Opening Tip
• The Washburn Ichabods will open the 2018-19 season with a pair of games at the GAC vs MIAA Challenge in Bethany, Okla. hosted by Southern Nazarene.
• Washburn will face Oklahoma Baptist on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and then take on the host Crimson Storm on Saturday at 5 p.m.
• The other MIAA school in the event is Nebraska-Kearney.
• The Washburn Ichabods were tabbed third in both the MIAA Preseason Coaches and Preseason Media Polls which were released on Oct. 8 at the MIAA Basketball Media Day in Kansas City at the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
• Washburn trailed Missouri Southern (157 points) and Northwest Missouri (155 points) with 132 points in the coaches poll with the Ichabods receiving one first-place vote.
• In the media poll, Northwest Missouri and Missouri Southern flip-flopped for first and second in the poll.
• Washburn is coming off a 22-10 season in former KU Jayhawk Brett Ballard's first season on the Ichabod bench.
• The Ichabods are led by three-time honorable mention all-MIAA selection Javion Blake. Entering his senior season he has started 89 of 90 career games scoring 1,199 points averaging 13.3 ppg with 3.3 rebounds and per game and 2.5 assists per game after earning MIAA Freshman of the Year honors following the 2015-16 season.
• Senior forward David Salach has played in 99 career games making 68 starts averaging 6.0 points per game and his 76 blocks are seventh all-time at Washburn.
• Senior guard Tyas Martin is back after appearing in 85 games while making 14 starts scoring 500 points averaging 5.9 per game for his career. He improved his scoring from his sophomore to his junior season from 1.6 ppg to 10.7 last season.
• Rounding out the returning seniors is Emeka Ogbonna who has appeared in 52 games making one start scoring 92 points with 51 rebounds.
• Junior guard Drew Pyle has played in 45 games hitting 40 of 91 career 3-point attempts averaging 3.6 points per game adding 48 rebounds and 21 assists with nine steals.
• The other junior on the team is Clayton Holmberg who has seen action in 32 games averaging nearly six minutes a game scoring a total of 41 points.
• In his first season at Washburn, guard Tyler Geiman played in 27 games off the bench for the Ichabods averaging 16.5 minutes per contest scoring 4.5 ppg hitting 18 3-pointers.
• Sophomore forward Will McKee played in 27 games as a freshman playing 11.5 minutes per game scoring 82 points averaging 3.0 per contest.
• Sophomore forward Jace Williams will join the Ichabods at the end of football season. Last season he averaged 3.1 points and 2.1 rebounds a game appearing in 24 games making two starts.
• Sophomore Tommy Ekart has joined the varsity squad after playing all of last season on the Ichabod junior varsity team averaging more than 13 points a game.
• The Ichabods will have four freshmen as well as two NCAA Division I transfers as well as a Division II transfer joining the team this season.
• Senior Devyn Wilson is a transfer from Portland State and will have one season of eligibility left. He played in 14 games for PSU after averaging 13 points as a sophomore at Panola College hitting 41 percent of his 3-point attempts.
• Washburn's other Division I transfer is Jamaal David who played one season at Charleston Southern where he made six starts playing in 31 games scoring nearly four points a game.
• Pedro DaSilva will add height to the Ichabods in the post as the 6-10 transfer from Union College averaged 9.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game blocking 33 shots as a junior.
• The four freshmen include Isaiah Thorne, Sevon Witt, Jalen Lewis and Jonny Clausing.
• Thorne is a transfer from Air Force Prep who averaged 18 points, six rebounds and four assists at Warren High School in San Antonio.
• Witt led his team to the class 4A state championship game and averaged 17.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game earning all-state honors and district MVP honors.
• Lewis finished his prep career at Liberty High School as the Blue Jay's all-time leading scoring averaging 18.8 points per game hitting nine 3-pointers in the Greater Kansas City Basketball Coaches Association all-star game and reached 40 points in the state tournament semifinals game connecting on eight 3-pointers.
• Clausing was an all-state selection on the Kansas side after scoring 14 points, nine rebounds with two blocks per game shooting 69 percent from the field.
• Javion Blake's 141 career 3-point field goals is 10th on the all-time chart.
• David Salach moved into the top 10 sitting seventh on the all-time blocks chart and now has 76.
 
 Coaches
Washburn Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard …
• is 22-10 in his second season as the Ichabods' head coach and 55-40 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.
 
 About Oklahoma Baptist
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series 2-0 with Oklahoma Baptist, but have not played since a Dec. 28, 1960 meeting at the Ottawa University Tournament in a 74-69 win.
• The other meeting was during the 1938-39 season with the Ichabods winning 35-18.
• OBU defeated Barclay College on Oct. 30 in an exhibition game 120-74.
• Davion Turner and Dishon Lowery led the way with 12 points apiece, while Brantly Thompson and Antonio Wade also touched double figures in the half. The Bison cleaned the glass for a 32-13 advantage, with Lowery completing his double-double in just 11 minutes of action after pulling down 11 boards. Oklahoma Baptist would go into halftime with a 68-30 lead.
• The Bison are under first-year head coach Jason Eaker who was unveiled as OBU's new head men's basketball coach on April 10, will lead a team that features four returners from the 2017-18 squad and 10 newcomers into the 2018-19 season. Six of the Bison hail from Oklahoma, while the roster also features representatives from Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas and Nigeria.
• The roster features five forwards, including sophomore Harrison Stoddart who started in 15 games for OBU last year while averaging 7.4 points per game. He'll be joined by a pair of Division I transfers in senior Davion Turner, who averaged 5.4 ppg and 2.9 rebounds per game at Texas-Arlington last year, and junior Dishon Lowery (1.8 ppg and 1.3 rpg for Wofford). Freshmen Jack Pruitt and Mohammed Abubakar will also contribute size and depth at the position.
• Oklahoma Baptist has three returning guards, including junior Tyler Lester and sophomores Brantly Thompson and Caleb Norris. Thompson started 21 games in his debut season on Bison Hill, drilling 40.8 percent of his 3-point attempts and averaging 8.5 points. Norris and Lester combined for six starts and 36 appearances while 4.3 and 2.7 ppg, respectively.
• Eaker boosted his guard depth with a trio of transfers in the forms of Julian Daughtry, Rashad Lewis and Antonio Wade, as well as freshmen Michael Horne, Ramey Harrison and Jack Ellison. Lewis, who rejoins Eaker after transferring in from Division I Mercer, averaged 2.8 ppg and 2.2 apg as a junior for the Bears, while Wade averaged 12.3 points, 4.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds last year at Division II Young Harris. Daughtry started 21 games for Division I Jackson State a season ago and posted an average of 6.4 points and 2.1 rebounds.
 
