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Game No. 18
Washburn Ichabods vs Missouri Southern State Lions
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
7:30 p.m.
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Where: Topeka, Kan.
Arena: Lee Arena
Capacity: 4,179
Rankings: Both teams unranked in January 22 NABC national poll
WU Record: 11-6, 3-5 MIAA
MSSU Record: 11-6, 5-3 MIAA
Series Record: WU leads 43-18
Last Meeting: MSSU 79-70 on 02/01/07 (H)
Last WU win: 82-75 on 02/04/06 (H)
WU Coach Bob Chipman: 639-246 (.722) in his 29th season at WU and overall
MSSU Coach Robert Corn: 283-242 (.539) in his 19th season at MSSU and overall
Washburn returns to friendly Lee Arena Wednesday to host Missouri Southern
After dropping two straight road games, the Ichabods will return home to host Missouri Southern Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Lee Arena. Washburn is 11-6 overall and 3-5 in the MIAA while the Lions are 11-6 and 5-3 in the conference. WU is in a three-way tie for seventh in the conference while MSSU is in a three-way tie for second as the league season reaches the halfway point this week.
The game will be carried live on KTPK 106.9 FM throughout the Topeka area and will also be streamed live at wusports.com for free by following the link under men's basketball. Fans can also watch the game for $5.50 at themiaa.tv through a live video stream.
Notes of Interest
• Washburn is 6-0 at home this year and 2-0 at home in MIAA games.
James Williams leads the Ichabods with 13.2 points a game at home and
Kyle Snyder is shooting 58 percent.
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Brady Sisk is averaging 12.2 points a game and shooting 73 percent in his five starts for the Ichabods.
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Paul Byers needs three more blocks to move into a tie for fifth in WU school history. He has 63 in three years.
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Andrew Meile is eighth in school history with 126 3-pointers and 317 attempts in his four years.
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Brady Sisk and Angel Santiago lead the Ichabods in scoring with 10.9 points a game each. Sisk also leads the team shooting 57 percent from the field.
• MSSU is first in the MIAA with 82.5 points a game and second with a .478 field goal percentage while the Ichabods are fourth with 80.9 points a game and third with a .460 shooting percentage.
About the Missouri Southern Lions
After winning their first three MIAA games, the Lions have lost three of their last five games and sit in a three-way tie for second in the MIAA at 5-3. Tony Webb leads the team in scoring with 14.9 points a game and Vincent Ateba is second with 14.8. Ateba's .611 field goal percent is first in the MIAA. Also leading the MIAA is Skyler Bowlin with 2.59 steals per game.
As a team the Lions are first in the MIAA with 82.5 points a game, but are ninth allowing 71.6 per game. They lead the conference shooting 73 percent from the free throw line and are second shooting 48 percent from the field.
WU-MSSU series notes
• This is the 62nd meeting between the two schools in a series that goes back to 1968-69. Washburn leads the series 43-18.
• The Lions have won two straight in the series, sweeping the Ichabods last year. Prior to that, Washburn had won nine of the last 10.
• Washburn is 18-3 against MSSU in Lee Arena and 20-6 in MIAA contests.
• The two teams have met in overtime four times with WU holding a 3-1 advantage. The last overtime meeting was an 82-75 win for WU on February 4, 2006.
Lee Arena provides Ichabods with unbeaten advantage
Washburn is 6-0 at home this year and is out-scoring its opponents by 25.0 points in Lee Arena. The Ichabods score 85.0 points a game at home and shoot 47 percent while the visitors score 60.0 points with 36 percent shooting.
James Williams leads the Ichabods with 13.2 points a game at home and Angel Santiago is adding 11.7 a game.
Paul Byers is scoring 9.0 and leads the team with 57 percent shooting.
Washburn began playing in Lee Arena in 1984-85 and has gone 314-55 (.851) in the 24th season there.
Ichabods get fourth second half comeback win of the season
The Ichabods have trailed at some point in the second half 10 times this year and have come back to win four times. They have trailed in the second half in all eight MIAA games so far this year and have come back to win three of them. Also, Washburn has trailed at halftime in each of its last four games and seven of the eight MIAA contests. Washburn trailed by a point at halftime to Truman on January 19 and by as much as five in the second half before coming back for a 59-50 win. They were down by as much as 11 at Fort Hays State and at Southwest Baptist before coming back and then falling short in one-point losses.
