• The No. 4-ranked Washburn Ichabod basketball team will wrap up the regular season on Saturday at Missouri Southern with the final MIAA Game of the Week which will be broadcast in Kansas City on 38The Spot starting at 1:40 p.m.
• The Ichabods clinched their 11th MIAA regular season championship after their 90-60 win over Rogers State on Senior Day on Feb. 22.
• Washburn enters the contest with the Lions with a 25-2 record with a 16-2 record in MIAA play.
• The Lions are 16-11 and 12-6 in the MIAA after falling to Central Missouri on Feb. 27 in Joplin in a 78-56 loss .
• The MIAA regular season championship is the 11th in program history and the first since the 2011-12 season when they shared the title with Northwest Missouri and Central Missouri going 15-5 in league play.
• The last non-shared MIAA regular season Championship came in the 2004 season when the Ichabods went 15-3.
• The Ichabods have recorded 15 wins in MIAA play seven times and 16 wins in conference play only twice - in 2020-21 and in 2021-22 after going 16-6 in a 22-game MIAA slate.
• The Ichabods have been in the top five in the national rankings for 13-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 recorded their 1,700th all-time program against Rogers State earlier this season. The Ichabods are the seventh NCAA D2 program to reach the 1,700 win mark.
• 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 1,265 career points in a 14th all-time now trailing Greg Wilson who scored 1,323 points from 1985-89.
• Michael Keegan has 977 career points in 123 career games as an Ichabod and he is third on the career blocks chart with 101… he is also second all-time in steals with 158 trailing all-time leader Will McNeill who had 247 from 2008-13 … Keegan also went over the 200-assist mark the earlier this season.
• Jack Bachelor is 23rd in the nation and leading the MIAA in assist to turnover radio at 2.97  and he is 15th in total assists at 148 and 19th in assists per game with 5.5.
• The Ichabods are fifth in the nation in rebound margin at +9.5, eighth in the nation in field goal percentage at 50.7 percent, 17th in scoring defense allowing 66.0 ppg and third in scoring margin at +20.1.
• Jacob Hanna is 20th in the nation in free throws made with 143 and 12th in attempts with 198 leading the MIAA.
• Andrew Orr is 13th in the nation in field goal percentage at 63.5 leading the MIAA.
• Michael Keegan is 10th in the nation and leading the MIAA in steals with 65 and he is ranked 12th in steals per game at 2.41 per game.
• Brayden Shorter is third in the nation in 3-pointers per game at 3.67 and he's ranked fifth in total 3-pointers made at 99 … his 99 3-pointers is the most in program history on the Ichabod sophomore record chart passing Todd Alexander who hit 83 during the 1990-91 season and his total is second on the Ichabod overall single-season chart trailing Maurice Lamar (113 in 1991-92).
• Brady Christiansen is 39th on the Ichabod all-time 3-pointers chart with 64 and 19th all-time in rebounds with 548.
• 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.
  • The Ichabods' 25 wins this season is tied for 10th in the 2011-12 team.
• The Ichabods' next win would give them 26 tying them for eighth with the 1984-85 and 2002-03 Ichabod squads.
• Jack Bachelor's .871 (81-93) free throw percentage is fourth on the Ichabod single season chart  and his 148 assists this season is ninth on the single season chart.
• Michael Keegan's 65 steals this season is fourth on the Ichabod single season chart trailing Bobby Sumler (73 in 1986-87), Will McNeill (76 in 2011-12) and McNeill again with 82 in 2012-13.
• The Ichabod scoring average of 86.1 is third all-time on the Ichabod single season chart behind the 1991-92 team with 88.1 and the 1994-95 team with 89.5 ppg.
• The Ichabod defensive scoring average of 66.0 is 11th all-time on the Ichabod single season chart.
• The Ichabod scoring margin of 20.1 this season is the best in program history ahead of the 14.9 scoring margin from the 1991-92 team.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
• is 162-77 in his eighth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 195-110 overall in his 10th year as a head coach.
• has led the Ichabods to four NCAA postseason appearances in seven 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 8-6 against Missouri Southern.
 
MISSOURI SOUTHERN HEAD COACH SEAN McMAHON ...
• is 41-45 in his third season as Missouri Southern's head coach.
