Opening Tip
• The Washburn Ichabods are back in action on Saturday as they will play host to Fort Hays State in the NCAA Game of the Week which will be televised on the NCAA Division II Facebook and Twitter sites as well as the Washburn Facebook page and through the MIAA Network.
• Washburn did not votes in the latest NABC poll but was ranked No. 24 in the latest D2SIDA/Media poll.
• The Ichabods are 12-3 this season and 5-1 in the MIAA after rolling over Nebraska-Kearney 89-58 on Wednesday for the largest win in the 44-game series history.
• The Tigers are 12-4 overall and 6-1 in conference play after winning at Emporia State on Wednesday  82-71 sweeping the regular season series with the Hornets also winning 86-78 on Dec. 8 in Hays.
• Javion Blake leads the Ichabods in scoring at 19.3 ppg which is sixth in the MIAA rankings … in MIAA games Blake is averaging 20.5 ppg hitting 46 of 90 shots overall and 17 of 39 from 3-point range.
• David Salach is averaging 12.5 ppg and 6.1 rpg … his rebounding total is 19th in the MIAA.
• Tyas Martin is scoring 9.6 ppg while and Jalen Lewis is averaging 9.2 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 14 of 30 3-point attempts and his 27 3-pointer made this season is fifth on the Ichabod freshman chart.
• Devyn Wilson is averaging 8.4 ppg off the bench with 2.9 rebounds and in MIAA action he is scoring 9.7 ppg with 3.7 rpg.
• Tyler Geiman is scoring 7.2 ppg as well as dishing out 5.9 assists per game, which is second in the MIAA behind Northwest Missouri's Trevor Hudgins who has 6.2 per game … he is coming off a 16-assist, 9-rebound effort against Nebraska-Kearney last time out … Geiman leads the MIAA in assist to turnover ratio at 3.6 to 1 with 89 assists and 25 turnovers.
• Will McKee is averaging 7.4 ppg while pulling down 6.4 rebounds per game which is 14th in the MIAA.
• Javion Blake has scored 1,489 career points placing him seventh all-time at Washburn … next on the list is Ewan Auguste who scored 1,636 points from 1997 to 2001 … Blake's 172 career 3-point field goals is seventh on the all-time chart … he has played 3,150 career minutes which is third at Washburn.
• David Salach has 98 career blocks which is fourth all-time at Washburn … three more to pass Ewan Auguste for second … Salach is tied for first in the MIAA in blocks at 1.5 per contest.
 
 Bod numbers
• 46 and 5 -- The number of assists and turnovers by Tyler Geiman during six MIAA games this season
• 86.5 WU is fourth in the MIAA in scoring offense
• 73.1 WU is seventh in the MIAA in scoring defense
• .417 WU is leading the MIAA in defensive field goal percentage
• +6.3 WU is leading the MIAA in rebounding margin
• 4.07 WU is leading the MIAA in blocks
• 17.87 WU is leading the MIAA in assists
 

 The NCAA Game of the Week
• The doubleheader the lone matchup to-date representing the MIAA, and is part of 22 scheduled Division II basketball contests planned for this season with the intent to promote the division on an array of different media platforms throughout the year. An additional four flex doubleheaders will be finalized in February, and the games are expected to highlight premier and pivotal matchups towards the end of the season.
• The games will be broadcast through the MIAA network as well as the Washburn Facebook pages and the @NCAAD2 twitter site.
• Providing play-by-play for the games will be Dave Armstrong, who also announces games for the Jayhawk Network and ESPN Regional and Fox Sports, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten and ACC games and color commentary will come from Daimon Beathea, who played from 1992-96 at Michigan State appearing in 113 games for the Spartans.

 
 Coaches
Washburn Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard …
• is 34-13 in his second season as the Ichabods' head coach and 67-43 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 Fort Hays State.
 
Fort Hays State head coach Mark Johnson…
• is the all-time coaching wins leader in FHSU history with a career record of 352-165 in 18 seasons, ranking among the top 20 active NCAA Division II men's basketball coaches in winning percentage (.681).
• has led the Tigers to seven NCAA Tournament appearances in his time at FHSU.
• became the all-time wins leader in Fort Hays State history on January 11, 2014 in a victory at home over Lincoln University, recording his 258th win.
• he reached his 300th career win on February 13, 2016 in a victory at Missouri Southern.
• has coached four All-Americans, 50 all-conference selections, a conference player of the year, a conference freshman of the year, and three conference defensive players of the year in his time at FHSU.
• is 14-14 against Washburn.  
 
