• The top-ranked Washburn Ichabods will ring in the new year hosting Emporia State on Jan. 3 in Lee Arena at 3 p.m. on Envista Bods' Care Night with interactive kids activities, giveaways, on-court recognition, and postgame autographs.
• Washburn moved to 13-0 (3-0 MIAA) - one of six remaining undefeated teams in Division II – after beating then-No. 4 Lubbock Christian on Dec. 16 and No. 4 West Texas A&M on Dec. 17 to remain at the top of the rankings after wins at the River City Classic.
• The Hornets are 4-8 overall and 0-3 after falling at Central Missouri on New Year's Day 78-71 in Warrensburg and have dropped their last two games.
• The Ichabods have the No. 2-ranked scoring offense in the MIAA putting up 89.5 ppg just behind Missouri Southern's 92.8 ppg.
• Defensively, the Ichabods have the No. 2-ranked scoring defense allowing 60.2 ppg behind Fort Hays State's 58.1 ppg.
• 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 +29.3 ppg and are seventh in field goal percentage at 51.3 percent - also leading the MIAA … Washburn is also 15 in assists per game (18.7), 12th in assist/turnover ration (1.56), 16th in effective field goal percentage (.575) and fifth in rebound margin (+12.5) … Washburn is also sixth in scoring defense (60.2 ppg), third in fastbreak points (21.9 ppg), eighth in defensive field goal percentage (.372) and sixth in turnover margin (+7.4) and eighth in turnovers forced per game (+19.4).
• Washburn has not been outrebounded in a game and have only been tied once (vs Lubbock Christian).
• Dillon Claussen is sixth in the nation in field goal percentage at 68.1 which also leads the MIAA … Jeremiah Jones is first the nation in total steals with 43 and is ranked fourth in steals per game at 3.31 per contest.
• Jack Bachelor is 19th in the nation in total assists with 64 and second in assist to turnover ration at 3.76 to 1.
• The Ichabods' 13-game winning streak is second in the nation behind Daemen who has won its last 15.
• The 13-game winning streak is the eighth-longest in program history.
• Washburn's 22-game homecourt winning streak is third in the nation behind Nova Southeastern's 93 wins and Miles' 23 wins.
• The 22-game homecourt winning streak is tied for fourth 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).
  • Jack Bachelor now has 1,017 career points in his 77 career games played … he is tied with former teammate Michael Keegan on the all-time scoring chart at No. 24 overall.
• Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard recorded his 500th career win while on a basketball staff as a head coach, assistant coach or staff member in today's win.
• The Ichabods held the Buffs to a season-low 48 points in the win – WT's previous low was 76 as the Buffs entered the game averaging 92.6 ppg.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
• is 180-79 in his ninth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 213-109 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 9-6 against Emporia State.
   
EMPORIA STATE HEAD COACH TOM BILLETER...
• is 505-300 in his 28th season as a head coach and is 15-26 in his second season at Emporia State.
• went 394-224 in 21 years at Augustana winning the 2016 National Championship
• led the Vikings to nine NCAA Tournaments, three regular season NSIC Championships, two NSIC Tourney Championships and 18 consecutive winning seasons.
• is 2-4 against Washburn (0-2) and at Augustana (2-2).
  • The Hornets are 4-8 and 0-3 in the MIAA.
• Last time out the Hornets fell at Central Missouri on New Year's Day 78-71 in Warrensburg and have dropped their last two games.
• Andrew Pengel leads the team in scoring at 13.4 ppg and Chris Harris is scoring 11.6 ppg.
• As a team the Hornets are averaging 79.1 ppg while allowing 75.9 ppg.
  • The meeting on Saturday will be the 224th meeting between the two schools and the Ichabods lead at 114-108. This is the most-played series for Washburn
• The two teams started the series in 1905-06, Washburn's first recorded year of basketball, and they have met every year since the 1945-56 season.
• The home team has won 18 of the last 24 meetings.
• The Ichabods are 45-61 against the Hornets on the road.
• Washburn is 5-1 against Emporia State in MIAA Postseason tournament games.
  (Jan. 25, 2025) TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods passed their first test playing as the No. 1 team in the country on Wednesday night with an 83-72 win over Emporia State in Lee Arena winning their 16th game in a row to open the season while handing the Hornets their sixth loss in a row.
Washburn (16-0, 7-0 MIAA) trailed only by one point on four different occasions in the opening half with the final time of ESU holding a 10-9 lead with 17:23 to play in the first half. Washburn then used a 7-0 run over the next 60 seconds going up 16-10.  
