• The No. 4-ranked Washburn Ichabod basketball team will open the postseason facing the Central Oklahoma Bronchos in the MIAA Tournament quarterfinals at 12 p.m. on March 6 in Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium.
• The Ichabods enter the MIAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed for the first time since the 2012 season.
• 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 Bronchos with a 26-2 record with a 17-2 record in MIAA play.
• The Bronchos defeated Emporia State 73-60 improving to 17-12 on the season with their win over the Hornets yesterday in the opening round.
• The Ichabods won the only meeting with the Bronchos earlier this season on Feb. 20 in Topeka in a 93-72 win in Lee Arena.
• The Ichabods are 1-1 all-time against the Bronchos in the MIAA Tournament.
• Washburn topped the Bronchos in the MIAA Tournament semifinals 79-65 on March 5, 2022 and fell in the first meeting 99-88 on March 7, 2013 in the MIAA Tourney quarterfinals.
• 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' 26 wins this season is tied for eighth on the Ichabod program single-season chart.
• The Ichabods' 26 regular season wins this season is one shy of the Ichabod program record of 27 set by the 1986-87 NAIA National Championship team that went 35-4.
• The Ichabods have recorded a program-best 17 wins during the MIAA season this year.
• The Ichabods have been in the top five in the national rankings for 14-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 1,283 career points in 14th all-time now trailing Greg Wilson who scored 1,323 points from 1985-89.
• Michael Keegan has 995 career points in 124 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 159 trailing all-time leader Will McNeill who had 247 from 2008-13 … Keegan also went over the 200-assist mark the earlier this season … after reaching 1,000 career points, Keegan would become the second Ichabod to have at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 blocks, 100 steals and 100 assists joining Ewan Auguste … with five more points he would be the third member of the Ichabod 1,000 point / 100 block list joining Ewan Auguste and Brady Skeens … he would also become the 13th member of the 1,000 point / 500 rebound chart and the eighth member of the 1,000 point / 100 steals grouping.
• Jack Bachelor is 20th in the nation and leading the MIAA in assist to turnover radio at 2.87 and he is 18th in total assists at 152 and 17th in assists per game with 5.4.
• The Ichabods are fourth in the nation in rebound margin at +9.9, seventh in the nation in field goal percentage at 51.0 percent, 18th in scoring defense allowing 66.1 ppg, third in scoring margin at +20.8 and seventh in free throws made per game at 18.4.
• Jacob Hanna is 22nd in the nation in free throws made with 148 and 14th in attempts with 205 leading the MIAA.
• Andrew Orr is 13th in the nation in field goal percentage at 63.5 leading the MIAA.
• Michael Keegan is 14th in the nation and leading the MIAA in steals with 66 and he is ranked 16th in the nation in steals per game at 2.36 per game.
• Brayden Shorter is seventh in the nation in 3-pointers per game at 3.61 and he's ranked seventh in total 3-pointers made at 101 … his 101 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) … Shorter's 266 3-point attempts in the single season record.
• Brady Christiansen is 39th on the Ichabod all-time 3-pointers chart with 65 and 19th all-time in rebounds with 549.
• 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.
  • Jack Bachelor's .874 (83-95) free throw percentage is fourth on the Ichabod single season chart  and his 152 assists this season is eighth on the single season chart.
• Michael Keegan's 66 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 86.9 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 66.1 is 11th all-time on the Ichabod single season chart.
• The Ichabod scoring margin of 20.8 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 163-77 in his eighth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 196-110 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 9-6 against Central Oklahoma.
 
CENTRAL OKLAHOMA HEAD COACH BOB HOFFMAN ...
• is 112-65 in his eighth season as the Bronchos' head coach and 631-386 in his 31st year overall as a head coach.
• came to UCO from Mercer, where he led the Bears of Macon, Ga. to 209 wins in his 11-year stint there.
• Hoffman won 209 games at Mercer from 2008-19, including 119 conference games. He led the Bears to its first ever NCAA Tournament win in 2014 – a major upset of Duke in the opening round of March Madness. And he also became the first coach in NCAA history to win a tournament game in all four Division I postseason tournaments in a four-year span.
• is 4-6 against Washburn.
  • The Bronchos are 17-12 overall going 10-9 in the MIAA after topping Emporia State 73-60 in the MIAA Tournament opening round on Wednesday.
• UCO's Israel Hart is sixth in the MIAA in scoring at 16.2 ppg leading the team and Jacobi Sebock is second in the MIAA in rebounding at 7.9 rpg adding 13.8 ppg. JV Seat is scoring 12.5 ppg and Jordan Thompson is scoring 11.0 ppg.
