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Game No. 25
Washburn Ichabods vs Emporia State Hornets
Saturday, February 23, 2008
7:30 p.m.
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Where: Topeka, Kan.
Arena: Lee Arena
Capacity: 4,179
Rankings: Both teams unranked in February 19 NABC national poll
WU Record: 16-8, 8-7 MIAA
ESU Record: 11-13, 6-9 MIAA
Series Record: ESU leads 94-93
Last Meeting: ESU 92-87 on 01/09/08 (A)
Last WU win: 78-71 on 03/04/05 (MIAA tourney)
WU Coach Bob Chipman: 644-248 (.722) in his 29th season at WU and overall
ESU Coach David Moe: 111-84 (.569) in 7th season at ESU and overall
Ichabods look to keep rolling when Emporia State heads to Lee Arena Saturday
The Ichabods will go for their fifth consecutive win when they host Emporia State Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Lee Arena in a televised contest. The Ichabods won their fourth straight Wednesday when they defeated Northwest Missouri State to improve to 16-8 and 8-7 in the MIAA. The Hornets dropped their fifth straight when they lost at Pittsburg State Wednesday and are now 11-13 and 6-9 in the league. Washburn is still tied for fifth in the conference standings and has secured a spot in the postseason tournament while ESU is eighth in the standings.
KTWU will once against broadcast the game and it will be shown live on channel 11 in Topeka and channel eight on Topeka's Cox Cable. The game will also be carried live on AM580 WIBW throughout the Topeka area and will 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
• In the four-game winning streak,
Andrew Meile leads the team with 14.0 points a game while
Kyle Snyder is averaging 10.8 rebounds and 9.8 points.
• Washburn is 14-0 when leading at the half and 12-1 when leading with five minutes remaining.
• The Ichabods are 10-1 at home and outscoring opponents by 17.0 points in Lee Arena.
• Snyder is shooting 60 percent in six games as a starter.
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Andrew Meile has recently entered the WU career top 10 lists in 3-pointers, assists and steals.
•
Paul Byers needs one more block to move into a tie for fifth in WU school history. He has 65 in three years.
• The Ichabods have guaranteed their first winning season and trip to the MIAA tournament since 2004-05.
About the Emporia State Hornets
The Hornets have lost five straight games and are 11-13 overall. They are eighth in the MIAA at 6-9 and hold a two-game lead in the standings for the final spot in the postseason tournament. DeAndre Townsend leads the team and the MIAA in scoring with 19.6 points a game.
WU-ESU series notes
• This will be the 188th meeting between these two schools, making it the most played rivalry for Washburn. ESU leads 94-93 and has won the last five.
• Washburn's last win came in the 2004-05 MIAA Postseason Tournament in a 78-71 victory on March 4, 2005. The Hornets have since swept the season series the last two years.
• Washburn leads the series 22-9 in MIAA contests and is 17-6 in Lee Arena against the Hornets.
• The series dates back to a pair of wins for the Ichabods in 1905-06.
• The two teams have met on the court at least once every year since the 1945-46 season.
• The two teams have played overtime games three times with the Ichabods winning twice and losing once. The Ichabods won the last overtime game, 93-89 on January 12, 2000 in Emporia.
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 Saturday's 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.
Lee Arena provides Ichabods with homecourt advantage
Washburn improved to 10-1 at home this year and has won four straight in Lee Arena after a 71-61 win over Northwest Missouri Wednesday. The Ichabods are out-scoring their opponents by 17.0 points in Lee Arena. They score 80.3 points a game at home and shoot 47 percent while the visitors score 63.3 points with 39 percent shooting.
Grant Hargett leads the Ichabods in scoring in home games with 10.7 per game while
Kyle Snyder leads shooting 59 percent.
James Williams is second on the team with 10.1 points a game. Snyder also leads the team with 9.0 rebounds a game.
Washburn began playing in Lee Arena in 1984-85 and has gone 317-56 (.850) in the 24th season there.
Ichabods unbeaten when leading at halftime
The Ichabods are 14-0 when leading at halftime this year. Conversely, they are 2-8 when trailing at the half. Washburn has trailed at halftime in nine of the 15 MIAA games this year and the Ichabods have trailed at some point in the second half 13 times this year and have come back to win five times.
Washburn was behind by six, 49-43 with 10:38 remaining Wednesday against Northwest Missouri. The Ichabods fought back and tied the score three times before taking the lead for good at 2:30. The Ichabods 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 6-2 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field this year. The win Wednesday against NWMSU was the first MIAA win when shooting that well. Before that, 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 85.3 points a game when shooting at least 50 percent and is holding opponents to 69.9 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 15-4 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 steals after he had five Wednesday against NWMSU. He now has 107 in his four years, the ninth most at WU. He needs two more to catch Mike Dickerson, who had 109 from 1986-90.
