• The No. 3-ranked Washburn Ichabods men's basketball team is back in action on Thursday, Feb. 12 when they will host No. 25-ranked Arkansas-Fort Smith at 7:30 pm.
• Washburn is 22-1 (12-1 MIAA) this season after suffering their first loss of the season at Central Missouri in a 74-72 loss on Feb. 7.
• The No. 25-ranked Lions are 18-4 this season and 9-4 in the MIAA after topping Fort Hays State at home in an 87-77 win last Saturday.
• Thursday's game is the only regular season meeting between the Ichabods and the Lions this season.
• The Ichabods have the No. 1-ranked scoring offense in the MIAA putting up 88.0 ppg just ahead  of Missouri Southern's 86.9 ppg and Northeastern State's 85.0 ppg.
• Defensively, the Ichabods have the No. 2-ranked scoring defense allowing 63.0 ppg behind Fort Hays State's 62.3 ppg.
• The Lions are averaging 83.6 ppg and allowing  69.8 ppg ranking fourth on both MIAA team stat charts.
• Washburn is 21-5 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 32, 20-win seasons in program history and six under Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard in his nine 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 recorded their 32nd, 20-win season in program history and their sixth under head coach Brett Ballard in his ninth season on the Ichabod bench with the win over Missouri Western earlier this season.
• The Ichabods are second in the nation in scoring margin in the NCAA D2 ranks at +25.0 ppg and are ranked second in field goal percentage at 51.7 percent - leading the MIAA … Washburn is 14th in assists per game (18.0), 19th in assist/turnover ration (1.47), fifth in effective field goal percentage (.579) and second in rebound margin (+10.9) … Washburn is seventh in scoring defense (63.0 ppg), ninth in fastbreak points (18.6 ppg), ninth in defensive field goal percentage (.393), fifth in turnover margin (+6.0) and 10th in turnovers forced per game (+18.2).
• Dillon Claussen is ninth in the nation in field goal percentage at 63.2 … Jeremiah Jones is first the nation in total steals with 73 and is ranked third in steals per game at 3.32 per contest.
• Jack Bachelor is 54th in the nation in total assists with 94 and 22nd in assist to turnover ration at 2.61 to 1.
• Washburn's 25-game homecourt winning streak is second in the nation behind Nova Southeastern's 97-game winning streak.
• The Ichabods' 25-game homecourt winning streak is the second-longest in program history trailing only the 28-game streak from Nov. 19, 1993 to Feb. 8, 1995. • The game marked the first time the Ichabods had been outrebounded in a game this season (30 to 27).
• In holding the Mules under 100 points, it marked the 200th consecutive game the Ichabods have held their opponents under the century mark … the last opponent to reach at least 100 points was Missouri Southern in a 101-100 win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 16, 2019.
• For the second year in a row the Ichabods lost their 23rd game of the season after starting the season with a 22-game winning streak … the Ichabods lost at Arkansas-Fort Smith 87-80 last season in overtime on the road to end the streak.
• The 22-game winning finished tied for the third longest in program history behind 25 games between Jan. 17, 1987 and Nov. 23, 1987 and a 23-game streak between Dec. 17, 1987 and March 8, 1988.
• Jeremiah Jones now has 75 steals this season, the Ichabod single season record is 82, set by Will McNeill in 2012-13. Jones needs two steals to break the junior class record of 76 set in 2012.
• The loss to the Mules snapped a four-game winning streak over Central Missouri.
• The loss snapped the longest road game winning streak in the nation at nine.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
• is 189-80 in his ninth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 222-110 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 0-1 against Arkansas-Fort Smith.
   
ARKANSAS-FORT SMITH HEAD COACH ZANE GIBSON ...
• is 36-42 in his second season as head coach of the Lions and 63-79 overall in his sixth season as a head coach.
• he played collegiately at Middle Tennessee State from 2009-14 and was part of MTSU's all-time winningest class with 95 wins. He played in 59 career games and was a member of three Sun Belt Conference championship teams and one in Conference USA.
• after his playing career, Gibson joined the coaching staff as a graduate assistant from 2014-16. His responsibilities included scouting, individual improvement, recruiting, scheduling and academics.
• is 1-0 against Washburn.
  • The Lions are 18-4 this season and 9-4 in the MIAA and ranked No. 25 in the latest NABC Coaches Poll.
• The Lions have won five of their last six games including the last three coming off an 87-77 win over Fort Hays State last time out in Arkansas.
• The squad is shooting 38 percent from deep hitting 220 of 585 going 14 of 22 in their last game against Fort Hays State.
• Brandon Scott leads the team in scoring with 13.6 ppg while Christian Moore is scoring 12.3 ppg and Jarren McAllister is scoring 11.1 ppg … Kameron Johnson has a team-best 6.5 rpg with 8.6 ppg.
  • Thursday's meeting will be only the third in program history between the two schools.
• Washburn won the first meeting on Nov. 12, 2011 in an 87-66 win in Bartlesville, Okla.
