Opening Tip
• The Washburn Ichabods will look for their sixth straight win as they travel to Lindenwood to face the Lions on Dec. 16 in St. Charles, Mo.
• The Ichabods are 7-3 and 2-0 in the MIAA after defeating Nebraska-Kearney 78-71 last time out in Lee Arena.
• The Lions are 7-2 and 1-1 in the MIAA after falling at Missouri Southern 87-71 snapping a five game winning streak which included a 90-85 win over Pittsburg State on the road.
• The Ichabods have won the last three meetings with the Lions overall.
• Javion Blake leads the Ichabods in scoring at 15.1 ppg hitting a team-high 26 3-pointers on 51 attempts.
• Brady Skeens leads the team on the glass with 10.3 rebounds a game adding 12.4 points per game shooting 72 percent from the field hitting 52 of 72 attempts with 2.4 blocks per game.
• Washburn leads the MIAA in blocks at 4.6 per game and is second in assists averaging 16.8 per contest.
• The Ichabods are ranked first in field goal defense holding opponents to 39 percent shooting and ranked second in field goal percentage at 51 percent.
• Brady Skeens is second in the MIAA in rebounds at 10.3 per game and leads the MIAA in blocks with 2.4 per game and ninth in steals per game with 1.9 … he is also first in field goal percentage (.722) … his field goal percentage is also second in the nation and his 24 total blocks is 10th while his total rebounds is 13th in the national rankings.
• The Washburn bench has outscored its opponents bench 278 to 162 in the last seven games.
• Javion Blake made his 68 consecutive start against Nebraska-Kearney starting every game of his Washburn career.
• Javion Blake also went over the 100 career 3-point field goals made chart and now has 111 in his junior season which is 13th on the all-time made chart.
• Ichabod opponents have attempted 46 more free throws than Washburn has this season (250 to 204) and has made 43 more hitting 177 compared to 134 for Washburn.
• Cameron Wiggins needs one 3-pointers to move into eighth all-time on the Ichabod career 3-point chart entering the Lions game with 148.
• Brady Skeens moved into fourth on the all-time Ichabod rebounding chart passing Ryan Murphy who had 738 from 1999 to 2003 …Skeens now has 753 at Washburn … in third place on the career chart is Ewan Auguste who had 888 from 1997 to 2001.
• Skeens also needs only six blocks to reach 200 for his career.
• Randall Smith has 257 career assists which is  eighth on the Ichabod career charts.
• David Salach moved into the top 10 sitting  in ninth on the all-time blocks chart and now has 65.
 
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 7-3 in his first season as the Ichabods' head coach and 40-33 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.
• is 0-2 against Lindenwood coaching both games against the Lions on the Baker sideline.
 
Lindenwood head coach Lance Randall …
• was named the 19th head coach of the Lindenwood men's basketball program on May 11, 2015.
• came to Lindenwood after spending the previous four years as head coach at St. Leo University, where he compiled a record of 78-44 which also included three trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
• is 165-107 overall in his 10th season as a head coach and 44-28 in his third season at Lindenwood.
• is 0-3 against Washburn.
 
Last Time Out For the Ichabods
Washburn 78, Nebraska-Kearney 71 -- Dec. 9, 2017
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods won their fifth-straight game snapping an eight-game slide to Nebraska-Kearney with a 78-71 win over the Lopers improving 7-3 on the season and 2-0 in the MIAA.  
The Lopers led early 6-2 and 12-9 before Washburn used a 20-4 run over the next 9:01 to take a 29-16 lead with 4:51 to play after a 3-point play by Cameron Wiggins. However the Lopers scored the next seven points to trim the lead back to six at 29-23 with 2:37 to go.
 Leading scorer Isaac Clark scored the next five for the Ichabods to push the lead back to 11 before a jumper by Trey Lansman cut the lead back to nine heading into the break with Washburn holding a 34-25 lead.
To start the second half, Washburn scored the first four points of the frame going up 13, but the Lopers cut it back to seven before Tyas Martin connected on a lay up and Clark scored on a jumper to go back up 11 with 16:53 to play.
Over the next 5:19 of the game, the Lopers hit 4 of 6 shots from the field while the Ichabods went cold as UNK trimmed the lead back to three at 56-53 with 7:46 to go in the game and would not get closer than four the rest of the way as the Ichabods stretched the lead back to 12 as they hit 8 of 10 free throws in the final 2:29 of the game for the win.
Clark led the Ichabods with a career high 25 points on 9 of 13 shooting and Martin finished with 15 as the only two Washburn players in double figures. Brady Skeens had a game high 14 rebounds with 12 coming on the defensive end while blocking three shots.
Yahsua Trent had 16 points to lead the Lopers and Lansman had 14 points with 13 rebounds.
Washburn shot 48 percent (22 of 58) from the field holding the Lopers to 38 percent (22 of 58). The Lopers had a 39 to 37 advantage on the glass. Washburn's bench scored 40 points compared to 10 for the Lopers and Washburn also had a 38 to 18 advantage in points in the paint.
The teams combined for 49 fouls and had 58 free throws (29 for each team) with the Lopers hitting 22 compared to 19 for the Ichabods.
 
