Opening Tip
• The Washburn Ichabods will face No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri in the MIAA Tournament Championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium in a rematch of the 2018 title game.
• Washburn is 24-6 this season and finished 15-4 in the MIAA securing the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
• The Bearcats are 31-0 this season after defeating Lincoln 86-69 in the MIAA semifinals on Saturday.
• The Ichabods lost in both meetings with Northwest Missouri this season falling 83-75 in Maryville on Jan. 12 and 72-49 on Feb. 28 in Topeka.
• Washburn is 3-6 in the MIAA Tournament including last season's championship game.
• The Ichabods and the Bearcats have met in the championship game three times -- The Ichabods won 81-74 on March 2, 2001 in Topeka, the Bearcats won 78-71 on March 7, 2004 in Kansas City and the Bearcats won 80-74 last season.
• The Ichabods are 38-21 all-time in the MIAA Championship Tournament.
• The Ichabods are 2-2 in first round games (when the tournament was 12 teams) … 19-6 in the quarterfinals, 12-7 in the semifinals and 5-6 in championship games.
• In games played in Kansas City, the Ichabods are 16-11.
• The Ichabods have secured their first back-to-back-to-back 20-win seasons since the 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05 seasons this year … the Ichabods were 20-10 in 2016-17 and 22-10 in the 2017-18 season in Brett Ballard's first season on the Washburn bench.
• In program history the Ichabods have had 28, 20-win seasons including this year.
• The Ichabod coaching record for the most wins in their first two seasons is now held by Brett Ballard with 46 wins … Bob Chipman had 41 during the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons.
• As of the March 4 report, the Ichabods are playing the fourth-toughest schedule in the NCAA Division II ranks with an opponent winning percentage of .601 … from the MIAA Lindenwood had the second-toughest schedule this season and Nebraska-Kearney had the sixth while Fort Hays State was No. 8 and Southwest Baptist was No. 10.
• Javion Blake leads the Ichabods in scoring at 19.6 ppg which is fifth in the MIAA rankings … in MIAA games Blake is averaging 20.1 ppg … he passed Will McNeill for third on the Ichabod all-time scoring chart now sits at 1,788 points … McNeill had 1,701 points from 2008-13.
• David Salach is averaging 12.6 ppg and 5.6 rpg after scoring a career-high 24 points against Fort Hays State earlier this season … Salach is tied for fourth in the MIAA in blocks at 1.0 per game.
• Tyler Geiman is scoring 9.0 ppg as well as dishing out 5.5 assists per game, which is first in the MIAA … Geiman has 165 assists and 47 turnovers this season … he scored a career-high 19 points against Missouri Southern … he is ranked sixth in the nation in assist to turnover ratio … he also recorded his first double double at Washburn against Lindenwood with 15 points, a career-high 10 rebounds while adding seven assists.
• Jalen Lewis is averaging 8.6 ppg off the bench and he is tied for 14th in the MIAA in 3-point field goals made per game with 1.9 … he scored a career-high 20 point against Missouri Southern … he has hit 56 of 135 3-point attempts this season and his 56 3-pointers made this season is an Ichabod freshman chart passing Shannon Kruger's 54 … his 257 points scored this season is 10th on the Ichabod freshman scoring chart.
• Tyas Martin is scoring 8.0 ppg starting all 30 games this season.
• Devyn Wilson is averaging 8.0 ppg off the bench scoring a career-high 19 against Central Missouri with 2.9 rebounds and in MIAA play he averaged 8.1 ppg with 3.1 rpg.
• Sevon Witt is scoring 7.5 ppg overall scoring 7.9 ppg in MIAA play and Will McKee is averaging 6.4 ppg while pulling down a team-high 5.7 rebounds per game.
• Javion Blake has scored 1,788 career points placing third all-time at Washburn after passing Will McNeill with 1,708 points … Blake's 206 career 3-point field goals is fourth on the all-time chart … he has played 3,641  career minutes which is third at Washburn … Blake also became the sixth Ichabod to score at least 1,000 points and have at least 100 steals (104) … Blake's 382 career free throw makes is fifth all-time at Washburn … Blake has also moved into fifth on the all-time assist chart as an Ichabod with 316 … Blake became the first Ichabod since Will McNeill to score at least 500 points in a season since McNeill scored 541 during the 2012-13 season … Blake reached double figures in his 101st career game against Pittsburg State last time out playing in 121 career games overall.
• David Salach has 105 career blocks which is second all-time at Washburn.
 
