• The No. 1 Washburn Ichabods men's basketball team returns to action wrapping up a four-game road trip in Wichita on Saturday as the Ichabods will face the Jets for the only time this season.
• Washburn enters the game with a 17-0 (7-0 MIAA) record - one of four remaining undefeated teams in Division II – after sweeping the regular season series with Emporia State on Thursday night in an 75-64 win.
• The Jets are 5-11 this season and 1-6 in MIAA play after dropping their seventh-straight game in a 96-57 loss to Central Missouri on Wednesday night in Wichita.
• The Ichabods have the No. 3-ranked scoring offense in the MIAA putting up 87.8 ppg just behind Missouri Southern's 89.0 ppg and Northeastern State's 88.8.
• Defensively, the Ichabods have the No. 2-ranked scoring defense allowing 61.2 ppg behind Fort Hays State's 60.1 ppg.
• The Jets are averaging 77.8 ppg and allowing 79.9 ppg ranking 10th and 11th in the MIAA stats.
• The Jets are 4-6 in home games this season.
• Washburn is 16-4 playing at the No. 1-ranked team in the country in its NCAA program history.
• 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 lead the nation in scoring margin in the NCAA D2 ranks at +27.6 ppg and are third in field goal percentage at 51.8 percent - also leading the MIAA … Washburn is 12th in assists per game (18.2), 16th in assist/turnover ration (1.48), ninth in effective field goal percentage (.581) and second in rebound margin (+12.6) … Washburn is sixth in scoring defense (61.0 ppg), fourth in fastbreak points (19.8 ppg), fifth in defensive field goal percentage (.380) ninth in turnover margin (+6.4) and ninth in turnovers forced per game (+18.7).
• Washburn has not been outrebounded in a game and have only been tied twice (vs Lubbock Christian and Emporia State).
• Dillon Claussen is sixth in the nation in field goal percentage at 66.4 which also leads the MIAA … Jeremiah Jones is first the nation in total steals with 53 and is ranked third in steals per game at 3.31 per contest.
• Jack Bachelor is 22nd in the nation in total assists with 78 and fourth in assist to turnover ration at 3.39 to 1.
• The Ichabods' 17-game winning streak is second in the nation behind Daemen who has won its last 18.
• The Ichabods have the sixth-longest road game winning streak in the nation at six. Daemen has won its last 16 road contest.
• The 17-game winning streak is the sixth-longest in program history.
• Washburn's 23-game homecourt winning streak is tied for second in the nation behind Nova Southeastern's 94 wins and Miles' 23 wins.
• The 23-game homecourt winning streak is tied for third for the longest in program history trailing 28 (11/19/93 to 2/8/95); 24 (2/12/03 to 12/5/04) and 23 (11/19/93 to 2/8/95).
  • The Ichabods swept the regular season series with the Hornets for the second season in a row.
• The Ichabod defense held the Hornets to 66 and 64 points in the two meetings this season.
• The 17-game winning streak by the Ichabods is the fifth-longest in program history, trailing 25, 23, 22 and 19.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
• is 184-79 in his ninth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 217-109 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 9-0 against Newman.
   
NEWMAN HEAD COACH R.J. ALLEN...
• is 90-144 in his ninth season as the Jets' head coach.
• spent six seasons as an assistant at Newman before moving into the head coaching position.
• is 0-9 against Washburn.
  • The Jets are 5-11 and 1-6 in the MIAA after falling on Wednesday night 96-57 at home to Central Missouri for their seventh-straight loss.
• Saturday's meeting will be the only one between the Ichabods and the Jets this season.
• Thatcher McClure leads the team in scoring at 11.6 ppg as the only Jet averaging double figures, however seven Jets are averaging at least 6.9 ppg … McClure also is tied for the team lead with 4.8 rpg.
• As a team the Jets are averaging 77.8 ppg while allowing 80.0 ppg.
  • Saturday's meeting with the Jets is the 39th all-time.
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series 31-7.
• The Ichabods have won the last 26 of the last 28 meetings with the Jets and the last 10 overall.
• Washburn is 7-5 against Newman in games played in Wichita.
• is 23-1 against Newman in Topeka with the lone loss coming on Feb. 12, 1980 in a 68-56 defeat … a winning streak of 20 games in a row for the Ichabods in Topeka.
• the Ichabods are averaging 85.0 ppg in the 38 all-time meetings with the Jets.