About The Lindenwood Lions
• The Lions are 7-2 overall and 1-1 in MIAA play after splitting a weekend trip winning at Pittsburg State 90-85 and falling at Missouri Southern 97-71. 
• They are averaging 77.4 points per game on the year while giving up 69.6 points per game. 
• Chandler Diekvoss leads the team in scoring and rebounding at 18.2 ppg and 7.7 rpg. Brad Newman is averaging double figures at 15.4 ppg hitting 45 percent of 3-pointers. Newman is averaging 24.0 ppg in two MIAA games.
 
Series History with Lindenwood
• Saturday's meeting will be the seventh all-time.
• Washburn leads the series 5-1.
• The teams have met three times in St. Charles with the Lions winning 72-59 on Dec. 20, 2014 and 59-57 in St. Charles on Feb. 13, 2016.
• The Ichabods won the first meeting in the series 66-63 over the Lions in St. Charles.
• Washburn has won all three meetings in Topeka including a 68-66 overtime win in Topeka on Jan. 2, 2016 and last season's 78-60 win on Dec. 17.
• The teams have never met in the MIAA Tournament.
 
Last Meeting with Lindenwood
(Dec. 12, 2016) TOPEKA, Kan. – With the temperatures outside Schendel Court at Lee Arena frigid and in the single digits, the Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team was anything but torching the nets shooting 60 percent from the field in a 78-60 win over Lindenwood on Saturday. 
The Ichabods trailed early by three at 8-5 just 15 seconds into the game, but a 11-2 run over a five-minute stretch pushed the Ichabods up six at 16-10 with 12:16 to play. Lindenwood came back to cut the lead back down to three at 20-17 before Washburn scored the net 13 points and 16 of the next 18 over a 6:29 stretch to go up by 17 at 3:20 to play in the first half and would go on to take a 15-point advantage into the halftime locker room leading 41-26.
Washburn shot 57 percent from the field in the first half and 70 percent from deep connecting on 7 of 10 3-point shots.
Lindenwood would not get any closer than 17 points in the second half as Washburn improved to 63 percent shooting in the second half going 12 of 19 from the field leading to the 18-point win.
Washburn was led by Randall Smith who paced five Ichabods in double figures with 17 points followed by Isaac Clark with 16 points on 7 of 8 shooting from the field. Brady Skeens had 11 points as did Cameron Wiggins and Javion Blake scored 10. Skeens led the Ichabods with eight rebounds and five assists while swatting three Lindenwood shots.
The Lions (9-4, 1-2 MIAA) were led by Dominique Dobbs and  Jackson Price who each scored 13.
Washburn outrebounded the Lions 33 to 29 and finished 10 of 17 from 3-point range compared to  8 of 29 for the Lions. Washburn was 12 of 26 from the free throw line.
 
Last time out for Lindenwood
(Dec. 9, 2017) -- JOPLIN, Mo. – The Lindenwood men's basketball team saw its five-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday afternoon in Joplin, Mo. Lindenwood fell to Missouri Southern by a 97-71 margin.
Missouri Southern was clicking in all areas on offense during the game, as it shot 65.5 percent from the field and turned the ball over just 11 times. Missouri Southern scored 40 points inside the paint, and it shot 53.8 percent from three-point range and made 14 three-pointers. The home team shot over 70 percent in the second half, when it scored 57 points and pulled away from Lindenwood.
Lindenwood shot over 46 percent from the field and made 11 three-pointers. It only reached the free-throw line eight times though, and it had just three players score over five points. Lindenwood was also outrebounded by a 31-21 margin.
Brad Newman had his second straight 20-point game, the first time that he accomplished that in his career. He tied for the team-high with 21 points after making six-of-10 from the field, including three-of-five from long distance. He also went six-of-eight from the free-throw line. Chandler Diekvoss also had 21 points, tied for the team-high with five rebounds, and led the team with four assists and one blocked shot. He was 10-of-15 shooting on the day.
Jackson Price came off the bench to score 15 points, including making three three-pointers. Dominique Dobbs tied Diekvoss with five rebounds.
 
Washburn Ichabod Basketball HIstory
•    The Ichabods are 1,547-1,062-2 (.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 572-268 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 427-85 (.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 wrap up the 2017 calendar year hosting Avila on Dec. 30 in its final non-conference match up of the season starting at 2 p.m. The Ichabods will return to conference play on Jan. 6 opening a three-game home stand with Emporia State followed by games with Northeastern State on Jan. 11 and Central Oklahoma on Jan. 13.