• The Washburn Ichabods will face the No. 7-ranked Northwest Missouri Bearcats in the MIAA Championship game on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. in Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium.
• The Ichabods reached the MIAA title game for the first time since the 2012 season after topping Fort Hays State 77-53 in the semifinals.
• The Ichabods improved to 22-8 on the season with the win over the Tigers defeating Fort Hays State for the third time this season.
• The Bearcats advanced to the championship game after topping Central Oklahoma 65-57 in the second game Saturday evening.
• The Ichabods and the Bearcats have met eight times in the MIAA Tournament and have faced each other two times in the championship game.
• The Ichabods won the lone meeting in Topeka in the championship on March 2, 2001 in an 81-74 win and the two wins by the Bearcats came on March 7, 2004 in a 78-71 win in Kansas City.
• The Bearcats have won both meetings in Kansas City in the conference tournament between the two teams with the 2004 title game and a quarterfinals win on March 5, 2015 in a 71-61 win.
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series 60-42 and have won the last five .
• Brady Skeens leads the team with 14.6 ppg and Javion Blake is averaging 14.3 ppg.
• 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 1,159 points.
• Brady Skeens leads the team on the glass with 10.7 rebounds a game adding 14.3 points per game shooting 74 percent from the field hitting 171 of 232 attempts with 2.4 blocks per game … in MIAA play he is averaged 15.2 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 1,185 points.
• Javion Blake's 139 career 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 191.
• Brady Skeens is third on the all-time rebounding chart at Washburn with 970 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 241, which is 141 more than Ewan Auguste who is second on the chart with 100 blocks.
• In Brady Skeens 38 career double doubles at Washburn, he has averaged 15.1 ppg and 12.9 rpg.
• Randall Smith has 316 career assists which is third on the Ichabod career chart.
• David Salach moved into the top 10 sitting seventh on the all-time blocks chart and now has 76.
• Friday's game with Nebraska-Kearney was Brady Skeen's 100th of his career in a Washburn jersey.
  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.
13.6: 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.
73.7: Field goal percentage of Brady Skeens - best on Ichabod single season chart.
71: Number of blocks by Brady Skeens this season - second on Ichabod single chart … Skeens has the school's single season record of 97 which was set last 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) …and now …
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.
5: 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 22-8 in his first season as the Ichabods' head coach and 54-37 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 0-2 against Northwest Missouri.
 
Northwest Missouri head coach Ben McCollum…
• is 202-74 in his ninth season as the Bearcats' head coach.
• he is a 2003 graduate of Northwest Missouri.
• named the 20th head coach in Bearcat history.
n played for Northwest going 51-12 in two seasons including a 29-3 mark during a run to the NCAA Elite Eight during the 2001-02 season. 
• is 10-6 against the Ichabods.
  Washburn 77, Fort Hays State 53 -- March 3, 2018
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods are going to the MIAA Basketball Tournament Championship for the first time since 2012 after a 77-53 win over Fort Hays State advancing to the 3:30 p.m. title game.
 After the Tigers, who finished the season 19-12, took a 2-0 lead, the Ichabods used a 14-2 run over the next 6:07 of the game to take a 10-point lead after a dunk by Jace Williams. Twice, the Tigers cut the lead down to five with the final time coming with 7:19 to go in the first half on a putback by Hadley Gillum, but the Ichabods ripped off eight-straight points building a 13-point lead and with a 10-0 before the half took a 21-point lead into the break at the half.
In the second half, Washburn (22-8) scored 10 of the first 12 points of the half going up by 29 with 14:27 left and the Tigers did not get within 20 the remainder of the contest.
Brady Skeens led the Ichabods with 24 points on a perfect 9 of 9 shooting from the field adding nine rebounds with two blocks and two steals. David Salach scored 14 while Javion Blake had 13 and Tyas Martin scored 12.
Gillium and Brady Werth led the Tigers with 10 points each.
Washburn's defense held the Tigers to 31 percent shooting as they went 7 of 24 in the first half and 8 of 25 in the second half while the Ichabods shot 51 percent in the game going 16 of 28 in the opening half for a 57 percent average going 13 of 29 in the second half finishing 29 of 57 overall.
The Ichabods dominated the paint outscoring the Tigers 46 to 10 and forced 13 FHSU turnovers leading to 16 Washburn points.
  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
  • Northwest Missouri is 25-3 and finished 16-3 in the MIAA winning its fifth-straight regular season title.
• Reigning two-time MIAA MVP Justin Pitts leads the Bearcats in scoring and assists with 19.3 ppg and 4.9 apg as well as minutes at 34.7 per game. He is shooting 52 percent from the field.
• Chris-Ebou Ndow is averaging 13.8 ppg with 7.4 rebounds per game. Joey Witthus is scoring 12.0 ppg and Brett Dougherty is scoring 10.5 ppg.
  • Sunday's meeting will be the 103rd between the two schools and Washburn holds a 60-42 lead in the series.
• The Bearcats have won seven of the last eight meetings and the last five in the series.
• The series dates back to the 1940-41 season and they have played each other every year since WU joined the MIAA in 1989-90.