  (Jan. 18, 2025) TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 1-ranked Washburn Ichabods hit the 100-point mark with 9:15 to play in the game rolling to a 121-73 win over the Newman Jets improving to 17-0 and 8-0 in the MIAA on Saturday afternoon in Lee Arena.
The Jets (10-7, 3-5 MIAA) scored the first points of the game and led for 2:33 before the Ichabods used a 16-3 run taking a 21-11 lead midway through the first half with points by five different Ichabods. The Ichabods continued the run with another 18-2 run taking a 40-18 lead with 7:31 to play in the first half.  Washburn would go on to take a 60-32 lead into the break after shooting 50 percent in the first half while hitting 7 of 16 3-pointers in the frame.
Starting the second half, the Ichabods scored 16 of the first 22 points doubling up the Jets at 76-38 with 16:45 to play as the Jets trailed by no fewer than 40 points the final 12:12 of the game as the Ichabods led by as many as 55 with 7:43 to play in the game rolling to the 48-point win.
Jacob Hanna paced the Ichabods with a game-high 26 points on 9 of 11 shooting from the field. He also raised his collegiate point total to 1,006 points scoring 745 at Illinois Springfield and 261 as an Ichabod. Brayden Shorter scored 18 points hitting three 3-pointers and Andrew Orr finished with 17 points drawing eight fouls. Jack Bachelor recorded his first double double with 13 points and 10 assists adding seven rebounds. Dillon Claussen came off the bench scoring 11 points with five boards and three blocks. Playing infront of the fan club that bears his name, scored nine points with four rebounds and a career-high seven steals.
Aaron Murphy had 19 points to lead the Jets.
Washburn, who entered the game trailing the Jets in rebounding in the MIAA stats, outrebounded Newman 43 to 28 including 12 offensive rebounds leading to 18 second chance points.
Washburn finished the game shooting 58 percent at 40 of 69 from the field after shooting 65 percent in the second half. Washburn finished 14 of 30 from 3-point range and was 27 of 34 from the free throw line.
  (Jan. 15, 2026) EMPORIA, Kan. – The No. 1-ranked Washburn Ichabods scored 15 seconds into the game and never trailed on the way to a 75–64 road victory over Emporia State on Thursday night at White Auditorium.
Washburn (17-0, 7-0 MIAA) opened the game with an early burst, using a 6–0 run in the first half to grab its largest lead of the opening period at eight points but Emporia State (5-11, 1-6 MIAA) briefly trimmed the deficit, but the Ichabods took a 35–29 advantage into the break.
Three times in the final nine minutes of the second half, the Hornets cut the Ichabod advantage to three points, but each time the Ichabods kept ESU at arms-length. The final time the Hornets cut it to a one possession lead at 53-50 with 8:34 to go, Washburn came back with a 5-0 spurt closed out by a three-pointer from Dillon Claussen with 7:22 remaining as Washburn went back up eight.
The Hornets once again rallied and cut the Washburn lead to four at 65-61 with 3:22 to play, but the Ichabods finished off the game on a 10-3 run the remainder of the game building its first double digit lead on the final two free throws from Bryson Smith with 17 seconds to go.
Washburn finished the night shooting 49.1 percent from the field (26-of-53) going 70 percent from the field on two-point attempts (19-of-27) on the night. The Ichabods added seven 3-pointers and went 16-of-25 at the free-throw line. Inside play was a major difference, as Washburn scored 36 points in the paint and added 12 fast-break points, while holding Emporia State scoreless in transition baskets. Emporia State shot 38 percent overall and 29 percent from beyond the arc, while Washburn's defensive pressure limited second-chance and fast-break opportunities.
Individually, Claussen led Washburn with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting while pulling down seven rebounds scoring 15 points in the second half going 6 of 7 from the field. Smith added 12 points, four assists and four rebounds, going 5-of-7 at the free-throw line. Tyson Ruud provided a strong all-around performance with nine points, nine rebounds and two assists, while Sam Ungashick chipped in nine points and seven boards. Marcus Glock and Jeremiah Jones each added eight points, with Glock knocking down a pair of three-pointers. All nine Ichabods who entered the game scored.
  • The Ichabods are 1,725-1,137-2 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 725-328 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 522-104 (.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.
  • Washburn returns to Lee Arena facing Northwest Missouri on Jan. 21 and Missouri Western on Jan. 24 before heading back on the road for a three-game roadtrip starting at Fort Hays State on Jan. 29.