Game Facts -- Game #11 Matchup: Washburn (7-3, 1-2 MIAA) vs Missouri Western (7-3, 2-1 MIAA) Date: Monday, Dec. 28, 2009 Time: 7:30 p.m. CST Site: Topeka, Kan. - Lee Arena (3,974) Radio: AM 580 WIBW Online Audio:  wusports.com Live Stats: wusports.com Live Video: wusports.com

Washburn Ichabods Polls NR in NABC NCAA Division II Poll Head Coach: Bob Chipman Alma Mater: Kansas State, 73 WU Record:    669-267, 31st season Career Record: 669-267, 31st season Basketball Page Roster Statistics Schedule Game Notes Media Guide Athletic Web Site

Missouri Western Griffons Polls NR in NABC NCAA Division II Poll Head Coach:     Tom Smith Alma Mater: Valparaiso, 1967 Record: 406-220, 22nd season School Record: 575-404, 35th season Basketball Page Roster Statistics Schedule Game Notes Media Guide Athletic Web Site

Setting the scene . . .
The Washburn Ichabods (7-3, 1-2 MIAA) return to conference play on Dec. 28 at 7:30 p.m. when they will play host to Missouri Western (7-3, 2-1 MIAA) in Lee Arena. The Ichabods are coming off a 1-1 trip at the Great Western Shootout in Las Vegas where they fell to then No. 17 Western Washington on Dec. 17 by a score of 71-56 before rebounding to top Central Washington 82-68 the following day. The Ichabods are beginning a stretch where they will have four games in the next nine days with three coming on the road.

Ichabods on Radio . . .
Ichabod games will be broadcast live on AM 580 WIBW. The game can also be heard on the internet at www.wusports.com by following the “Live Audio” link under basketball. Bruce Steinbrock will be the play-by-play voice of the Ichabods and former WU quarterback Mark Elliott will be the color analyst. Pregame show starts 15 minutes prior to tip.

The Coaches. . .
Washburn Ichabod head basketball coach Bob Chipman is in his 31st season at the helm of the Ichabod basketball program. For 24 years now Chipman has been the winningest coach in school history and in 2006-07 he became the second winningest coach as a member of the MIAA. Chipman is 669-267 (.716) overall and he has 421 wins since the Ichabods joined the MIAA - the most of any teams in the league since the 1991-92 season. Chipman is 36-26 against Missouri Western.
Missouri Western head coach Tom Smith is in his 22nd year at Missouri Western and his 35th year overall. While at Missouri Western, Coach Smith has compiled a 406-220 record. Smith has coached the Griffons to 10 NCAA Division II national tournaments, five MIAA regular season championships and four MIAA postseason tournament titles. Overall Smith is 575-403 in his 35th season overall.

Last time out for the Ichabods . . .
(Dec. 18, 2009) LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- The Washburn Ichabods wrapped up the non-conference season with an 82-68 win over Central Washington in the third game of the Great Western Shootout at the Doolittle Community Center in Las Vegas. With the win, the Ichabods improve to 7-3 on the season.
In the first half, the Ichabods shot a blistering 54 percent from the field hitting 20 of 37 shots including a 6 of 14 performance from 3-point range while holding the Wildcats to 14 of 33 (42 percent) with 3 of 11 from behind the arc.
The Ichabod trailed by as many nine in the first half at 16-7 with 15:10 to play but used a 10-0 run over the next 3:22 taking the lead at 17-16 on a free throw by Logan Stutz.  The Wildcats regained the lead pushing it to as many as four at 21-17 before the Ichabods rallied to take the lead for good in the first half on a 3-point play by Virgil Philistin with 9:20 remaining before taking the 14-point lead into the halftime break.
Washburn led by as many as 21 in the second half fighting off a Wildcat team who scored a season-low 68 points after coming into the game 13th in the nation in scoring at 91.0 points per game. The Wildcats battled back from the halftime break cutting the Washburn lead to seven points on two different occasions with the final time coming at 56-49 before the Ichabods used a 16-3 run over the next 3:37 taking a 72-52 lead as Washburn would go on to the 14-point win.
Washburn was led by De'Andre Washington who scored a game-high 21 points with 17 coming in the first half on 7 of 8 shooting from the field. He also added a game-high 12 rebounds coming recording his second straight double double after going for 16 points and 11 rebounds against No. 17 Western Washington on Thursday. William McNeill scored 19, Dezahn Otis scored 11 and Nate Wallace chipped in 10.
Jon Clift scored 16 to lead the Wildcats.
The Ichabods hit 46 percent of their shots for the game converting 31 of 68 while the Wildcats shot a season low 38.2 percent (21-of-55) from the field, including 31.8 percent (7-of-22) in the second half. Washburn hit 12 of 15 free throw attempts while the Wildcats were 22 of 29 from the free throw line.

