• The No. 3-ranked and 2026 MIAA Champion Washburn Ichabods will wrap up their  final road trip of the regular season at Rogers State on Saturday with tip-off set for 3:30 p.m. in Claremore, Okla.
• The Ichabods clinched their 12th outright MIAA title and their second in a row after topping Central Oklahoma last time out in an 82-58 win over the Bronchos.
• Washburn is 26-1 (15-1 MIAA) clinched the title with three games left in the regular season.
• Rogers State is 17-8 (11-5 MIAA) after knocking off No. 25-ranked Central Missouri on Thursday night in a 70-61 win for their third-straight win improving to 10-1 at home this season.
• Saturday's game is the only regular season meeting between the Ichabods and the Hillcats this season.
• The Ichabods have the No. 1-ranked scoring offense in the MIAA putting up 87.2 ppg just ahead  of Missouri Southern's 84.4 ppg.
• Defensively, the Ichabods have the No. 1-ranked scoring defense allowing 62.1 ppg ahead of Fort Hays State's 63.0 ppg.
• The Hillcats are averaging 77.7 ppg and allowing 69.5 ppg ranking eighth and fourth 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 +25.0 ppg and are ranked fourth in field goal percentage at 51.4 percent - leading the MIAA … Washburn is 11th in assists per game (18.3), 18th in assist/turnover ratio (1.45), seventh in effective field goal percentage (.580) and second in rebound margin (+10.8) … Washburn is fifth in scoring defense (62.1 ppg), eighth in fastbreak points (18.1 ppg), fourth in defensive field goal percentage (.389), seventh in turnover margin (+5.6) and 11th in turnovers forced per game (+18.6).
• Dillon Claussen is 11th in the nation in field goal percentage at 62.2 … Jeremiah Jones is first the nation in total steals with 79 and is ranked third in steals per game at 3.04 per contest.
• Jack Bachelor is 64th in the nation in total assists with 108 and 28th 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 2.71.
• Brady Christiansen is 10th on the NCAA active D2 chart with 723 career rebounds … he also moved into the top 50 all-time at Washburn in scoring with 824 career points.
• Jeremiah Jones needs seven 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 953 collegiate points with 594 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. • Marcus Glock tied an Ichabod high with four 3-pointers.
• The Ichabods broke a 21-all tie in the series history with UCO.
• The 24-point win over the Bronchos was the most in the 43 game history in the series.
• Jeremiah Jones moved into second on the Washburn single-season steals chart with two more against UCO giving him 78 … trailing Will McNeill's 82 set during the 2012-13 season. WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
• is 192-80 in his ninth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 225-110 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 9-3 against Rogers State.
 
ROGERS STATE HEAD COACH JUSTIN BARKLEY ...
• is 307-163 in his 16th season at Rogers State.
• served as the Hillcats' assistant coach from 2008-2010, became the third head coach in the brief history of the program when he took over in 2010.
• helped guide the Hillcats to a 52-13 record as an assistant where they claimed the school's first Sooner Athletic Conference regular season championship, reached the NAIA National Tournament, and achieved a No. 1 national ranking in 2008-09.
• scored six points in 32 minutes with six rebounds and six assists against the Ichabods as a player at Northeastern State (his alma mater) in the NCAA South Central Regional Semifinal game when his RiverHawks topped the Ichabods 64-59 on March 15, 2003 in Stephenville, Texas - NSU would go on to win the NCAA National Championship that season.
• is 3-9 against the Ichabods. • The Hillcats are 17-8 this season and 11-5 in the MIAA also going 10-1 in home games this season.
• Andrew Mason leads the team in scoring at 13.3 ppg. Overall the Hillcats have five players averaging in double figures with Tim Jordan, Jr. scoring 13.2 ppg, Jabryn Anderson with 12.2, Caden Fry with 10.8 ppg and Benard Omooria with 10.0
• The Hillcats are shooting 35 percent from 3-point range hitting 176 of 506 this season.
  • Saturday's meeting with the Hillcats will be the 13th between the two schools with the Ichabods leading the series 9-3.
• The Hillcats won the first meeting on Feb. 15, 2020 in Claremore, Okla. 80-62, but have lost two of the last three, but won the last trip with an 80-74 win in overtime.
• In games played in Claremore, the Ichabods are 2-3 while going 7-0 in games played in Topeka.
