Opening Tip
• The Washburn Ichabods return home to face the Lincoln Blue Tigers on Thursday in Lee Arena.
• Washburn is 14-4 and 7-2 in the MIAA coming off a 92-82 win over Pittsburg State last time out on the road.
• The Blue Tigers are 13-5 and 6-3 in the MIAA one game behind the Ichabods in the MIAA standings.
• Lincoln topped Central Oklahoma 78-65 last time out at home.
• Washburn received votes in the latest NABC top 25 poll coming in at No. 29 overall and ranked No. 23 in the latest D2SIDA/Media poll on Jan. 29.
• Javion Blake leads the Ichabods in scoring at 19.2 ppg which is fifth in the MIAA rankings … in MIAA games Blake is averaging 19.8 ppg.
• David Salach is averaging 13.1 ppg and 5.8 rpg after scoring a career-high 24 points against Fort Hays State … Salach also leads the MIAA in blocks at 1.3 per game.
• Tyas Martin is scoring 9.6 ppg while Devyn Wilson is averaging 7.9 ppg off the bench with 2.9  rebounds and in MIAA action he is scoring 8.3 ppg with 3.7 rpg.
• Jalen Lewis is averaging 9.4 ppg off the bench and he is 15th in the MIAA in 3-point field goals made per game with 2.0 … he scored a career-high 20 point against Missouri Southern … in MIAA games he has upped his average to 10.2 ppg hitting 23 of 48 3-point attempts and his 36 3-pointers made this season lead the team and is fifth on the Ichabod freshman chart needing three more to pass former Ichabod and PGA professional Gary Woodland.
• Sevon Witt is scoring 7.9 ppg with 3.3 rpg overall but in MIAA play he is averaging 9.2 ppg and 4.0 rpg.
• Tyler Geiman is scoring 7.8 ppg as well as dishing out 5.4 assists per game, which is second in the MIAA behind Northwest Missouri's Trevor Hudgins who has 5.9 per game … Geiman has 55 assists and nine turnovers in MIAA play and he scored a career-high 19 points against Missouri Southern.
• Will McKee is averaging 7.2 ppg while pulling down 6.1 rebounds per game which is 15th in the MIAA.
• Javion Blake has scored 1,544 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 175 career 3-point field goals is fifth on the all-time chart … he has played 3,247 career minutes which is third at Washburn.
• David Salach has 100 career blocks which is tied for second all-time at Washburn with Ewan Auguste.
 
 Bod numbers
• 37 -- The number of 3's the Ichabods attempted against UCO tying a school record
• 86.4 WU is third in the MIAA in scoring offense
• 74.5 WU is ninth in the MIAA in scoring defense
• .425 WU is second in the MIAA in defensive field goal percentage
• +5.7 WU is second in the MIAA in rebounding margin
• 3.88 WU is second in the MIAA in blocks
• 17.83 WU is leading the MIAA in assists
 
 Coaches
Washburn Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard …
• is 36-14 in his second season as the Ichabods' head coach and 69-44 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 1-0 against Lincoln.
 
Lincoln head coach Jason Moseley …
• is 65-70 in his fifth year at Lincoln.
• joined LU after helping North Carolina Central reach the second round of the NCAA Division I tournament in 2013-14 as the associate head coach.
• is 0-4 against Washburn.
 
 About Lincoln
• The Blue Tigers are 13-5 and 6-3 in the MIAA after topping Central Oklahoma 78-65 last time out.
• Lincoln is 6-2 at home this season going 4-2 in road games and 3-1 in neutral site games.
• Terrance Smith leads five Blue Tigers in double figures at 16.5 ppg with a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game.
• Jonell Burton is averaging 13.8 ppg while Amariontez Ivory is scoring 12.8 ppg. Ni'Sean Rigmaiden is scoring 12.7 ppg and Grant Olsson is scoring 10.1 ppg.
• The Blue Tigers are second in the league in 3-point field goal percentage hitting 42 percent (177 of 423) and lead the MIAA in 3-point field goal defense at .310.
• Lincoln averaged 9.8 3-pointers per game.
 
 Series history with Lincoln
• Thursday's meeting will be the 32nd in the series history and Washburn leads 28-3.
• Washburn has won the last 28 meetings in the series which began on Dec. 18, 1957 with the Blue Tigers winning 93-80. Lincoln won the next two and the teams did not meet again until Jan. 24, 1990 when the Ichabods won 98-93 on the road.
• Washburn has won the last 28 games in the series and the last seven match ups by an average margin of 21.4 points per game.
• Overall the Ichabods are 12-1 against Lincoln in Jefferson City all-time having won their last 12 games with the lone loss coming in 1957 in the first meeting in the series.
• In Topeka, the Ichabods are 14-1 and have won the last 14 meetings.
• In neutral site games Washburn is 2-1.
• The teams have never met in the MIAA Tournament.
 
