• The No. 3-ranked and 2026 MIAA Champion Washburn Ichabods will host Missouri Southern on Saturday in their regular season home finale in Lee Arena as the MIAA Game of the Week that will be televised on 38 The Spot in Kansas.
• The Ichabods clinched their 12th outright MIAA title and their second in a row after topping Central Oklahoma last week.
• The Ichabods are coming off an 88-49 win over Pittsburg State on Wednesday night.
• Washburn is 27-1 (17-1 MIAA) clinched the title and will be the No. 1-seed in the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City and will have its opening game in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 5 at 6 p.m. against the winner of the No. 8/No. 9 seed.
• Missouri Southern is 16-11 (10-8 MIAA) sitting in a tie for sixth in the MIAA standings after falling at Central Missouri on Wednesday 95-69.
• Saturday's game is the only regular season meeting between the Ichabods and the Lions this season.
• With a win over the Lions, Washburn will record its 29th consecutive home win breaking the current 28-game streak from Nov. 19, 1993 to Feb. 8, 1995.
• The Ichabods have the No. 1-ranked scoring offense in the MIAA putting up 87.0 ppg ahead  of Missouri Southern's 84.5 ppg.
• Defensively, the Ichabods have the No. 1-ranked scoring defense allowing 61.7 ppg ahead of Fort Hays State's 62.7 ppg.
• The Lions are allowing 78.1 ppg which is 11th in the MIAA standings.
• 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 first in the nation in scoring margin in the NCAA D2 ranks at +25.3 ppg and are ranked fourth in field goal percentage at 51.3 percent - leading the MIAA … Washburn is seventh in assists per game (18.5), 12th in assist/turnover ratio (1.49), seventh in effective field goal percentage (.579) and first in rebound margin (+11.1) … Washburn is second in scoring defense (62.1 ppg), 12th in fastbreak points (17.7 ppg), fifth in defensive field goal percentage (.391), seventh in turnover margin (+5.5) and ninth in turnovers forced per game (+17.9).
• Dillon Claussen is ninth in the nation in field goal percentage at 62.2 … Jeremiah Jones is first the nation in total steals with 84 and is ranked third in steals per game at 3.00 per contest.
• Jack Bachelor is 62nd in the nation in total assists with 118 and 26th in assist to turnover ratio at 2.57 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 2.74.
• Brady Christiansen is 10th on the NCAA active D2 chart with 735 career rebounds … he also moved into the top 50 all-time at Washburn in scoring with 839 career points.
• Jeremiah Jones needs two steals to reach 200 for his career … he is ranked fourth in career steals on the active NCAA D2 chart and No. 32 out of all NCAA levels.
• Sam Ungashick has scored 959 collegiate points with 600 coming at Washburn with 359 being scored in his lone season at Benedictine as a freshman before joining the Ichabods.
• Washburn's 28-game homecourt winning streak is second in the nation behind Nova Southeastern's 99-game winning streak.
• The Ichabods' 28-game homecourt winning streak is  tied for the longest in program history next to the 28-game streak from Nov. 19, 1993 to Feb. 8, 1995. • The 39-point win was the second-largest win in series history with the Gorillas just missing a 40-point win on Feb. 18, 1995 in a 109-69 win.
• Jack Bachelor tied a career high with seven rebounds.
• Isaiah Saams-Hoy set a career high with four assists.
• After the game the Ichabods received the MIAA Championship trophy from Washburn President Dr. JuliAnn Mazachek and cut down the nets as well. WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
• is 194-80 in his ninth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 227-110 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 8-6 against Missouri Southern.
 
MISSOURI SOUTHERN HEAD COACH SEAN McMAHON ...
• is 57-57 in his fourth season as Missouri Southern's head coach.
• he is in his second stint roaming the sidelines at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center as he served as an assistant and later associate head coach for the Lions for six seasons.
• he was an assistant coach at Division I Southeast Missouri for the past two seasons.
• is 1-4 against Washburn.
  • The Lions are 16-11 (10-8 MIAA) sitting in a tie for sixth in the MIAA standings.
• Jaden Taylor leads the team in scoring at 17.9 ppg and Gavyn Elkamil is scoring 13.6 ppg and Colin Ruffin is scoring 12.1 ppg … Taylor is sixth in the MIAA in scoring average.
• Missouri Southern is second in the MIAA in offensive rebounds at 11.3 ppg and second in the MIAA in rebound margin at 3.0.
  • Saturday's meeting will be 93rd between these two schools in a series that dates back to 1968-69.
• Washburn leads the all-time series 55-37 … the Ichabods have averaged 78.2 points a game against the Lions in the 92 previous meetings.
• Washburn is 33-12 against the Lions in home games and 21-22 in road contests.
• The two teams have met at least once a year since 1976-77.
• The Ichabods are 3-2 against the Lions in the MIAA Tournament.
• In games played in Lee Arena, the Ichabods are 27-10.
