• The No. 3-ranked Washburn Ichabods will finish off the regular season road portion of their schedule traveling to Oklahoma to face Central Oklahoma on Feb. 19 followed by Rogers State on Feb. 21.
• Washburn is 24-1 (14-1 MIAA) after rolling to a 78-54 win over Northeastern State last time out on Valentine's Day.
• Central Oklahoma is 15-12 (8-7 MIAA) after falling last time out to Rogers State 75-59 at home dropping their home record to 9-2 this season.
• The Ichabods can clinch no less than a share of the MIAA title with a win at Central Oklahoma … the title would be the 12th MIAA Championship for the Ichabods and the 24th overall. The Ichabods could clinch an outright title with a win at UCO and a loss by Central Missouri at Rogers State on Thursday.
• Thursday's game is the only regular season meeting between the Ichabods and the Bronchos this season.
• The Ichabods have the No. 1-ranked scoring offense in the MIAA putting up 87.4 ppg just ahead  of Missouri Southern's 85.4 ppg.
• Defensively, the Ichabods have the No. 1-ranked scoring defense allowing 62.3 ppg ahead of Fort Hays State's 62.9 ppg.
• The Bronchos are averaging 73.2 ppg and allowing 68.0 ppg ranking 12th and third 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.
• The Ichabods are second in the nation in scoring margin in the NCAA D2 ranks at +25.1 ppg and are ranked third in field goal percentage at 51.4 percent - leading the MIAA … Washburn is 11th in assists per game (18.2), 20th in assist/turnover ration (1.45), seventh in effective field goal percentage (.579) and first in rebound margin (+12.4) … Washburn is fifth in scoring defense (62.3 ppg), sixth in fastbreak points (18.4 ppg), sixth in defensive field goal percentage (.391), sixth in turnover margin (+5.6) and 11th in turnovers forced per game (+18.6).
• Dillon Claussen is 10th in the nation in field goal percentage at 62.9 … Jeremiah Jones is first the nation in total steals with 78 and is ranked second in steals per game at 3.12 per contest.
• Jack Bachelor is 76th in the nation in total assists with 99 and 29th in assist to turnover ratio at 2.48 to 1 … Bachelor is third on the active NCAA D2 chart in assist to turnover ratio and ranked ninth out of all NCAA levels at 2.70.
• Brady Christiansen is 10th on the NCAA active D2 chart with 716 career rebounds … he also moved into the top 50 all-time at Washburn in scoring with 812 career points.
• Jeremiah Jones needs eight steals to reach 200 for his career … he is ranked fifth in career steals on the active NCAA D2 chart and No. 34 out of all NCAA levels.
• Sam Ungashick has scored 951 collegiate points with 592 coming at Washburn with 359 being scored in his lone season at Benedictine as a freshman before joining the Ichabods.
• Washburn's 27-game homecourt winning streak is second in the nation behind Nova Southeastern's 98-game winning streak.
• The Ichabods' 27-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 Ichabods' 27-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 Ichabods held the RiverHawks 38 points under their season scoring average of 82.9 ppg.
• The Ichabods hold a three-game lead in the MIAA standings with four conference games to go. WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
• is 191-80 in his ninth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 224-110 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 9-7 against Central Oklahoma.
 
CENTRAL OKLAHOMA HEAD COACH BOB HOFFMAN ...
• is 128-78 in his seventh season as the Bronchos' head coach and 647-399 in his 32nd year overall as a head coach.
• came to UCO from Mercer, where he led the Bears of Macon, Ga. to 209 wins in his 11-year stint there.
• Hoffman won 209 games at Mercer from 2008-19, including 119 conference games. He led the Bears to its first ever NCAA Tournament win in 2014 – a major upset of Duke in the opening round of March Madness. And he also became the first coach in NCAA history to win a tournament game in all four Division I postseason tournaments in a four-year span.
• is 5-6 against Washburn.
  • The Bronchos are 15-12 overall and 8-7 in the MIAA after falling at home to Roger's State 75-59 last time out on Feb. 14.
• Matthew Willenborg leads the team scoring 20.4 ppg with a team-high 9.4 rpg adding 81 blocks … he is second in the MIAA in scoring average, first in rebounding and first in blocks … he also leads the team with 48 3-pointers in 137 attempts.
• Josh Nwankwo is scoring 18.7 ppg, ranked fifth in the MIAA and Jacobi Sebock is scoring 15.7 ppg.
  • Thursday's meeting will be the 43rd in the series history and the series is tied 21-21.
• Washburn has won 12 of the last 17 meetings.
• The Ichabods are 1-2 all-time against the Bronchos in the MIAA Tournament.
• Washburn topped the Bronchos in the MIAA Tournament semifinals 79-65 on March 5, 2022 and fell in the first meeting 99-88 on March 7, 2013 in the MIAA Tourney quarterfinals. In the 2025 MIAA Tournament, the eighth-seeded Bronchos knocked off the top-ranked Ichabods in the quarterfinals 90-84.