• The Bronchos are second in the MIAA to the Ichabods in scoring offense averaging 80.2 ppg and they are eighth in scoring defense allowing 72.2 ppg.
  • Thursday's meeting will be the 42nd in the series history and the Ichabods lead 21-20.
• Washburn has won 11 of the last 16 meetings.
• The Ichabods are 1-1 all-time against the Bronchos in the MIAA Tournament.
• Washburn topped the Bronchos in the MIAA Tournament semifinals 79-65 on March 5, 2022 and fell in the first meeting 99-88 on March 7, 2013 in the MIAA Tourney quarterfinals.
• The Ichabods lost the first match up as MIAA schools on Jan. 5, 2013 in a 72-67 loss in Edmond.
• Washburn's two highest-scoring combined games in school history came against UCO. In 1992 the two teams scored 246 points (132-114, UCO) and in 1998 they scored 218 points (111-107, UCO).
• In the Jan. 13, 2018 meeting, the 49 points was the fewest by the Ichabods in a win in the shot clock era and the 96 combined points were the second fewest scored by Washburn and its opponent in the shot clock era.
• In 40 all-time meetings, the Ichabods have averaged 76.4 points per game with the Bronchos.
• WU is 12-3 in games against UCO in Topeka winning the last eight games in Lee Arena … UCO's last win in Topeka came on Feb. 20, 2016 in a 71-60 victory.
  (Feb. 20, 2025) TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 4-ranked Washburn Ichabods bounced back from their first two losses of the season in a big way shooting a blistering 64 percent from the field leading to a 93-72 win over Central Oklahoma on Thursday night in Lee Arena.
Washburn (23-2, 14-2 MIAA) trailed for only 26 seconds in the game as UCO (14-11, 8-8 MIAA) jumped out to a 5-2 lead after the Ichabods scored the first two points of the game, but Washburn then scored the next eight and 10 of the next 12 points going up 12-7 at the first media time out. Washburn pushed its lead to nine at 20-11 with 11:55 left but UCO cut the lead down to four but Andrew Orr layup and Jacob Hanna's 3-pointer pushed the lead to 26-15 with 9:25 to go in the opening half.
Before the half, the Bronchos cut the lead to four at 33-29 with 2:43 to go before the break, but Washburn closed the frame on a 9 to 3 run taking a 43-32 lead into the locker room.
Coming out the intermission, UCO scored the first five points trimming the Washburn advantage to five at 42-37, but a timeout by the Ichabods jump started a 14 to 6 run over the next 2:51 capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Brayden Shorter as the Ichabods pushed their lead to 13 with 14:49 to play at 58-45. Another jumper by Shorter moved the lead to 12 after a 3-pointer by the Bronchos.
Washburn then put the game away with a 16 to 6 run stretched the Ichabod lead to 19 before going up by as many as 21 with 5:52 before scoring the final three points of the game for the 21-point victory to improve to 12-0 at home.
Shorter led the Ichabods with 25 points scoring 16 in the second half on 5 of 6 shooting from the field including 4 of 5 3-pointers. Hanna finished with 22 points hitting 14 of 16 free throws while Orr had 13 points and Brady Christiansen scored 11. Jack Bachelor scored seven points with eight assists and three steals.
UCO was led by Israel Hart scored 23 on 7 of 19 shooting.
After shooting 43 percent in the opening half hitting 123 of 30 shots, the Ichabods heated up to 64 percent on 16 of 25 shooting including 5 of 10 from deep. For the game the Ichabods finished at 53 percent overall on 29 of 55 shooting and went 26 of 32 from the free throw line for an 81 percent clip. Washburn finished 20 of 29 from the field in two-point shots (69 percent) for the game. Washburn held the Bronchos to 40 percent shooting for the game and 7 of 24 from deep.
The Ichabods dominated the glass outrebounding the Bronchos 44 to 25 turning 11 offensive rebounds into 10 second chance points.
 
 LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ICHABODS(March 1, 2025) JOPLIN, Mo. – The No. 4-ranked  Washburn Ichabods wrapped up the regular season with a dominating 108-71 performance over Missouri Southern, finishing the regular season with a 26-2 record and going 17-2 in MIAA play.
After the teams were tied for the final time in the game at 12-12 with 13:50 to go, the Ichabods pulled away outscoring the Lions 35 to 8 over the next nine-plus minutes taking a 47-20 lead as eight different Ichabods scored during the run.
The Lions scored the next five points of the game, but Washburn then closed the half scoring 9 of the next 12 points taking a 56-28 lead into the break, doubling up Missouri Southern (11-17, 6-13 MIAA) at the half.
