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Game No. 22
Washburn Ichabods vs Southwest Baptist Bearcats
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
7:30 p.m.
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Where: Topeka, Kan.
Arena: Lee Arena
Capacity: 4,179
Rankings: SBU No. 15 in February 5 NABC national poll
WU Record: 13-8, 5-7 MIAA
SBU Record: 17-4, 10-2 MIAA
Series Record: WU leads 25-13
Last Meeting: SBU 82-81 on 01/22/08 (A)
Last WU win: 90-80 on 02/10/05
WU Coach Bob Chipman: 641-248 (.721) in his 29th season at WU and overall
SBU Coach Jeff Guiot: 76-34 (.691) in his 3rd season at SBU; 294-127 (.698)
Ichabods set to take on league-leading Southwest Baptist Wednesday
The Ichabods will look for another win as they host No. 15 Southwest Baptist Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Lee Arena. Washburn improved to 13-8 and 5-7 in the MIAA after a 67-56 win over Pittsburg State Saturday while the Bearcats jumped to 17-4 and 10-2 in the conference after a 76-66 win against Truman. SBU leads the MIAA while Washburn is tied for seventh.
The game will be carried live on AM580 WIBW throughout the Topeka and northeast Kansas 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 11-0 when leading at the half and 10-1 when leading with five minutes remaining.
• The Ichabods are 8-1 at home and outscoring opponents by 19.3 points in Lee Arena.
• The Ichabods have not won two straight games since winning eight straight early in the season.
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Andrew Meile needs eight assists to move to sixth in WU career history and seven steals to move into the top 10.
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Paul Byers needs two more blocks to move into a tie for fifth in WU school history. He has 64 in three years.
• The Ichabods need two more wins to guarantee their first winning season since 2004-05. They currently have eight losses and could potentially lose 16, including two in the postseason. Two more wins would mean they could lose no more than 14 games this year and they would have 15 wins.
• With six games remaining on the schedule, the Ichabods play four of them at home.
About the Southwest Baptist Bearcats
The Bearcats lead the MIAA at 17-4 overall and 10-2 in the conference and are ranked 15th in the nation and No. 2 in the NCAA South Central Region poll. Southwest Baptist has won four straight games and eight of the last nine.
Jim Grabowski leads the team in scoring with 16.8 points a game and he's fourth in the MIAA. D'Ante Harris leads the league in 3-point shooting with 2.76 makes a game and a .504 percentage. He's second on the team with 16.4 points a game and Matthew Rogers is third with 13.9 a game. Rogers leads the MIAA with 4.90 blocks a game and he got seven against Washburn earlier in the year.
WU-SBU series notes
• This is the 29th meeting between the two schools in a series that goes back to December 4, 1965 when SBU won 66-62. Washburn leads the all-time series 25-13 but has lost the last five, suffering season sweeps the last two years and losing earlier this season.
• Prior to those losses the Ichabods had won 15 straight.
• This series is the least played MIAA series for Washburn.
• The Ichabods are 13-3 against SBU in Lee Arena and 20-8 against the Bearcats in MIAA games.
Lee Arena provides Ichabods with homecourt advantage
Washburn improved to 8-1 at home this year after a 67-56 win over Pittsburg State last Saturday. The Ichabods are out-scoring their opponents by 19.3 points in Lee Arena. They score 82.3 points a game at home and shoot 47 percent while the visitors score 63.0 points with 39 percent shooting.
James Williams leads the Ichabods with 11.6 points a game at home and Angel Santiago,
Grant Hargett and
Brady Sisk are also reaching double figures.
Paul Byers is scoring 8.9 and leads the team with 57 percent shooting.
Washburn began playing in Lee Arena in 1984-85 and has gone 315-56 (.849) in the 24th season there.
Ichabods unbeaten when leading at halftime
The Ichabods are 11-0 when leading at halftime this year after defeating Pittsburg State 67-56 Saturday. Conversely, they are 2-8 when trailing at the half. Washburn has trailed at halftime in nine of the 12 MIAA games this year and the Ichabods have trailed at some point in the second half 12 times this year and have come back to win four times.
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.
The Ichabods when shooting 50 percent or better...
The Ichabods are 5-2 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field this year. All five of the 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 89.7 points a game when shooting at least 50 percent and is holding opponents to 69.7 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 10-3 overall this year when out-shooting their opponents and 1-5 when their opponent shoots at least 50 percent.
Meile at or near top 10 in six Washburn career records
Senior guard
Andrew Meile entered the top 10 in career assists after he tied a career high with eight of them Saturday against Pittsburg State. He currently has 255, the seventh most in school history, and he needs eight more to move into sixth with Bobby Sumler who had 263 from 1985-88.
Meile is also in the top 10 in 3-pointers made, 3-pointers attempted, 3-point percentage and games started. He has 137 3-pointers in his four years and needs 12 more to catch Eric Carter, who had 149 from 1997-2001. He is also seventh in 3-point attempts with 343 and eighth in 3-point shooting percentage at 40 percent.
