• The No. 1-ranked Washburn Ichabods men's basketball team will look for its 20th win of the season as they play host to Missouri Western at 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 23 in Lee Arena in a game that has been moved up a day because of the weather forecast.
• Washburn enters the game with a 19-0 (9-0 MIAA) record - one of two remaining undefeated teams in Division II – after topping Northwest Missouri by 50 in a 94-44 win on Jan. 21 in Topeka.
• The Griffons are 13-7 overall and 5-4 in MIAA play after falling at Central Missouri 97-83 last time out.
• The Ichabods defeated the Griffons on Jan. 7 in St. Joseph in an 87-75 win.
• The Ichabods have the No. 1-ranked scoring offense in the MIAA putting up 89.1 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 60.9 ppg behind Fort Hays State's 59.5 ppg.
• The Griffons are averaging 82.3 ppg and allowing 77.1 ppg ranking sixth and ninth in the MIAA stats.
• The Griffons are 4-4 in road games this season.
• Washburn is 18-4 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 are looking for their 32nd, 20-win season in program history and their sixth under head coach Brett Ballard in his ninth season on the Ichabod bench.
• The Ichabods lead the nation in scoring margin in the NCAA D2 ranks at +28.2 ppg and are ranked third in field goal percentage at 52.3 percent - also leading the MIAA … Washburn is sixth in assists per game (18.8), 10th in assist/turnover ration (1.54), fourth in effective field goal percentage (.588) and second in rebound margin (+12.7) … Washburn is fifth in scoring defense (60.9 ppg), sixth in fastbreak points (19.4 ppg), eighth in defensive field goal percentage (.383) seventh in turnover margin (+6.3) and 10th 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' 19-game winning streak is the longest after Daemen lost on Jan. 21 to Gannon ending its 20-game winning streak.
• The Ichabods have the third-longest road game winning streak in the nation at seven. Michigan Tech has won its last 10 and Eastern New Mexico has won its last eight.
• The 19-game winning streak by the Ichabods is tied for the fourth-longest in program history joining the 1992-93 squad who won 19 to start the season from Nov. 20, 1992 to Feb. 6, 1993.
• Washburn's 24-game homecourt winning streak is tied for second in the nation behind Nova Southeastern's 95 wins.
• The 24-game homecourt winning streak is tied for second for the longest in program history trailing only the 28-game streak from Nov. 19, 1993 to Feb. 8, 1995.
  • The Ichabods now own the longest winning streak in the nation at 19 with Daemen's 79-61 loss to Gannon.
• The 50-point win over the Bearcats is the largest in the series history between the two teams topping the 40 point win in a, 111-71 on Jan. 27, 1993 in Topeka.
• The nine steals from Jeremiah Jones tied the school record with Larry Farmer set vs Friends on Nov. 26, 1996.
• The 19-game winning streak by the Ichabods is tied for the fourth-longest in program history joining the 1992-93 squad who won 19 to start the season from Nov. 20, 1992 to Feb. 6, 1993.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
• is 186-79 in his ninth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 219-109 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 15-6 against Missouri Western.
   
MISSOURI WESTERN HEAD COACH BRUCE MCKOWEN ...
• is 13-7 in his first season on the Griffon bench.
• he is 222-155 overall
• spent 10 seasons at Upper Iowa as the head coach and is a a 2007 graduate of the University of Northern Iowa.
• was a four-year letter winner at point guard, ranking second all-time in assists and fourth all time in minutes played. 
• is 0-1 against Washburn.
  • The Griffons are 13-7 and 5-4 in the MIAA after falling at Central Missouri last time out 97-83.
• The Griffons are 4-4 in road games this season.
• Noah King leads the team in scoring at 17.6 ppg ranking eighth on the MIAA scoring chart … Ty Henry is scoring 11.5 ppg while Marko Pavlovic is scoring 11.4 ppg and William Kiburis is scoring 10.4 ppg … Gavin Hershberger is scoring 10.0 ppg and  Pavlovic leads the team with 7.8 rpg.
• King, Hershberger and Kiburis all played for McKowen at Upper Iowa last season.
• Topeka native Ty Henry played his prep ball at Seaman transferring to Missouri Western from Baker.
• As a team the Griffons are averaging 82.3 ppg while allowing 77.1 ppg.
  • Friday's meeting will be the 110th between the two schools with Washburn leading the series 65-44.
• Washburn has won the last five in the series and 10 of the last 13.
• The Ichabods are 57-36 against MWSU in MIAA games and 36-15 in games played in Topeka overall.
• The Ichabods are 26-26 in games played in St. Joseph against the Griffons.
