Opening Tip
• The Washburn men's basketball team will wrap up a mini two-game home stand with Central Missouri on Saturday in Lee Arena with tip scheduled for 3 p.m.
• After the game with the Mules, Washburn will then finish off the regular season with six of its final eight games away from Topeka.
• The Ichabods are 15-4 and 9-1 in the MIAA holding a one game lead over Northwest Missouri in the conference standings.
• Washburn will be looking to keep its unblemished record at home this season intact entering the game 10-0 while winning the last 15 dating back to last season. 
• The Mules are 15-4 overall and 7-3 in the MIAA sitting in third in the conference standings.
• UCM defeated Emporia State on Wednesday 77-59 in Emporia.
• The Ichabods trail the all-time series with Central Missouri 49-50 winning two of the last three encounters.
• Javion Blake leads the Ichabods in scoring at 15.9 ppg hitting a team-high 41 3-pointers on 90 attempts … he is scoring 16.0 ppg in MIAA play.
• 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 … he ranks 19th on the all-time scoring chart with 1,042 points.
• Brady Skeens leads the team on the glass with 10.1 rebounds a game adding 14.2 points per game shooting 74 percent from the field hitting 106 of 143 attempts with 2.1 blocks per game … in MIAA play he is averaging 15.4 ppg.
• Brady Skeens became the 25th Ichabod to go over the 1,000 point mark in a career doing so at Pittsburg State earlier this season.
• Washburn is second the MIAA in blocks (4.2) trailing Central Oklahoma who is averaging 5.6 blocks per game.
• Washburn leads the league in assists at 15.9 per contest and second in field goal percentage at .495.
• The Ichabods are ranked first in field goal defense holding opponents to 39 percent shooting and Central Missouri is ranked seventh.
• Washburn is first in rebounding offense at 38.9 per game and fourth in rebounding defense at 31.3 per game and ranked first in the MIAA in defensive rebounds with 28.7 per game and ranked second in rebounding margin at +7.7 per game. Central Missouri is 14th in the MIAA in rebound margin at -3.9 per contest.
• Brady Skeens is tied for first in the MIAA in rebounds at 10.1 per game and is second in the MIAA in blocks with 2.1 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 39 total blocks is 25th while his total rebounds is 25th in the national rankings.
• Javion Blake made his 77th consecutive start against Central Missouri starting every game of his Washburn career.
• Javion Blake's 127 3-point field goals is 10th on the all-time chart.
• Ichabod opponents have attempted 26 more free throws than Washburn has this season (437 to 411) and have made 26 more hitting 310 compared to 284 for Washburn … in MIAA play, Washburn has attempted 23 more free throws than its opponents making 22 more overall.
• Cameron Wiggins moved into seventh on the Ichabod all-time 3-point chart sitting at 161 passing Jordan Canfield (1992-97) who had 159.
• Brady Skeens is fourth on the all-time rebounding chart at Washburn with 841 and trails Ewan Auguste who is in third and had 888 from 1997 to 2001.
• Skeens also went over the 200 block mark for his career against Central Oklahoma and the Ichabod all-time leader now has 209, which is 106 more than Ewan Auguste who is second on the chart with 100 blocks.
• Randall Smith has 274 career assists which is seventh on the Ichabod career charts needing three 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 74.
• Washburn is 15-0 when outscoring its opponents this season and 1,555-0 in program history when ending the game with more points than its opposition.
 
 
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 15-4 in his first season as the Ichabods' head coach and 48-33 overall in his third year as a head coach.
• was named the Washburn Ichabod men's basketball head coach on April 6, 2017 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 Pittsburg State.
 
Central Missouri head coach Doug Karleskint …
• is 75-35 in his fourth season as the head coach at Central Missouri and 164-69 overall in his eighth season as a head coach.
• spent five seasons at Arkansas Tech, including the last four as head coach.
• he compiled a 90-34 (.726) record with the Wonder Boys with four conference championships and four trips to the NCAA-II National Tournament, including a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2012.
• is 2-2 against Washburn.   
 