 MIAA Bod numbers
• 83.3 WU is third in the MIAA in scoring offense
• 73.1 WU is sixth in the MIAA in scoring defense
• 17.29 WU is leading the MIAA in assists
• 10.4 WU is second in the MIAA in scoring margin
• .474 WU is fifth in the MIAA in field goal percentage
• .429 WU is first in the MIAA in defensive field goal percentage
• +4.5 WU is first in the MIAA in rebounding margin
• 3.36 WU is third in the MIAA in blocks
• 6.36 WU is third in the MIAA in steals
• 5.4 / 3.4 to 1 Tyler Geiman is first in the MIAA in assists and fourth in the MIAA in assist to turnover ratio
 
 Single season record stat watch
• 83.1 Points per game this season for the Ichabods is seventh (89.5 - 1994-95)
• 266 3-pointers made this season for the Ichabods is second (271 - 1996-97)
 • 690 3-pointers attempted this season for the Ichabods is second (703 - 1996-97)
• .386 3-pointer percentage this season for the Ichabods is 13th (.472 - 1987-88)
• 17.2 Assists per game average this season which is 14th all-time at Washburn (19.8 - 1994-95)
• 136 Assists by Tyler Geiman which is eighth on the single season chart … the Ichabod single season record is 266 by Jordan Canfield set during the 1996-97 season
• 555 total points by Javion Blake which is 13th on the Ichabod single-season chart
• 158 assists by Tyler Geiman which is fourth on the Ichabod single-season chart
• 5.4 Assists per game by Tyler Geiman which is fourth on the single season chart behind Jordan Canfield who had 8.1 apg in 1994-95 and 1996-97 and 5.5 in 1993-94
 
 Coaches
Washburn Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard …
• is 45-16 in his second season as the Ichabods' head coach and 78-46 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 0-5 against Northwest Missouri.
 
Northwest Missouri head coach Ben McCollum …
• is 234-75 in his tenth season as the Bearcats' head coach.
• he is a 2003 graduate of Northwest Missouri.
• named the 20th head coach in Bearcat history.
• 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 13-6 against the Ichabods.
 
 About Northwest Missouri
• The Bearcats are the last remaining undefeated team in the NCAA ranks at 31-0 after going 19-0 in the MIAA.
• Northwest has won 28 straight games on neutral floors. It is the longest active win streak among all NCAA Div. I, II and III schools … Villanova (Div. I) has won 19 straight, while WashU (Div. III) has won 15 consecutive contests on neutral courts … Northwest's last loss on a neutral floor came Nov. 13, 2015, vs. Upper Iowa (L, 76-72).
• The Bearcats are ranked No. 1 in both the NABC and the D2SIDA polls with a perfect 31-0 mark while going 19-0 in the MIAA and 14-0 in home games and 10-0 on the road.
• Joey Witthus leads four Bearcats in double figures at 20.8 ppg … Trevor Hudgins is scoring 18.5 ppg and Ryan Hawkins is averaging 14.2 ppg and a team-high 9.1 rpg … Bernard Diego is scoring 11.9 ppg.
• The Bearcats are averaging 84.2 ppg (2nd in the MIAA) while allowing 62.5 ppg (1st in the MIAA).
• The Bearcats also lead the MIAA in scoring margin (21.5), field goal percentage (.515), 3-point field goal percentage (.413), 3-pointers made (11.3 per game), rebound defense (28.9 per game), turnover margin (+5.68) and assist to turnover ratio (+1.88).
 
 Series history with Northwest Missouri
• Sunday's meeting will be the 106th between the two schools and Washburn holds a 60-45 lead in the series.
• The Bearcats have won 10 of the last 11 meetings and the last eight in the series with the last Ichabod win coming in Bearcat Arena on Jan. 10, 2015 in a 70-64 win over Northwest.
• 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 21-12 against the Bearcats in Lee Arena.
• Since the 1956-57 season, Washburn is 21-22 in Maryville and since joining the MIAA during the 1990-91 season, the Ichabods are 12-11 on the road.
• In the MIAA Tournament, the Ichabods are 3-6 against Northwest after falling in the 2018 MIAA Championship game.
• 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.
 
 Last Meeting with Northwest Missouri
Northwest Missouri 72, Washburn 49 -- Feb. 28, 2019
TOPEKA, Kan. – The battle of the top two teams in the latest NCAA Central Regional polls went the wrong direction as the Ichabods fell to the nation's No. 1 team in a 72-49 loss to Northwest Missouri.
After the Ichabods (21-6, 14-4 MIAA) scored the first two points of the game on a jumper David Salach, the Bearcats (29-0, 19-0 MIAA) went on a 14-2 run building a 14-4 lead and would go on to a 24-14 lead before back to back 3-pointers by Salach and Jalen Lewis pulled the Ichabods within four at 24-20 with 5:50 to play before the break, but again the Bearcats pushed the lead back to 12 before Lewis and Tyler Geiman hit back to back treys cutting the lead to six until a 3-pointer by Northwest pushed the margin back to nine at the break as the Bearcats led 35-26.
In the second half, the Ichabods were held to six field goals on 26 attempts finishing with a season-low 16 of 56 from the field at 29 percent shooting for the game while Northwest hit 22 of 50 shots for a 44 percent clip to pick up the 23-point win as the Bearcats would lead by as many as 29 in the game.
Lewis led the Ichabods with 13 points off the bench hitting three 3-pointers and Salach scored 11 and Tyas Martin recorded 10. Joey Witthus led four Bearcats in double figures with a game-high 19 points.
Washburn was outrebounded 39 to 31 in the game as the Bearcats had 10 of their 22 field goals go for 3-pointers in the game while shooting 18 of 23 from the free throw line. Washburn was 12 of 15 from the charity stripe in the game. 
 
