Opening Tip
• The Washburn Ichabods return to the friendly confines of Lee Arena for the first time since Dec. 30 when they will play host to Nebraska-Kearney on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
• Washburn received votes in the latest NABC poll coming in at No. 29 and was ranked No. 16 in the D2SIDA/Media poll … new national polls will be updated on Jan. 15.
• The Ichabods are 11-3 this season and 4-1 in the MIAA after falling at No. 2 Northwest Missouri last time out 83-75 in Maryville wrapping up a three-game road trip where Washburn went 2-1 with wins at Emporia State and at Missouri Western.
• The Lopers are 5-10 overall and 0-6 in the MIAA and have gone 1-7 away from the Health and Sports Center and 0-6 in true road games.
• Javion Blake leads the Ichabods in scoring at 20.4 ppg which is fourth in the MIAA rankings … in MIAA games Blake is averaging 23.6 ppg hitting 44 of 83 shots overall and 16 of 35 from 3-point range.
• David Salach is averaging 12.4 ppg and 6.1 rpg … his rebounding total is 19th in the MIAA.
• Jalen Lewis is averaging 9.1 ppg off the bench and he is 22nd in the MIAA in 3-point field goals made per game with 1.8 … in MIAA games he has upped his average to 10.2 ppg hitting 12 of 25 3-point attempts and his 25 3-pointer made this season is fifth on the Ichabod freshman chart.
• Tyas Martin is scoring 9.1 ppg while Tyler Geiman is scoring 7.6 ppg as well as dishing out 5.2 assists per game, which is second in the MIAA behind Northwest Missouri's Trevor Hudgins who has 6.2 per game.
• Will McKee is averaging 7.8 ppg while pulling down 6.8 rebounds per game which is fifth in the MIAA.
• Devyn Wilson is averaging 8.4 ppg off the bench with 2.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game and he is second on the team with 13 steals.
• Javion Blake has scored 1,484 career points placing him in a tie for seventh all-time at Washburn … with Dan Buie who 1,484 points in two seasons at Washburn after averaging 24.7 ppg in 60 career games … Blake's 171 career 3-point field goals is seventh on the all-time chart … he has played 3,129 career minutes which is third at Washburn.
• David Salach has 96 career blocks which is fourth all-time at Washburn … he needs one more to pass Dan Buie for third and six more to pass Ewan Auguste for second … Salach is third in the MIAA in blocks at 1.4 per contest.
 
 Coaches
Washburn Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard …
• is 33-13 in his second season as the Ichabods' head coach and 66-43 overall in his fourth 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 3-0 against Nebraska-Kearney.
 
Nebraska-Kearney head coach Kevin Lofton …
• is in his 14th year as head coach at Nebraska-Kearney after being promoted from co-head coach three seasons ago.
• in his fourth season as the lone head coach on the squad, he has gone 52-46.
• has recorded a 275-207 (.555) overall mark at UNK in his 14th season.
• is 8-5 against Washburn.  
 
 About Nebraska-Kearney
• The Lopers are 5-10 overall and 0-6 in the MIAA after falling at home to Northeastern State last time out on Dec. 12.
• Kanon Koster leads the team in scoring (17.3 ppg), rebounds (6.3 rpg), assists (4.2 apg), minutes (34.5 mpg) and is second in steals (1.1 spg) and third in blocks (0.8 bpg) … he is 15 of 40 from 3-point range.
• The Lopers are averaging 70.3 ppg (14th in the MIAA) while allowing 73.5 ppg (7th in the MIAA).
• The Lopers are 13th in field goal percentage in the MIAA rankings and 12th in field goal defense, 13th in 3-point field goal defense, 14th in free throw percentage and 13th in rebound margin.
• UNK is looking for its first win since Dec. 29 after an 86-68 win over Nebraska Christian.
 
 Series history with Nebraska-Kearney
• Wednesday's meeting will be the 43rd in the series and the Lopers lead 23-20.
• The Ichabods have won the last three in the series after the Lopes had won the previous eight.
• All-time in games in Kearney, the Ichabods are 7-16.
• Washburn leads 12-6 in games played in Topeka.
• The two teams have only played twice in the MIAA Tournament with the teams splitting a pair of games. 
 
