Opening Tip
• The Washburn Ichabods will open the MIAA season on Wednesday when they will host Fort Hays State in Lee Arena.
• The Ichabods are 5-3 coming off an 128-51 record-setting win over Manhattan Christian as the Ichabods set school bests in winning margin, single game assists with 36 and tying school record with 15 3-pointers.
• Fort Hays State is 6-2 this season and open its MIAA slate with a pair of wins over Missouri Southern (76-69) and Pittsburg State (77-74) last time out in games at home.
• Javion Blake leads the Ichabods in scoring at 16.1 ppg hitting a team-high 25 3-pointers on 45 attempts.
• Brady Skeens leads the team on the glass with 10.3 rebounds a game and is averaging a double double this season with 12.4 points per game shooting 75 percent from the field hitting 41 of 55 attempts with 2.4 blocks per game.
• Washburn is second in the MIAA in blocks at 4.4 per game and second in assists averaging 17.6 per contest.
• Brady Skeens is second in the MIAA in rebounds at 10.3 per game and leads the MIAA in blocks with 2.3 per game and fifth in steals per game with 1.9 … he is also first in field goal percentage (.745) and tied for fourth in steals (1.9)
• The Washburn bench has outscored its opponents bench 211 to 122 in the last five games.
• Javion Blake made his 66 consecutive start against Manhattan Christian starting every game of his Washburn career.
• Javion Blake also went over the 100 career 3-point field goals made chart and now has 110 in his junior season which is 13th on the all-time made chart.
• Ichabod opponents have attempted 55 more free throws than Washburn has this season (202 to 147) and has made 44 more hitting 142 compared to 98 for Washburn.
• Cameron Wiggins needs three 3-pointers to move into eighth all-time on the Ichabod career 3-point chart entering the Fort Hays State game with 146.
• Brady Skeens moved into fifth on the Ichabod all-time rebound chart with his 715th against Ottawa passing Alex North (2010-2015) … Skeens needs seven more to pass Ryan Murphy who had 738 from 1999 to 2003.
• Randall Smith has 251 career assists which is tied for 12th on the Ichabod charts … he needs five to move into seventh.
• David Salach moved into the top 10 sitting  in ninth on the all-time blocks chart and now has 63.
 
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 5-3 in his first season as the Ichabods' head coach and 38-33 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 Fort Hays State.
 
Fort Hays State head coach Mark Johnson …
• is 328-151 in his career, now in his 17th season at Fort Hays State.
• he is the all-time coaching wins leader in FHSU history with a career record of 328-151 in 17 seasons, ranking among the top 20 active NCAA Division II men's basketball coaches in winning percentage (.643).
• has led the Tigers to seven NCAA Tournament appearances in his time at FHSU.
• became the all-time wins leader in Fort Hays State history on January 11, 2014 in a victory at home over Lincoln University, recording his 258th win.
• he reached his 300th career win on February 13, 2016 in a victory at Missouri Southern.
• has coached three All-Americans, 46 all-conference selections, a conference player of the year, a conference freshman of the year, and three conference defensive players of the year in his time at FHSU.
• is 14-11 against the Ichabods.
 
Last Time Out For the Ichabods
Washburn 128, Manhattan Christian 51 -- Nov. 30, 2017
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods recorded the second-most points in a single game in school history rolling to a 128-51 win over Manhattan Christian in its final game before starting MIAA play next Wednesday against Fort Hays State.
Washburn (5-3) trailed 5-2 and 5-4 before the Ichabods exploded with a 24-0 run over a 4:48 stretch to take a 26-5 lead with 14:00 to play in the first half as the Ichabods would score a whopping 66 points in the first half hitting 72 percent of their shots connecting on 26 of 36 shots including 8 of 15 from deep as the Ichabods took a 39-point lead into the break with a 66-27 lead. The 66 points were the most third-most scored in a half in school history.
In the second half, Washburn would go on to lead by as many as 77 points with 1:09 to play as the Ichabods set another school scoring mark with the 77-point margin of victory topping the 65-point difference against Kansas Wesleyan set in 2003.
Javion Blake led the Ichabods with a career-high 24 points on 8 of 12 shooting hitting 6 of 9 3-pointers adding five assists. The six 3-pointers by Blake tied a career high for the junior who raised his Ichabod career point total to 870. Drew Pyle scored 16 points off the bench hitting four 3-pointers and Tyas Martin tied a career best with 16 points. Brady Skeens had 14 hitting all seven field goal attempts collecting nine rebounds, dishing out five assists with three blocks and two steals in 19 minutes. Clayton Holmberg set career highs with 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Will McKee scored 11 points with seven rebounds.
Washburn also tied a school record with 15 3-pointers with the last coming on a shot from the wing by Tom Huppe, who also had a career-high four assists.
Washburn finished with 36 assists setting another school record on the night. Overall Washburn was 51 of 73 for a 69.9 percent shooting average while hitting 15 of 27 3-pointers. The Ichabods had a 49 to 18 advantage on the glass outrebounding the Thunder by 31. The Ichabods held MCC to 31 percent shooting going 18 of 58 overall.
 
