Game 15: Northeastern State (3-11, 0-6 MIAA) vs. Washburn (11-3, 5-0 MIAA) at 7:30 p.m. | January 11, 2018
Topeka, Kan. | Lee Arena
 

Live Stats	sidearmstats.com/washburn/mbball/
Live Stats for Media	sidearmstats.com/washburn/mbball/media
Live Audio	GoRiverHawksGo.com
Live Streaming Audio	portal.stretchinternet.com/nsu/
Live Streaming Video	TheMIAANetwork.com ($)
Play-by-Play	Scott Pettus
	Northeastern State Game Notes
	Washburn Game Notes

The Series 
Northeastern State leads the overall series 7-4 over the Ichabods but in Topeka, the RiverHawks hold two wins in five appearances in Lee Arena.  The RiverHawks won in the opening round of the 2014 MIAA Tournament (79-75) and during the 2016 regular season (70-67).  Both teams have met once in the NCAA Tournament during NSU's 2003 National Championship season.

The Coaches
Mark Downey was introduced as NSU's tenth men's basketball coach on April 11, 2017 and carries a 207-114 overall head coaching record, with four NCAA Division II Tournament Appearances, and has been named Coach of the Year six times.  Downey comes to NSU after two seasons at Fort Wayne (NCAA DI) as the program's top assistant on the bench, and has helped the Mastodons to appearances in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) and the NIT, while going 44-23.  Prior to Fort Wayne, Downey spent the 2014-15 season at Bowling Green where they went 20-12, and he helped direct them into the second round of the CIT.

Brett Ballard (44-33) is in his first season as head coach at Washburn and was named on April 6, 2016 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.  Before joining 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.

Last Time Out for NSU
Northeastern State erased a ten point second half deficit but could not hold onto a late lead to fall 77-66 on Saturday evening to Lincoln at the NSU Event Center.  The RiverHawks pulled ahead by eight points with eight minutes to go but a run of 14 straight points by the Blue Tigers back peddled NSU to their ninth consecutive loss.   NSU had three in double-figure scoring with graduate guard Jamir Andrews having 13 points, Coryon Mason and Tanner Mouse both added 12.  Montre' Williams scored eight on Saturday to bring the senior to 910 career points.

Last Time Out for WU
The Washburn Ichabods used a 9-0 second half spurt turning a three-point lead into a 12-point advantage en route to their ninth-straight win in an 83-69 win over Emporia State in the first edition of the Turnpike Tussle.  Javion Blake led the Ichabods with 22 points inching closer to 1,000 career points lifting his two-plus year total to 974 points.

Take the Ball
Northeastern State is third in the MIAA with 7.5 steals per game and is forcing over 15 turnovers a game.  The RiverHawks have five players with ten or more steals this season.

A NSU win would…

• End an eight game skid.
• Second road win of the season.
• First MIAA win of the season.

An WU win would…

• Be their tenth win in a row.
• Third straight win over the RiverHawks.
• Maintain first place in the MIAA standings.

Coming Up
Northeastern State will visit Emporia State next on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. tip.