Opening Tip
• The Washburn Ichabods open MIAA play on Thursday night when they will take on Southwest Baptist at 7:30 p.m.
• It will be the last regular season trip for the Bearcats to Lee Arena as Southwest Baptist is leaving the MIAA moving to the Great Lakes Valley Conference next season.
• The Ichabods are 5-1 coming off an 85-53 win over Saint Mary (Kan.) on Nov. 29 in Lee Arena.
• The Bearcats are 5-3 this season and 1-0 in the MIAA after topping Central Missouri on Nov. 29 in Bolivar.
• Javion Blake leads the Ichabods in scoring at 18.5 ppg which is ninth in the MIAA rankings.
• David Salach is averaging 11.7 ppg and 8.0 rpg … his rebounding total is third in the MIAA.
• Also averaging double figures for the Ichabods is Tyas Martin at 10.0 ppg.
• Javion Blake has scored 1,310 career points placing him 10th all-time at Washburn … Blake's 149 career 3-point field goals is tied for ninth on the all-time chart.
• David Salach has 91 career blocks which is fifth all-time at Washburn after a career-high six rejections against Rockhurst … he needs three more to pass Bobby Chipman for fourth on the all-time chart … Salach leads the MIAA in blocks at 2.5 per contest.
• Tyler Geiman is scoring 7.8 ppg with 4.5 assists per game … his assist total is tied for seventh in the MIAA.
• Will McKee is averaging 8.8 ppg with 6.5 rpg coming off his first career double double against Saint Mary last time out.
• Jalen Lewis is the team's leading scorer off the bench at 8.5 ppg and has hit a team-high nine 3-pointers.
 
 Coaches
Washburn Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard …
• is 26-11 in his second season as the Ichabods' head coach and 59-41 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 2-0 against Southwest Baptist.
 
Southwest Baptist head coach Clark Sheehy…
• is in his fifth season as the head coach at Southwest Baptist and has gone 53-68.
• overall he is 235-174 in his 15th season overall after spending the previous nine seasons at John Brown University.
• is 1-7 against Washburn.
 
About Southwest Baptist
• Southwest Baptist is 5-3 and 1-0 in the MIAA.
• The Bearcats topped Central Missouri 72-62 in their MIAA opener on Nov. 29.
• Since then the Bearcats beat Ecclesia 105-52 on Dec. 1 and Williams Baptist 99-71 on Dec. 3.
• Chris Rossow leads the team in scoring at 13.1 ppg pacing a total of five Bearcats in double figures with Damian Prgomet at 12.6 ppg, Karim Mouliom at 10.8 ppg and Quinn Nelson and Godfrey Rolle at 10.0 ppg.
• Mouliom leads the team with 6.1 rpg.
 
 Series history with Southwest Baptist
• Thursday's meeting will be the 58th between Washburn and Southwest Baptist.
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series 40-17.
• In Topeka the Ichabods are 24-3 against SBU since joining the MIAA winning the last 11 in Topeka.
• Washburn has won 29 of the last 37 games.
• Washburn is 34-12 against SBU in MIAA games.
• The Ichabods have won the last 11 games played in Topeka and have gone 4-1 against the Bearcats in the MIAA Tournament.
• SBU's last win came in the last meeting in a triple overtime 104-98 win on Jan. 30, 2016.
• In Bolivar, the Ichabods are 14-13 against SBU.
• The Ichabods are 5-7 in the last 12 games in Bolivar.
 
 Last Meeting with Southwest Baptist
Washburn 102, Southwest Baptist 100 -- Feb. 17, 2018
BOLIVAR, Mo. -- The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team rallied from down 22 points in 11:08 to play in a 102-100 win over Southwest Baptist in overtime.
With the Ichabods down 71-49 with 11:08 to go, Washburn ripped off a 13-0 lead to cut the lead down to nine with 7:39 to go.
After SBU put the lead back to 11 with 7:34 to go, Washburn (19-7, 13-4 MIAA) responded with a 12-1 run over the next 2:27 to tie the score at 74 with 5:07 to go.
Down 82-81 with 2:08 to go in regulation, a 3-pointer by Randall Smith put Washburn up two and SBU came back with a layup with 1:21 to go prior to regulation as neither team scored the rest of the way.
Starting overtime, Cameron Wiggins hit a 3-pointer and the Ichabods would not give up the lead the rest of the way in overtime coming back for the win.
Brady Skeens scored a career high 32 points on 15 of 18 shooting adding 13 rebounds and six assists playing 42 minutes in the game. Wiggins scored a season-high 22 points hitting 5 of 7 3-pointers and Tyas Martin had 17 points, Javion Blake scored 16 and Smith finished with 11 adding seven assists. The other four points came from David Salach to wrap up the scoring for the Ichabods.
Logan Hovey scored 31 to lead the Bearcats.
The Ichabods finished 56 percent from the field overall hitting 5 of 7 shots in the overtime period including 2 of 3 3-pointers. Southwest Baptist finished the game at 55 percent shooting and finished 11 of 20 from 3-point range in the game.
Washburn and Southwest Baptist each finished with 35 rebounds and outscored the Bearcats 58-34 in the paint.
 
 Last time out for the Ichabods
Washburn 85, Saint Mary 53 -- Nov. 29, 2018
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team rode an 18 to 8 run over a 4:37 stretch and a 15 to 3 run over another 4:12 span of the second half to pull away from the Saint Mary Spires en route to an 85-53 win on Thursday night in Lee Arena.
After trading buckets to start the game, the Spires would go up 5-2 before the Ichabods (5-1) jumped out to a 20 to 7 lead using an 18-2 ignited by three dunks by Jace Williams run over a 9:59 period in the first half and never looked back the remainder of the game as Washburn took a 36-21 lead into the halftime break.
Washburn shot 50 percent from the field while holding the Spires (2-5) to 8 of 29 shooting in the frame.
In the second half, Washburn put up 49 points while hitting 17 of 37 shots overall going 12 of 16 from the free throw line in the win.
David Salach led all scorers with a game- and career-high 23 points on 10 of 12 shooting adding seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals in the win. Will McKee recorded his first double double at Washburn with 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds also dishing out a career-high four assists. Also in double figures were Jalen Lewis who went 7 of 7 from the free throw line and Williams who tied a career-best with 10 points.
Raylon Howard had 11 points to lead in the Spires.
Washburn used a 43 to 32 advantage on the glass including a 12 to 4 margin on the offensive glass creating 13 second chance points and forced the Spires into 19 turnovers leading to 25 points. Washburn had only seven turnovers in the game. Washburn had a 17 to 4 advantage in fast break points and the Ichabod bench outscored the Spires 41 to 24..
 
 Ichabod basketball history
• The Ichabods are 1,567-1,069-2 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 588-274 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 436-87 (.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 continue MIAA hosting Central Missouri on Dec. 8 before leaving for Las Vegas Dec. 17 and 18 for non-conference games with West Texas A&M and Indianapolis. Washburn will wrap up the fist semester with Avila on Dec. 30 and then return to MIAA play on Jan. 5 at Emporia State.