Meile has started every game the last two years and 73 in his career, the eight most in school history. If he starts the final six regular season games he will be in a tie for seventh.
Meile is also nearing the top 10 in school history in steals. He is 12th in career steals with 99 and he needs seven more to move into the top 10 and become the 12th Ichabod to reach 100 steals.
Ichabods are 9-2 when Sisk scores in double figures
Senior forward
Brady Sisk leads the team in scoring with 10.8 points a game and he's second shooting .556 from the field. He has reached double figures 11 times this year after leading the team with 18 points Saturday against PSU and the Ichabods are 9-2 when he does so.
Sisk scored a season-high 19 at Fort Hays State and in 11 MIAA games he is scoring 10.5 points a game with 58 percent shooting.
Sisk had started the last six games for the Ichabods before coming off the bench Saturday. In eight starts this year he is averaging 10.6 points a game and shooting .654 percent from the field.
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 seven games. He leads the team with 86 assists and his 4.10 per game is third best in the MIAA. 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 39 steals and 1.86 per game. Scott had 19 points against Missouri Western and he scored a season-high 20 points off the bench at Fort Hays State. He has reached double figures seven times and is averaging 7.8 points and 3.5 rebounds.
James Williams third in scoring, leads WU at home
Junior guard
James Williams is third on the team with 9.7 points a game. Williams scored 14 points off the bench against Missouri Western last Saturday and he has reached double figures 12 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 26 steals and he leads the Ichabods with 11.6 points a game in eight home games.
Byers moves to sixth on career blocking chart
Junior forward
Paul Byers has moved alone into sixth all-time at Washburn in career blocks, now with 64. He needs two more to move into a tie for fifth and three 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 16 blocks this year with a team season-high of three three times this year.
Overall Byers is scoring 8.7 points a game and he leads the team shooting .560 from the field. He's second on the team shooting .438 from 3-point range.
Santiago second on the team in scoring
Washburn's leading bench scorer Angel Santiago is second overall on the team with 10.2 points a game and he leads the team with 12 double figure scoring games 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.
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 five at forward. He leads the team with 7.5 rebounds this year and he is scoring 6.0 points a game off 53 percent shooting.
Snyder had his second double-double of the year and fourth of his career with season highs of 14 points and 14 rebounds Saturday against Pittsburg State. He had his third career double-double on December 4 against then-No. 17 Central Oklahoma with 11 points and 11 rebounds. In his five games as a starter he is averaging 9.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and shooting 65 percent.
Hargett returns to the bench after starting six straight for Ichabods
Senior guard
Grant Hargett had started six straight games and seven of the last eight before coming off the bench in Saturday's win against PSU. 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 7.6 points a game and shooting 46 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range. Last Saturday against Missouri Western he was 5 of 8 from the field and 3 of 5 from 3-point range for 13 points. In nine home games he is scoring 10.1 points a game.
Bods and Ends
• Washburn leads the MIAA in rebounding with 39.6 a game and in rebound margin at +54.
• The Ichabods are 11-0 when leading at halftime this year and 10-1 when leading with five minutes remaining.
• Scott's 10 assists at Missouri Western still stands as the highest total amongst MIAA players this year.
• 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 159th meeting between the two schools Washburn improved to 87-72 in the all-time series and broke a four-game losing streak against the Gorillas.
• The win improved Washburn to 11-0 when leading at the half, 10-1 when leading with five minutes remaining, 8-1 at home and 7-1 during Saturday games. It was just the third time in 12 MIAA games that Washburn has led at halftime.
• Washburn used its seventh starting lineup this season.
Andrew Meile and
Mario Scott started at guard and
Paul Byers,
Kyle Snyder and
Darnell Kimble started at forward. Meile and Byers have started all 21 games this year and Meile has started 62 straight games. His last non-start was December 30, 2005 at Truman State. Scott made his 19th start, Kimble made his ninth start and Snyder started for the fifth time.
• Meile's eight assists gave him 255 in his four-year career to move him to seventh all-time at Washburn. He started the night 11th in career assists. Eight more will move him into a tie for sixth with Bobby Sumler, who had 263 from 1985-88. He needs 22 more to move into the top five.
• The Ichabods made a season-low four 3-pointers and were for 4 of 15 from 3-point range for a 27 percent effort.
• Meile matched his career high with eight assists. He last had eight on November 23 of this season against Missouri Baptist.
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Kyle Snyder set season highs with 14 points and 14 rebounds. His previous point high was 11 set on December 4 against Central Oklahoma and his previous rebound high was 13 set on January 5 against Central Missouri.
A winning history
• The Ichabods are 1,349-933 (.591 in 2,282 games) and are in their 103rd season of basketball.
• Starting their 24th season in Lee Arena, the Ichabods are 315-56 (.849).
• 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 was 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.
