#4 West Texas A&M (10-1) vs. #1 Washburn (12-0)
Date	Wednesday, December 17 | 1:00 p.m.
Location	San Antonio, Texas | Bill Greehey Arena
Follow Along	Live Stats
Watch Live	MIAA Network (Pay-Per-View)
Additional Links	Game Notes

CANYON, Texas – The #8 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M look to rebound from their first loss of the season as they take on the top-ranked and unbeaten Washburn Ichabods on Wednesday afternoon with tipoff set for 1:00 p.m. at Bill Greehey Arena in San Antonio, Texas to conclude the River City Holiday Classic.
 
CENTRAL MISSOURI REWIND
The #4 Buffs suffered their first loss of the season on Tuesday afternoon as they fell to the Central Missouri Mules, 88-78 during the opening day of the River City Holiday Classic at Bill Greehey Arena. Fontaine Williams led the Buffs with 24 points, converting 9 of 19 field goals. Brock Mishak contributed 14 points, hitting 5 of 13 shots from the field, including three from beyond the arc. Zach Brown was perfect from three-point range, scoring 11 points on 3-for-3 shooting from downtown. James Parlow Jr. added eight points and recorded two steals, providing defensive support.
 
SCOUTING THE ICHABODS
#1 Washburn enters Wednesday afternoon with an overall record of 12-0 including a 3-0 mark in MIAA action. The Ichabods picked up a 78-66 victory over then #4 Lubbock Christian in San Antonio.
 
WU moved atop of the NABC Top-25 poll on Tuesday afternoon. The Ichabods have been ranked in the top 10 in the last 19 polls dating back to last year and in the top five in the last 17 consecutive polls. Washburn is coming off one of the best seasons in program history with an NCAA Final Four appearance, an NCAA Central Regional Championship and an MIAA regular season title with a 30-4 overall record after going 17-2 in MIAA play.
 
Dillon Claussen leads the way offensively for the Ichabods as the sophomore forward from Omaha, Nebraska has gone 74-of-108 (68.5%) from the floor including 5-of-9 (55.6%) from behind the arc and 54-of-83 (65.1%) from the free throw line to average 17.3 points per game to go along with 80 rebounds (28 offensive, 52 defensive), 29 assists, 15 steals and 16 block.
 
WU HEAD COACH BRETT BALLARD
Washburn men's basketball head coach Brett Ballard is now in his ninth season on the Ichabod bench after guiding Washburn to NCAA postseason tournament appearances in five of his first eight seasons on the bench compiling a 179-79 mark overall going 117-50 in MIAA play as well as a stellar 98-19 record in Topeka.
 
In his seven seasons, Ballard has coached 21 all-MIAA performers while having five players receive 10 different All-Region awards. Ballard came to Washburn following time as the assistant coach at Wake Forest and the University of Tulsa.
 
Ballard played two years for the Kansas Jayhawks under head coach Roy Williams from 2000-02 after transferring from Hutchinson Community College in his hometown of Hutchinson, Kansas.
 
THE SERIES
Wednesday afternoon marks the fourth all-time meeting on the hardwood between the Buffs and Ichabods. Washburn holds a 2-1 advantage in the series that dates back to 2001. Two of the three previous meetings took place in the NCAA Postseason (2001, 2003). 
 
The last meeting came on December 17, 2018 in Las Vegas as the Buffs claimed a thrilling 98-93 overtime victory. Five Buffs finished the game in double-figures led by Gach Gach with 23 followed by Qua Grant (19), Brandon Hall (18), JoJo Murray (17) and Ryan Quaid (16).
 
WT HEAD COACH TOM BROWN
Tom Brown, now in his 12th season at the helm of the West Texas A&M men's basketball program, has built the Buffs into one of the elite NCAA Division II programs in the nation.  He has guided WT to nine consecutive NCAA Tournaments including the Buffs first-ever NCAA Division II National Championship game in 2021. 
 
Brown was hired as the 17th head coach in program history on April 16, 2014. In the past 10 seasons, Coach Brown and his staff are 275-63 (.816) and an average of 27 wins a season with appearances in the Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four (2) and National Title game. During his time in Canyon, Brown is 295-76 (.797) overall and 157-43 (.785) in league action. 
 
LSC PRESEASON POLL
Defending Regional Champion Dallas Baptist claimed 42 of the possible 51 first place votes for a total of 850 points to sit atop of the poll followed by St. Mary's (two first place, 724), Lubbock Christian (four first place, 720), St. Edward's (669) and West Texas A&M (two first place, 654) to round out the top five.
 
Angelo State and Eastern New Mexico tied for sixth with 592 points followed by Midwestern State (558), UT Permian Basin (468), Texas A&M International (one first place, 350), Texas A&M-Kingsville (330), Cameron (301), Oklahoma Christian (266), UT Tyler (260), Western New Mexico (193), UT Dallas (188) and Sul Ross State (88).
 
St. Mary's Damani Claxton was tabbed the league's Preseason Player of the Year. The Bronx, New York native averaged 17.1 points, 2.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game last season. He made 45 3-pointers and shot 80.4 percent from the free throw line. Claxton was named LSC Newcomer of the Year and earned first-team All-LSC honors.
 
NABC DIVISION II TOP-25 POLL
The Buffaloes jumped five spots to 8th in last week's edition of the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC) Division II Top-25 Poll announced on Tuesday afternoon. The South Central Region is represented by Lubbock Christian (4th), St. Mary's (7th), West Texas A&M (8th), St. Edward's (14th), Black Hills State (19th) and Eastern New Mexico (RV). 
 
2024-25 RECAP
The 2024-25 campaign saw WT made the NCAA National Tournament for a ninth-consecutive season where three freshmen made the LSC All-Freshman team. The Buffs also posted a 3.48 GPA in the classroom, tops in the Lone Star Conference for a second consecutive year. WT was named a recipient of the National Association of Basketball Coaches Team Academic Excellence Award as Brock Mishak and Nicholas Jett were named to the NABC Honor Court.
 
RIVER CITY HOLIDAY CLASSIC
16-Division II institutions make their way to San Antonio, Texas this weekend for the River City Holiday Classic. The event will be held at Northside Sports Gym as well as Bill Greehey Arena on the campus of St. Mary's University.
 
Participating teams: Fort Lewis, St. Edward's, St. Mary's, Central Oklahoma, Missouri-St. Louis, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Rogers State, Dallas Baptist, Lubbock Christian, Washburn, West Texas A&M, Pittsburg State, Central Missouri, UT Permian Basin, Arkansas-Fort Smith and Midwestern State.