• The Ichabods are 21-11 against the Bearcats in Lee Arena and have won five of the last nine at home.
• Since the 1956-57 season, Washburn is 21-21 in Maryville and since joining the MIAA during the 1990-91 season, the Ichabods are 12-10 on the road.
• In the MIAA Tournament, the Ichabods are 3-5 against Northwest after the 2015 quarterfinal match up.
• In the NCAA Tournament, the Ichabods are 2-1 against the Bearcats after winning in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 2012 in Wichita Falls.
• The Ichabods won a regional final contest against the Bearcats in Topeka on March 10, 2001 advancing to the Elite Eight in Bakersfield, Calif., after a 67-61 win.
  (March 3, 2018) Kansas City, Mo. – The seventh-ranked Northwest Missouri men's basketball team utilized a ten-point first half lead and held off a pesky Central Oklahoma squad the top seed Bearcats defeated the fourth seed Bronchos 65-57 inside historical Municipal Auditorium.
 Northwest Missouri (26-3) was led by 24 points and seven assists from Justin Pitts. Brett Dougherty had 13 points, while Ryan Welty scored 11.
 Central Oklahoma (20-10) was led by Marquis Johnson with 18 points and Josh Holliday scored ten.
 Both teams struggled offensively early on as the game was tied at nine with 11:06 left in the first. A pair of free throws from Pitts with 9:54 left gave the Bearcats a 11-9 lead and started a 11-0 run that saw a Dougherty layup put Northwest up 20-11 with just under five left in the first half.
 A three from Pitts with 3:25 left made the score 26-14 and a layup from Dougherty provided the final points of the half for the Bearcats as Northwest led 28-16 at the break.
 A layup from Corbin Byford got UCO within five (28-23) with 16:06 left in the second half but a 7-0 run from the Bearcats capped by a three from Welty pushed the lead to 35-23 with 14 left to play.
 The Bronchos got within five on multiple occasions, but back-to-back threes after UCO had cut it to 46-41 with 6:49 made the score 52-41 with 4:52 left. A jumper from Pitts the next trip down gave Northwest a 54-41 lead and forced a timeout from UCO with 4:18 on the clock.
 UCO answered with an 8-0 run to pull within five (54-49) with 1:30 to go, but a jumper from Joey Witthus stopped the run with just under a minute to go. The Bronchos got within five twice more, but each time Northwest had an answer, eventually putting away the game with late free throws.
  • The Ichabods are 36-20 all-time in the MIAA Championship Tournament.
• The Ichabods are 2-2 in first round games (since expanding to 12 teams) … 18-6 in the quarterfinals, 11-7 in the semifinals and 5-5 in championship games.
• In games played in Kansas City, the Ichabods are 14-10.
• In quarterfinal games played in Kansas City, the Ichabods are 8-4. In semifinal games played in Municipal the Ichabods are 5-3 and in championship games in Kansas City the Ichabods are 1-3.
• As the No. 1 seed, the Ichabods are 21-3, at No. 2 they are 4-3, at No. 3 they are 2-2, at No. 4 they are 2-3, at No. 6 the Ichabods are 4-5, at No. 7 they are 0-1 and as the No. 8 seed they are 3-3.
• Washburn has never been the No. 5 seed.
• Former head coach Bob Chipman has won more MIAA Tournament games than any other coach. He has won 34 games going 34-19 recording a .653 winning percentage.
• Chipman's five tournament titles is the most by any coach. Tom Smith (MWSU), Steve Tappmeyer (NWMSU) and Ron Shumate (Southeast Missouri) and Kim Anderson (UCM/PSU) each have four titles.
• Overall, here's how the Ichabods have fared against MIAA opponents in the conference tournament by round and in Kansas City.
• First Round games were added for the MIAA Tournament starting in 2013 as the league expanded to 15 teams. The top four teams in the final standings received an automatic bye to Kansas City for the quarterfinals.
Team   1st Rnd     Qrts.    Semis    Finals   In KC    Total
UCM        —            4-0          1-1          —        3-1         5-1
ESU           —            4-1           —           —        3-1         4-1
FHSU        1-0            —          2-0          —        2-0         3-0
MSSU        —            1-0          2-1          0-1       1-1         3-2
MWSU      0-1            —          2-2          1-2       1-1         3-4
NSU         0-1            —            —           —           —          0-1
NWMSU   —            2-2          0-2          1-1       0-2         3-4
PSU           —            1-0          2-0          2-0         2-0         5-0
SBU          1-0           1-0          1-1          1-0          —          4-1
UCO          —            0-1           —           —        0-1        0-1
UNK         —           1-1         —          —        1-1        1-1
--- vs former members
MS&T        —            1-1           —           —        1-0         1-1
UMSL        —            1-0           —           —           —          1-0
SEMO        —             —            —           —           —          —
TSU           —            2-0          1-0           —        —          3-0
UNO          —             —            —           0-1       0-1         0-1
Totals     2-2         18-6       11-7        5-5      14-9    36-20
  •   The Ichabods are 1,561-1,067-2 (.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 584-273 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.
  •   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 winner of the game will receive the MIAA's automatic bid to the NCAA Central Regional Tournament.