 Last Meeting with Lincoln
Washburn 77, Lincoln 63 -- Dec. 18, 2017
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods overcame a 12-point first half deficit as they defeated the Lincoln Blue Tigers for the 28th consecutive game in a 77-63 win on Monday night to enter the Holiday Break on a seven-game winning streak moving to 4-0 in MIAA play.
Washburn (9-3, 4-0 MIAA) trailed 35-32 at the half to the Blue Tigers (5-7, 0-4 MIAA) after falling behind Lincoln by as many as 12 points with 8:28 to play in the opening frame. The Ichabods rallied to cut the lead to three at the break outscoring the Blue Tigers 20-11 to final 8:21 of the half.
After a pair of free throws to start the second half by Javion Blake trimmed the lead back to one, the Blue Tigers scored the next four points to go up five building a 39-34 lead, but the Ichabods came back with a 17-0 run over a 5:35 stretch going 7 of 8 from the field hitting all three 3-point attempts holding Lincoln to 0 of 7 shooting and 0 of 5 from deep to go up 51-39 with 12:06 to play.
Lincoln responded with four straight to cut the Ichabod lead back to eight, but a layup by Brady Skeens and one by David Salach pushed the lead back to 12 with 8:49 to go. Lincoln came back with five straight points cutting the lead to seven, but a 3-pointer by Blake pushed the lead back to double digits and the Blue Tigers would not get closer than eight the rest of the way at 71-63 with 1:36 to play before the Ichabods hit all six free throws the rest of the way to preserve the 14-point win.
Skeens led the Ichabods with a game-high 23 points on 9 of 11 shooting from the field and Blake finished with 21 going over 20 for the second-straight game. Coming off the bench Isaac Clark scored 13 and Drew Pyle chipped in nine hitting three 3-pointers.
Terrance Smith led the Blue Tigers with 19 points and Maurice Mason had 10.
Washburn finished 26 of 53 from the field shooting 55 percent in the second half hitting 16 of 29 scoring 45 points in the second half while holding the Blue Tigers to 7 of 26 shooting from the field in the second half for a 27 percent average en route to 19 of 49 shooting in the game overall.
After being down eight in the rebounding category at the break, Washburn outrebounded Lincoln in the second half by eight as both teams finished with 30 overall.
 
 Last time out for the Ichabods
Washburn 92, Pittsburg State 82 -- Jan. 26, 2019
PITTSBURG, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods returned to the win column with a 92-82 win at Pittsburg State over the Gorillas hitting 11 3-pointers while tying a school-record 37 attempts on Saturday afternoon at John Lance Arena.
After the Gorillas cut the lead to four at 84-80 after a 9-0 run over a 2:12 span, David Salach scored six of the Ichabods final eight points sealing the win after hitting a jumper with 61 seconds to play then hittnig all four free throw attempts. The first two came at 41 seconds to play and the second pair was at 20 seconds to go. After a layup by PSU's Grant Lozoya, Javion Blake hit two free throws with 12 seconds to go to wrap up the win as the Ichabods improved to 14-4 overall and 7-2 in the MIAA while the Gorillas drop to 14-5 overall and 7-3 in the MIAA.
Washburn led 43-37 at the break after shooting 43 percent from the field, but the Gorillas shot 50 percent hitting 16 of 32 shots. In the second half, the Ichabods held the Gorillas to 41 percent shooting as the Gorillas connected on 15 of 19 free throws in the second half.
Blake led the Ichabods with 21 points adding six rebounds. Salach scored 19 with six rebounds. Tyas Martin scored 12 points with a team-high seven rebounds. Sevon Witt scored 11 points off the bench.
Donovan Franklin led the Ichabods with 28 pionts and Lozoya finished with 26.
Washburn's 37 3-point attempts tied the school record set against Central Oklahoma  on March 14, 1992.
The Ichabods outrebounded the Gorillas 46 to 34 and 27 to 14 in the paint.

 Regional Rankings - as of Jan. 29
      School                               Record     Pts.      LW
1        Northwest Missouri (6)                        19-0            60            1
2       Southern Nazarene                               17-3            48            4
T3     Missouri Souther• 16-4                         44               6
T3     Washbur• 14-4                                       44               2
5       Northern State                                      15-5            39            3
6       Wayne State                                          15-5            34            5
7        Pittsburg State                                     14-5            18            9
8       Minnesota State                                    14-6            12          NR
9       St. Cloud State                                      14-6             9            10
10     Sioux Falls                                             14-6             8             8
Also receiving votes: Oklahoma Baptist - 6; Southern Arkansas - 4; MSU-Moorhead - 3;
Augustana - 1                                                                                      
 
 Ichabod basketball history
• The Ichabods are 1,576-1,072-2 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 597-277 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 442-87 (.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 face Lindenwood on Feb. 2 in Lee Arena.