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Game No. 20
Washburn Ichabods at Missouri Southern State Lions
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
7:30 p.m.
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Where: Joplin, Mo.
Arena: Leggett and Platt Athletic Center
Capacity: 3,240
Rankings: Both teams unranked in January 29 NABC national poll
WU Record: 12-7, 4-6 MIAA
MWSU Record: 13-6, 7-3 MIAA
Series Record: WU leads 43-19
Last Meeting: MSSU 82-74 on 01/30/08 (H)
Last WU win: 82-75 on 02/04/06 (H)
WU Coach Bob Chipman: 640-247 (.722) in his 29th season at WU and overall
MSSU Coach Robert Corn: 285-242 (.541) in his 19th season at MSSU and overall
Ichabods look for second straight win with Wednesday game at Missouri Southern
The Ichabods will look for another win as they travel to Missouri Southern for a 7:30 p.m. game Wednesday at the Leggett and Platt Athletic Center. Washburn is 12-7 overall and eighth in the MIAA at 4-6 while the Lions are 13-6 and second in the conference at 7-3. The two teams met a week ago with MSSU winning 82-74 at Washburn.
The game will be carried live on AM580 WIBW throughout the 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 10-0 when leading at the half and 9-1 when leading with five minutes remaining.
• The Ichabods are 2-6 on the road and have lost three straight. Their last away win was January 12 at Northwest Missouri.
• The Ichabods have not won two straight games since winning eight straight early in the season.
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Brady Sisk leads the team on the road with 12.0 points a game and he's shooting 61 percent.
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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.
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Andrew Meile is eighth in school history with 133 3-pointers and 333 attempts in his four years.
• Washburn's 21-point win Saturday was its first double-digit win since December 17. It was also the first time in the last six games that the Ichabods led at halftime.
About the Missouri Southern Lions
The Lions are 13-6 overall and second in the MIAA at 7-3 after defeating Washburn last week and then Truman Saturday to win two straight games. Vincent Ateba led the Lions with 20 points and 10 rebounds against WU and then had 12 against Truman. He is second on the team with 14.9 points a game while Tony Webb leads with 15.0. The Lions are first in the MIAA averaging 82.2 points a game and second shooting 48 percent. Ateba leads the MIAA with a .596 field goal percentage.
WU-MWSU series notes
• This is the 63rd meeting between the two schools in a series that goes back to 1968-69. Washburn leads the series 43-19.
• The Lions have won three straight in the series, sweeping the Ichabods last year and winning last week. Prior to that, Washburn had won nine of the last 10.
• Washburn is 9-6 against Missouri Southern on the road since joining the MIAA in 1989-90 and 20-7 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 homecourt advantage
Washburn improved to 7-1 at home this year after a 90-69 win over Missouri Western Saturday. The Ichabods are out-scoring their opponents by 20.3 points in Lee Arena. They score 84.2 points a game at home and shoot 47 percent while the visitors score 63.9 points with 38 percent shooting.
James Williams leads the Ichabods with 13.0 points a game at home and Angel Santiago and
Grant Hargett are both adding 10.8 a game.
Paul Byers is scoring 8.6 and leads the team with 58 percent shooting.
Washburn began playing in Lee Arena in 1984-85 and has gone 314-56 (.849) in the 24th season there.
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.
Ichabods have four second half comeback win of the season
The Ichabods have trailed at some point in the second half 11 times this year and have come back to win four times. They have trailed in the second half in nine of the 10 MIAA games so far this year and have come back to win three of them.
The Ichabods had trailed at halftime in five straight games until leading by four during Saturday's halftime against Missouri Western. They have been behind at the half in nine of the 10 conference games. When the Ichabods do lead at the half they are undefeated at 10-0.
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
Saturday's 21-point win against Missouri Southern was the first double-digit win for Washburn since a 33-point win December 17 against Southeastern Oklahoma State. The Ichabods are 5-6 in their last 11 games with nine of them being decided by nine points or less. In those nine games Washburn has lost three one-point games.
The Ichabods' one-point loss at SBU 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 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 10-2 overall this year when out-shooting their opponents and 1-5 when their opponent shoots at least 50 percent.
Ichabods are 8-2 when Sisk scores in double figures
Senior forward
Brady Sisk leads the team in scoring with 10.7 points a game and he's second shooting .556 from the field. He has reached double figures 10 times this year after scoring 13 against Missouri Southern Saturday and the Ichabods are 10-2 when he does so.
Sisk scored a season-high 19 at Fort Hays State and in 10 MIAA games he is scoring 11.0 points a game with 57 percent shooting.
Sisk has started the last five games for the Ichabods and in seven starts this year he is averaging 11.3 points a game and shooting .646 percent from the field. His 30th career double-figure scoring game came December 17 against Southeastern Oklahoma State.
Santiago second on the team in scoring
Washburn's leading bench scorer Angel Santiago is second overall on the team with 10.6 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.
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 four games. He leads the team with 82 assists and his 4.32 per game is second 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 37 steals and 1.95 per game. Scott had 19 points Saturday 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 8.5 points and 3.7 rebounds.
James Williams third on the team in scoring
Junior guard
James Williams is third on the team with 10.4 points. Williams scored 14 points off the bench against Missouri Western 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 13.0 points a game in seven 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 8.6 points a game and he leads the team shooting .560 from the field. He's second on the team shooting .442 from 3-point range.
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 133 3-pointers in his career, the eighth most in school history. He needs 16 more to catch Eric Carter, who had 149 from 1997-2001. He is also eighth in 3-point attempts with 334 and eighth in 3-point shooting percentage at 40 percent.
Meile has started every game the last two years and is averaging 7.8 points a game this year off 49 percent shooting and he leads the team with a .457 3-point percentage.
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 ad is seventh in the MIAA with 7.3 rebounds this year and he is scoring 5.7 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. 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 five straight games and six of the last seven 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 7.96 points a game and shooting 46 percent from the field and 42 percent from 3-point range. Saturday against Missouri Western he was 5 of 8 from the field and 3 of 5 from 3-point range for 13 points. In eight home games he is second on the team with 10.8 points a game.
Bods and Ends
• Washburn leads the MIAA in rebounding with 39.8 a game in rebound margin at +5.1.
• The Ichabods are 10-0 when leading at halftime this year and 9-1 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 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 Missouri Western game
• In the 72nd meeting between the two schools Washburn improved 42-30 against Missouri Western.
• The win snapped a three-game losing streak.
• The Ichabods improved to 10-0 when leading at the half. The game was the first time WU led at halftime in the last six games.
• Washburn's .545 3-point percentage is the highest this year and the sixth highest since single-game records were kept in 1999. The 12 made 3s is the fifth highest.
• Washburn's six turnovers is the lowest total since giving the ball away six times January 8, 2005 against Missouri Science and Technology (formerly Missouri-Rolla).
• Washburn scored at least 90 points for the first time since scoring 93 on December 17 against Southeastern Oklahoma State. WU improved to 6-0 this year when scoring 90 points or more and 129-6 since joining the MIAA in 1989-90.
• Washburn improved to 12-4 on Groundhog Day.
A winning history
• The Ichabods are 1,347-932 (.591 in 2,279 games) and are in their 103rd season of basketball.
• Starting their 24th season in Lee Arena, the Ichabods are 314-56 (.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.
