Opening Tip
• The Washburn men's basketball team will hit the road for the first time since December 18th when the Ichabods will face Missouri Southern on Wednesday in Joplin in search of their 12th-straight win.
• The Ichabods are 13-3 and 7-0 in the MIAA coming off a 49-47 win over Central Oklahoma in a battle of the two of the top four top defensive scoring teams in the league on Saturday.
• The 49 points was the fewest by the Ichabods in a win in the shot clock era and the 96 combined points with Central Oklahoma were the second fewest scored by Washburn and its opponent in the shot clock era.
• The Lions are 11-6 overall and 6-2 in the MIAA and have won their last five games and nine of their last 10 including an 83-77 win over Northwest Missouri snapping the Bearcats' winning streak on Jan. 4 in Joplin.
• This season the Lions are 6-1 at home.
• The Ichabods will be looking to snap an eight game losing streak to the Lions in Joplin … Washburn's last win in Joplin came on Jan. 21, 2006 in a 60-56 victory.
• Overall the Lions have won the last five in the series with Washburn's last win coming in Topeka on Jan. 31, 2013 in a 62-57 win.
• Wednesday's game will also pit a pair of former Kansas basketball teammates on the benches facing off against each other in Washburn's Brett Ballard and Missouri Southern's Jeff Boschee.
• Ballard and Boschee were members of the 2000-01 and 2001-02 teams at Kansas their junior and senior years.
• Against the Lions, Washburn will be in search of its 12th-straight win and its first 8-0 start in MIAA play since the 2003-04 season when the Ichabods opened conference play by winning their first eight MIAA games en route to the MIAA regular season title.
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series 47-31 with Wednesday's meeting the 78th in school history.
• In the Leggett and Platt Center, the Ichabods are 4-12 against Missouri Southern and 5-12 overall with the other win coming against Drury in the first round of the 2000 NCAA Central Regional Tournament.
• Javion Blake leads the Ichabods in scoring at 16.5 ppg hitting a team-high 39 3-pointers on 83 attempts.
• Javion Blake became the 24th member of the Ichabod 1,000-point club and only the 14th to reach at least 1,000 points in under three full seasons in an Ichabod uniform with 13 points against Central Oklahoma lifting his career total to 1,005 points.
• Javion Blake has moved into 22nd on the all-time scoring chart already passing Jeff Markay (1988-90) who scored 1,002 career points and Charles Brehm (1951-54) who scored 1,004 points …next on the career scoring chart is David Hull (1975-78) and Leonard Conkleton (1971-75) who each scored 1,011 points … Shannon Kruger (1998-2002) scored 1,014 career points and ranks 19th on the all-time scoring chart.
• Brady Skeens leads the team on the glass with 10.1 rebounds a game adding 13.6  points per game shooting 74 percent from the field hitting 86 of 116 attempts with 2.1 blocks per game.
• Washburn is second the MIAA in blocks (4.1) trailing Central Oklahoma who is averaging 5.5 blocks per game.
• Washburn is second in assists averaging 16.2 per contest and second in field goal percentage at .504.
• The Ichabods are ranked first in field goal defense holding opponents to 39 percent shooting.
• Washburn is second in rebounding offense at 38.4 per game and third in rebounding defense at 30.9 per game and ranked second in the MIAA in defensive rebounds with 28.6 per game and ranked second in rebounding margin at +7.5 per game.
• Brady Skeens is tied for the MIAA lead in rebounds at 10.1 per game and is second in  the MIAA in blocks with 2.0 per game and 10th in steals per game with 1.4 … he is also first in field goal percentage (.741) … his field goal percentage is also first in the nation and his 28 total blocks is 29th while his total rebounds is 38th in the national rankings.
• Javion Blake made his 74th consecutive start against Central Oklahoma starting every game of his Washburn career.
• Javion Blake also went over the 100 career 3-point field goals made chart and now has 124 in his junior season which is 10th on the all-time made chart.
• Ichabod opponents have attempted 19 more free throws than Washburn has this season (358 to 339) and has made 22 more hitting 257 compared to 233 for Washburn … in MIAA play, Washburn has attempted 30 more free throws than its opponents making 20 more overall.
• Cameron Wiggins moved into eighth on the Ichabod all-time 3-point chart sitting at 156 and needs four more to move into seventh passing Jordan Canfield (1992-97) who his 159.
• 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 811 at Washburn … in third place on the career chart is Ewan Auguste who had 888 from 1997 to 2001.
• Brady Skeens passed the rebound total of his mother and former Lady Blue basketball player Joy (Benton) Skeens who had 806 from 1981-85 finishing her career as the all-time leading rebounder in school history.
• Skeens also went over the 200 block mark for his career against Central Oklahoma and the Ichabod all-time leader now has 202, which is 102 more than Ewan Auguste who is second on the chart with 100 blocks.
• Randall Smith has 272 career assists which is seventh on the Ichabod career charts needing six to move into the top five all-time at Washburn.
• David Salach moved into the top 10 sitting seventh on the all-time blocks chart and now has 71.
 
