• The No. 1 Washburn Ichabods men's basketball squad returns to Lee Arena for the first time in 18 days hosting Northwest Missouri on Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m. facing the Bearcats for the second time in 11 days.
• Washburn enters the game with a 18-0 (7-0 MIAA) record - one of three remaining undefeated teams in Division II – after rolling past Newman on Jan. 17 in a 107-74 win.
• The Bearcats are 9-10 this season and 2-6 in the MIAA and have lost their last four games.
• Northwest lost at Fort Hays State 66-50 last time out on Jan. 17 at home.
• The Ichabods have the No. 1-ranked scoring offense in the MIAA putting up 88.8 ppg just ahead  of Northeastern State's 87.9 ppg and Missouri Southern's 86.8 ppg.
• Defensively, the Ichabods have the No. 2-ranked scoring defense allowing 61.9 ppg behind Fort Hays State's 59.5 ppg.
• The Bearcats are averaging 71.7 ppg and allowing 72.8 ppg ranking 14th and seventh in the MIAA stats.
• The Bearcats are 4-5 in road games this season.
• Washburn is 17-4 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 +26.6 ppg and are fourth in field goal percentage at 51.8 percent - also leading the MIAA … Washburn is ninth in assists per game (18.3), 15th in assist/turnover ration (1.48), ninth in effective field goal percentage (.580) and second in rebound margin (+12.6) … Washburn is seventh in scoring defense (61.2 ppg), seventh in fastbreak points (19.4 ppg), sixth in defensive field goal percentage (.379) 10th in turnover margin (+5.7) and 12th in turnovers forced per game (+18.1).
• Washburn has not been outrebounded in a game this season and have only been tied twice (vs Lubbock Christian and Emporia State).
• Dillon Claussen is sixth in the nation in field goal percentage at 66.2 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 3.12 per contest.
• Jack Bachelor is 24th in the nation in total assists with 80 and fourth in assist to turnover ration at 3.33 to 1.
• The Ichabods' 18-game winning streak is second in the nation behind Daemen who has won its last 20.
• The Ichabods have the fourth-longest road game winning streak in the nation at six. Daemen has won its last 18 road contest.
• The 18-game winning streak is the fifth-longest in program history.
• Washburn's 23-game homecourt winning streak is tied for second in the nation behind Nova Southeastern's 95 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 have now won 11 in a row over the Jets and now lead the series 32-7 averaging 85.5 ppg in 39 all-time meetings.
• The last time two Ichabods with at least 20 pts … Brady Christiansen (21 pts) and Jack Bachelor (20 pts) vs Lubbock Christiansen, 12/16/2025.
• The Ichabods have scored more than 100 points in each of the last two games scoring 121 in the last meeting and 107 today.
• Washburn's 43 field goals were the most by an Ichabod team since hitting 46 against Ottawa earlier this season.
• Jack Bachelor tied a career-high with nine field goals (also had nine against Augusta earlier this season).
• Bachelor was also +42 in plus/minus numbers in 24 minutes of play.
• Marcus Glock had career highs with seven field goals, 12 field goal attempts, four 3-pointers made and eight 3-point attempts as well as three free throws made.
• In addition to scoring a career-high 17, Tyson Ruud also had career-bests of seven field goals and 14 field goal attempts.
• Washburn improved to 80-5 all-time when scoring at least a 100 points in a game.
• The 17-game winning streak is the sixth-longest in program history.
• Washburn has won its last seven road games.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
• is 185-79 in his ninth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 218-109 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 6-18 against Northwest Missouri.
   
NORTHWEST MISSOURI HEAD COACH MATT KEELEY ...
• was named the 21st head men's basketball coach in Northwest history.
• is 15-32 in his second season in Maryville and 128-118 overall in nine seasons.
• served as the head coach at Ottawa University Arizona for seven seasons going 113-92.
• spent two seasons as an assistant for Bob Chipman on the Washburn bench for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons … his father Mike is in the Washburn athletic hall of fame and his sister Cindy was a member of the 2005 Lady Blues Basketball National Championship team.
• is 0-3 against the Ichabods.
  • The Bearcats are 9-10 this season and 2-6 in MIAA play after falling at home to Fort Hays State 66-50 last time out.
• Royce Williams leads the team in scoring at 13.8 ppg while Aiden Gair is scoring 13.2 ppg hitting a team-high 50 3-pointers this season … Matthew Mayes is scoring 12.6 ppg.
• The Bearcats are -5.9 in rebounding margin this season (39.8 to 33.9).
• Northwest has outscored its opponents 686 to 649 in the first half, but have been outscored 715 to 664 in the second half.
• The Bearcats are averaging 72.0 ppg and allowing 72.8 ppg.
  • Wednesday's meeting will be the 125th between the two schools and Washburn holds a 66-58 lead in the series.