• he is in his second stint roaming the sidelines at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center as he served as an assistant and later associate head coach for the Lions for six seasons.
• he was an assistant coach at Division I Southeast Missouri for the past two seasons.
• is 1-3 against Washburn.
  • The Lions are 11-16 this season and 6-12 in the MIAA after dropping a 78-56 decision with Central Missouri on Feb. 27 in Joplin … Tyrique Brooks led the Lions with 19 points in the game.
• The Lions are 8-5 in home games this season.
• Martin Macenis leads three Lions in double-figure scoring at 14.3 ppg. Jaden Taylor is scoring 13.0 ppg and Tyrique Brooks is scoring 12.8 ppg. Tyrone Wright leads the team with 6.8 rpg.
• The Lions are averaging 77.5 points per game while allowing 77.6 points per contest.
  • Saturday's meeting will be 92nd between these two schools in a series that dates back to 1968-69.
• Washburn leads the all-time series 54-37 … the Ichabods have averaged 77.9 points a game against the Lions in the 91 previous meetings.
• Washburn is 33-12 against the Lions in home games and 20-22 in road contests.
• The two teams have met at least once a year since 1976-77.
• The Ichabods are 3-2 against the Lions in the MIAA Tournament.
• In games played in Lee Arena, the Ichabods are 27-10.
• The Lions are the last team to score at least 100 points in a game against the Ichabods doing so on March 16, 2019 - a streak of 171 games in a 101-100 loss in Maryville in the NCAA Tournament regional quarterfinals.
• The teams have met three times in the NCAA Tournament - on March 10, 2000 when the Lions picked up a 79-73 overtime win in Joplin and on March 12, 2011 when the Lions topped the Ichabods in overtime again 82-79 in Edmond, Okla., and March 16, 2019 in Maryville, Mo. with the Lions winning 101-100.
  (Feb. 26, 2025) PITTSBURG, Kan. – The No. 4-ranked Washburn Ichabods won their 10th game in a row over Pittsburg State in a 71-61 win on Wednesday in PSU's John Lance Arena.
The Washburn Ichabods (25-2, 16-2 MIAA) led from start to finish in the win, topping the Gorillas for the second time this season after a non-conference win in Topeka in an 89-71 win on Nov. 19.
The Ichabods jumped out to a 10-3 after Brayden Shorter started the scoring for the Ichabods and he hit his second one that put Washburn up 10-3. The Ichabods kept the Gorillas at arms-length the rest of the half, building a margin of eight points with 7:25 to play in the frame. Pitt State did cut the lead to one at 29-28 with 2:19 to play before the Ichabods scored 6 of the last 8 points of the half taking a 34-30 lead into the break.
Washburn shot 2 of 13 from the 3-point line in the first half, while the Gorillas hit 7 of 15 overall.
The Ichabods came back with an 8-2 run to start the second half building a lead of 10 at 42-32 before the Gorillas (16-11, 12-6 MIAA) scored eight points to pull within two with 15:08 to play, but a 17-4 run by the Ichabods over the next 7:34 of the game put Washburn up by 15 and the Gorillas would not get closer than 10 the rest of the way with two seconds to play.
Jacob Hanna led the Ichabods with a game-high 18 points, adding five boards in the win and scoring 11 in the first half. Shorter finished with 16, hitting four 3-pointers while Jack Bachelor scored 13 with four assists and Dillon Claussen scored nine off the bench. Michael Keegan scored five with five rebounds and four steals, giving him 158 for his career placing him in second place on the Ichabod all-time chart.
Avery Taggart scored 15 leading the Gorilla scorers.
For only the second time this season, the Ichabods were outrebounded in a game by a count of 36 to 33 by Pitt State.
Washburn finished 25 of 54 from the field for a 46 percent clip, hitting 13 of 24 in the second half. Defensively, the Ichabods held Pitt State to 9 of 28 shooting in the second half, including 2 of 12 from deep. Washburn also forced 22 turnovers leading to 26 Ichabod points. • The Ichabods are 1,701-1,135-2 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 707-327 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 22 conference championships including 11 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 512-104 (.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.
  • MIAA Tournament seeds will be announced at the conclusion of the MIAA regular season. Check wusports.com and the Washburn social media channels for game times for games in Kansas City.