Welcome to Top Sports News

No. 3 nationally ranked and 2026 MIAA regular-season champion Washburn University men's basketball will open the MIAA Tournament at 6 p.m. on Thursday against No. 9 seed Central Oklahoma in Kansas City Mo.'s historic Municipal Auditorium.

 

 

 

The game will be a rematch of last season's MIAA qarterfinal game in which the Ichabods fell 90-84 to the Bronchos.

 

And while the Ichabods have been a team that never needs any extra motivation, last year's early exit has made Washburn determined to put together a strong tournament run this time around.

 

"Especially for the returners that have been here, we know that feeling we had when we left Kansas City and came back here and we felt we were back way too early,'' said junior point guard Jack Bachelor, who was named to the All-MIAA first team for the second straight season earlier this week.

 

"We still have kind of a sick taste in our mouths, so there's definitely some extra motivation there to go play as hard as we can and try to do what we can to win that tournament.'' 

The Ichabods, 28-1 overall, 18-1 MIAA, clinched their 12th outright MIAA title and their second in a row after topping Central Oklahoma on Feb. 19.

Washburn enters 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 are making their 19th consecutive tournament appearance -- the longest active streak in the MIAA.

 

Washburn is coming off an 84-74 win over Missouri Southern in its last regular-season game last Saturday.

Central Oklahoma, 17-15, 9-10, advanced to the MIAA quarterfinals with a 62-53 win over Pittsburg State on Wednesday.

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, 82-58.

 

"Coach talked about it yesterday, we know these teams are going to be playing with a level of desperation,'' Bachelor said. "We know we're going to get their best shot, especially because your season's on the line and we've just got to come in and respond.

 

"We know they're going to throw punches, but you've just got to respond and make sure we have a good punch coming back.''

 

Washburn is looking for its 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.

 

"I think last year will help us from a motivational standpoint that we're a little hungrier this year to go over there to go and stick around a little longer hopefully, and play better,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said.

The Ichabods have the No. 1-ranked scoring offense in the MIAA with 87.0 points per game and the top scoring defense, allowing 61.7 points per game.

Washburn is first in NCAA Division II in scoring margin at plus 24.7 points per game, second in rebound margin at plus 10.6 and is ranked fifth in field goal percentage at 50.9 percent.

Sophomore Dillon Claussen, named to the All-MIAA first team earlier this week, is 12th in the nation in field goal percentage at 61.5 percent.

 

Junior Jeremiah Jones is first the nation in total steals with 87 and is ranked third in steals per game at 3.00 per contest.

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.

 

Matthew Willenborg leads UCO with a 20.8 scoring average and a team-high 9.4 rebounds per game while adding 99 blocks. Willenborg 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.

Willenborg had a game-high 21 points in UCO's win over Pittsburg State in the MIAA Tournament first-round game while adding nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

 

Marcus Zeigler Jr. had 16 points with six rebounds.

 

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.

Bachelor led Washburn with a career-high 26 points and nine assists with no turnovers in Washburn, shooting 5-of-9 from 3-point range in Washburn's regular-season finale against Missouri Southern while senior Brady Christiansen added 18 points and five rebounds.

 

Jones finished with 18 points, five rebounds, and three steals, while Bryson Smith had 13 points, three assists, and three rebounds.

 

With a win over Central Oklahoma, the Ichabods will play on Saturday in the MIAA semifinals at 6 p.m. in Kansas City.