Opening Tip
• The Washburn Ichabod basketball team will hit the road for the final four regular season games of the year starting with a senior night visit to Emporia State on Tuesday in Emporia.
• The Ichabods are 18-6 and 12-3 after falling at home to No. 6-ranked Northwest Missouri 58-50 on Saturday.
• The Hornets are 8-16 and 3-12 in the MIAA after coming up short in a 65-61 loss to Missouri Western. The Hornets lost to Northwest Missouri 55-50 on Feb. 7.
• The Ichabods won the first meeting between the two schools on Jan. 6 in an 83-69 victory over the Hornets.
• The Ichabods are in second place in the MIAA standings, one game behind Northwest Missouri and one game ahead of Central Missouri in the conference race. The Hornets are tied for 12th in the MIAA standings.
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series with the Hornets 110-102 (ESU lists the series history with Washburn leading 107-103) and have won five of the last six overall with the Hornets needing a half court buzzer beater to win that game on Jan. 7 last season in Emporia.
• The Ichabods have won the last seven meetings played in Lee Arena between the two schools with Washburn's last loss to the Hornets coming on Feb. 23, 2011 in a 73-68 defeat.
• The Washburn/Emporia State series is the most-played by the Ichabods with Saturday's contest being the 212th all-time.
• Javion Blake leads the Ichabods in scoring at 15.0 ppg hitting a team-high 47 3-pointers on 113 attempts hitting 42 percent from deep.
• 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 is 15th on the all-time scoring chart with 1,110 points.
• Brady Skeens leads the team on the glass with 10.8 rebounds a game adding 14.0 points per game shooting 73 percent from the field hitting 131 of 179 attempts with 2.4 blocks per game … in MIAA play he is averaging 14.7 ppg and 11.3 rpg.
• 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 and is 16th on the career scoring chart with 1,087 points.
• Washburn is second the MIAA in blocks (4.4) trailing Central Oklahoma who is averaging 4.8 blocks per game.
• Washburn leads the league in assists at 15.3 per contest and third in field goal percentage at .486. Emporia State is 12th in field goal percentage at .424.
• The Ichabods are ranked first in field goal defense holding opponents to 40 percent shooting and Emporia State is 13th at 47 percent.
• Washburn is second in rebounding offense at 38.2 per game and second in rebounding defense at 30.6 per game … Washburn is ranked second in the MIAA in defensive rebounds with 28.3 per game and ranked first in rebounding margin at +7.6 per game. Emporia State is first in the league in offensive rebounds averaging 11.4 per game …Washburn is sixth at 10.0 per game.
• Brady Skeens is first in the MIAA in rebounds at 10.8 per game and is first in the MIAA in blocks with 2.4 per game and eight in steals per game with 1.3 … he is also first in field goal percentage (.732) … his field goal percentage is also first in the nation.
• Javion Blake made his 80th consecutive start against Missouri Western starting every game of his Washburn career … his games started streak came to an end on senior night when he came off the bench.
• Javion Blake's 132 3-point field goals is 10th on the all-time chart.
• Cameron Wiggins is sixth on the Ichabod all-time 3-point chart sitting at 169 and he needs five more to move into the top five all-time.
• Brady Skeens is third on the all-time rebounding chart at Washburn with 909 and passing Ewan Auguste who was in third recording 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 228, which is 128 more than Ewan Auguste who is second on the chart with 100 blocks.
• In Brady Skeens 34 career double doubles at Washburn, he has averaged 15.0 ppg and 13.3 rpg.
• Randall Smith has 292 career assists which is fifth on the Ichabod career chart and he needs four more to move into fourth all-time at Washburn.
• David Salach moved into the top 10 sitting seventh on the all-time blocks chart and now has 76.
 
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 18-6 in his first season as the Ichabods' head coach and 51-36 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 1-0 against Emporia State.
 
Emporia State head coach Shaun Vandiver …
• is 86-109 in his seventh season at Emporia State.
• was a first round draft pick by the Golden State Warriors in 1991 he spent ten years as an assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level.
• led Hutchinson CC to the 1988 NJCAA National Championship before earning first-team All-Big 8 honors at Colorado.
• is 4-9 against Washburn.
 
Last Time Out For the Ichabods
#6 Northwest Missouri 58, Washburn 50 -- Feb. 10, 2018
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods were held to a season-low 13 points in the first half, but battled back to cut the No. 6 Northwest Missouri margin to two with 9:47 to play, but could not get over the hump in a 58-50 loss to the Bearcats on senior day in Lee Arena. 
Washburn was held to 4 of 23 shooting in the opening half while limiting the Bearcats to 10 of 28 shooting and 2 of 12 from deep as the top 3-point shooting team in the conference finished the game 5 of 20 overall. The Bearcats led 24-13 at the half as they would build a lead of as many as 11 points in the frame.
Down 11 at 34-23 with 16:08 to play, the Ichabods ripped off a 7-0 run after back to back buckets by Tyas Martin and a 3-pointer by Cameron Wiggins as Washburn found themselves down 34-30 with 14:49 to go. Northwest (21-2, 13-2 MIAA) pushed its lead back to nine with 13:30 to play before the Ichabods trimmed the lead to two after a 3-pointer by Javion Blake with 9:47 left, but Northwest went back in front by nine. A mini 4-0 run by the Ichabods cut it back to five with 1:52 to play, but Washburn (18-6, 12-3 MIAA) would get no closer as Northwest hit 4 of 6 free throws down the stretch to preserve the win.
Martin led the Ichabods with 15 points as the only Washburn player to hit double figures. Randall Smith had nine and Brady Skeens had 14 rebounds with five blocks and two steals.
Joey Witthus led the Bearcats with 22 points.
Washburn shot 52 percent in the second half hitting 12 of 23 shots improving to 16 of 46 for the game and 35 percent overall. Northwest was 10 of 24 in the second half en route to 39 percent shooting in the game.
Washburn outrebounded the Bearcats 38 to 30, but a season-high 19 turnovers led to 16 Bearcat points.  
 