At Northwest Missouri the Ichabods trailed the Bearcats by four points, 49-45 at the 6:40 mark of the second half before rallying for a four-point win. Washburn's biggest second half comeback this year came at home against Central Missouri on January 5. The Ichabods trailed by five at halftime and then three minutes into the period they were down by nine points. Washburn came back for an 82-76 win. Washburn also managed a comeback at home December 4 against Central Oklahoma, turning around a four-point deficit at 4:08 for a 71-68 win.
Ichabods playing too close for comfort
The Ichabods are 4-5 in their last nine games with eight of them being decided by nine points or less. In those eight games Washburn is out-scoring its opponents by 1.8 points, 75.9-74.1 and has lost three one-point games. Their loss Saturday at Pittsburg State was the first game to be decided by double digits since a 93-60 win December 17 against Southeastern Oklahoma State.
The Ichabods' one-point loss at SBU last Tuesday came after they got within one but couldn't score on their final possession. The loss at Fort Hays State came on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that erased a two-point deficit for the Tigers. At Missouri Western the Ichabods led by six points with over three minutes to play and then gave up a late 3 to lose the game.
Washburn suffers first loss when shooting 50 percent
The Ichabods were are a perfect 5-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field this year until falling by a point at Fort Hays State January 16. All five of those wins came in the non-conference season with the most recent being December 18 at St. Mary's when the Ichabods were actually out-shot, 53 percent to 50 percent, but held on for a 77-75 win. That game was also the last of three straight that the Ichabods made at least half of their shots.
Washburn is averaging 92.3 points a game when shooting at least 50 percent and is holding opponents to 67.7 points. Washburn's most efficient night from the field came November 16 when it was 54 percent, making 37 of 68 field goals. The Ichabods were also 53 percent from 3-point range that night (10 for 19).
The Ichabods are 10-2 overall this year when out-shooting their opponents and 1-4 when their opponent shoots at least 50 percent.
Sisk climbs to top of scoring charts for Ichabods
Senior forward
Brady Sisk scored eight points Saturday at PSU to snap a string of four straight games scoring in double figures. However, he did move into a tie for first on the team in scoring with 10.9 points a game and he is all alone in first shooting .567 from the field. He scored a season-high 19 at Fort Hays State, 11 against Truman and 13 last Tuesday at Southwest Baptist. In five MIAA games he is scoring 11.6 points off 60 percent shooting.
Sisk has started the last three games for the Ichabods and in five starts this year he is averaging 12.2 points a game and shooting .727 percent from the field. Sisk has reached double figures in scoring nine times this year and Washburn is 7-2 when he does so. His 30th career double-figure scoring game came December 17 against Southeastern Oklahoma State.
Santiago tied with Sisk for team lead in scoring
Washburn's leading scorer Angel Santiago was held scoreless at Pittsburg State Saturday and slipped into a tie for first on the team in scoring, now with 10.9 points a game. He led the Ichabods with 18 points off the bench last Tuesday at Southwest Baptist as he reached double figures for the 11th time this year.
Santiago had a stretch of eight straight games scoring in double figures earlier in the year with a season-high 22 coming in a win against Central Missouri on January 5. In WU's first three MIAA games Santiago scored 20.3 points a game off 46 percent shooting from the field and 44 percent from 3-point range.
Point guard Mario Scott leads the Ichabods offense
Sophomore guard
Mario Scott started the first 12 games at point guard for the Ichabods and then returned to the starting lineup in the last three games. He leads the team with 75 assists and 4.41 per game. He had six at Southwest Baptist and Pittsburg State in the last two games and at Missouri Western he had 10 assists to become the first Ichabod to reach double figures since Jerad Head did it in 2004-05. Scott also leads the team with 34 steals and 2.00 per game. Scott scored a season-high 20 points off the bench at Fort Hays State and has reached double figures six times. He is averaging 8.4 points and 3.8 rebounds.
James Williams third on the team in scoring
Junior guard
James Williams is third on the team with 10.2 points. After he scored 14 off the bench at Southwest Baptist he has reached double figures 10 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 is second on the team with 25 steals and he leads the Ichabods with 13.2 points a game in six home games.