In the second half, the Ichabods had runs to 10 to 0, 9 to 0, 7 to 0, building a lead of as many as 38 points with 2:21 to play rolling to the 37-point win winning their fourth in a row over the Lions.
Michael Keegan tied for the team lead 18 points hitting 7 of 8 from the field adding six rebounds climbing to 995 career points as an Ichabod. Andrew Orr also scored 18 points pulling down seven rebounds with two steals. Also in double figures as Jack Bachelor scored 17 with four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Dillon Claussen scored 13 with seven rebounds, all coming on the offensive end. Jacob Hanna had 13 points with four boards and Brayden Shorter had 10 points including his 100th and 101st 3-pointers of the season.
Tyrique Brooks led the Lions with a game-high 23 points and Jaden Taylor had 22.
Washburn shot 61 percent in the first half and 54 percent in the second half to finish 35 of 60 overall for a 58 percent clip. The Lions finished the game at 37 percent hitting 26 of 66 shots. Washburn attempted 39 free throws in the game, making 29. Washburn dominated the glass outrebounding the Lions 43 to 23 with 12 offensive rebounds. Washburn's bench outscored the MSSU bench 32-14 and 30-15 in fastbreak points.
  • The Ichabods are 44-26 all-time in the MIAA Championship Tournament.
• The 44 wins are the second-most in MIAA Tournament history behind Northwest Missouri's 57 wins.
• Washburn's six tournament titles are tied for second behind Northwest Missouri's 12 and tied with Central Missouri.
• Washburn's MIAA Tournament titles have come in 1992, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2012 and 2021 … the 2012 title was the only one coming in Kansas City.
• The Ichabods now have the longest active streak of consecutive tourney appearances with 18 after Missouri Southern did not qualify this season … the next closest are UCO, MWSU and RSU with six each … UCM owns the men's all-time record for most consecutive appearances with 38.
• The Ichabods are 2-3 in first round games (since expanding to 12 teams) … 22-7 in the quarterfinals, 14-8 in the semifinals and 6-8 in championship games.
• In games played in Kansas City, the Ichabods are 19-16.
• In quarterfinal games played in Kansas City, the Ichabods are 11-5. In semifinal games played in Municipal the Ichabods are 6-4 and in championship games in Kansas City the Ichabods are 1-6.
• As the No. 1 seed, the Ichabods are 21-3, at No. 2 they are 9-4, at No. 3 they are 2-1, at No. 4 they are 5-3, as the No. 5 seed they are 0-1, at No. 6 the Ichabods are 4-5, at No. 7 they are 0-1 and as the No. 8 seed they are 3-3.
• Overall, here's how the Ichabods have fared against MIAA opponents in the conference tournament by round and in Kansas City.
• First Round games were added for the MIAA Tournament starting in 2013 as the league expanded to 15 teams. The top four teams in the final standings received an automatic bye to Kansas City for the quarterfinals.
Team        1st Rnd  Qrts.           Semis       Finals       In KC        Total
UCM        —               4-0            1-1             —              3-1             5-1
ESU           —               5-1             —               —              4-1             5-1
FHSU        1-0             —               2-0            —              2-0            3-0
MSSU       —               1-0             2-1             0-1            1-1             3-2
MWSU    0-2            0-1             3-2            1-2            1-2             4-6
NSU         0-1             —               —               —               —               0-1
NU            —              —              —              —              —              0-0
NWMSU   —             2-2            0-2            3-3            0-5            4-8
PSU           —               1-0             3-0            2-0            3-0            6-0
RSU          —              2-0            —              —              1-0            2-0           
UCO         —               0-1             1-0             —              1-1             1-1
UNK         —              1-1             —              —              1-1             1-1
--- vs former members
LU             —              —              —              —              —              0-0
MS&T       —               1-1              —               —              1-0             1-1
UMSL       —               1-0             —               —               —               1-0
SEMO      —               —               —               —               —               —
SBU          1-0             2-0            1-1             1-0             —               5-1
TSU           —               2-0            1-0              —             —               3-0
UNO         —               —               —               0-1            0-1             0-1
Totals       2-3            22-7          14-8          6-8            19-15        44-26
  • The Ichabods are 1,702-1,135-2 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.
  • With a win, the Ichabods will face the winner of the Pittsburg State/Nebraska-Kearney game on Saturday at 12 p.m. With a loss, the Ichabods will prepare for the NCAA Central Regional Tournament as seeds will be announced on Sunday, March 9 on the NCAA selection show set to air at 9 p.m.