• The series dates back to the 1940-41 season and they have played each other every year since WU joined the MIAA in 1989-90.
• The Ichabods are 22-17 against the Bearcats in Lee Arena.
• Washburn is 28-26 in Maryville.
• In the MIAA Tournament, the Ichabods are 4-9 against Northwest after falling in the 2018, 2019 and 2022 MIAA Championship games before winning the 2021 Tournament in Maryville.
• In the NCAA Tournament, the Ichabods are 2-3 against the Bearcats.
• The Ichabods won a NCAA Central Regional final contest against the Bearcats in Topeka on March 10, 2001 advancing to the Elite Eight in Bakersfield, California after a 67-61 win.
  (Jan. 10, 2026) MARYVILLE, Mo. – The top-ranked Washburn Ichabods men's basketball team continued its perfect start to the season Saturday afternoon, pulling away in the second half for a 76–53 road win over Northwest Missouri State at Bearcat Arena. The Ichabods improved to 16–0 overall and 6–0 in MIAA play, leading wire-to-wire in the matchup.
Washburn jumped out quickly, scoring the first 10 points of the game and holding the Bearcats without a field goal for nearly three minutes jumping out to a 21-2 lead at the 12:38 mark of the opening half. The Bearcats clawed back into the game, trimming the Ichabod advantage to two at 29-27 with 1:33 to play before the Ichabods closed the half on a 7-0 run taking a 36–27 lead into break. Washburn dominated the paint early, outscoring the Bearcats 24 to 2 while the Bearcats connected finished the first 20 minutes with nine field goals as seven were hit for 3-pointers.
Washburn pushed its lead to 11 at 41-30 with 19:02 to play in the game before the Bearcats (9-8, 2-4 MIAA) hit back-to-back 3-pointers cutting the lead back to three with 16:19 to play. After a free throw by Bryson Smith, a basket from Jack Ratigan cut the lead down to two with 14:47 remaining. Washburn outscored the Bearcats 22 to 7 opening a 64-47 lead with 7:41 to play. Northwest scored the next two points of the game, and then another 9-0 spurt by Washburn stretched the lead to 73-49.
For the game, Washburn shot 30-of-59 from the field (50.8%), including a strong 26-of-39 (66.7%) on two-point attempts, leading to a 50 to 14 advantage in points in the paint.. The Ichabods went 4-of-20 from three-point range (20.0%) and 12-of-16 at the free-throw line (75.0%).
Washburn held Northwest to 40.0% shooting overall limiting the Bearcats to only three second half 3-pointers. Washburn also dominated on the glass winning the rebounding battle 43 to 21.
Individually, Bryson Smith led all scorers with 16 points, knocking down 6-of-11 shots, adding three assists and two steals in 31 minutes. Dillon Claussen delivered a strong all-around performance with 10 points, a game-high 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocks, recording his third double-double of his career.
Jeremiah Jones added 12 points, hitting 5-of-10 shots from the floor, while also contributing seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Sam Ungashick chipped in seven points and five rebounds off the bench.
  (Jan. 17, 2026) WICHITA, Kan. – The No. 1-ranked Washburn Ichabods wrapped up a four-game roadtrip in style with a wire-to-wire 107–74 victory over Newman on Saturday at Fugate Gymnasium, pushing the Ichabods to 18-0 overall and 8-0 in MIAA play.
The Ichabods set the tone immediately, opening the game on a quick scoring surge jumping out to an 11-2 lead with Jack Bachelor scoring seven points in the early going, pacing the Ichabods in the 33-point win.
Offensively, Washburn was sharp across the board, shooting 58.9 percent from the field (43 of 73) while hitting 50 percent of its shots from 3-point range (12 of 24) while knocking down 75 percent at the free-throw line (9 of 12). The Ichabods also dominated the paint with 58 points inside, added 19 fast-break points and 19 second-chance points, and finished with a strong 67 percent effective field goal percentage.
Bachelor led the offensive charge with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, while adding four assists and three steals. Bachelor connected on his first five 3-pointers in the game. Marcus Glock followed with a Washburn-high 21 points scoring 16 in the opening half, hitting four 3-pointers and going a perfect 3-for-3 at the line.
Making his first start as an Ichabod, Tyson Ruud added a career-high 17 points and eight rebounds, and Jeremiah Jones chipped in 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Amalachi Wilkins provided a spark off the bench with 11 points and five rebounds. Dillon Claussen scored seven points and had a career-high seven assists adding four rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
Newman shot 47.5 percent overall and 40.9 percent from three while turning the ball over 19 times leading to 29 Ichabod points.
Washburn also won the battle on the glass, outrebounding the Jets (5-12, 1-7 MIAA) 36-24.
  • The Ichabods are 1,726-1,137-2 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 726-328 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 for one more game hosting Missouri Western on Jan. 24 before heading back on the road for a three-game roadtrip starting at Fort Hays State on Jan. 29.