ESU (4-12, 1-6 MIAA) trimmed the Ichabod advantage to three at after a 3-pointer by Dallas Bear, but a 3-pointer by Michael Keegan and a 3-pointer and a back-to-back jumpers by Jack Bachelor pushed the Ichabod lead back to eight. Washburn then used a 14-2 run led by Keegan's eight points to take a 43-25 lead before a 3-pointer by the Hornets' Malik Edwards cut the Ichabod lead heading to the break to a 43-28 advantage.
The second half saw the Ichabods pushed their lead to 18 on their first possession of the frame on a 3-pointer by Keegan. Washburn kept the Hornets at arms-length in double digits building a lead to as many as 21 with 6:36 to play before a 15-4 Hornet run cut the lead to 10 at 75-65 with 2:48 to play.
ESU pulled within 10 points three different times but did not get any closer as the Ichabods went 10 of 12 the final 4:17 of the game from the free throw line securing the 11-point win.
Andrew Orr led the Ichabods with a game-high 21 points going 7 of 11 from the field hitting all seven free throw attempts. Brayden Shorter scored 17 points and Keegan finished with 16 points adding eight rebounds, a career-high-tying five steals and two assists and two blocks. Bachelor finished with 14 points. Brady Christiansen scored all seven of the Ichabods' bench points adding eight rebounds.
Arhman Lewis scored 19 points to lead the Hornets.
Washburn finished the game 26 of 62 from the field for a 42 percent clip as the Hornets outshot the Ichabods at a 44 percent average hitting 24 of 54 attempts. Washburn was 7 of 28 from 3-point range while the Hornets were 10 of 22. Washburn hit 77 percent of its free throw attempts hitting 24 of 31 compared to 14 of 16 for the Hornets.
Washburn also had a 38 to 30 advantage on the glass and forced 19 turnovers leading to 15 points. Washburn also had 16 offensive rebounds leading to 21 second chance points.
  (Dec. 17, 2025) SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The newly-named No. 1-ranked Washburn delivered a dominant performance against No. 4 West Texas A&M, pulling away early and never looking back in a 74–48 victory at Bill Greehey Arena as the Ichabods topped their second No. 4-ranked opponent in a row.
Washburn seized control in the opening minutes, answering an early WTAM push with a 12–0 run midway through the first half to flip momentum. The Ichabods shot a sizzling 58.6 percent from the floor in the first half and knocked down seven three-pointers, stretching the lead to 44–24 at the break. The Ichabods turned 11 Buffs turnovers in the first half into 19 points leading to a 16-0 advantage in fastbreak points.
Jack Bachelor and Jeremiah Jones led the Ichabod first-half charge with a balanced scoring attack with 10 points each and Tyson Ruud added nine. Bachelor's first basket of the game – a 3-pointer with 15:33 to go in the frame – pushed himself over the career 1,000-point mark at Washburn becoming the 30th Ichabod in program history to reach the scoring plateau.
The Ichabods maintained control in the second half, weathering a brief West Texas A&M push before responding with timely baskets and defensive stops. Washburn outscored the Buffs 30–24 after the break, holding WTAM to 33.3 percent (6 of 18) shooting while continuing to generate offense off turnovers and in the paint. The lead ballooned to as many as 27 points late, sealing the win.
Bachelor paced Washburn with a game-high 19 points, shooting 5-of-10 from the floor and a perfect 6-of-6 at the line, while adding five assists. Jones added 10 points, two assists and three steals, and Ruud contributed nine points on 4-of-5 shooting with four rebounds. Dillon Claussen recorded nine points and nine rebounds, and Sam Ungashick scored 10 off the bench.
As a team, Washburn shot 50 percent (27 of 54) from the field, holding West Texas A&M to 36.4 percent shooting (16 of 44), and won decisively in points off turnovers (34 to 13) and fast-break scoring (25 to 1). Washburn also outrebounded the Buffs 38 to 26.
Fontaine Williams was the only Buff (10-2) to reach double figures with 15 points.
  • The Ichabods are 1,721-1,137-2 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 722-328 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 521-104 (.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.
  • The Ichabods will start a stretch of seven of 10 games on the road including their next four games starting at Missouri Western on Jan. 7 before taking on Northwest Missouri on Jan. 10. Washburn will then face Emporia State for the second time in 12 days inside White Auditorium and then travel to Wichita to take on Newman. Washburn will then return 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.