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 13-3 in his first season as the Ichabods' head coach and 46-33 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 0-0 against Missouri Southern.
 
Missouri Southern head coach Jeff Boschee …
• is in his fourth season as the head coach at Missouri Southern and has gone 67-41.
• served four seasons as an assistant and associate head coach.
• was named the head coach of the Lions on July 1, 2014.
• spent three years at the Barstow School in Kansas City where in 2010 his team went 22-4.
• was the Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 1999-2000 and was a third team All-Big 12 pick his senior season. He helped lead the Jayhawks to a Final Four appearance in 2002 and previously held the conference record for three pointers made in a career with 338.
• holds the Kansas record for three's made in a career and is second all-time in games started.
• is 3-0 against Washburn.
 
 
 
Last Time Out For the Ichabods
Washburn 49, Central Oklahoma 47 -- Jan. 13, 2018
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods held off a Central Oklahoma second half rally picking up their 11th-straight win improving to 13-3 and 7-0 in the MIAA with a 49-47 win over the Bronchos as Jordan London's 3-point attempt at the buzzer missed leading the Ichabods to the win. 
With Washburn up 12 at the break, UCO scored the first 13 points to start the second half taking a 27-26 lead with 16:59 to play. Tyas Martin's layup snapped the run, but UCO came back with two points to take a 29-28 lead with 15:02 to play.
After a layup by Brady Skeens who finished with seven points and a game-high 16 rebounds, and a free throw by Jace Williams was up two, but again UCO came back with four straight points to go up 33-31 with 12:11 to play.
Washburn then ripped off a 12-0 run to go up 43-33 with 8:24 to play. UCO cut the lead to six with 6:31 to go and to four with 4:02 to play, but a 3-pointer by Javion Blake, the newest edition to the Washburn 1,000-point club, hit a 3-pointer pushing the lead back to seven with 3:45 remaining.
From that point, UCO's Marquis Johnson hit a 3-pointer to cut the advantage back to four and Jake Hammond's hook shot in the lane cut it to two with 40 seconds to play, but neither team scored the rest of the way as the Ichabods picked up the win to remain a perfect 9-0 in home games.
The Ichabods took a 26-14 lead into the halftime break holding Central Oklahoma (12-5, 5-3 MIAA) to 6 of 27 shooting from the field including 1 of 9 from 3-point range. Washburn was 9 of 22 for a 41 percent clip hitting 6 of 7 free throws pushing out to the 12-point lead at the break.
Blake led the Ichabods with 13 points lifting his career total to 1,005 points in his junior season. Skeen's 16 rebounds pushed his career total to 811 (fourth in school history to go over 800 rebounds) and the Ichabods' career leader in blocks went over the 200 mark with his three blocks.
Johnson led UCO with 11 points and Hammond had a double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Washburn held the Bronchos to 33 percent shooting in the game hitting 20 of 60 shots while the Ichabods were at 37 percent on 18 of 49 shooting. The Ichabods were +12 in rebounds hodling a 45 to 33 advantage on the glass and hit 9 of 14 free throws. Both teams hit four 3-pointers in the game. The Ichabods committed 17 turnovers leading to 15 points for the Bronchos and were outscored 32 to 28 in the paint.
 