About Missouri Western . . .
The Griffons are currently 7-3 on the season after falling to the No. 7-ranked Rollins Tars 91-73 at the Las Vegas High Desert Classic last time out on Dec. 19. In its other game in Las Vegas, the Griffons topped the No. 12-ranked Drury Panthers 91-84. The Griffons are 2-1 in MIAA play after topping Pittsburg State 80-77 on the road on Dec. 2, Emporia State 89-62 at home on Dec. 5 and falling at Fort Hays State 67-54. Marcus Rhodes lead the charge for Western averaging 17.7 points per game and shooting 58 percent from the field hitting 66 of 113 attempts. James Bush leads the Griffons on the boards with 5.9 rebounds per game. Dominique Thuston is averaging 13.0 points per game and Justin Taylor is scoring 10.1 ppg hitting a team-high 21 3-point attempts.

Last time out for the Griffons . . .
(Dec. 19, 2009) LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Despite shooting 50-percent (28-56) the Missouri Western Griffons fell 91-73 to the 7th ranked Rollins Tars. Western had a season low 19 rebounds in the contest as they fall to 7-3 on the season.
The first half between the Griffons and the Tars would be a back and forth battle as neither team could stretch their lead to more than nine. The Griffons would end the half on a 16-9 run to trail by just two at 43-41 at the half.
The Griffons were led by Marcus Rhodes in the first half as he had 11 points. Western shot 53.3-percent in the half making 16-of-30 shot attempts. The Tars made 17-of-28 shot attempts for 60.7-percent from the field with Myk Brown leading the way with 10 points. The Tars out rebounded the Griffons 20-13 in the first half.
Western opened the second half on an 18-12 run taking a four point lead at 59-55 with 13:22 left in the game. From there the Griffons would go cold getting outscored 36-16 falling by 18 points. The Tars improve to 8-1 with the victory.
Western finished the game shooting 50-percent (28-56) with Dominique Thuston leading the charge with 18 points. Quentin Noblin and Rhodes finished the game with 14 and 13 points respectively.
The Tars shot an outstanding 70-percent (35-50) from the field with Nick Wolf leading the charge with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Brown finished with 22 points while Nikola Baran finished with 12 and Matt Robertson, Greg Sweeney and Ian Scott each had 10 points.
Western had 22 assists while the Tars had 24. The Griffons had 26 bench points to the Tars 24.

SERIES NOTES with Missouri Western . . .
Monday's meeting will be the 75th meeting between the two schools with Washburn leading the series 43-31. The Ichabods are 20-16 against MWSU in MIAA games and 18-8 in Lee Arena. The two teams split last year's series with each winning its home game. Washburn has won four straight games against MWSU in Lee Arena. Missouri Western leads WU 4-3 in overtime games between the two schools. The last was a 79-77 Griffons win in double overtime on March 3, 1999.

Last meeting with Missouri Western . . .
(Jan. 31, 2009) -- TOPEKA, Kan. -- Darnell Kimble scored 22 points and five Ichabods reached double figures as they held off Missouri Western Saturday night in Lee Arena. Washburn improved to 12-8 and 8-5 in the MIAA with its second straight win while the Griffons fell to 9-11 and 6-7 in the MIAA.
Kimble went 7 of 7 from the field and 8 of 9 from the free throw line. Logan Stutz and DeAndre Eggins had 14 each, Nate Daniels had 12 and Lekheythan Malone had 10. Daniels was 4 of 5 from the field with three 3-pointers.
Washburn shot 50 percent while MWSU was 45 percent. The Ichabods made 24 of 31 free throws for a 77 percent effort while the Griffons were 57 percent, making 8 of 14.
Kimble led WU with six rebounds and James Williams had six assists and no turnovers.
The Ichabods led the entire game. They took their largest lead, 11 points, at 9:35 of the first half and they were up, 43-40 at halftime. The Griffons got within a point 96 seconds into the second half but a dunk from Malone at 11:19 made it a double-digit lead again, 64-54.
MWSU once again closed in late in the game and a 3-pointer from Dominique Thuston made the score 79-78, WU with one minute remaining. The Griffons had a chance to win in the final seconds but a 3-point attempt failed to hit the rim as the shot clock expired and Washburn ran the remaining second off the clock for the win.

Ichabods Notes . . .
#2  • De'Andre Washington  • F • 6-5 • 235 • Jr.  • Has averaged recorded double doubles in each of last two games (18.5 ppg/11.5 rpg)
#3  • Virgil Philistin  • G • 6-2 • 205 • Jr.  • Four of 13 from field in last two games (averaging 5.0 ppg)
#5  • Mitch Allen  • G • 5-9 • 165 • Fr.  • Made first career start with 3 assists and 0 turnovers in 17 minutes
#10  • William McNeill  • G • 6-0 • 190 • So.  • Has been in double figure points in last four games (30 of 50 from field)
#12  • Maurice Colter  • G • 5-10 • 175 • Jr.  • 17 of 19 rebounds this season have been on the defensive end of the court
#14  • