• The Washburn Ichabods will wrap up the regular season on Saturday against Northeastern State at 3:30 p.m. in Tahlequah, Okla. finishing off a four-game road trip to end the season.
• The Ichabods have already clinched a first-round bye for the MIAA Tournament and will play in Kansas City on Friday, March 2 at noon as the Ichabods are locked into the No. 3 seed and will play the winner of the No. 6/No. 11 first round game which will be played on Tuesday, March 27.
• Three of the four first-round byes have been determined with Northwest Missouri, Washburn and Missouri Southern. There are three teams who still have a chance at gaining the final spot with a bye as Central Missouri and Central Oklahoma are both tied at 11-7 and Nebraska-Kearney is 10-8 entering the final games of the regular season.
• The Ichabods are 19-8 and 13-5 in the MIAA after suffering a 73-65 loss at Central Oklahoma on Thursday night.
• The RiverHawks are 8-19 and 4-14 in the MIAA sitting in a three-way tie for the 12th and final spot in the conference tournament and need a win to have a chance at reaching the postseason after topping Emporia State on Thursday night … they are tied with Emporia State and Missouri Western for the final spot.
• The Ichabods won the first meeting this season with Northeastern State 82-70 in Topeka on Jan. 11.
• The Ichabods trail the all-time series with Northeastern State 7-5 and have gone 1-4 in games played in Tahlequah … the Ichabods won their first game at Northeastern State last season 67-55.
• The Ichabods are looking to secure their first back to back 20-win seasons since the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons … the Ichabods were 20-10 last season.
• Javion Blake leads the Ichabods in scoring at 14.6 ppg hitting a team-high 50 3-pointers on 121 attempts hitting 41 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 14th on the all-time scoring chart with 1,135 points.
• Brady Skeens leads the team on the glass with 10.7 rebounds a game adding 14.3 points per game shooting 73 percent from the field hitting 153 of 209 attempts with 2.4 blocks per game … in MIAA play he is averaging 15.1 ppg and 11.1 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 13th on the career scoring chart with 1,137 points.
• Washburn is second the MIAA in blocks (4.3) 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 .485. Northeastern State is 13th in field goal percentage at .430.
• The Ichabods are ranked first in field goal defense holding opponents to 41 percent shooting and Northeastern State is 14th at 48 percent.
• Brady Skeens is first in the MIAA in rebounds at 10.7 per game and is first in the MIAA in blocks with 2.4 per game and ninth 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's 135 3-point field goals is 10th on the all-time chart.
• Cameron Wiggins is fifth on the Ichabod all-time 3-point chart sitting at 179.
• Brady Skeens is third on the all-time rebounding chart at Washburn with 940 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 236, which is 136 more than Ewan Auguste who is second on the chart with 100 blocks.
• In Brady Skeens 36 career double doubles at Washburn, he has averaged 15.1 ppg and 13.1 rpg.
• Randall Smith has 304 career assists which is fourth on the Ichabod career chart and he needs nine more to move into third all-time at Washburn.
• David Salach moved into the top 10 sitting seventh on the all-time blocks chart and now has 76.
  14.3: The number of turnovers per game the Ichabods have had in the eight losses.
.636: Free throw percentage of the Ichabods (91 of 143) in the eight losses.
.441: Field goal percentage of the Ichabods (198 of 449) in the eight losses.
13.9: The number of turnovers per game the Ichabods have had in the 19 wins.
.710: Free throw percentage of the Ichabods (319 of 449) in the 19 wins.
.502: Field goal percentage of the Ichabods (561 of 1117) in the 19 wins.
73.2: Field goal percentage of Brady Skeens - best on Ichabod single season chart.
66: Number of blocks by Brady Skeens this season - second on Ichabod single chart … Skeens has both the school single season record of 97 which was set last season.
20: Most wins by an Ichabod coach in their first season on the bench (Bob Chipman - 1979-80 season).
19: Wins by Brett Ballard this season on the Ichabod bench.
18: Wins by Ichabod Hall of Famer Glenn Cafer in his first season on the Ichabod bench (1967-68 season) and A.C. Lonborg in his first season on the Ichabod bench (1923-24 season).
2 and 8: Number of points in the losses by the Ichabods have been defeated by in seven of their eight losses …this season the Ichabods have had three two-point losses, four eight-point losses and one 12-point loss.
9: Number of Ichabods who are in the 1,000 point/200 assist club after Brady Skeens went over the 200 assist mark against SBU on Saturday … he joined Javion Blake who joined the club earlier this season.
7: Number of steals Brady Skeens needs to become the sixth member in Ichabod history to join the 1,000 point/100 steal club.
2: Number of people in Ichabod program history in the 1,000 point/100 block club with Brady Skeens and Ewan Auguste.
11: Number of people in Ichabod program history in the 1,000 point/500 rebound club after Brady Skeens joined it this season.
  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. Washburn Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard …
• is 19-8 in his first season as the Ichabods' head coach and 52-37 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 Northeastern State.
 
Northeastern State head coach Mark Downey …
• was introduced as NSU's tenth men's basketball coach on April 11, 2017 and carries a 207-114 overall head coaching record, with four NCAA Division II Tournament Appearances, and has been named Coach of the Year six times.
• comes to NSU after two seasons at Fort Wayne (NCAA DI) as the program's top assistant on the bench, and helped the Mastodons to appearances in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) and the NIT, while going 44-23.
• prior to Fort Wayne, Downey spent the 2014-15 season at Bowling Green where they went 20-12, and he helped direct them into the second round of the CIT.
• spent the 2006-07 through 2009-10 seasons at Arkansas Tech where he recorded a 77-43 record.
• is 0-1 against Washburn. 