Last Time Out For the Ichabods
WASHBURN 89, Central Missouri 60 -- Jan. 24, 2018
TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team returned to its winning ways jumping out to a 10-point lead less than five minutes into the game with Southwest Baptist and never looked back in an 89-60 win over the Bearcats on Wednesday in Lee Arena.
The league-leading Ichabods (15-4, 9-1 MIAA) jumped out to 10 point leads 5:03 into the game and again at 8:20 in to the contest before eventually going up by as many as 19 in the first half en route to a 46-28 halftime lead. Washburn shot 55 percent in the first half hitting 16 of 29 shots while holding the Bearcats (10-9, 4-6 MIAA) to 9 of 25 from the field including 1 of 8 from 3-point range.
In the second half while leading by 16, Washburn scored the next nine points jumping out to a 25-point advantage with 16:00 to play.
The Bearcats cut the margin back to 19 with 7:58 to go, but Washburn ripped off a 9-0 run over the next 2:46 leading by as many as 31 before a late Bearcat bucket trimmed it back to 29 with 29 seconds to play.
Washburn blitzed the nets in the game shooting 59 percent from the field including a 62 percent performance in the second half hitting 18 of 29 shots. Overall the Ichabods finished at 59 percent shooting on 34 of 58 while hitting 13 of 16 free throws.
Brady Skeens led the Ichabods with 20 points on 7 of 7 shooting from the field with five rebounds adding three assists and two steals in 27 minutes. Tyas Martin scored 16 off the bench hitting 7 of 9 shots and Javion Blake scored 15.
Washburn outrebounded the Bearcats 34 to 24 over the top-ranked rebound margin team in the league. Washburn forced 14 turnovers leading to 22 points and outran the Bearcats 16 to 0 in fastbreak points. Washburn's bench also outscored the Bearcats 42 to 23.
 
About The Central Missouri Mules
• The Mules are 15-4 overall and 7-3 in the MIAA.
• The Mules are coming off a 77-59 win at Emporia State last time out.
• Spencer Reaves leads the team in scoring at 16.0 ppg hitting 33 of 76 3-point attempts.
• Jakob Lowrance is scoring 15.2 ppg with a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game … in MIAA play he is scoring 17.0 ppg with 7.5 rpg.
• D.J. Richardson is scoring 13.3 ppg.
• The Mules are scoring 77.2 ppg and allowing 64.2 ppg.
 
Series History with Central Missouri
• Saturday's meeting will be the 100th between these two teams
• UCM leads the all-time series 50-49.
• Washburn is 20-8 against UCM in Lee Arena and 25-21 in all-time MIAA games.
• In road MIAA games played in Warrensburg, the Ichabods are 9-15.
• The Ichabods have won seven of the last 11 meetings.
• The last time the teams met in the conference tournament was during the 2010 season when the Ichabods as the No. 8 seed topped the No. 1-seeded Mules 79-60.
• The Ichabods are 5-1 all-time against Central Missouri in the MIAA Tournament.
 
Last time out for Central Missouri
(Jan. 25, 2018) -- EMPORIA, Kan. -- Central Missouri Mules Basketball dominated on both offense and defense against the Emporia State Hornets on the road Wednesday night en route to a 77-59 win. Three Mules scored in double figures while the team shot a season-high 57.4% from the floor and held the Hornets to just 33.3 percent shooting. With the win, UCM is now 15-4 overall and 7-3 in MIAA play. 
 
Washburn Ichabod Basketball HIstory
•    The Ichabods are 1,555-1,063-2 (.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 579-269 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 432-85 (.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 will head to Nebraska-Kearney on Feb. 1 and then Fort Hays State on Feb. 3 before returning to Lee Arena for the final two regular season home games of the season with Missouri Western on Feb. 7 and Northwest Missouri on Feb. 10. The Ichabods will then have their final four games on the road at Emporia State on Feb. 13, Southwest Baptist on Feb. 17, Central Oklahoma on Feb. 22 and Northeastern State on Feb. 24.