• The No. 3 nationally ranked and 2026 MIAA Regular Season Champion Washburn Ichabods will open the MIAA Championship Tournament on Thursday night against the No. 9 seeded Central Oklahoma Bronchos at 6 p.m. in Kansas City's historic Municipal Auditorium. The game will be a rematch of last season's MIAA Quarterfinal game in which the Ichabods fell 90-84.
• The Ichabods (28-1, 18-1 MIAA) clinched their 12th outright MIAA title and their second in a row after topping Central Oklahoma last week.
• The Ichabods enter the MIAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed for the second consecutive season.
• The Ichabods are 21-4 as the MIAA's No. 1 seed at the tournament and they are making their 19th consecutive tournament appearance - the longest active streak in the MIAA.
• The Ichabods are coming off an 84-74 win over Missouri Southern in their last regular season game on Feb. 28.
• Central Oklahoma is 17-15 (9-10 MIAA) advanced to the MIAA Quarterfinals with a win over 62-53 win over Pittsburg State knocking off the eight-seeded Gorillas on March 4.
• The Ichabods snapped a five-game losing streak in Edmond in the regular season meeting this year against UCO with the largest win in program history in an 82-58 win on Feb. 19.
• The Ichabods are looking for their first MIAA Tournament Championship since 2021 and their first one in Kansas City since March 4, 2012 when Washburn topped Pittsburg State 67-63 in the championship game.
• Washburn recorded its 29th consecutive home win breaking the previous 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 +24.7 ppg and are ranked fifth in field goal percentage at 50.9 percent - leading the MIAA … Washburn is seventh in assists per game (18.7), ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.52), seventh in effective field goal percentage (.578) and second in rebound margin (+10.6) … Washburn is fourth in scoring defense (62.1 ppg), 11th in fastbreak points (17.9 ppg), eighth in defensive field goal percentage (.396), seventh in turnover margin (+5.7) and ninth in turnovers forced per game (+18.0).
• Dillon Claussen is 12th in the nation in field goal percentage at 61.5 … Jeremiah Jones is first the nation in total steals with 87 and is ranked third in steals per game at 3.00 per contest.
• Jack Bachelor is 58th in the nation in total assists with 127 and 17th in assist to turnover ratio at 2.76 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 ninth on the NCAA active D2 chart with 740 career rebounds … he also moved into the top 50 all-time at Washburn in scoring with 857 career points.
• Jeremiah Jones recorded his 201st steal for his career against Missouri Southern last time out … 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 962 collegiate points with 603 coming at Washburn with 359 being scored in his lone season at Benedictine as a freshman before joining the Ichabods.
• Washburn's 29-game homecourt winning streak is second in the nation behind Nova Southeastern's 100-game winning streak.
• The Ichabods' 29-game homecourt winning streak is the longest in program history.
  • The Ichabods' now 29-game homecourt winning streak breaks the record for the longest in program history next to the 28-game streak from Nov. 19, 1993 to Feb. 8, 1995.
• Washburn finished the regular season with only one loss for the first time since the 1925-26 season when the Ichabods went 12-1-1.
• Jeremiah Jones recorded his 200th career NCAA steal adding three more today.
• Brady Christian set career highs in field goal attempts (12), 3-pointers made (4), 3 point attempts (9).
• Jeremiah Jones had a career-high 17 field goal attempts along with a career-high four 3-pointers made and 12 3-point attempts.
• The Ichabods' 47 3-point attempts was a school record topping the previous high of 41 set against Kansas Christian on Dec. 14, 2019. Washburn's 17 made threes was the most in a game since connecting on 17 against Northeastern State Feb. 13, 2020. WASHBURN ICHABOD HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD ...
• is 195-80 in his ninth season as the Ichabods' head coach and 228-110 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 10-7 against Central Oklahoma.
 
CENTRAL OKLAHOMA HEAD COACH BOB HOFFMAN ...
• is 130-81 in his seventh season as the Bronchos' head coach and 649-402 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 5-7 against Washburn.
  • The Bronchos are 16-15 overall and went 9-10 in the MIAA earning the ninth seed in the MIAA Tournament advancing to the MIAA Quarterfinals with a 62-53 win over Pittsburg State.
• Matthew Willenborg leads the team scoring 20.8 ppg with a team-high 9.4 rpg adding 99 blocks … he is second in the MIAA in scoring average, first in rebounding and first in blocks … he also leads the team with 55 3-pointers in 160 attempts.
• Josh Nwankwo is scoring 17.8 ppg, ranked fifth in the MIAA and Jacobi Sebock is scoring 15.7 ppg.
• Willenborg had a game-high 21 points in UCO's win over Pittsburg State in the MIAA Tournament first round game adding nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
• Marcus Zeigler, Jr. had 16 points with six boards and Nwankwo had 11 points.
• Four of UCO's five starters played at least 35 minutes in the game.
• UCO finished the game shooting 22 of 50 going 3 of 17 from 3-point range hitting 15 of 20 free throws in the win leading from start to finish.
  • Thursday's meeting will be the 44th in the series history with Washburn leading the all-time series 22-21.
• Washburn has won 13 of the last 18 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 43 all-time meetings, the Ichabods have averaged 77.1 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 snapped a five-game losing streak in Edmond in the regular season meeting this year against UCO with the largest win in program history in an 82-58 win on Feb. 19.
  (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.
  (Feb. 28, 2026) TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 3 ranked Washburn Ichabods closed out the regular season with an 84–74 win over Missouri Southern, improving to 28–1 overall behind a flurry of three-pointers and a second-half surge as the Ichabods won their school record 29th game in a row in Lee Arena.
