Opening Tip
• The Washburn Ichabods will return to the road as they will face Newman on Tuesday in Wichita as part of a Washburn/Newman doubleheader following the Washburn women's game with the Jets.
• The Ichabods are 3-3 coming off a 96-75 win over Ottawa last time out on Saturday.
• The Jets are 2-4 this season with three of their losses coming to MIAA schools after falling 88-69 to Pittsburg State in Kansas City on Nov. 21 and then 85-80 at Emporia State on Nov. 24 and 71-63 to Central Missouri on Nov. 25 in Emporia.
• Javion Blake leads the Ichabods in scoring at 15.3 ppg hitting a team-high 16 3-pointers on 32 attempts.
• Brady Skeens leads the team on the glass with 10.4 rebounds a game and is averaging a double double this season with 11.2 points per game shooting 68 percent from the field hitting 26 of 38 attempts with 2.2 blocks per game.
• Washburn is third in the MIAA in blocks at 3.3 per game and second in assists averaging 15.0 per contest.
• Brady Skeens leads the MIAA in rebounds at 10.7 per game and leads the MIAA in blocks with 2.2 per game and 11th in steals per game with 1.8.
• The Washburn bench has outscored its opponents bench 110 to 77 in the last three games including 52 to 38 last time out against Ottawa.
• Javion Blake made his 64 consecutive start against Ottawa starting every game of his Washburn career.
• Javion Blake also went over the 100 career 3-point field goals made chart and now has 101 in his junior season.
• Ichabod opponent have attempted 50 more free throws than Washburn has this season (161 to 111) and has made 47 more hitting 118 compared to 71 for Washburn.
• Cameron Wiggins needs four 3-pointers to move into eighth all-time on the Ichabod career 3-point chart entering the Newman game.
• Brady Skeens moved into fifth on the Ichabod all-time rebound chart with his 715th against Ottawa passing Alex North (2010-2015) … Skeens needs 24 more to pass Ryan Murphy who had 738 from 1999 to 2003.
• Randall Smith needs seven rebounds to reach 250 for his career and 13 more to move into the top eight all-time at Washburn …he has 243 which is tied for 15th on the Ichabod charts.
• David Salach moved into the top 10 on the all-time blocks chart and now has 61.
 
Ichabods on Radio
Washburn games will be broadcast on KTPK 106.9 FM radio with Jake Lebahn and Dan Lucero calling the action. Game will also be streamed live on the wusports.com website by following the listen live links on the men's basketball schedule page.

Coaches
Washburn Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard …
• is 3-3 in his first season as the Ichabods' head coach and 36-33 overall in his third year as a head coach.
• was named the Washburn Ichabod men's basketball head coach on April 6, 2016 after spending the 2014-15 to 2016-17 seasons as an assistant coach with the Wake Forest basketball program after working under head coach Danny Manning 2014-17 seasons and at the University of Tulsa during the 2012-14 seasons.
• he helped Wake Forest to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2009-10 season following the 2016-17 season. 
• while at Tulsa, the Golden Hurricane played in the postseason both years, including earning a No. 13 seed in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Tulsa also participated in the 2013 CBI, finishing that season with a winning record of 17-16 overall.
• before joining Manning at Tulsa, Ballard spent two seasons as the head basketball coach at Baker University going 33-30 overall, including a 21-12 mark in his final season at the helm in 2011-12. 
• 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.
• has never faced Newman.
 
Newman head coach R.J. Allen …
• is 2-4 in his first season as the Jets' head coach.
• spent the last six seasons as an assistant at Newman.
• is 0-0 against the Ichabods.
 
Last Time Out For the Ichabods
Washburn 96, Ottawa 75  -- Nov. 25, 2017
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn bench scored 52 of the Ichabods 96 points as they rallied from a one-point deficit Saturday night to defeat Ottawa 96-75 in Lee Arena. 
The Ichabods trailed 48-47 as the half as the Braves shot a blistering 59 percent from the field including a 7 of 11 performance from 3-point range in the first half taking the intermission lead closing with a 9-0 lead.
Washburn (3-3) opened the second half on a 12-2 run holding the Braves to 1 of 6 shooting to start the frame while the Ichabods went 5 of 8 including 2 of 3 3-pointers building a nine-point lead. Ottawa cut the lead back to six at 61-55 with 14:42 to play on one of its 11 3-pointers on the night, but Washburn came back with a 14-4 spurt stretching the lead to 16 with 12 of the 14 points coming from bench personnel and Ottawa did not get closer than 16 the rest of the way.
Javion Blake led the Ichabods with 22 points with 12 coming in the first half. He finished 9 of 15 from the field going 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Isaac Clark scored a career-high 20 points in 25 minutes adding five rebounds and two steals. Also collecting career highs were Tyas Martin with 16 on 7 of 11 shooting and Will McKee on 5 of 7 shooting. Brady Skeens led the Ichabods with 12 rebounds and four assists grabbing four steals with a block adding eight points.
Isaiah Palmer led the Braves with 13 points off the bench.
Washburn finished 37 of 78 from the field for a 47 percent average while the Braves were 21 of 47 for a 45 percent clip. Washburn was 9 of 30 from 3-point range while Ottawa was 11 of 22 from deep. The Ichabods held a 51 to 28 advantage on the glass turning 19 offensive rebounds into 20 second chance points. Washburn also had 48 points in the paint and 16 fast break points and turned 22 Braves turnovers into 29 points.
 