 Last time out for the Ichabods
Washburn 99, Pittsburg State 74 -- March 9, 2019
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods advanced to their 12th MIAA Championship game in school history and their second straight with a 99-94 win over Pittsburg State on Saturday in the MIAA semifinals in Municipal Auditorium. For the second year in a row the Ichabods will square off with No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri in the title game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
After leading 44-41 at the break, the Ichabods pushed their lead out to as many as 13 points with 4:30 to go in the game before the Gorillas cut the lead to five with 2:39 to go in the game. Washburn rallied and pushed the margin back to eight at 91-83 with 2:20 to go with a 3-pointer by Tyler Geiman but the Gorillas came back with to trim the margin back to as few as five on five times in the final 35 seconds but could not get any closer as the Ichabods improved to 6-0 all-time against Pittsburg State in the MIAA Tournament.
Javion Blake the Ichabods with 34 points scoring 22 in the first half. The 34 points were two shy of his career high scored in the first game of the season against Oklahoma Baptist. Blake also added five rebounds and four assists. David Salach scored 21 points with eight rebounds and Geiman had 17 points with seven assists and seven rebounds.
Washburn (24-6) shot 71 percent from the field in the second half en route to a 58 percent effort for the game hitting 37 of 64 shots compared to 45 percent by the Gorillas (17-13) in the game.
Washburn also held a 39 to 35 advantage on the glass and outscored the Gorillas 50 to 34 in the paint and 17 to 2 in bench points.
 
 Ichabods in the MIAA Tournament
• The Ichabods are 38-21 all-time in the MIAA Championship Tournament.
• The Ichabods are 2-2 in first round games (since expanding to 12 teams) … 19-6 in the quarterfinals, 12-7 in the semifinals and 5-6 in championship games.
• In games played in Kansas City, the Ichabods are 16-11.
• In quarterfinal games played in Kansas City, the Ichabods are 9-4. In semifinal games played in Municipal the Ichabods are 5-3 and in championship games in Kansas City the Ichabods are 1-4.
• As the No. 1 seed, the Ichabods are 21-3, at No. 2 they are 6-3, at No. 3 they are 2-3, 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             0-3              3-5
PSU               —            1-0           3-0            2-0            3-0              6-0
SBU              1-0           2-0           1-1            1-0             —               5-1
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        19-6         12-7         5-6       16-10        37-21
 
 MIAA Tournament Schedule
Wednesday, March 6 - Opening Round
No. 8 Emporia State vs No. 9 Northeastern State - Noon
No. 7 Lindenwood vs No. 10 Southwest Baptist - 2:15 p.m.
 
Thursday, March 7 - Quarterfinals Day One
No. 1 Northwest Missouri vs No. 8/9 Winner - Noon
No. 2 Washburn vs No. 7/10 Winner- 2:15 p.m.
 
Friday, March 8 - Quarterfinals Day Two
No. 4 Fort Hays State vs No. 5 Lincoln - Noon
No. 3 Missouri Southern vs No. 6 - 2:15 p.m.
 
Saturday, March 9 - Semifinals
Semifinal One (Men's Game 7) - Noon
Semifinal Two (Men's Game 8) - 2:15 p.m.
 
Sunday, March 10 - Championship
Men's Championship Game - 1 p.m.
 
 NCAA Regional Rankings - as of  March 6
      School                        DII Record    In-Region Record 
1       Northwest Missouri State       26-0                          25-0               
2       Northern State                           24-6                          23-6               
3       Washburn .                20-6                          19-6                              
4       St. Cloud State                           21-8                          19-8               
5       Missouri Southern State         20-6                          20-6               
6       Southern Nazarene                   25-5                          24-5               
7       Wayne State (Nebraska)         18-9                          18-9               
8       Minnesota State Mankato      17-11                        16-10              
9       Southeastern Oklahoma State 18-6                        18-6               
10     Sioux Falls                                  18-11                        18-11
                                                                                              
 Ichabod basketball history
• The Ichabods are 1,587-1,074-2 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 606-279 since joining the conference and the NCAA.
• The Ichabods have recorded 28 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 446-89  (.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
• The NCAA Postseason Tournament bids will be announced March 10th in an evening selection show. The NCAA Centra Regional Tournament will start Marcy 16 and run through March 19 at the highest-ranked team in the region.