• The Lions won last season in Fort Smith 87-80 in overtime snapping the Ichabods' 22-game winning streak to start the season.
  (Feb. 13, 2025) FORT SMITH, Ark. – The No. 1 Washburn Ichabods fell for the first time this season in an 87-80 overtime loss to Arkansas-Fort Smith on Thursday.
Washburn led 69-65 in the second half with 4:43 to play but were outscored 9-4 down the stretch going 1 of 3 from the field, committing three turnovers while the Lions (10-13, 4-10 MIAA) hit all four free throws sending the game to overtime. Washburn's jumper at the end of regulation after a full-court pass banked off the rim and fell out.
In the extra frame, the Lions jumped out to a 77-74 lead, but a jumper by Brady Christiansen pulled Washburn within two, but a 3-pointer by the Lions and a free throw pushed the margin back to five with 1:44 to play. Two free throws by Jack Bachelor with 72 seconds left cut the lead to three at 81-78, but the Lions hit all six free throw attempts in the final 31 seconds, sealing the win.
The Ichabods (22-1, 13-1 MIAA) led by four at the break as Jacob Hanna's driving layup just before the half sent Washburn into the locker room with a 40-36 lead. Washburn led by as many as 10 in the first half at 33-23, but the Lions were 8 of 17 from 3-point range, hitting 13 field goals in total in the first 20 minutes. Andrew Orr and Jack Bachelor each had 11 in the opening 20 minutes.
Roland McCoy was 5 of 8 from 3-point range in the first half for the Lions, finishing with a game-high 26 points hitting eight 3-pointers in 14 attempts.
Bachelor led the Ichabods with a career-high 25 points, hitting all nine free throws adding five steals and six assists. Orr had 19 points and six boards. Brayden Shorter had 11, as did Christiansen. Hanna finished with 10 and a team-high seven rebounds.
The Ichabods finished 25 of 60 from the field, going 1 of 5 in the overtime, including 0 for 3 from deep. For the game, Washburn was 21 of 30 from the free throw line. The Lions, en route to an Ichabod opponent season-high 87 points this season, finished 27 of 56 from the field, going 13 of 33 from deep and 20 of 26 from the line hitting 9 of 10 free throws in the overtime period.
Washburn outrebounded the Lions 35-33. Each team had 16 turnovers.. (Feb. 7, 2026) WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The No. 1 Washburn Ichabods had their 22-game winning streak come to an end after falling 74-72 to Central Missouri, who received notes in this week's poll, on Saturday in Warrensburg.
Washburn (22-1, 12-1 MIAA) erased a double-digit second-half deficit and had a chance in the final seconds, but Central Missouri (18-7, 9-4 MIAA) held on for a 74-72 win Saturday afternoon at the UCM Multipurpose Building.
The Ichabods led for much of the first half and built their largest advantage at 16-4 after an early 9-0 run. Jack Bachelor helped pace the early surge with a pair of threes while Dillon Claussen and Bryson Smith attacked the rim to put Washburn in front. Central Missouri answered with its perimeter shooting, knocking down nine first-half three-pointers to flip the momentum. A late triple in the closing seconds sent the Mules into the break with a 36-34 lead.
UCM pushed the margin to 12 early in the second half, stretching the lead to 47-35 behind continued outside shooting and second-chance opportunities. Washburn chipped away midway through the half as Bachelor sparked a rally with a three and a transition layup, and Marcus Glock tied the game at 67 with a three-pointer with 3:32 remaining.
Lazerek Houston responded with a three and later a fast-break layup to give Central Missouri a 72-67 cushion inside the final two minutes. Glock scored four straight at the free throw line to pull Washburn within 72-69, and after two Mule free throws, Sam Ungashick drilled a three with 15 seconds left to make it 74-72. Washburn forced a miss at the line on the next possession but could not convert in the closing seconds.
Bachelor led Washburn with 18 points, while Claussen had 13 and Bryson Smith and Sam Ungashick each had 10. Ichabods shot 43 percent from the field and went 18 of 22 at the free throw line. Central Missouri shot 51 percent overall and hit 16 three-pointers, finishing with a 67 percent effective field goal rate.
Houston paced the Mules with 31 points, including five three-pointers, as UCM used a 13-4 edge in second-chance points to offset Washburn's 30-16 advantage in the paint.
  • The Ichabods are 1,730-1,138-2 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 730-329 since joining the conference and the NCAA.
• The Ichabods have recorded 32 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 524-104 (.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 will host Northeastern State on Feb. 14 in a Valentine's Day afternoon contest. The game with the RiverHawks will be broadcast on WIBW 13. After the final road trip of the regular season with games at Central Oklahoma on Feb. 19 and Rogers State on Feb. 21, the Ichabods will wrap up the last week of the regular season hosting Pittsburg State on Feb. 25 and then will end the regular season hosting Missouri Southern at 1 p.m. in the MIAA Game of the Week facing the Lions on 38 The Spot in Kansas City.0