• The No. 3-ranked Washburn Ichabods wrap up a mini two-game homestand facing Northeastern State on Valentine's Day in Lee Arena at 3 p.m.
• Washburn is 23-1 (13-1 MIAA) bouncing back from its first loss of the season with an 81-53 win over No. 25-ranked Arkansas-Fort Smith on Thursday night.
• Northeastern State is 12-11 and 5-9 in the MIAA after falling 92-65 at Central Missouri on Thursday.
• Saturday's game is the only regular season meeting between the Ichabods and the RiverHawks this season.
• The Ichabods have the No. 1-ranked scoring offense in the MIAA putting up 87.8 ppg just ahead  of Missouri Southern's 86.3 ppg and Northeastern State's 84.1 ppg.
• Defensively, the Ichabods have the No. 2-ranked scoring defense allowing 62.6 ppg behind Fort Hays State's 62.1 ppg.
• The RiverHawks are averaging 84.1 ppg and allowing 79.4 ppg ranking third and 12th on the MIAA team stat charts.
• 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.
• Washburn's Bryson Smith played the 2024-25 season at Northeastern State before transfering to the Ichabods this season …  he averaged 11.4 ppg for the RiverHawks last season with a team-high 131 assists … in the RiverHawks' 88-84 win over the Ichabods last season, Smith had a double double with 10 points with 11 assists in 35 minutes of play adding three steals.
• The Ichabods are second in the nation in scoring margin in the NCAA D2 ranks at +25.1 ppg and are ranked fourth in field goal percentage at 51.2 percent - leading the MIAA … Washburn is 12th in assists per game (18.1), 15th in assist/turnover ration (1.48), sixth in effective field goal percentage (.578) and second in rebound margin (+11.2) … Washburn is sixth in scoring defense (62.6 ppg), 10th in fastbreak points (18.3 ppg), seventh in defensive field goal percentage (.391), sixth in turnover margin (+5.7) and 11th in turnovers forced per game (+17.9).
• Dillon Claussen is 10th in the nation in field goal percentage at 62.3 … Jeremiah Jones is first the nation in total steals with 76 and is ranked third in steals per game at 3.17 per contest.
• Jack Bachelor is 73rd in the nation in total assists with 96 and 28th  in assist to turnover ratio at 2.53 to 1 … 29th in 3-point field goal percentage (.411) and 35th in 3-pointers made (65) and 50th in 3-pointers made per game (2.71)
• Washburn's 26-game homecourt winning streak is second in the nation behind Nova Southeastern's 98-game winning streak.
• The Ichabods' 26-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. • Marcus Glock tied a career-high with three assists.
• Tyson Ruud tied a career-high with three blocks.
• Jack Bachelor recorded his 400th career assist.
• Jeremiah Jones tied Will McNeill for second on the single season steals list with his 76th against the Lions … the single-season record with 82 set by McNeill during the 2012-13 season.
  WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
• is 190-80 in his ninth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 223-110 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.
   
NORTHEASTERN STATE HEAD COACH JA HAVENS ...
• is 70-90 in his sixth season as the RiverHawks' head coach and 201-164 in his 13th season overall as a head coach.
• played at Northeastern State for two seasons (1996-98) under NSU Hall of Fame head coaches Ken Hayes and Larry Gipson.
• Havens previously coached at East Central University (Ada, Okla.) where he was head coach for seven seasons, carrying a record of 131-74, and was the fastest coach in ECU history to win 100 contests
• He 5-5 against the Ichabods (0-1 at East Central).
  • Northeastern State is 12-11 and 5-9 in the MIAA after falling 92-65 at Central Missouri on Thursday.
• Xavier Glenn leads the team in scoring at 18.7 ppg adding 4.7 rpg …he is also the team's leading 3-pointer shooting hitting 30 of 69 attempts (.435) ranking sixth in the MIAA in points per game.
• Ethan Blackmon is scoring 13.6 ppg with Nehemiah Weber scoring 12.1 ppg and A.J. Reed, Jr., scoring 11.2 ppg … just outside of double digit scoring is Taven Washington at 9.2 ppg.
• The RiverHawks have lost four of their last five games including their last two outings.
  • Saturday's meeting will be the 25th all-time between the two schools with the series sitting tied at 12 wins each.
• The Ichabods have won the last 10 of the last 15 meetings in the series, but have dropped five of the last seven and the last two.
• The Ichabods and RiverHawks played in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with Washburn falling 64-59 on March 15, 2003 in Stephenville, Texas.
• The RiverHawks went on to win the NCAA National Championship in 2003.
