• The top-ranked Washburn Ichabods will load the bus for the first time in 2026 making their way to St. Joseph, Mo. to face the Missouri Western Griffons on Wednesday, Jan. 7 for a 7:30 p.m. start.
• Washburn moved to 14-0 (4-0 MIAA) - one of five remaining undefeated teams in Division II – after opening the 2026 calendar with a 91-66 win over Emporia State in Topeka on Jan. 3.
• The Griffons are 11-4 overall and 3-1 in the MIAA after falling at Fort Hays State 67-65 after the Tigers broke a tie game with four seconds left for the win on Jan. 3.
• The Ichabods have the No. 2-ranked scoring offense in the MIAA putting up 89.6 ppg just behind Missouri Southern's 92.1 ppg.
• Defensively, the Ichabods have the No. 2-ranked scoring defense allowing 60.6 ppg behind Fort Hays State's 58.6 ppg.
• The Griffons are averaging 83.3 ppg while allowing 75.2 ppg.
• The Griffons are 6-0 in home games this season.
• 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 +29.0 ppg and are seventh in field goal percentage at 51.6 percent - also leading the MIAA … Washburn is also sixth in assists per game (19.0), sixth in assist/turnover ration (1.62), 11th in effective field goal percentage (.581) and seventh in rebound margin (+11.6) … Washburn is fifth in scoring defense (60.6 ppg), second in fastbreak points (21.9 ppg), sixth in defensive field goal percentage (.378) fifth in turnover margin (+7.6) and ninth in turnovers forced per game (+19.3).
• Washburn has not been outrebounded in a game and have only been tied twice (vs Lubbock Christian and Emporia State).
• Dillon Claussen is eighth in the nation in field goal percentage at 67.5 which also leads the MIAA … Jeremiah Jones is first the nation in total steals with 47 and is ranked third in steals per game at 3.36 per contest.
• Jack Bachelor is 15th in the nation in total assists with 73 and second in assist to turnover ration at 4.06 to 1.
• The Ichabods' 14-game winning streak is second in the nation behind Daemen who has won its last 16.
• The 14-game winning streak is the eighth-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).
  • Washburn won its third game in a row over the Hornets.
• Dillon Claussen tied a career-highs with five assists and four steals.
• Jeremiah Jones tied a career high with eight field goals made and set a new high with four 3-pointers.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
• is 181-79 in his ninth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 214-109 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 14-6 against Missouri Western.
   
MISSOURI WESTERN HEAD COACH BRUCE MCKOWEN ...
• is 11-4 in his first season on the Griffon bench.
• he is 220-152 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 0-0 against Washburn.
  • The Griffons are 11-4 and 3-1 in the MIAA after falling at Fort Hays State on Jan. 3 in a 67-65 loss.
• The Griffons are 6-0 in home 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 12.1 ppg while Gavin Hershberger and Marko Pavlovic are both scoring 11.1 ppg and William Kiburis is scoring 10.7 ppg … Pavlovic leads the team with 8.6 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 85.3 ppg while allowing 75.2 ppg.
  • Wednesday's meeting will be the 109th between the two schools with Washburn leading the series 64-44.
• Washburn has won the last four in the series and nine of the last 12.
• The Ichabods are 56-36 against MWSU in MIAA games and 36-15 in games played in Topeka overall.
• The Ichabods are 25-26 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. 25, 2025) ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The No. 1-ranked Washburn Ichabods tied the program record for the most consecutive wins to start a season improving to 19-0 (10-0 MIAA) in an 85-52 win over Missouri Western on Saturday at the MWSU Fieldhouse.
The Ichabods trailed 5-3 to the Griffons 3:18 into the game but after a Dillon Claussen layup and a 3-pointer by Michael Keegan Washburn found itself up 8-5. The teams traded baskets and then the Ichabods rung up a 22-2 run over the next 7:45 going 8 of 12 from the field and hit 4 of 6 from deep while holding the Griffons to 1 of 7 shooting taking a 32-11 lead with 5:37 to go in the first half as Washburn would go on to lead 41-26 at the break.
Washburn opened the second half hitting their first four shots of the frame including both 3-pointers, but went 1 of 7 from the free throw line as they pushed the lead to 18 at 52-34 with 14:24 to go.
On Washburn's next possession, Brayden Shorter's third 3-pointer of the night jump started a 17-4 run and his fourth 3-pointer of the game finished off the run as the Ichabods led 69-38 with 7:22 to play. Washburn would go on to lead by as many as 35 with 48 seconds to play as Washburn won its fourth-straight game in a row over the Griffons (13-7, 5-5 MIAA).
Shorter led the Ichabods with a game-high 22 points adding five rebounds pacing five Washburn players in double figures. Keegan had 12 points and four rebounds followed by Jacob Hanna and Brady Christiansen's 11 points and Andrew Orr had 10 points and eight boards and two blocks. Jack Bachelor had double digit assists for the second-straight game with 10 adding eight points.
The Ichabods shot 54 percent from the field for the game hitting 30 of 56 overall and 11 of 22 from deep as Washburn held the Griffons to 35 percent shooting on 17 of 48 shooting and 3 of 16 from 3-point range. Western did hit 15 of 17 free throws compared to 14 of 26 for the Ichabods.
Washburn had a massive 40 to 22 advantage on the glass including 12 offensive rebounds and the Ichabods also dominated the transition game outscoring the Griffons 21 to 0 in fast break points.
  (Jan. 3, 2026) TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 1 Washburn Ichabods used a stifling defense in the second half turning a six-point halftime lead into a 25-point win over Emporia State in a 91-66 victory in their first action of the calendar year improving to 14-0 overall and 4-0 in MIAA play.
Washburn carried a 45–39 lead into halftime after a first half featuring four lead changes and five ties. The Ichabods shot 56.7 percent in the opening 20 minutes and closed the half on a late 10-1 run, scoring in transition and from deep to create separation. Washburn also controlled the tempo early by outscoring Emporia State 24-12 in the paint and 15-4 on fast breaks in the first half.
In the second half, it was all Washburn. The Ichabods opened the half with a 10-0 run in the first two minutes, forcing turnovers on consecutive possessions and converting them into quick baskets pushing the lead to 52–39. Washburn matched its first half shooting at 56.7 percent after the break and connected on 7-of-11 from three-point range, stretching the advantage to as many as 28 points late in the game.
Jeremiah Jones paced Washburn with a career-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. He added four assists and four steals. Dillon Claussen finished with 16 points, four steals and three blocks and Jack Bachelor scored 16 points as well, hitting four 3-pointers, while dishing out nine assists with one turnover. Brady Christiansen led the Ichabods with eight boards.
Washburn's bench outscored the Hornet bench 29 to 25 with Marcus Glock adding 10 points and five rebounds while Tyson Ruud contributed nine points and three rebounds, and Sam Ungashick provided six points while hitting a pair of three-pointers. The Ichabods finished with 23 assists on 34 made field goals overall.
The Ichabods also won the interior battle, outscoring Emporia State 44-20 in the paint turned 18 Hornet turnovers into 41 points recording 14 steals and three blocks while limiting the Hornets' second-half opportunities.
Emporia State was led by Chris Harris with 19 points and Andrew Pengel had 11.
The Ichabods shot 56.7 percent from the floor (34-of-60) for the game knocking down 12 three-pointers at a 48.0 percent clip, while holding the Hornets to just 36.0 percent shooting in the second half.
  • The Ichabods are 1,722-1,137-2 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 723-328 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.
  • The Ichabods will continue their roadtrip at 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.