• The Lions are the last team to score at least 100 points in a game against the Ichabods doing so on March 16, 2019 - a streak of 171 games in a 101-100 loss in Maryville in the NCAA Tournament regional quarterfinals.
• The teams have met three times in the NCAA Tournament - on March 10, 2000 when the Lions picked up a 79-73 overtime win in Joplin and on March 12, 2011 when the Lions topped the Ichabods in overtime again 82-79 in Edmond, Okla., and March 16, 2019 in Maryville, Mo. with the Lions winning 101-100..

  (March 1, 2025) JOPLIN, Mo. – The No. 4-ranked  Washburn Ichabods wrapped up the regular season with a dominating 108-71 performance over Missouri Southern, finishing the regular season with a 26-2 record and going 17-2 in MIAA play.
After the teams were tied for the final time in the game at 12-12 with 13:50 to go, the Ichabods pulled away outscoring the Lions 35 to 8 over the next nine-plus minutes taking a 47-20 lead as eight different Ichabods scored during the run.
The Lions scored the next five points of the game, but Washburn then closed the half scoring 9 of the next 12 points taking a 56-28 lead into the break, doubling up Missouri Southern (11-17, 6-13 MIAA) at the half.
In the second half, the Ichabods had runs to 10 to 0, 9 to 0, 7 to 0, building a lead of as many as 38 points with 2:21 to play rolling to the 37-point win winning their fourth in a row over the Lions.
Michael Keegan tied for the team lead 18 points hitting 7 of 8 from the field adding six rebounds climbing to 995 career points as an Ichabod. Andrew Orr also scored 18 points pulling down seven rebounds with two steals. Also in double figures as Jack Bachelor scored 17 with four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Dillon Claussen scored 13 with seven rebounds, all coming on the offensive end. Jacob Hanna had 13 points with four boards and Brayden Shorter had 10 points including his 100th and 101st 3-pointers of the season.
Tyrique Brooks led the Lions with a game-high 23 points and Jaden Taylor had 22.
Washburn shot 61 percent in the first half and 54 percent in the second half to finish 35 of 60 overall for a 58 percent clip. The Lions finished the game at 37 percent hitting 26 of 66 shots. Washburn attempted 39 free throws in the game, making 29. Washburn dominated the glass outrebounding the Lions 43 to 23 with 12 offensive rebounds. Washburn's bench outscored the MSSU bench 32-14 and 30-15 in fastbreak points. (Feb. 25, 2026) TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 3-ranked Washburn Ichabods raced past the Pittsburg State Gorillas on Wednesday night in Lee Arena 88-49 putting up 44 points in each half while holding the Gorillas to 34 percent shooting winning their 11th game in a row over Pitt State and their 28th in a row in Lee Arena.
After a slow start by both teams shooting and the Gorillas (15-13, 9-9 MIAA) taking a 9-6 lead seven minutes into the half, Washburn (27-1, 17-1 MIAA) used an 11-0 run over the next three minutes with eight points scored by Dillon Claussen gaining control. Back to back 3-pointers by Marcus Glock and and a 3-pointer by Sam Ungashick pushed the Washburn lead to 26-16 and another 12-2 run by the Ichabods doubled up the Washburn lead to 38-19 with 2:53 to play in the half. Washburn would go on to take a 44-26 lead into the break.
The Ichabods' biggest lead reached 39 in the second half closing the final 6:57 of the game on an 18-1 run holding the Gorillas to 0 of 8 shooting as five different Ichabods scored down the stretch wrapping up the game.
Claussen anchored the effort on both ends, finishing with a game-high 23 points on 9 of 15 shooting adding five boards and two blocks. Jack Bachelor scored 13 with eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals and Glock finished with 15 points off the bench hitting five 3-pointers. Jeremiah Jones scored eight points with three steals breaking the Washburn single season steals record of 82 set by Will McNeill during the 2012-13 season.
Connor Rogers led the Gorillas with 15 points.
Washburn dominated the hustle categories, scoring 14 fast-break points to PSU's four while holding a 17-4 edge in second-chance points. The Ichabods also forced 19 turnovers leading to 13 points while committing just eight giveaways of their own.
The Ichabods held a 44 to 18 advantage in points in the paint outrebounding the Gorillas 44 to 26 including 15 offensive rebounds.
Washburn shot 50 percent from the field (35-of-70) for the game, including 12-of-25 from three-point range (48 percent), while holding the Gorillas to just 34 percent shooting and 4-of-22 (18 percent) from deep..
  • The Ichabods are 1,735-1,138-2 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 735-329 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 527-104 (.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 and a 28-game winning streak from Nov. 12, 2025 to today.
  • Washburn has clinched the MIAA regular season title and will be the No. 1-seed in the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City and will have its opening game in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 5 at 6 p.m. against the winner of the No. 8/No. 9 seed. Check wusports.com on Saturday night for a complete bracket once announced by the MIAA.