• In the MIAA Tournament the Ichabods are 4-8 against the Griffons.
• The Ichabods lead 6-5 in overtime games including the 95-94 win on Jan. 9, 2019.
• In last year's 85-52 win over the Griffons in St. Joseph, the victory marked the largest margin of victory by the Ichabods in the series history.
  (Jan. 7, 2026) ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The No. 1-ranked Washburn Ichabods remained perfect on the season and in MIAA play with an 87–75 road win at Missouri Western on Wednesday night, improving to 15–0 overall and 5–0 in the conference. The Ichabods never trailed, building a commanding first-half lead, and then withstood a second-half push to secure the victory at the MWSU Fieldhouse.
Washburn shot a scorching 65.5 percent from the floor in the opening period (19-of-29) and knocked down 4-of-9 attempts from 3-point range while scoring 48 first-half points. Missouri Western, meanwhile, struggled to find rhythm early, shooting just 25.0 percent (8-of-32) in the first half as Washburn built a 48–29 advantage at the break.
Missouri Western (11-5, 3-2 MIAA) played its best basketball after halftime, shooting 53.3 percent in the second half and outscoring Washburn 46–39 over the final 20 minutes while dropping to 6-1 in home games this season. The Griffons trimmed the Ichabod advantage into the mid-teens on multiple occasions. However, each time the Griffons threatened, Washburn answered, keeping Western at arm's length.
Dillon Claussen scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half, going 6-of-10 for the game, adding eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Sam Ungashick provided a big lift off the bench with a season-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting and Jack Bachelor added 16 points while Brady Christiansen contributed 13 points and nine rebounds, helping Washburn win the rebounding battle 42–24.
As a team, Washburn finished the night shooting 56.4 percent from the field (31-of-55), 33.3 percent from three-point range (7-of-21), and 72.0 percent at the free-throw line (18-of-25). Missouri Western shot 38.7 percent overall and just 21.4 percent from beyond the arc.
  (Jan. 21, 2026) TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 1-ranked Washburn Ichabods controlled the game from the opening tip and never looked back in a dominant 94-44 win over Northwest Missouri State on Wednesday night at Lee Arena, pushing the Ichabods to 19-0 overall and 9-0 in MIAA play as Washburn won its 24th game in a row at home tying for the second-most in program history.
The Ichabods jumped out of the gate bouncing out to a 20-8 lead at the midway point of the first half as the Washburn would go on to turn a 24-12 advantage to a 40-14 halftime lead closing the final seven minutes of the frame on an 18-2 run holding the Bearcats (9-11, 2-7 MIAA) to 1 of 10 shooting including 0 of 7 from deep. Overall in the first stanza, the Ichabods shot 50 percent (15 of 30) while the Bearcats were limited to 6 of 24 from the field.
In the second half, Washburn doubled up the Bearcats at 56-28 with 13:38 to go and then went on a 20-3 run over the next 5:06 of the game moving the lead to 74-31 with 8:53 to play. From that point on, the Ichabods outscored Northwest Missouri 20-13 rolling to the 50-point win.
Dillon Claussen paced Washburn with 18 points on a highly efficient 4-of-5 shooting night while going a perfect 10-for-10 at the free-throw line. Jack Bachelor added 14 points, including a three 3-pointers, and Jeremiah Jones tied the school record with nine steals in the game chipping in in seven points with five boards and three assists. Marcus Glock scored 14 points, knocking down two triples while Brady Christiansen contributed seven points and pulled down 11 rebounds helping the Ichabods to a 38 to 24 advantage on the glass, while Tyson Ruud finished with 11 and four rebounds.
Washburn's depth was also a major factor, as the bench outscored the Bearcats 44-19 while turning 26 Bearcat turnovers into a 43-3 advantage in points off turnovers and outscoring Northwest 40 to 18 in the paint and 20 to 0 in fast break points.
As a team, Washburn shot 54.4 percent from the field (31-of-57), including 79 percent on two-point attempts, and finished 23-of-32 at the free-throw line.
Defensively, Washburn held Northwest Missouri to just 34 percent shooting overall and 20 percent from three-point range as Robert Garcia led Northwest with 10 points off the bench.
  • The Ichabods are 1,727-1,137-2 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 727-328 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 523-104 (.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 is back on the road for a three-game roadtrip starting at Fort Hays State on Jan. 29. Washburn will then face Nebraska-Kearney on Jan. 31, Central Missouri on Feb. 7 before returning home on Feb. 12 hosting Arkansas-Fort Smith and Northeastern State on Feb. 14.