About The Opponents
• Newman is 2-4 this season with three losses to MIAA schools.
• The Jets are 2-1 in home games this season.
• Ben Ayre leads the team scoring 14.3 ppg while Kevin Bryant is scoring 10.3 ppg and Dametrius Walker is averaging 10.0 ppg.
• The Jets are averaging 74.7 ppg this season while allowing 77.3 ppg.
 
 
Series History with Newman
• Saturday's meeting with the Jets is the 28th all-time.
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series 20-7.
• The Ichabods have won the last 17 of the last 19 meetings with the Jets.
• The Jets have won the last two meetings played in Wichita winning 90-79 on Nov. 20, 2014 and 86-69 on Dec. 15, 2012.
• Overall Washburn is 2-5 in games played in Wichita against the Jets.
• Washburn's last win in Wichita came on Dec. 3, 1985 in a 63-61 overtime win.
• Washburn is 16-1 against Newman in Topeka with the lone loss coming on Feb. 12, 1980 in a 68-56 defeat.
 
Last Meeting with Newman
(Dec. 3, 2016) TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods reached the century mark for the second-straight game and Brady Skeens became Washburn's all-time block leader in a 103-74 win over Newman on Saturday afternoon in Lee Arena. The win was Bob Chipman's 796th win of his career at Washburn.
The Ichabods fell behind 6-0 as the Jets would go on to build a seven point lead at 22-15 with 13:02 to play in the first half before Washburn outscored Newman (1-6) 40-22 the rest of the way including a 14-0 run over the final 1:52 of the half as the Ichabods took a 55-44 lead into the break.
In the second half the Jets would get no closer than 12 the rest of the game as Washburn rolled to a 29-point win leading by as many as 33 in the game at 101-68 before wrapping up the 103-74 victory.
David Salach led the Ichabods with a career-high 21 points on 8 of 11 shooting from the field. Skeens was 8 of 10 from the field as he finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds for his second consecutive, fourth of the season and 14th double double of his career. Skeens had five blocks in the game to move past Ewan Auguste on the Ichabod career chart who finished with 100. Skeens now has 103 in his junior season.
Randall Smith had 12 points and Javion Blake has 11 points with six assists and Isaac Clark finished with nine.
Washburn shot 59 percent in the game after hitting 20 of 31 shots in the first half for a 65 percent clip.
Washburn was 20 of 30 from the free throw line while the Jets were 12 of 18 overall. Washburn held the Jets to 26 of 65 shooting for a 40 percent clip.
 
Last time out for Newman
(Nov. 26, 2017) -- EMPORIA, Kan. — The Newman men's basketball team lost 71-63 to Central Missouri Saturday night. The Jets were looking to bounce back after a tough loss to Emporia State Friday night. Ben Ayre and Dametrius Walker both had big games again for the Jets, as Ayre scored 17 with three assists and Walker added 11 with three assists as well.
 
Washburn Ichabod Basketball HIstory
•    The Ichabods are 1,543-1,062-2 (.592) all-time in the 114th year in the program's history.
•    Washburn is the fifth-winningest program in NCAA Division II history by victories.
•    Washburn is the winningest MIAA program since the 1989-90 season with an overall record of 570-268 since joining the conference and the NCAA.
•    The Ichabods have recorded 26 20-win seasons and they have one 30-win seasons after going 35-4 during the 1986-87 NAIA Championship season.
•    Washburn has won 21 conference championships including 10 MIAA titles.
•    Washburn has received 12 NCAA Tournament bids going to three Elite Eight's appearing in the 2001 NCAA National Championship game.
 
Home Sweet Home
•    The Ichabods are 424-85 (.848) all-time in Lee Arena.
•    The 2017-18 season marks the 33rd season of play in Lee Arena.
•    The Ichabods recorded a school-best 28-game winning streak from Nov. 19, 1993 to Feb. 8, 1995 in Lee Arena.
 
Up Next
•    Washburn will face Manhattan Christian on Nov. 30 before opening MIAA play against Fort Hays State in Lee Arena on Dec. 6.