Last Meeting with Emporia State
Washburn 83, Emporia State 69 -- Jan. 6, 2018
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods used a 9-0 second half spurt turning a three-point lead into a 12-point advantage en route to their ninth-straight win in an 83-69 win over Emporia State in the first edition of the Turnpike Tussle. 
Leading by three with 9:18 to play in the game, the Ichabods (11-3, 5-0 MIAA) hit 6 of 8 attempts from the free throw line and Javion Blake capped the run with one of his five 3-pointers pushing Washburn to a 12-point lead with 6:35 to go. The Hornets cut the lead to 10 with 6:32 to go, but a traditional 3-point play by Brady Skeens off an assist from Jace Williams pushed the margin back to 13 and the Hornets (7-7, 2-3 MIAA) would not get closer than 11 the rest of the way as the Ichabods stretched the lead to as many as 17 with under a minute to play.
The Ichabods trailed 39-38 at the break after shooting 50 percent from the field as the Hornets led by as many as eight points in the opening stanza. The Hornets also shot 50 percent from the field hitting 13 of 26 shots going 10 of 12 from the charity stripe compared to 9 of 12 for the Ichabods.
In the second half, Washburn held the Hornets to 32 percent shooting limiting Emporia State to 8 of 25 from the field while the Ichabods were 14 of 29. Overall the Ichabods finished 26 of 53 from the field and Emporia State was 21 of 51. Washburn turned the ball over only four times in the second half and turned eight offensive rebounds (three by Williams) into 14 second chance points.
Blake led the Ichabods with 22 points going 8 of 14 overall and 5 of 9 from deep to tie for game-high honors with Brandon Hall from Emporia State. Skeens scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half recording a career-high with eight free throws made in the game on nine attempts. David Salach tied a season-high with 11 points while Cameron Wiggins scored 10 off the bench. Williams tied a career-high with six rebounds adding two blocks, two steals and two assists chipping in four points. 
 
About The Emporia State Hornets
• Emporia State is 8-16, 3-12 in the MIAA. 
• Brandon Hall is averaging 14.2 points per game overall while Stephaun Limuel is averaging 11.5 points and 8.1 rebounds overall. 
• ESU is -1.8 in scoring margin this season averaging 69.8 ppg while allowing 71.6 ppg and +0.8 in rebound margin averaging 32.8 per game.
• ESU has made 12 more (172 to 160) 3-pointers than its opponents while attempting 78 more (488 to 406). 
 
Series History with Emporia State
• The meeting on Wednesday will be the 213th meeting between the two schools and the Ichabods lead at 110-102. This is the most-played series for Washburn. Emporia State lists the all-time record at 107-103 in favor of the Ichabods.
• The Ichabods have won 10 of the last 14 meetings in the series and five of the last six overall.
• The two teams started the series in 1905-06, Washburn's first recorded year of basketball, and they have met every year since the 1945-46 season.
• This will be the 74th-straight year they have played each other at least once.
• The Ichabods are 26-8 against the Hornets in Lee Arena.
• Washburn is 33-17 against ESU in MIAA games.
• Washburn is 4-1 against ESU in MIAA Postseason tournament games. 
 
Last time out for Emporia State
(Feb. 10, 2018) -- Emporia State outscored Missouri Western by ten in the second half but it was not enough to overcome an 18 point first half deficit in a 65-61 loss by the Hornets on Saturday night in White Auditorium.
An Hassan Thomas layup with 12:07 left in the first half pulled the Hornets within four at 14-10. The next score for Emporia State would not come until the 6:50 mark when Brandon Hall's layup made it 25-12.  Hall hit a three-pointer 26 seconds later to cut the deficit to ten but the Hornets would go on another four minute scoring drought as the Griffons went up 33-15 with 2:43 remaining. Emporia State ended up trailing 37-23 at the half.
Missouri Western pushed the lead back to 18 with 18:15 left in the game and had a 51-34 lead with 13:44 left.  The Hornets got back to back three-pointers from Grant Shell and Brian Morton along with an old fashioned three-point play from Stephaun Limuel to cut the lead to 51-45 with 10:09 remaining.
Limuel would score out of the final media timeout with 4:52 left to cut the deficit to 56-53 before Trey Brown hit a three-pointer to push the lead back to six points.  Shell scored on a back door pass from Hall out of a timeout with 1:49 left to make it 59-55 and Hall hit a pair of free throws with 1:14 remaining to cut the lead to two.
After a Western turnover with 58.4 seconds left Vandiver missed a three-pointer and the Griffons corralled the rebound.  Lavon Hightower scored with 20.9 left to make it 61-57.  Hall was fouled on a drive to the basket and hit one of two free throws with 16.4 seconds left to make it 61-58.  Down two possessions, Emporia State was forced to foul, and the Griffons connected on four of four free throws in the final 15.1 seconds before Hall hit a three-pointer at the buzzer for the final score.
Hall had a game high 22 points and Limuel added 19 points with eight rebounds. Grant Shell was the only other Hornet to score more than five points.
 
Washburn Ichabod Basketball HIstory
•    The Ichabods are 1,558-1,065-2 (.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 581-271 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 433-87 (.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 continue their season-ending road trip starting with Southwest Baptist on Feb. 17 followed by a game at Central Oklahoma on Feb. 22 and then the regular season finale at Northeastern State on Feb. 24.