• The top-ranked Washburn Ichabods will look to bounce back from their first loss of the season when they continue their road trip at Northeastern State on Feb. 15 with a 3:30 pm start in Tahlequah, Okla.
• The Ichabods are coming off their first defeat of the season falling to 22-1 overall and 13-1 in the MIAA after losing in overtime to Arkansas-Fort Smith in an 87-80 defeat snapping the Ichabods' program-best 22-game win streak to start the season.
• The RIverHawks enter the contest 10-13 overall and 7-7 in the MIAA after their rally at home against Central Missouri came up short in a 65-56 loss.
• Saturday's meeting with the RiverHawks will be the only one between the two schools this season in the regular season.
• In games played in Tahlequah, the Ichabods are 4-7 and losing their last three games … Washburn's last win in the NSU Events Center came on Jan. 2, 2021 in an 85-84 overtime win.
• Playing as the No. 1-ranked team in the nation in the NCAA ranks, the Ichabods are 11-3 in program history.
• The top-10 rankings places the Ichabods in the top five for 11-straight weeks for the first time in program history.
• 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.
 
  • The Ichabods have 1,698 all-time program wins in. The Ichabods would be the seventh NCAA D2 program to reach the 1,700 win mark. The last team to win at least 1,700 games was Fort Hays State earlier this season.
• 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 1,216 career points sitting in 16th all-time passing Ichabod Hall of Famer Jemi Johnson against Arkansas-Fort Smith … next on the scoring chart in 15th is former Ichabod All-American Brady Skeens with 1,229 career points from 2014-18.
• Michael Keegan has 950 career points in 119 career games as an Ichabod and he has moved past Bobby Chipman into fifth place on the career blocks chart with 95 … he is also third all-time in steals with 153 needing four more to pass Jordan Canfield who had 156 from 1992-97 … Keegan also went over the 200-assist mark against the earlier this season.
• Jack Bachelor is 10th in the nation and leading the MIAA in assist to turnover radio at 3.27, 12th in total assists at 131 and 12th in assists per game with 5.7 and he is coming off a career-high 25-point performance against Arkansas-Fort Smith.
• The Ichabods are third in the nation in rebound margin at +10.2, seventh in the nation in field goal percentage at 51.2 percent, 14th in scoring defense allowing 65.2 ppg and third in scoring margin at +21.2.
• Jacob Hanna is 34th in the nation in free throws made with 114 leading the MIAA and 23rd in attempts with 159 also leading the MIAA.
• Andrew Orr is 13th in the nation in field goal percentage at 63.7 leading the MIAA.
• Michael Keegan is ninth in the nation and leading the MIAA in steals with 60 and he is ranked ninth in steals per game at 2.61 per game.
• Brayden Shorter is fourth in the nation in 3-pointers per game at 3.61 and he's ranked seventh in total 3-pointers made at 83 … his 83 3-pointers this tied for the most in program history on the Ichabod sophomore record chart trailing Todd Alexander who hit 83 during the 1990-91 season and his total is tied for fourth on the Ichabod single-season chart … the only Maurice Lamar (85 in 1989-90), Randy Stats (89 in 1996-97) and the single-season record holder Maurice Lamar again (113 in 1991-92) have hit more in a single 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 earlier this season.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
• is 159-76 in his eighth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 192-109 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 8-4 against Northeastern State.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE HEAD COACH JA HAVENS ...
• is 57-73 in his fifth season as the RiverHawks' head coach and 188-147 in his 12th season overall as a head coach.
• played at Northeastern State for two seasons (1996-98) under NSU Hall of Fame head coaches Ken Hayes and Larry Gipson.
• Havens previously coached at East Central University (Ada, Okla.) where he was head coach for seven seasons, carrying a record of 131-74, and was the fastest coach in ECU history to win 100 contests
• He 4-5 against the Ichabods (0-1 at East Central).
  • The RiverHawks are 13-10 and 7-7 in the MIAA after falling at home to Central Missouri 66-56 last time out.
• Trey Phipps leads the team in scoring at 21.3 ppg hitting 67 of 158 3-pointers this season (42 percent) and Ethan Blackmon is scoring 16.4 ppg with a team-high 7.6 rpg and Bryson Smith is scoring 12.6 ppg. Phipps leads the MIAA in scoring and he is second in 3-point field goal percentage.
• The RiverHawks are third in the MIAA in scoring offense at 79.2 ppg and they are 12th in scoring defense in 75.9 ppg.
  • Saturday's meeting will be the 24th all-time between the two schools with the Ichabods leading 12-11.
• The Ichabods have won the last 10 of the last 14 meetings in the series, but have dropped four of the last six.
• In games played in Tahlequah, the Ichabods are 4-7 and losing their last three games … Washburn's last win in the NSU Events Center came on Jan. 2, 2021 in an 85-84 overtime win.
• The Ichabods and RiverHawks played in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with Washburn falling 64-59 on March 15, 2003 in Stephenville, Texas.
• The RiverHawks went on to win the NCAA National Championship in 2003.
• Washburn is 4-6 in games played in Tahlequah and the Ichabods are 8-3 in games played in Lee Arena and 0-1 in neutral site games.
  (Feb. 13, 2025) FORT SMITH, Ark. – The No. 1 Washburn Ichabods fell for the first time this season in an 87-80 overtime loss to Arkansas-Fort Smith on Thursday. 
Washburn led 69-65 in the second half with 4:43 to play but were outscored 9-4 down the stretch going 1 of 3 from the field, committing three turnovers while the Lions (10-13, 4-10 MIAA) hit all four free throws sending the game to overtime. Washburn's jumper at the end of regulation after a full-court pass banked off the rim and fell out.
In the extra frame, the Lions jumped out to a 77-74 lead, but a jumper by Brady Christiansen pulled Washburn within two, but a 3-pointer by the Lions and a free throw pushed the margin back to five with 1:44 to play. Two free throws by Jack Bachelor with 72 seconds left cut the lead to three at 81-78, but the Lions hit all six free throw attempts in the final 31 seconds, sealing the win.
The Ichabods (22-1, 13-1 MIAA) led by four at the break as Jacob Hanna's driving layup just before the half sent Washburn into the locker room with a 40-36 lead. Washburn led by as many as 10 in the first half at 33-23, but the Lions were 8 of 17 from 3-point range, hitting 13 field goals in total in the first 20 minutes. Andrew Orr and Jack Bachelor each had 11 in the opening 20 minutes.
Roland McCoy was 5 of 8 from 3-point range in the first half for the Lions, finishing with a game-high 26 points hitting eight 3-pointers in 14 attempts.
Bachelor led the Ichabods with a career-high 25 points, hitting all nine free throws adding five steals and six assists. Orr had 19 points and six boards. Brayden Shorter had 11, as did Christiansen. Hanna finished with 10 and a team-high seven rebounds.
The Ichabods finished 25 of 60 from the field, going 1 of 5 in the overtime, including 0 for 3 from deep. For the game, Washburn was 21 of 30 from the free throw line. The Lions, en route to an Ichabod opponent season-high 87 points this season, finished 27 of 56 from the field, going 13 of 33 from deep and 20 of 26 from the line hitting 9 of 10 free throws in the overtime period.
Washburn outrebounded the Lions 35-33. Each team had 16 turnovers.. • The Ichabods are 1,698-1,134-2 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 705-326 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 510-104 (.831) 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.
  • Washburn returns home for their final two regular season games hosting Central Oklahoma on Feb. 20 and Rogers State on Feb. 22 for senior day. Washburn will end the regular season with road games at Pittsburg State on Feb. 26 and Missouri Southern on March 1.