• The Ichabods lost the first match up as MIAA schools on Jan. 5, 2013 in a 72-67 loss in Edmond.
• Washburn's two highest-scoring combined games in school history came against UCO. In 1992 the two teams scored 246 points (132-114, UCO) and in 1998 they scored 218 points (111-107, UCO).
• In the Jan. 13, 2018 meeting, the 49 points was the fewest by the Ichabods in a win in the shot clock era and the 96 combined points were the second fewest scored by Washburn and its opponent in the shot clock era.
• In 42 all-time meetings, the Ichabods have averaged 76.9 points per game with the Bronchos.
• WU is 13-3 in games against UCO in Topeka winning the last eight games in Lee Arena … UCO's last win in Topeka came on Feb. 20, 2016 in a 71-60 victory.
• The Ichabods have lost the last five games played in Edmond to the Bronchos … Washburn's last win in Hamilton Fieldhouse came on Jan. 14, 2017 in a 74-69 win.
  (March 6, 2025) KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The No. 4-ranked Washburn Ichabods ran into a hot-shooting Central Oklahoma team while shooting a season-low from 3-point range in a 90-84 MIAA Tournament Quarterfinals loss on Thursday in Municipal Auditorium.
Both teams started out slow as the Ichabods led 7-6 at the first media timeout, but the Ichabods would hit 8 of their next 14 shots starting a 25-13 run pushing Washburn to a 32-19 lead with 5:38 to play in the opening half.
From that point on, the Bronchos outscored the Ichabods 25-12 hitting 7 of 8 shots including both 3-pointers and 9 of 10 free throws as the two teams went into the locker room tied at 44. Washburn (26-3) shot 54 percent in the opening half, but the Bronchos (18-12) shot 57 percent in the first 20 minutes.
Washburn came out of the half outscoring the Bronchos 9-4 in the first two-plus minutes taking a 53-48 lead, but UCO used a 13-3 run hitting 4 of 8 shots while the Ichabods were 0 of 10 overall and 0-6 from deep as UCO pushed out to a five-point lead with 10:30 to go.
After a 3-point play from Jacob Hanna that tied the score at 65, UCO's 15-4 spurt stretched the lead to 11 with 3:52 to play. Washburn cut the lead down to five twice with 64 seconds to play, but did not get any closer as UCO hit 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch securing the win.
Hanna led the Ichabods with a career-high 29 points going 12 of 16 from the field recording a double double with 13 boards adding four assists going 12 of 16 from the free throw line. Andrew Orr finished with 13 points and two steals going 6 of 8 from the field and Jack Bachelor scored 11 with six assists.
JV Seat scored 31 points leading all scorers on 11 of 16 shooting hitting 4 3-pointers.  Israel Hart had 25 as four total Bronchos reached double figures.
Washburn finished 40 percent from the field hitting 6 of 31 3-pointers in the game for a 19 percent average. Washburn was 2 of 19 from deep in the second half. The Bronchos shot 60 percent from the field going 30 of 50 hitting 8 of 17 shots overall and 22 of 31 free throw attempts.
Washburn held a 39 to 31 advantage on the glass grabbing 18 offensive rebounds (six by Hanna) scoring 17 second-chance points. (Feb. 14, 2026) TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 3-ranked Washburn Ichabods used a dominant first-half run and balanced scoring to roll past Northeastern State 78-54 Saturday afternoon at Lee Arena, improving to 24-1 overall and 14-1 in league play winning their 27th home game in a row.
After falling behind 3-0 in the opening seconds, Washburn flipped the script with an 11-0 burst with a Dillon Claussen steal-and-dunk to highlight the surge. Washburn shot a blistering 63 percent in the opening half and scored 28 points in the paint over the first 20 minutes, taking a 41-27 lead into the break while forcing 16 Northeastern State turnovers.
The Ichabods pushed the margin to 20 early in the second half behind back-to-back baskets from Brady Christiansen and Smith building a lead of as many as 29 late in the frame as the Ichabods "cooled to 48 percent" shooting in the second half.
Claussen led the Ichabods with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting while adding six rebounds and three blocks. Smith stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, five assists and four steals. Christiansen also scored 11 points on 5-of-7 and Jack Bachelor added 10 points, knocking down all four of his free throws. Jeremiah Jones anchored the glass with five rebounds to go with six points and five assists and two steals while Tyson Ruud scored 10 of Washburn's 26 bench points adding six boards.
Washburn finished the game shooting 55.6 percent (30 of 54) from the floor scoring 48 points in the paint while turning 24 Northeastern State turnovers into 12 points. The Ichabods also held a 38-28 rebounding edge and led for more than 39 minutes.
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.
  • The Ichabods are 1,732-1,138-2 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 732-329 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 526-104 (.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 playing their final regular season road game at 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.