• Washburn is 4-8 in games played in Tahlequah and the Ichabods are 8-3 in games played in Lee Arena and 0-1 in neutral site games. (Feb. 15, 2025) TAHLEQUAH, Okla. --  The NSU Events Center continued to be a house of horrors for the Washburn Ichabods as the No. 1-ranked squad fell 88-84 losing their fourth in a row to the RiverHawks in Tahlequah.
For the second-straight game the Ichabods led at the break by four leading Northeastern State 40-36 despite the RiverHawks shooting 60 percent from the field in the opening period hitting 15 of 25 shots while the Ichabods were 15 of 35 for 43 percent.
In the second half, the Ichabods (22-2, 13-2 MIAA) led by as many as eight points with 14:12 to go on a layup by Jack Bachelor who scored 10 in the second half. A 17 to 6 run by the RiverHawks that finished with back-to-back 3-pointers put NSU up 62-60 with 10:22 to go.
The RiverHawks (14-10, 8-7 MIAA) pushed their lead to five at 82-77 with 3:00 to go, but a Brayden Shorter 3-pointer cut the lead to 82-80 17 seconds later. NSU hit a pair of free throws then after two free throws by Bachelor and Jacob Hanna pulled the Ichabods within one at 85-84 with 33 seconds left, NSU scored a basket with 26 seconds to go and a free throw with 18 to go to wrap up the game.
Shorter scored 16 of his team-high 21 points in the second half hitting five 3-pointers leading five Ichabods in double figures. Andrew Orr had 15 with eight boards before fouling out. Bachelor finished with 14 and Hanna had 12 points with nine assists and five rebounds. Dillon Claussen had 10 points off the bench
Six players reach double digits for the RiverHawks led by the MIAA's leading scorer Trey Phipps, who had 20 points.
After shooting 60 percent in the first half, the RiverHawks shot a blistering 70 percent in the second half going 16 of 22 from 2-point range (72 percent) finishing at 65 percent for the game hitting 34 of 52 shots overall. Washburn shot 47 percent hitting 29 of 62 shots overall. The Ichabods were 18 of 23 from the free throw line compared to 15 of 19 for the RiverHawks.
Washburn outrebounded the RiverHawks 30 to 24 recording 16 offensive rebounds scoring 16 second chance points. NSU outscored the Ichabods 54 to 36 in the paint. (Feb. 12, 2026) TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 3 Washburn Ichabods bounced back from their first loss of the season erasing a one-point halftime deficit with a dominant second-half shooting performance, pulling away from the No. 25-ranked Arkansas-Fort Smith for an 81-53 win Thursday night at Lee Arena winning their 23rd game in a row at home.
Washburn (23-1, 13-1 MIAA) trailed 31-30 at the break after shooting just 37.5 percent in the opening half, but flipped the game immediately out of the locker room. The Ichabods opened the second period on an 11-2 surge to build a 41-33 lead and never let the margin dip below six the rest of the way. A 10-0 run midway through the half stretched the advantage into double figures, and a later 13-3 burst pushed the lead past 20 as the Lions (18-5, 9-5 MIAA) lost their first game ever in Topeka.
The Ichabods shot 55.9 percent in the second half (19 of 34) and 46.8 percent for the game, compared to 34.4 percent shooting by the Lions holding UAFS to 9 of 29 shooting in the second half (31 percent). Washburn also heated up from deep, finishing 11 of 32 from 3-point range (34.4 percent), while holding the Lions to 6 of 25 (24.0 percent) including 3 of 14 in the second half.
Balanced scoring fueled the separation. Jack Bachelor's 16 points led the way for the Ichabods, hitting 4 of 6 from beyond the arc, while Bryson Smith added 15 points and four assists. Jeremiah Jones scored 14 points, and Dillon Claussen filled the stat sheet with eight points, seven rebounds, six assists and three blocks as Washburn controlled the paint and the glass outrebounding the Lions 46 to 28 while outscoring them in the paint 36 to 26.
Jarren McAllister paced the Lions with 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting and was the only visitor to reach double figures.
Washburn won the offensive rebounding battle as well with a 16-8 edge on the offensive glass that led to a 24 to 8 advantage in second-chance points. The Ichabods also outscored the Lions 13 to 8 in fast-break points, turning defensive stops into quick offense during their decisive runs.
Overall the Ichabods outscored the Lions 51 to 22 in the second half holding UAFS to more than 30 points below its scoring average.
  • The Ichabods are 1,731-1,138-2 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 731-329 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 525-104 (.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 go out on their final road trip of the regular season with games at Central Oklahoma on Feb. 19 and Rogers State on Feb. 21 before wrapping 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.