  Central Oklahoma 73, Washburn 65 -- Feb. 22, 2018
EDMOND, Okla. – The Washburn Ichabods pulled within one with 2:12 to go, but Central Oklahoma hit 10 of its last 13 free throws as the Ichabods fell 73-65 to the Bronchos.
Randall Smith connected on his first 3-pointer of the game with 1:37 to go pulling the Ichabods within one at 61-60, but UCO came back with a 3-point play adding a pair of free throws before the a 3-point play by Tyas Martin cut the lead back to three at 66-63, but the Ichabods would get no closer as UCO outscored the Ichabods 7-2 hitting 7 of 8 free throws helping the Bronchos hang on for the win.
The Ichabods trailed 30-26 at the break as UCO hit a jumper right before the half to take the four-point lead into halftime. The Ichabods were 10 of 31 in the first half from the field and went 8:08 of the frame without a bucket. UCO also hit 10 field goals in the first half going 10 of 23 overall and 2 of 8 from 3-point range while going 8 of 12 from the free throw line compared to 5 of 9 for the Ichabods.
Javion Blake and Cameron Wiggins each scored 13 to lead the Ichabods.
The Ichabods finished 22 of 59 from the field for the game shooting 12 of 28 in the second half and 11 of 14 from the free throw line. UCO was 21 of 48 from the field and hit 28 of 36 free throws. The Ichabods were outrebounded 44 to 32 overall in the game game.
  Washburn 82, Northeastern State 70 -- Jan. 11, 2018
TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods improved to 6-0 in the MIAA and 12-3 overall with an 82-70 win over Northeastern State on Thursday in Lee Arena.
The game was tied at 33 at the break as Northeastern State (3-12, 0-7 MIAA) hit 7 of 15 3-pointers in the opening half to counter the Ichabods' 48 percent shooting performance from the field. Overall the RiverHawks had 13 field goals in 32 attempts for a 41 percent average.
In the second half, an Ichabod 11-4 run over a 4:12 time period turned a five-point lead into a nine-point advantage with 7:15 to go. The RiverHawks would stay within striking distance cutting the lead back down to five after a 3-pointer by Jamir Andrews, who led NSU with 17 points, with 2:14 to go. However the NSU bench was called for a technical and after four Ichabod free throws overall, Washburn was up by nine and would push the margin on to as many as 12 with under a minute to play en route to the 12-point win.
Washburn was led by Brady Skeens who scored a game-high 20 points (with 11 coming in the second half) on 8 of 9 shooting adding eight rebounds, two assists and his 199th block of his career. Javion Blake had 18 to lift his career point total to 992 and Tyas Martin with 13 and Cameron Wiggins had 10 to reach double figures.
The Ichabods shot 55 percent in the second half hitting 16 of 29 shots overall while holding the RiverHawks to 47 percent overall in the half hitting 27 of 62 shots for a 43 percent clip. NSU hit 11 3-pointers on 26 attempts overall. Washburn was 17 of 24 from the free throw line while the RiverHawks were 5 of 8 after being whistled for 20 fouls compared to 13 for the Ichabods.
Washburn outscored the RiverHawks 42 to 18 in the paint and held an 8-0 fastbreak points advantage.
  • Northeastern State is 8-19 and 4-14 overall and snapped a five-game losing slide with its win over Emporia State.
• Jamir Andrews leads the team scoring 16.3 ppg scoring 17.1 ppg in MIAA play.
• Gordon Hill is the RiverHawks' leading rebounder at 5.0 ppg.
  • Saturday's meeting will be the 13th all-time between the two schools and the RiverHawks lead the all-time series 7-5.
• The Ichabods have won the last three meetings in the series.
• The Ichabods and RiverHawks played in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with Washburn falling 64-59 on March 15, 2003 in Stephenville, Texas.
• The RiverHawks went on to win the NCAA National Championship in 2003.
• Washburn is 1-4 in games played in Tahlequah picking up its first win last season on Jan. 12 in a 67-55 win. 
  (Feb. 22, 2018) TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State survived to fight another day thanks to a Jamir Andrews floater with three seconds to go to beat Emporia State 68-66 on Thursday evening at the NSU Event Center.  The win kept the RiverHawks' (8-19, 4-14 MIAA) postseason hopes alive heading in to the final game of the season.
Andrews had 14 of his 16 points in the second half including a dagger three-pointer to put NSU ahead by 66-64 with 35 seconds remaining to pave the way for their win over the Hornets (9-17, 4-14 MIAA).
Things did not look well for NSU early and they trailed 41-26 at the half.  However, out of the locker room the contest went a 180 in direction and the RiverHawks opened the second half with an 11-0 run in the first three minutes to get them right back in the game to set up the seesaw battle to the finish. 
The arc was NSU's friend in the second half where they went 7-for-9.  However, both teams mirrored each other on the stat line with teams shooting at just around 45-percent.  On the glass, Emporia had a slight 31-to-30 edge.
Andrews' late heroics overshadowed a solid performance by Josh Bougher who had his second double-double of the year with a team game high 12 rebounds and 18 points.  Tanner Mouse and Montre' Williams both had 11 points in the win.
Despite the victory, Northeastern State still needs help to get into the MIAA Tournament with three teams vying for the final spot in.  Things boil down to a NSU win Saturday and a Missouri Western loss to send the RiverHawks into the postseason.
  •    The Ichabods are 1,559-1,067-2 (.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 582-273 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.
  •    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.
  •     The Ichabods will play at noon on Friday in Kansas City in the first round of the MIAA Championship Tournament at Municipal Auditorium. Brackets and times will be announced on Feb. 24 after all of the games have been completed. Be sure to check back to wusports.com for schedule updates for times and opponents.