Byers moves to sixth on career blocking chart
Junior forward
Paul Byers had three blocks against Truman and one at SBU last Tuesday to move alone into sixth all-time at Washburn in career blocks, now with 63. He needs three more to move into a tie for fifth and four more to move to fourth. 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 15 blocks this year with a team season-high of three three times this year.
In the eight MIAA games he has 9.6 points and 6.4 rebounds. Overall Byers is scoring 8.7 points a game and is second on the team shooting 56 percent from the field. His 5.7 rebounds a game is also second best on the team.
Byers scored 16 points at Emporia State to tie his season high. He also had 16 at Missouri Western off 8 of 11 shooting. He had a career-high 12 rebounds against Central Missouri.
Meile enters top 10 in career 3-pointers made
Senior guard
Andrew Meile has 126 3-pointers in his career, the eighth most in school history. He needs 23 more to catch Eric Carter, who had 149 from 1997-2001. He is also eighth in 3-point attempts with 324 and tied for ninth in 3-point shooting percentage at 39 percent.
Meile has started every game the last two years and is averaging 7.4 points a game this year off 47 percent shooting and he's 25 of 60 from 3-point range.
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 four at forward. He leads the team with 7.5 rebounds this year and is scoring 5.8 points a game off 51 percent shooting.
Snyder reached double figures in rebounding for the fourth time this year with 11 against Truman and for the fifth time with 11 at SBU last Tuesday. He led the Ichabods with 10 rebounds at Emporia State and he had a season-high 13 rebounds against UCM. He had his third career double-double on December 4 against then-No. 17 Central Oklahoma with 11 points and 11 rebounds. In his four games as a starter he is averaging 8.3 points and shooting 67 percent (14 for 21).
Hargett continues to start for Ichabods
Senior guard
Grant Hargett has started three straight games and four of the last five this year after earning 13 starts last year. In a start against Truman on January 19 he scored 17 points, all in the second half as the Ichabods won 59-50. He was 5 of 7 from the field in the second half and 5 of 6 from the free throw line.
Hargett is scoring 7.5 points a game and shooting 45 percent from the field and 39 percent from 3-point range.
Bods and Ends
• In MIAA games only,
Brady Sisk is fourth in the conference with a .600 shooting percentage and
Mario Scott leads the league with 5.12 assists.
• Washburn leads the MIAA in rebounding with 40.2 a game and is second with a +5.3 rebounding margin.
• The Ichabods are fourth in the MIAA with 9.5 steals a game. Last year they only averaged 5.6 steals.
• Scott's 10 assists at Missouri Western still stands as the highest total amongst MIAA players this year.
• 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 Pittsburg State game
• In the 158th meeting between the two schools Washburn now leads the series 86-72 and has lost four straight to the Gorillas.
• This was Washburn's first loss this year following a loss. Prior to this game, the Ichabods were 4-0 following a loss.
• This was also the first game in the last nine that was decided by more than nine points. Washburn had been 4-4 in the previous eight games, all decided by single digits, with three one-point losses.
• The Ichabods fell to 2-6 on the road and 1-5 in road MIAA games.
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Andrew Meile tied a season high with 13 points and three 3-pointers. He set new season highs with five made field goals, 10 field goal attempts and seven 3-point attempts.
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Darnell Kimble led Washburn with a season-high 16 points. His previous season high was 14, set on November 16 against Lincoln. He also reached double figures this game for the first time in the last six and he made a season-high 10 free throws with a season-high 15 attempts.
A winning history
• The Ichabods are 1,347-931 (.591 in 2,278 games) and are in their 103rd season of basketball.
• Starting their 24th season in Lee Arena, the Ichabods are 314-55 (.851).
• 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 on TV
Once again, Washburn's three home games against its three MIAA opponents from Kansas will be broadcast live on KTWU from Lee Arena. The first broadcast will be February 9 against Pittsburg State. The next will be the February 23 game against Emporia State and the final broadcast will be the February 27 game against Fort Hays State.
All three games are set for 7:30 p.m. tip offs and can be seen on channel 11 in Topeka and on K30AL, channel 30, in Iola, Kansas. KTWU is also available on various cable systems throughout the state including Cox Cable channel 8 in Topeka.
