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Game No. 10
Washburn Ichabods at Missouri Western State Griffons
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
7:30 p.m.
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Where: St. Joseph, Mo.
Arena: MWSU Fieldhouse
Capacity: 3,750
Rankings: WU ranked 25th in Dec. 18 NABC national poll.
WU Record: 8-1
MWSU Record: 5-3
Series Record: WU leads 41-29
Last Meeting: WU 77-62 on 01/27/07 (A)
Last MWSU win: 75-71 on 01/25/06
WU Coach Bob Chipman: 636-241 (.725) in his 29th season at WU and overall
MWSU Coach Tom Smith: 381-186 (.672) in 20th year at MWSU; 551-370 (.598) in 32nd year overall
Ichabods head into new year hoping for continued success as they face MWSU
25th-ranked Washburn will tip off MIAA action on Tuesday at Missouri Western in a 7:30 p.m. game against the Griffons. The Ichabods (8-1) have won eight straight games while Missouri Western (5-3) has lost two straight.
The game will be carried live on AM580 WIBW and will be streamed for free online through www.wusports.com by clicking on 'Live Audio' under Men's Basketball. The game will also be shown live on www.themiaa.tv for $5.50 a game and season-long discounted passes are available.
Both teams will return to action after playing in the St. Mary's (Texas) River City Classic before the holiday break. The Ichabods defeated Southeastern Oklahoma State 93-60 and then held onto a 77-75 win over St. Mary's while the Griffons lost 77-71 to Central Oklahoma and then 77-70 to SOSU in the classic.
James Williams leads the Ichabods this year with 11.3 points a game while Reggie Bunch leads the Griffons with 21.0 a game. His total through December 16 led the MIAA while Williams' was 16th best.
Washburn swept Missouri Western in two games last year and has won three straight. The Ichabods are ranked this year for the first time since late in the 2004-05 season.
About the Missouri Western State Griffons
The Griffons finished the non-conference season 5-3 after losing their final two games in action at the St. Mary's River City Classic. Missouri Western went 3-1 at home in non-conference games this year with the loss coming against Nebraska-Omaha. The Griffons won their first four games of the year.
Reggie Bunch leads the team with 21.0 points a game and is shooting 57 percent from the field. Lonnel Johnson is second on the team with 18.0 points a game and Keion Kendrid leads with 8.4 rebounds.
WU-MWSU series notes
• Washburn is 41-29 overall against Missouri Western and has won three straight in the series.
• Missouri Western was the only MIAA team Washburn swept last year.
• Missouri Western leads the series 13-7 in games played in St. Joseph while the Ichabods lead the series 18-14 in MIAA matchups. The Ichabods have won seven of the last 10 meetings.
A winning history
• The Ichabods are 1,344-926 (.592 in 2,270 games) and are in their 103rd season of basketball.
• Starting their 24th season in Lee Arena, the Ichabods are 311-55 (.850).
• In 19 seasons now as an NCAA II school, the Ichabods have 10 NCAA tournament appearances and nine MIAA titles.
• Washburn won the 1986-87 NAIA national championship with a 35-4 record under head coach
Bob Chipman in his eighth year as coach.
• The Ichabods suffered their first losing season in 2005-06 since 1976-77 and first of head coach
Bob Chipman's career. They also failed to advance to the MIAA tournament for the first time since joining the league in 1989-90.
Ichabods well-rounded in offensive department
As of the December 16 statistics report, the Ichabods were fourth in the MIAA with 86.7 points a game and second with a +23.9 scoring margin. Through nine games they have had eight different players reach double figures in scoring 37 times and four different players have led the team in scoring at least once. Washburn is averaging 4.1 double-figure scorers per game so far with
James Williams and Angel Santiago leading the team with six 10-plus point efforts each. Overall Williams leads the team with 11.3 points a game while
Brady Sisk is second with 10.3 points. Santiago leads the Ichabods with 89 points off the bench and 9.9 per game.
Point guard Mario Scott leads the Ichabods offense
Sophomore guard
Mario Scott has started every game this year at the point for the Ichabods. Through seven games he leads the team with 19 steals and 34 assists. Through the first seven games he was second in the MIAA with 2.7 steals per game. Scott holds the Ichabods season-high point performance with 18 against Lincoln and twice he has tied the team high with five steals in a game. He also reached a season-high seven assists in two straight games earlier this year. Scott is scoring 9.1 points a game with 3.8 rebounds.
He is a transfer out of Grand Rapids Community College where he averaged 10.0 points, 7.8 assists and 4.8 rebounds last year.