• The Ichabods are 2-0 against the Hillcats in the MIAA Tournament winning a 78-59 decision on March 3, 2021 in Topeka in the quarterfinals in the tournament played during the COVID pandemic and an 87-64 win in the 2024 MIAA Tournament quarterfinals in Kansas City.
  (Feb. 22, 2025) TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 4-ranked Washburn Ichabod basketball team claimed its 11th Regular Season MIAA Championship with a 90-60 win over Rogers State on Saturday afternoon while also becoming the seventh team in NCAA Division II history to reach the 1,700-win plateau on senior day in Lee Arena.
The Ichabods needed only 28 seconds to take a lead they would not give up as a jumper by Jacob Hanna in the paint and a 3-pointer by Jake Schadegg put Washburn up 5-0 out of the gates. After a bucket by the Hillcats (20-9, 11-6 MIAA), a layup by Andrew Orr followed by 3-pointers by Jack Bachelor and Brayden Shorter pushed the Ichabods to an 11-point lead forcing a Rogers State timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, the Hillcats then used a 10-0 run of their own cutting Washburn's lead to one, but Washburn responded with a 9-0 run going back up by 10 before the Ichabods went into the break with a 14-point margin leading 44-30.
In the second half, Rogers State trimmed the Ichabod advantage down to five at 55-50 with 13:19 to go, but another big Ichabod run put the game out of reach as the Ichabods scored 20 of the next 24 points taking a 75-54 lead with 6:03 to play.
The final Ichabod run of 13 to 2 over the final 4:19 of the game pushed the final margin to 30 for the largest victory over Rogers State as the Ichabods won their fifth in a row over the Hillcats overall improving to 7-0 in Lee Arena in the series.
Hanna led the Ichabods with 15 points followed by Andrew Orr with 14 and Michael Keegan had 14. Keegan also added six rebounds and two blocks. Dillon Claussen had 10 off the bench going 8 of 8 from the 3-point line.
Anthony Marshall, Jr. paced the Hillcats with 15 points.
The Ichabods shot 56 percent from the field hitting 28 of 50 shots and were 26 of 30 from the free throw line. Rogers State was limited to 39 percent shooting hitting 22 of 57 shots and 7 of 22 from deep.
The Ichabods also forced 16 Hillcat turnovers leading to 20 points and outscored Rogers State 40 to 18 in the paint. Washburn's bench also outscored the Hillcats' reserves 34 to 7. (Feb. 19, 2026) EDMOND, Okla. – The Washburn No. 3-ranked Ichabods clinched their 12th MIAA regular season title and their second in a row with a dominant road performance Thursday night, racing past Central Oklahoma 82-58 at Hamilton Field House.
The Ichabods (25-1, 15-1 MIAA) set the tone early and never trailed, building a commanding 51-30 halftime advantage shooting 49 percent from the field (19-of-37), including a blistering 53 percent from three-point range (9-of-17) in the opening 20 minutes while holding the Bronchos to 9 of 25 shooting at 36 percent.
Any hopes of a Central Oklahoma rally were quickly erased after the break. Washburn's defense clamped down on the Bronchos from behind the 3-point line, holding UCO to 1 of 13 shooting and just 12 of 36 overall. Midway through the second half, UCO did cut the Ichabod lead to 14 at 62-48, but Washburn responded with a 20-4 to slam the door, building its lead to as many as 30 with 95 seconds to play picking up their first win at UCO since Jan. 14, 2017 snapping a five-game losing streak in Edmond.
Jack Bachelor scored a team-high 19 points scoring 16 in the opening half, adding nine assists and four steals hitting 5 of 8 3-point attempts. Marcus Glock added 14 points off the bench, going 4 of 6 from deep. Jeremiah Jones chipped in eight points with eight boards. Dillon Claussen scored 13 points in 17 minutes and Brady Christiansen scored 12 adding seven rebounds. Overall, Washburn's bench outscored UCO's 24-9.
Matthew Willenborg led the Bronchos with 17 points adding nine blocks and 14 rebounds just missing out on a triple double.
Washburn finished with 38 points in the paint, 12 fast-break points and eight second-chance points. The Ichabods also outrebounded the Bronchos (15-13, 8-8 MIAA) 41 to 37.
  • The Ichabods are 1,733-1,138-2 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 733-329 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 will finish the last week of the regular season hosting Pittsburg State on Feb. 25 in a game that can be seen on WIBW Channel 13 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.