•    The No. 1-ranked Washburn Ichabods are back in action in Lee Arena for their first game in a week as they will play host to Central Missouri on Saturday starting at 3 p.m.
•    The Ichabods moved to 21-0 and 12-0 in the MIAA after blowing out Nebraska-Kearney by 33 on Feb. 1 in a 97-64 win in Lee Arena.
•    The Mules are 11-10 this season after topping Fort Hays State 41-31 on Feb. 1 after the Mules held the Tigers to 3 of 25 shooting in the first half and 10 of 50 for the game including 1 of 15 from 3-point range.
•    The Ichabods topped Central Missouri 70-52 in their first meeting this season on Dec. 21 in Warrensburg.
•    Playing as the No. 1-ranked team in the nation in the NCAA ranks, the Ichabods are 10-2 in program history.
•    The top-10 rankings places the Ichabods in the top five for 10-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 (19-0).
•    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.
  •    In Washburn's win over the Lopers on Feb. 1, it marked the first since a Jan. 27, 2024 match up against the Lopers that two Ichabods had both scored 20 points after Andrew Orr (20) and Jacob Hanna (20) did on Saturday.
•    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 1,183 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 941 career points in 117 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 played from 2009-13 … he is also fifth all-time in steals with 148 and he went over the 200 assist mark against the Lopers on Feb. 1 for his career.
•    Jack Bachelor is fifth in the nation and leading the MIAA in assist to turnover radio at 3.52, 12th in total assists at 116 and 17th in assists per game with 5.5 …in the last eight games he has had 61 assists and nine turnovers - a 7.1 to 1 ratio.
•    The Ichabods are second in the nation in rebound margin at +10.7, sixth in the nation in field goal percentage at 51.4 percent, 12th in scoring defense allowing 64.4 ppg and third in scoring margin at +22.4 … in 12 MIAA games, the Ichabods are +24.0 in scoring margin leading the MIAA  while averaging 88.4 ppg … the next closest team is Central Oklahoma at +4.8 ppg in scoring margin and Pittsburg State in points per game at 80.4.
•    Jacob Hanna is 23th in the nation in free throws made with 109 leading the MIAA and 18th in attempts with 150 also leading the MIAA.
•    Andrew Orr is 16 th in the nation in field goal percentage at 62.6 leading the MIAA.
•    Michael Keegan is seventh in the nation and leading the MIAA in steals with 55 and he is ranked 13th in steals per game at 2.62 per game.
•    Brayden Shorter is seventh in the nation in 3-pointers per game at 3.57 and he's ranked fifth in total 3-pointers made at 75 … his 75 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 earlier this season.
•    The Ichabods have 1,697 all-time program wins in. The Ichabods would be the seventh NCAA D2 program to reach the 1,700 win mark.
  •    The Ichabods' current 21-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.     21*____ 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 158-75 in his eighth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 191-108 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.
•    is 11-2 against Central Missouri.
 
CENTRAL MISSOURI HEAD COACH ADAM BOHAC ...
•    is 24-25 as the head coach at Central Missouri in his second season and 336-171 in his 17th season overall.
•    he was named the 25th head coach in the 118-year history of Central Missouri Mules basketball in March of 2023 after 15 seasons as head coach of the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm where he had an overall record of 312-146 including 221-98 in GAC play.
•    his teams have made nine post season appearances including four of the previous six seasons being in the NCAA Tournament. In 2022-23, the Storm reached the Sweet Sixteen and in 2019-20 were a two-seed in the tournament.
•    he is 2-2 against the Ichabods going 1-2 at UCM last season and winning a singular meeting as Southern Nazarene's head coach.
  •    The Mules are 11-10 and 6-6 in the MIAA coming off a 41-31 win over Fort Hays State on Feb. 1 in Warrensburg.
•    DeAirius Barker leads the team in scoring at 12.1 ppg and Kyran Tilley is scoring 9.2 ppg with Elijah Farr averaging 8.7 after transferring from Lincoln this season.
•    The Mules are averaging 62.8 ppg while allowing 61.9 ppg.
•    UCM is ranked last in the MIAA in scoring offense and second in the MIAA in scoring defense.
  •    Saturday's meeting will be the 114th between these two teams with Washburn leading the series 60-53.
•    Washburn is 36-19 against the Mules in Topeka.
•    The Mules' have not won in Topeka since a 63-55 win over Washburn on Jan. 27, 2018 - a losing streak of six games.
•    The Ichabods have won 18 of the last 26 meetings including 11 of the last 13.
•    The Ichabods are 5-1 all-time against Central Missouri in the MIAA Tournament.
•    The last time the teams met in the conference tournament was during the 2010 season when the Ichabods as the No. 8 seed topped the No. 1-seeded Mules 79-60.
  (Feb. 1, 2025) TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 1-ranked Washburn Ichabods used a 21-0 during the second half turning a 13-point into a 34-point lead holding Nebraska-Kearney scoreless for more than six minutes rolling to a 97-64 win on Saturday. Washburn will be back in action on Feb. 8 hosting Central Missouri.
Washburn led or was tied for 49 seconds in the game as the Lopers (7-12, 5-6 MIAA) led after scoring the game's first points. The teams traded baskets and the Lopers tied up the score at 10 with 15:25 to go. From that point, the Ichabods outscored Nebraska-Kearney 37-21 the rest of the way, taking a 16-point lead into the break at 37-21.
In the second half the Lopers twice cut the Ichabod lead to 11 with the final time at 54-43 but they would not get any closer as the Ichabods outscored the UNK 50-33 in the second half holding the Lopers to 8 of 22 shooting leading to the 33 point win winning their sixth in a row over the Lopers overall and the fifth in a row over UNK in Topeka.
Andrew Orr and Jacob Hanna each scored 20 leading the Ichabods. Jack Bachelor added 18 and Brayden Shorter scored 11. Hanna had eight boards and six assists and three steals as well.
Allen Taylor scored 20 to lead the Lopers.
Washburn finished 32 of 67 from the field for a 48 percent clip and UNK was 20 of 51 for a 39 percent average. The Ichabods hit eight 3-pointers in the game as did the Lopers. Washburn finished 25 of 33 from the free throw line.
The Ichabods dominated the glass outrebounding the Lopers 45 to 28, turning 17 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points. Washburn held the Lopers to five offensive rebounds in the contest. The Ichabods outscored UNK in the paint 46 to 24 and 26 to 4 in fastbreak points. •    The Ichabods are 1,697-1,133-2 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 704-325 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 509-104 (.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 have their first road trip to Arkansas-Fort Smith facing the Lions for only the second time in program history and the first since an 87-66 Ichabod win on Nov. 12, 2011 in Bartlesville, Okla. on Feb. 13 before facing Northeastern State  on Feb. 15 before returning 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.