 About Southern Nazarene
• The Ichabods and the Crimson Storm have only played once with Washburn winning 81-66 on Dec. 19, 1986 in Topeka.
• The Crimson Storm defeated Sterling 94-52 in an exhibition game on Nov. 2 hitting 15 3-pointers in the game jumping out to a 14-0 lead and never looked back.
• Last year's GAC Player of the Year Jhonathan Dunn led the way with 19 points including 12 in the second half off four 3-pointers. Senior Coleman Edwards had 18 points off six 3s while junior Brady Mulkey returned to the hardwood and poured in 11 points. Noah Starkey had 10 points, four boards, and two blocks while junior Micah Speight added nine points and six assists. Senior RJ Palmer led all rebounders with 13 in the game while sophomore Ashton Charles and junior Logan Hicks each added six.
• Southern Nazarene is ranked No. 10 in the NABC Preseason Coaches Poll and reached the NCAA Central Regional first round falling to St. Cloud State in Maryville.
• The Crimson Storm returns their top 10 scorers from a squad that posted a 27-3 mark last year. Jhonathan Dunn, the league's Player of the Year and Tournament MVP, averaged 19.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game and shot 41.1 percent from the 3-point arc. Micah Speight led the GAC in steals, ranked third in assists and seventh in scoring to earn First-Team All-GAC honors. Noah Starkey garnered the Defensive Player of the Year award after he ranked third in the conference in blocked shots. He added 13.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Quaylon Newton, an Honorable Mention selection, shot 56.2 percent from the floor.
 
 2017-18 Ichabods by the Numbers
13.7: The number of turnovers per game the Ichabods have had in the 10 losses.
.631: Free throw percentage of the Ichabods (111 of 176) in the 10 losses.
.445: Field goal percentage of the Ichabods (224 of 503) in the 10 losses.
13.6: The number of turnovers per game the Ichabods have had in the 22 wins.
.711: Free throw percentage of the Ichabods (319 of 449) in the 22 wins.
.515: Field goal percentage of the Ichabods (561 of 1117) in the 22 wins.
72.1: Field goal percentage of Brady Skeens - best on Ichabod single season chart and best in the NCAA Division II
72: Number of blocks by Brady Skeens - second on Ichabod single chart … Skeens has the school's single season record of 97 which was set two years ago season.
22: Wins by Brett Ballard this season on the Ichabod bench.
20: Second-most wins by an Ichabod coach in their first season on the bench (Bob Chipman - 1979-80 season).
 
 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.
 
 Last time out for the Ichabods
#1 Kansas 79, Washburn 52 -- nov. 1, 2018
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods used a 7-0 run to open the second half to cut the margin to 35-28 with No. 1-ranked Kansas but a 33-5 run by the Jayhawks over the next eight minutes helped the pull away in a 79-52 win. 
After trailing 35-21 entering the halftime locker room, but a layup by Tyas Martin and three free throws by Javion Blake with a lay up by Jonny Clausing trimmed the lead to 35-28 before the Jayhawks went on one of their patented runs.
Washburn was limited to 27 percent shooting in the first half while the Jayhawks were 14 of 27 for a 52 percent clip with each team hitting four 3-pointers.
Blake led the Ichabods with 14 points while Jonny Clausing came off the bench to score eight points adding five rebounds. Will McKee had four points with six rebounds, four assists and four steals while Devyn Wilson led the Ichabods with a team-high seven rebounds.
KU was led by Dedric Lawson who had 18 points pacing three Jayhawks in double figures with Udoka Azubuike had 17 on six of six shooting and Lagerald Vick has 16.
The Ichabods improved to 37 percent shooting in the second half hitting 13 of 35 shots. Overall, Washburn forced Kansas into 20 turnovers leading to 14 Ichabod points while the Ichabods turned it over 17 times leading to 26 for the Jayhawks.
For the game, Washburn finished 21 of 65 from the field for a 32 percent average and KU was 30 of 61 for a 49 percent average. The Jayahawks also had 11 3-pointers in the game and held a 48 to 31 advantage on the glass with 12 offensive rebounds and nine blocks.
 
 Ichabod basketball history
• The Ichabods are 1,562-1,069-2 (.592) all-time in the 115th year in the program's history.
• Washburn is the 10th-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 586-274 since joining the conference and the NCAA.
• The Ichabods have recorded 27 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 433-87 (.848) all-time in Lee Arena.
• The 2018-19 season marks the 34th 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 then return home on Nov. 14 to play host to Rockhurst beginning a six-game homestand wrapping up with MIAA contests against Southwest Baptist and Central Missouri on Dec. 6 and 8 before leaving for Las Vegas Dec. 17 and 18 for non-conference games with West Texas A&M and Indianapolis.