He also entered the top 10 in assists after he tied a career high with eight of them February 9 against Pittsburg State. He currently has 260, the seventh most in school history, and he needs three 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 is tied for seventh with 146 3-pointers in his four years and needs 10 more to catch Jordan Canfield, who had 159 from 1992-97. He is also seventh in 3-point attempts with 365 and eighth in 3-point shooting percentage at 41 percent.
Meile has started every game the last two years and 76 in his career, the eight most in school history. If he starts the final three regular season games he will be in a tie for seventh.
Meile has scored 20 or more points in two of the last three games and he's averaging 13.4 in the last five games off 50 percent shooting from the field and 52 percent shooting from 3-point range.
Overall he is averaging 9.0 points a game after scoring a career-high 25 last Wednesday against Southwest Baptist with a career-high six 3-pointers. He matched that total Wednesday against NWMSU and scored 24 points.
Ichabods are 10-2 when Sisk scores in double figures
Senior forward
Brady Sisk leads the team in scoring with 10.1 points a game and he's second shooting .529 from the field. He has reached double figures 12 times this year after leading the team with 18 points February 9 against PSU and with 13 off the bench last Saturday at Truman. The Ichabods are 10-2 when he reaches double figures and 5-0 when he leads the team in scoring.
Sisk scored a season-high 19 at Fort Hays State and in 12 MIAA games he is scoring 10.6 points a game with 54 percent shooting.
Sisk had started the last six games for the Ichabods before coming off the bench the last four games. In eight starts this year he is averaging 10.6 points a game and shooting .654 percent from the field. Off the bench he is just a 48 percent shooter.
Point guard Mario Scott leads the Ichabods offense
Sophomore guard
Mario Scott leads the team with 97 assists and his 4.04 per game is fourth 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 1.70 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 eight times and is averaging 7.5 points and 3.6 rebounds. He led the team in rebounding for the second time this year when he had five Wednesday against NWMSU.
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 65. He needs one 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 17 blocks this year with a team season-high of three three times this year.
Overall Byers is scoring 8.5 points a game and he leads the team shooting .536 from the field.
James Williams second in scoring, leads WU at home
Junior guard
James Williams is tied for second on the team with 9.0 points a game. Williams scored 14 points off the bench against Missouri Western 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 third on the team with 27 steals and he leads the Ichabods with 106 points in 10 home games to average 10.6.
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 eight at forward. He leads the team with 7.8 rebounds this year and he is scoring 6.3 points a game and shooting 54 percent.
As a starter Snyder is averaging 9.0 points and 9.0 rebounds and shooting 60 percent from the field.
Snyder had reached double figures in rebounding in three straight games leading up to the NWMSU game Wednesday He has had two double-doubles in the last four games with a career-high 19 points and a season-high tying 14 rebounds last Wednesday against Southwest Baptist. He had his second double-double of the year and fourth of his career with season highs of 14 points and 14 rebounds 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.
Hargett gets another start for Ichabods
Senior guard
Grant Hargett started against NWMSU and has now started nine of the last 10 games this year. Overall, Hargett is scoring 8.0 points a game and shooting 46 percent from the field and 39 percent from 3-point range.
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.
In nine home games he is scoring 10.3 points a game after scoring 12 against SBU.
Bods and Ends
• Washburn leads the MIAA in rebounding with 39.5 a game and in rebound margin at +5.2.
• The Ichabods are 14-0 when leading at halftime this year and 12-1 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 Northwest Missouri game
• In the 83rd meeting between the two teams, Washburn improved to 52-31 in the all-time series and swept the Bearcats for the first time since 2004-05.
•
Andrew Meile and
Grant Hargett started at guard and
Paul Byers,
Darnell Kimble and
Kyle Snyder started at forward. This is the third straight time this combination has been used and the five are 3-0 when starting together. Meile and Byers have started all 24 games this year and Meile has started 64 straight games. His last non-start was December 30, 2005, at Truman.
• Washburn improved to 14-0 when leading at the half and 10-1 at home.
• The Ichabods shot 50 percent as a team, reaching the 50 percent mark for the first time since January 30. The Ichabods had lost two straight when shooting 50 percent or better until this game and are now 6-2 when doing so.
• With six 3-pointers, Meile moved to a tie for seventh in career 3s at Washburn, now with 149. Eric Carter also hit 149 from 1997-01. Meile needs 10 more 3s to move into a tie with Jordan Canfield (1992-97) with 159. Meile also hit six 3s, a career high, February 13 against Southwest Baptist.
• Meile had five steals to total 107 in his career. He is ninth in WU career history and he needs two more to move into a tie with Mike Dickerson (1986-90) with 109. His five steals tied his career high, set on December 20, 2006 at Lynn.
• Washburn was out-rebounded (33-31) for the first time since February 6 against Missouri Southern and this was just WU's third win when having less rebounds.
• Washburn locked up a spot in the MIAA Postseason Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., from March 7-9. The Ichabods are making their first trip there since 2004-05.
A winning history
• The Ichabods are 1,352-933 (.592 in 2,285 games) and are in their 103rd season of basketball.
• Starting their 24th season in Lee Arena, the Ichabods are 317-56 (.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.