 About Fort Hays State
• The Tigers are 12-4 this season and have won their last four games all in conference play including an 82-71 win over Emporia State last time out.
• Brady Werth leads the team in scoring (15.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.8 rpg) and has 22 blocks on the season.
• The Tigers are averaging 78.4 ppg (10th in the MIAA) while allowing 71.5 ppg (3rd in the MIAA).
• The Tigers are 14th in the league in 3-point field goal defense (.387) and 13th in free throw percentage (.666).
• UNK is looking for its first win since Dec. 29 after an 86-68 win over Nebraska Christian.
 
 Series history with Fort Hays State
• Washburn leads the all-time series 96-70 and Saturday's meeting will be the 167th between the two schools.
• The Ichabods have won 12 of the last 16 in the series including all three meetings last season.
• In Lee Arena, the Ichabods are 21-7 all-time against Fort Hays State going 8-12 in road games since joining the MIAA.
• The series is the third-most played for Washburn behind Emporia State (214) and Pittsburg State (181).
• Fort Hays State is 5-2 against WU in overtime games.
• The Ichabods are 3-0 against Fort Hays State in the MIAA Tournament including a 77-53 semifinal win in the 2018 event in Kansas City.
 
 Last Meeting with Fort Hays State
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.
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.
 
 Last time out for the Ichabods
Washburn 89, Nebraska-Kearney 58 -- Jan. 16, 2019
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Nebraska-Kearney Lopers scored the first point of the game, but the Ichabods responded by scoring the next 12 points jumping out to a 16 to 3 lead in the first eight minutes of the game en route to an 89-54 win on Wednesday night in Lee Arena.
The Ichabods would go on to build their lead to 24 to 7 in the first half with 6:23 to play before taking a 34 to 18 lead into the halftime break as Washburn held UNK to 7 of 29 shooting in the first half.
Nebraska-Kearney (5-11, 0-7 MIAA) closed the margin to 13 in the second half at 45-31 with 15:19 to play in the game, but the Ichabods kicked off a 24-11 run pushing the lead to 26 at 69-43 going on to lead by as many as 33 with under a minute to play breaking the series record with the Lopers for the largest win in the 44-game history topping a 30-point win over UNK on Dec. 14, 1951 in Kearrney in a 94-64 Ichabod win.
Tyler Geiman dished out the had a career-high 16 assists falling just one shy of tying the Ichabod record set by all-time assists leader Jordan Canfield who had 17 against Missouri-St. Louis on Feb. 11, 1995. Geiman's total matched the 16 by Randall Smith notched against Missouri Southern on Feb. 6, 2016. Geiman added a career-high nine rebounds as well.
Sevon Witt scored a career-high 23 points on 9 of 11 shooting from the field with five rebounds. Tyas Martin scored 16 with eight rebounds and David Salach scored 13 with six boards.
Kyle Juhl and Chase Winchester each had 12 points to lead the Lopers.
Washburn finished 51 percent from the field hitting 35 of 69 shots overall going 6 of 12 from 3-point range in the second half after going 0 for 9 in the opening 20 minutes. UNK was held to 20 of 62 shooting overall and improved to 8 of 16 from deep in the second half after hitting only one of eight attempts in the first half. Washburn was 13 of 16 from the free throw line and the Lopers were 9 of 13.
On the glass, the Ichabods held a 45 to 35 advantage and outscored the Lopers 21 to 2 in fast break points and 51 to 21 in bench points as well as 59 to 18 in the paint. The Ichabods also forced 15 turnovers leading to 24 points.
 
 Regional Rankings - as of Jan. 16
• The Ichabods are ranked third in the D2SIDA Regional rankings behind Northwest Missouri and Northern State.
      School                               Record     Pts.      LW
1        Northwest Missouri State (6)              16-0            60            1
2       Northern State                                      13-3            53            4
3       Washbur• 11-3                                       46               2
4       Missouri Souther• 13-3                          37               6
5       Wayne State                                          13-3            35            7
6       Southern Nazarene                               13-3            26            3
7        Sioux Falls                                             12-4            20          RV
8       Minnesota State                                    12-4            16            5
9       Southern Arkansas                               12-2            13          RV
10     Pittsburg State                                     12-3            10           10
Also receiving votes: Lincoln (Neb.) - 9; St. Cloud State - 4; Fort Hays State - 1
 
 Ichabod basketball history
• The Ichabods are 1,574-1,071-2 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 595-276 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 441-87 (.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 return to the road facing Missouri Southern on Jan. 23 and Pittsburg State on Jan. 26 before hosting Lincoln on Jan. 31 and Lindenwood on Feb. 2 back in Lee Arena.