About The Missouri Southern Lions
• Missouri Southern is 11-6 and 6-2 in the MIAA and has gone 6-1 at home this season.
• The Lions have won their last five games and nine of their last 10 overall.
• CJ Carr leads four Lions averaging double figures with 16.7 ppg followed by Elyjah Clark with 16.4 ppg, Kinzer Lambert with 11.9 ppg and Enis Memic at 10.6 ppg.
• The Lions are the second-highest scoring team in the MIAA at 82.3 ppg and ranked 12th in scoring defense at 75.4 ppg.
• Missouri Southern is third in 3-point field goal percentage at 42 percent (166 of 396) and second in the MIAA in 3-pointers made averaging 9.8 per game.
 
Series History with Missouri Southern
• Wednesday's meeting will be 79th between these two schools in a series that dates back to 1968-69.
• Washburn leads the all-time series 47-31. 
• Washburn is 24-17 in MIAA games against the Lions and 9-13 on the road against MSSU since joining the league in 1989-90.
• The Ichabods have lost eight in a row on the road to the Lions with their last win coming in Joplin on Jan. 21, 2006 in a 60-56 win.
• The two teams have met at least once a year since 1976-77.
• The Ichabods are 3-2 against the Lions in the MIAA Tournament.
• In games played in Topeka, the Ichabods are 29-11 overall and 22-8 in games played in Lee Arena.
• The teams have met twice in the NCAA Tournament - on March 10, 2000 when the Lions picked up a 79-73 overtime win in Joplin and on March 12, 2011 when the Lions topped the Ichabods in overtime again 82-79 in Edmond, Okla.
• The 110-73 win by the Lions over the Ichabods in Joplin on Dec. 7, 2013 was the largest defeat suffered by an Ichabod team since joining the NCAA Division II ranks.
 
Last time out for Missouri Southern
(Jan. 13, 2018) -- Jefferson City, Mo. -- Six Lions scored in double-figures and the Missouri Southern men's basketball team won its fifth-straight game as Southern took out Lincoln 92-70 today inside Jason Gym. 
Southern (11-6, 6-2 MIAA) was led offensively by a career-day from Braelon Walker as the sophomore scored 16 points on 4-7 from the field and 4-5 from long-range. Enis Memic and CJ Carr had 15 points each as Memic added eight rebounds and Carr had four assists and five steals. Kinzer Lambert scored 13 and pulled down nine boards, while both Elyjah Clark and Koray Gilbert scored 11 points each. 
Lincoln had four in double-figures, led by 14 points each from Terrance Smith and Maurice Mason. 
The Lions raced out to a 15-3 lead after a three from Lambert with 13:48 to go in the first half. The lead was 15 (25-10) after a three from Walker with 8:49 left, and a pair of freebies from Clark with 59 seconds to go in the half gave Southern its largest lead of the half (41-24). The Lions led 41-27 at the break. 
A three from Clark with 14:59 left quickly had the Lions up 51-32 and a pair of free throws from Memic gave the Lions a 65-41 lead with 8:18 to go. Southern led by 25 on multiple occasions and a three-point play from Vince Firtz with 1:59 to go gave the Lions their largest lead of the game (86-59). A late three from the Blue Tigers provided the games' final tally. 
Southern shot 45 percent from the field and 44 percent from long-range. The Lions made 87 percent of their free throws. The Lions forced 15 Lincoln turnovers and scored 32 points off the miscues. Conversely, Southern turned the ball over just six times allowing Lincoln to capitalize on just one bucket. Southern's bench out scored Lincoln's 42-24 and the Lions led for nearly 38 minutes of the game. 
 
Washburn Ichabod Basketball HIstory
•    The Ichabods are 1,553-1,062-2 (.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 578-268 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 431-85 (.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
•    The Ichabods continue their road trip at Pittsburg State on Jan. 20 before returning to Lee Arena for games with Southwest Baptist on Jan. 24 and Central Missouri on Jan. 27.