About The Fort Hays State Tigers
• The Tigers are 6-2 this season and 2-0 in MIAA play.
• FHSU has won its last four games including a 119-48 win over Kansas Christian on Nov. 21.
• Hadley Gillum leads the team in scoring and rebounding at 18.8 ppg and 7.0 rpg. Brady Werth (11.4 ppg) and Trey O'Neil (10.4 ppg) also average double digits.
• The Tigers are shooting 47 percent from the field (232-490) and 38 percent from 3-point rage (64-170). 
• The Tigers lead the MIAA in scoring at 88.3 ppg and rank ninth in scoring defense at 72.1 ppg.
• The Tigers also lead the MIAA in assist to turnover ratio at +1.78 with 144 assists and only 81 turnovers.
• The Tigers' 18.0 assists per game lead the MIAA and rank above Washburn's 17.63 assist per game average.
 
Series History with FOrt Hays State
• Washburn leads the all-time series 92-70 and Saturday's meeting will be the 162nd between the two schools.
• The Ichabods have won nine of the last 13 in the series.
• The series is the third-most played for Washburn behind Emporia State (211) and Pittsburg State (179).
• Washburn is 20-7 against the Tigers in Lee Arena.
• Fort Hays State is 5-2 against WU in overtime games.
• The teams have met twice in the MIAA tournament with the Ichabods winning both games. The first was the Ichabods winning 67-54 in the MIAA Tournament semifinals on March 3, 2012 in Kansas City and last season's first round win in Topeka 66-57.
• The Ichabods lost the last meeting to the Tigers 70-54 on Feb. 4 in Topeka sweeping the regular season last year.
• The Ichabods have lost three of the last four games played in Hays and have not won in Gross Memorial Coliseum after winning 86-82 on Dec. 2, 2015.
 
Last Meeting with Fort Hays State
(Feb. 4, 2016) TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods shot a season-low 29 percent from the field with 17 field goals en route to their lowest scoring output of the season of 54 points in a 70-54 loss to Fort Hays State. 
 Washburn shot 28 percent from the field in the first half connecting on 9 of 32 shots and only 1 of 5 from three point range as the Tigers took a 27-22 lead into the break. Washburn held the Tigers to 39 percent shooting in the first half and 4 of 9 from deep in the opening frame. Brady Skeens had nine rebounds in the first half as the Ichabods took a 25 to 17 advantage on the glass.
 The Tigers led the entire second half. After a 3-pointer by Javion Blake pulling Washburn within one at 29-28 with 16:09 to play, the Tigers (13-8, 7-6 MIAA) ripped off a 10-0 run going 2 of 3 from behind the arc pushing out to a 39-28 lead with 13:45 to play.
 Washburn (14-8, 6-7 MIAA) cut the lead to eight with 4:10 to play after a Skeens free throw, but the Tigers scored the next four points and 10 of the next 11 going up by 15 and the Ichabods would not get closer than 11 the rest of the way on a 3-pointer by Cameron Wiggins with 1:19 to play.
 Cameron Wiggins and Isaac Clark led the Ichabods with 10 points each as Skeens, David Salach and Javion Blake each scored eight. Skeens had a game-high 11 rebounds adding three blocks and three assists.
 Emir Sabic led the Tiger with a game-high 15 points off the bench hitting 5 of 6 3-point attempts.
 The Ichabods finished 17 of 58 from the field and only 4 of 18 from 3-point range hitting 16 of 27 free throws. The Tigers shot 42 percent from the field going 23 of 55 overall and 8 of 18 from deep and 16 of 23 free throws.
 The Tigers outrebounded the Ichabods 25 to 14 in the second half to win the battle of the glass 42 to 39 and outscored the Ichabod bench 33 to 10.
 
Last time out for Fort Hays State
(Dec. 2, 2017) -- HAYS, Kan. – In an in-state rivalry matchup at Gross Coliseum, Fort Hays State and Pittsburg State went down to the wire. In the end, the Tigers edged the Gorillas 77-74 to improve to 6-2 overall, 2-0 in the MIAA on opening week for the conference. The Gorillas dropped to 5-4 overall, while going 0-2 to start conference play for the 2017 season.
 The Tigers only held possession of the lead for just over nine minutes, while the Gorillas capitalized with the advantage for 22 minutes. There were 11 ties in the contest with nine lead changes. The Tigers were able to stretch out their largest lead to just seven points late in the game at 74-67.
 After two made free throws from Grant Lozoya, followed by a layup from Demetrius Levarity, FHSU had just a three-point lead with only 38 seconds left in regulation. With one made free throw from both Trey O'Neil and Kyler Kinnamon, the Tigers upped their advantage to 76-71. Lozoya was not ready to give in to FHSU as he nailed a three to cut the lead to 76-74. Calvin Harrington knocked down a free throw to push the lead back to three, but Pittsburg State's last-second 3-point attempt was off the mark and the Tigers survived 77-74.
 Hadley Gillum and Brady Werth both posted double-doubles as Gillum had 29 points and 12 rebounds, while Werth accounted for 14 points and 11 rebounds. The two added two blocks each to their stat lines on the night. Kyler Kinnamon contributed 13 points for the Tigers. From the field, Fort Hays State earned a 41.9% shooting percentage, while going 33.3% (6-of-18) from long-range.
 Xavier Adams led the scoring charge for the Gorillas with 20 points, while accounting for eight rebounds. Demetrius Levarity posted a double-double for PSU with 19 points and 13 rebounds, adding in two blocks. Pittsburg State bettered the Tigers in shooting as they recorded a percentage of 44.2%.
 
Washburn Ichabod Basketball HIstory
•    The Ichabods are 1,545-1,062-2 (.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 425-85 (.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 host Nebraska-Kearney on Dec. 9 with a 7 p.m. tip from Lee Arena.