 Last Meeting with Nebraska-Kearney
Washburn 75, Nebraska-Kearney 65 -- March 2, 2018
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods advanced to the MIAA Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2012 and Cameron Wiggins broke the Washburn MIAA Tournament single game 3-point record in the process as the Ichabods topped Nebraska-Kearney 75-65 in Municipal Auditorium on Friday afternoon.
Wiggins connected on eight 3-pointers en route to a career-high 27 points in the win snapping the previous school tournament mark of five set by five different former Ichabods.
Washburn (21-8) led at the break 37-29 after the Lopers (16-14) jumped out to a lead of five at 15-10, but the Ichabods put together a 11-4 run over the next 3:31 to go up two on a lay-up by Jace Williams and the Ichabods would not give up the lead from that point.
With 5:34 to go in the first half, the Ichabods scored eight-straight points to go up 32-23 after a pair of David Salach free throws and stretched the lead to as many as 13 before the half until the Lopers hit a lay-up and a 3-pointer at the buzzer to trim the lead back to eight going into the locker room.
In the second with Washburn up 10, the Lopers cut into the lead pulling within five points twice, but the Ichabods scored nine-straight to go up 14 and the Lopers did not get within eight the rest of the game.
Following Wiggins career-high 27, Skeens recorded a double double with 10 points and 11 rebounds dishing out five assists with three blocks for his 38th career double double at Washburn. Javion Blake had 11 points with three assists.
Trey Lansman had 18 points leading the Lopers.
Washburn held the Lopers to 40 percent shooting from the field while hitting 25 of 47 of its own shots for a 53 percent clip. Washburn outrebounded the Lopers 37 to 23.
 
 
 Last time out for the Ichabods
No. 2 Northwest Missouri 83, Washburn 75 -- Jan. 12, 2019
MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods, ranked No. 16 in the D2SIDA poll fell to No. 2-ranked Northwest Missouri 83-75 suffering their first setback of MIAA play falling to 11-3 and 4-1 in league play.
Washburn trailed at the half 35-29 after Joey Witthus hit a halfcourt buzzer beater sending Northwest to the locker room with a six-point lead, its largest of the first half. The Ichabods were 12 of 32 in the opening frame from the field hitting 12 of 32 shots while the Bearcats were 14 of 31. Washburn also committed seven turnovers in the half leading to six points for the Bearcats.
In the second half, a 12-2 run over a 2:34 span pushed the Bearcats to a 48-35 lead and the Ichabods would not get closer than seven at 78-71 with 43 seconds to play but could not cut in to the final margin as the Bearcats improved to 16-0 and 6-0 overall in the MIAA.
Devyn Wilson led the Ichabods with a career-high 18 points off the bench while Javion Blake score 15 points and David Salach recorded a double double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Northwest was led by Witthus who had 26 points and Trevor Hudgins who had 24.
Washburn finished 26 of 59 overall and 44 percent from the field and Northwest was 28 of 59 for a 48 percent clip. Washburn outrebounded the Bearcats 38 to 31 and in bench points 32 to 6.
 
 Regional Rankings - as of Jan. 9
• The Ichabods are ranked second in the D2SIDA Regional rankings behind Northwest Missouri.
      School                              Record     Pts.     LW
1       Northwest Missouri State (6)           14-0            60            1
2       Washbur• 10-2                                     48               6
3       Southern Nazarene                             12-2            47            3
4       Northern State                                     11-3            44            7
5       Minnesota State                                  11-3            33            9
6       Missouri Souther• 11-3                       26               2
7       Wayne State                                         11-3            18            5
8       St. Cloud State                                    10-4            11            4
9       Lincoln (Mo.)                                        10-3            10          NR
10     Pittsburg State                                    10-3             9             8
 
 Ichabod basketball history
• The Ichabods are 1,573-1,071-2 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 594-276 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 439-87 (.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 host Fort Hays State on Jan. 19 in the NCAA Game of the Week which will be televised on the NCAA Division II Facebook and Twitter sites.