Washburn built early separation with a 6–0 start and stretched the lead to double digits within the first seven minutes. A late first-half surge, highlighted by multiple steals and transition finishes, pushed the margin to 25 at the break, 46–21.
The second half brought even more separation. Washburn opened with an 11-0 run, fueled by Ruud and Claussen around the rim, and the Ichabods' lead reached 50 points with more than five minutes remaining. Washburn held its largest lead at 55 points in the final minute before closing out the 54-point win.
Friends (5-2) was led by Collin Maclin's six points and a team-high four rebounds, but the Falcons managed only 18 points in the paint, nine second-chance points, and three fast-break points while committing 15 turnovers in the second half alone..
  • The Ichabods are 1,715-1,137-2 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 717-328 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 517-104 (.831) all-time in Lee Arena.
• The 2025-26 season marks the 41st season of play in Lee Arena.
• The Ichabods are 40-1 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 open MIAA play hosting Nebraska-Kearney on Dec. 4 and Fort Hays State on Dec. 6.