James Williams top contributor on offense
Junior guard
James Williams leads the team with 11.3 points a game. He has reached double figures six times and he has led the team in scoring five times this year. His season high was 17 points against then-No. 17 Central Oklahoma. Williams ia third on the team with 17 steals. His eight points on December 17 against SOSU stopped a streak of five straight games with 10 or more points. The following day he had a team season-high nine assists.
Williams played at Highland Park High School in Topeka before playing two years at Cloud County Community College. He spent last year at NCAA Division I St. Bonaventure, playing in six games before missing the season with injury. At CCCC he averaged 11.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists his sophomore year.
Byers moves up career blocking record chart
Junior forward
Paul Byers is ninth in school history with 54 career blocks. He needs two more to move to eighth and 11 more will get him into the top five. He had 17 blocks last year and in 2005-06, his freshman year, he had 31, the eighth highest single-season total at Washburn. Byers begins the year fifth in school history with 0.9 blocks a game.
Byers has seven blocks this year with a team season-high three coming on December 4 against then-No. 17 Central Oklahoma. He is scoring 7.9 points a game and leads the team shooting 63 percent from the field (32-51). His 5.1 rebounds a game is second best on the team.
Meile enters top 10 in career 3-pointers made
Senior guard
Andrew Meile has 113 3-pointers in his career, the eighth most in school history. He needs 36 more to catch Eric Carter, who had 149 from 1997-2001.
Meile is averaging 6.0 points a game this year off 45 percent shooting and he's 12 of 31 from 3-point range. He leads the team this year with 33 assists and his 3.9 per game through December 16 was sixth best in the league.
He returns for his fourth season after being the only Ichabod to start all 27 games last year. He finished second on the team with 9.1 points a game and second with 2.0 assists. He led the team with 1.3 steals and 48 made 3-pointers.
Sisk returns to starting lineup for Ichabods
Senior forward
Brady Sisk started his first two games of the year in the Ichabods' two wins at the St. Mary's Classic. He led the team in those two games with 14.5 points a game and 83 percent shooting (10 of 12). He also picked up 14 rebounds in the two games to lead the team. Sisk has reached double figures in scoring five times this year and 31 times in his career. His 30th double-figure scoring game came December 17 against Southeastern Oklahoma State.
Sisk led the Ichabods off the bench last year with 158 points and his sophomore year he led the team overall with 14.4 points a game.
Kyle Snyder leads Ichabods in rebounds
After limited playing time last year with an injury, senior
Kyle Snyder has played in every game this year and has started two at forward. He leads the team with 6.9 rebounds this year and is scoring 5.3 points a game off 45 percent shooting.
Snyder had his third career double-double on December 4 against then-No. 17 Central Oklahoma with 11 points and 11 rebounds, both season highs for him. In his two games as a starter he is averaging 8.5 points and shooting 58 percent (7 of 12).
Snyder is in his fifth year with the Ichabods. In 2005-06 he played in just six games before getting a medical redshirt.
Darnell Kimble solid in the post for Ichabods
Junior forward
Darnell Kimble is second on the team with 10.0 points a game of 49 percent shooting. He leads the team and is fourth in the MIAA shooting 86 percent from the free throw line (19 of 22) and has eight blocks, a team high. Coming into last week he was fourth in the MIAA with 1.2 blocks. Kimble has scored in double figures four times with a season-high 14 against Lincoln last month.
Kimble is a transfer from Brown Mackie Community College where he scored 15.0 points a game with 8.0 rebounds last year. He scored in double figures 22 times with six double-doubles while shooting 58 percent from the field.
Bods and Ends
• Washburn led the MIAA in rebounding with 43.0 a game through December 16.
• The Ichabods are second in the MIAA with 13.1 steals a game. Last year they only averaged 5.6 steals.
• The Ichabods have reached the 100-point mark twice this year. In 2004-05 they scored 100 or more three times and in 2003-04 they did it five times.
• Washburn set a school and MIAA record last year with five overtime games. The Ichabods went 3-2 in the games, taking two of them to double overtime.
• The Ichabods are 31-24 all-time in overtimes with one win this year. Washburn is 6-7 all-time in 13 games that went into at least double-overtime.
Final notes on the St. Mary's River City Classic
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Brady Sisk started for the first time this year in both games. He shot 83 percent (10 of 12) to average a team-high 14.5 points a game. He also led with 14 rebounds.
• Santiago scored a season-high 15 points against SOSU. He had a season-high six field goals with a season-high .600 shooting percentage.
• The Ichabods tied a season high with 58 rebounds and they won the rebound battle 53-28 for a season-high +25 margin against SOSU.
• Against St. Mary's the Ichabods committed a season-high 29 fouls while making a season-high 18 free throws off a season-high 26 attempts.
Up Next
WU will play its MIAA home opener January 5 against Central Missouri at 7:30 p.m. in Lee Arena.
