Opening Tip
• The Washburn men's basketball team returns home for the first of its final two regular season games in Lee Arena this year playing host to Missouri Western on Wednesday in Lee Arena.
• The Ichabods have won their last two games in road wins at Nebraska-Kearney on Feb. 1 in an 87-73 win and at Fort Hays State in a 76-60 win last time out on Saturday.
• The Ichabods are 17-5 and 11-2 in the MIAA tied with Northwest Missouri for the top spot in the conference race.
• The Griffons are 4-16 this season and 2-11 in the MIAA sitting in 14th overall.
• The Griffons are coming off an 81-72 loss to Lincoln last time out. Prior to the loss to Lincoln, the Griffons snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 63-51 win over Lindenwood
• Washburn leads the all-time series with the Griffons 52-37.
• Javion Blake leads the Ichabods in scoring at 15.2 ppg hitting a team-high 45 3-pointers on 107 attempts.
• 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 tied for 17th on the all-time scoring chart with 1,077 points.
• Brady Skeens leads the team on the glass with 10.5 rebounds a game adding 14.5 points per game shooting 74 percent from the field hitting 125 of 168 attempts with 2.2 blocks per game … in MIAA play he is averaging 15.6 ppg and 10.8 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 ranks 18th on the career scoring chart with 1,069 points.
• Washburn is second the MIAA in blocks (4.2) trailing Central Oklahoma who is averaging 5.1 blocks per game.
• Washburn leads the league in assists at 15.6 per contest and third in field goal percentage at .492.
• The Ichabods are ranked first in field goal defense holding opponents to 40 percent shooting and Missouri Western is eighth.
• Washburn is second in rebounding offense at 38.3 per game and third in rebounding defense at 30.8 per game and ranked first in the MIAA in defensive rebounds with 28.3 per game and ranked first in rebounding margin at +7.5 per game. Missouri Western is 13th in the league at -3.0.
• Brady Skeens is first in the MIAA in rebounds at 10.5 per game and is first in the MIAA in blocks with 2.2 per game and ninth in steals per game with 1.4 … he is also first in field goal percentage (.744) … his field goal percentage is also first in the nation.
• Javion Blake made his 79th consecutive start against Central Missouri starting every game of his Washburn career.
• Javion Blake's 130 3-point field goals is 10th on the all-time chart.
• Ichabod opponents have attempted eight more free throws than Washburn has this season (499 to 491) and have made 19 more hitting 359 compared to 341 for Washburn … in MIAA play, Washburn has attempted 41 more free throws than its opponents making 26 more overall.
• Cameron Wiggins moved into seventh on the Ichabod all-time 3-point chart sitting at 163 passing Jordan Canfield (1992-97) who had 159 and he needs 11 more to move into the top three all-time.
• Brady Skeens is fourth on the all-time rebounding chart at Washburn with 881 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 218, which is 118 more than Ewan Auguste who is second on the chart with 100 blocks.
• In Brady Skeens 33 career double doubles at Washburn, he has averaged 14.9 ppg and 13.1 rpg.
• Randall Smith has 286 career assists which is fifth on the Ichabod career chart and he needs 10 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 17-5 in his first season as the Ichabods' head coach and 50-35 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 Missouri Western.
 
Missouri Western head coach Brett Weiberg …
• owns a 44-87 record at Missouri Western in his fifth year and has a career record of 183-192 in his 12th overall season.
• brings 16 years of collegiate coaching experience to Missouri Western and has experience in coaching at a multitude of levels. He began his coaching career in 1998 as an assistant at Blinn Junior College in Brenham, Texas. Following stints at NAIA Wayland Baptist University and Division I Texas-San Antonio, he found a home at Northern Oklahoma College where he spent five years as an assistant before becoming the head coach in 2006.
• is 2-4 against the Ichabods.
 
Last Time Out For the Ichabods
Washburn 76, Fort Hays State 60 -- Feb. 3, 2018
HAYS, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods won for the first time in Hays since the 2015-16 season handing the Tigers only their second loss at home in a 76-60 win over Fort Hays State to improve to 17-5 overall and 11-2 in the MIAA at Gross Memorial Coliseum on Saturday. 
The Ichabods broke a 9-9 tie with 13:06 to play in the first half by using a 11-2 run over a 3:30 stretch building a 20-11 lead as Tyas Martin scored six points during the spurt. The Tigers came back with two more points before nine straight points from the Ichabods pushed the lead to 16 at 29-13 with 5:39 to go in the first half.
However the Tigers came back with a 10-0 run cutting the lead back to six before Washburn pushed the lead back to eight before a 3-pointer by the Tigers trimmed the halftime margin back to five at 36-31.
Washburn scored the first seven points of the second half going up 12, but the Tigers scored the next four points cutting the lead to 45-37 with 16:14 remaining, but would get no closer than 10 the rest of the way stretching the lead to as many as 19 in the second half en route to the win sweeping the regular season series.
Tyas Martin scored a career-high 18 points leading the Ichabods to the win hitting a career-high four 3-pointers as well not missing from deep. Javion Blake scored 16 points adding six assists and five rebounds while Brady Skeens recorded a double double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. David Salach scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half in the win.
Washburn finished the game 22 of 47 from the field and hit 23 of 28 free throws compared to 9 of 12 for the Tigers. Washburn hit 9 of 20 3-pointers and forced 12 turnovers. The Ichabods held a 34-27 advantage on the glass as well.  
 
About The Missouri Western Griffons
• The Griffons are 4-16 this season and 2-11 in MIAA play.
• Lavon Hightower leads the Griffons with 14.4 ppg and 5.5 rpg.
• The Griffons are averaging 64.6 ppg while allowing 71.6 ppg and they are -3.1 in rebound margin this season.
• Opponents have shot 123 more free throws than the Griffons this season.
• The Griffons are shooting 42 percent from the field (455-1093) and 33 percent from 3-point range (153-458). 
 
Series History with Missouri Western
• Wednesday's meeting will be the 90th between the two schools with Washburn leading the series 52-37.
• The Ichabods are 28-21 against MWSU in MIAA games and 22-11 in Lee Arena and 29-13 in games played in Topeka overall.
• The Ichabods are 21-23 in games played in St. Joseph against the Griffons.
• Since joining the MIAA, the Ichabods are 10-18 in MIAA games played in St. Joseph.
• In the MIAA Tournament the Ichabods are 3-5 against the Griffons.
• The Ichabods lead 5-4 in overtime games including the 56-52 win three years ago in St. Joseph.
 
Last time out for Missouri Western
(Feb. 3, 2018) -- ST. JOSEPH – Griffon basketball (4-16) fell to Lincoln University (12-11) 81-72. Missouri Western hit a season-high 14 three-pointers in the game.
A 15-2 run gave Lincoln an early advantage in the first half. The Blue Tigers used the run to take a 39-30 halftime lead. MWSU battled in the second half with a 12-3 run to cut the Blue Tiger lead to one point with 14:29 left in the game. LU countered the run with a 15-2 stretch over seven minutes to pull away.
Lavon Hightower scored a season-high 24 points for MWSU. The Griffons shot just 38.6 percent from the field, the first time in four games they have been held under 40 percent. Lincoln shot 46.3 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from the three-point arc.
 
Washburn Ichabod Basketball HIstory
•    The Ichabods are 1,557-1,064-2 (.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 580-270 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 432-86 (.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 host Northwest Missouri on Senior Afternoon on Feb. 10 at 3 p.m. The five Ichabod seniors will be honored prior to the start of the men's game. 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.