With the Lions holding a 10-7 lead, the Ichabods ripped off a 20-4 run over a 4:27 stretch taking a 27-14 lead with 11:31 to play in the opening half. However the Lions responded with a 16-6 run of their own tying the score at 41 with 2:37 to play. Washburn outscored the Lions 7 to 2 down the stretch capped by a 3-pointer by Jack Bachelor sending Washburn to the locker room with a 48-43 lead.
The second half began with another Washburn surge. Jones opened with a corner three, and Bachelor followed with two more off turnovers, stretching the lead to 57–43. Missouri Southern responded with an 8–0 run to trim the margin to 59–58, but Washburn delivered the knockout blow soon after.
A 25-9 run (including an 18-0 run mixed in for good measure) over an 11:30 span of the second half put the Ichabods up 84-67 with 2:53 remaining before the Lions broke the spurt scoring the final seven points of the game as the Ichabods closed out the regular season with a 10-point win.
Bachelor led Washburn with a career-high 26 points and nine assists with no turnovers, shooting 5-of-9 from 3-point range. Christiansen added 18 points and 5 rebounds, including a pair of critical threes during the decisive run. Jeremiah Jones finished with 18 points, five rebounds, and three steals, while Bryson Smith contributed 13 points, three assists, and three rebounds.
Missouri Southern was led by Isaiah Atwater with 22 points with Gavyn Elkamil scoring 18 and Jaden Taylor finishing with 15. The Lions finished the game 10 of 20 from deep shooting 28 of 50 from the field for the game.
The Ichabods dominated transition scoring at 23 to 6, compiling 12 second-chance points off nine offensive rebounds, and capitalized on Missouri Southern's 20 turnovers, converting them into 28 points.
The Ichabods' 47 3-point attempts was a school record topping the previous high of 41 set against Kansas Christian on Dec. 14, 2019. Washburn's 17 made threes was the most in a game since connecting on 17 against Northeastern State Feb. 13, 2020.
  • The Ichabods are 44-27 all-time in the MIAA Championship Tournament.
• The 44 wins are the second-most in MIAA Tournament history behind Northwest Missouri's 57 wins.
• Washburn's six tournament titles are tied for second behind Northwest Missouri's 12 and tied with Central Missouri.
• Washburn's MIAA Tournament titles have come in 1992, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2012 and 2021 … the 2012 title was the only one coming in Kansas City.
• The Ichabods now have the longest active streak of consecutive tourney appearances with 19 … the next closest are UCO, MWSU and RSU with seven each … UCM owns the men's all-time record for most consecutive appearances with 38.
• The Ichabods are 2-3 in first round games (since expanding to 12 teams) … 22-8 in the quarterfinals, 14-8 in the semifinals and 6-8 in championship games.
• In games played in Kansas City, the Ichabods are 19-17.
• In quarterfinal games played in Kansas City, the Ichabods are 11-6. In semifinal games played in Municipal the Ichabods are 6-4 and in championship games in Kansas City the Ichabods are 1-6.
• As the No. 1 seed, the Ichabods are 21-4, at No. 2 they are 9-4, at No. 3 they are 2-1, at No. 4 they are 5-3, as the No. 5 seed they are 0-1, at No. 6 the Ichabods are 4-5, at No. 7 they are 0-1 and as the No. 8 seed they are 3-3.
• Overall, here's how the Ichabods have fared against MIAA opponents in the conference tournament by round and in Kansas City.
• First Round games were added for the MIAA Tournament starting in 2013 as the league expanded to 15 teams. The top four teams in the final standings received an automatic bye to Kansas City for the quarterfinals.
Team       1st Rnd  Qrts.          Semis       Finals       In KC         Total
UCM         —              4-0           1-1            —              3-1            5-1
ESU          —              5-1           —             —              4-1            5-1
FHSU        1-0            —             2-0            —              2-0            3-0
MSSU       —              1-0           2-1            0-1            1-1            3-2
MWSU    0-2            0-1          3-2            1-2            1-2            4-6
NSU          0-1            —             —             —             —             0-1
NU            —              —              —              —              —              0-0
NWMSU   —            2-2           0-2            3-3            0-5            4-8
PSU          —              1-0           3-0            2-0           3-0            6-0
RSU          —              2-0            —              —              1-0            2-0           
UCO         —              0-2           1-0           —              1-2            1-2
UNK          —              1-1            —              —              1-1            1-1
--- vs former members
LU             —              —              —              —              —              0-0
MS&T      —              1-1           —             —              1-0            1-1
UMSL       —              1-0           —             —             —             1-0
SEMO      —              —             —             —             —             —
SBU          1-0            2-0           1-1            1-0           —             5-1
TSU          —              2-0           1-0             —             —             3-0
UNO         —              —             —             0-1            0-1            0-1
Totals       2-3            22-7         14-8         6-8            19-16       44-27
  • The Ichabods are 1,736-1,138-2 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 736-329 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 23 conference championships including 12 MIAA titles.
• Washburn has received 17 NCAA Tournament bids going to four Elite Eight's appearing in the 2001 NCAA National Championship game.
  • The Ichabods are 528-104 (.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 have a current 29-game homecourt winning streak from the start of the 2024-25 season to their last win over Missouri Southern breaking the previous school-record 28-game winning streak from Nov. 19, 1993 to Feb. 8, 1995 in Lee Arena.
  • With a win over Central Oklahoma, the Ichabods will play on Saturday in the MIAA Semifinals at 6 p.m. in Kansas City.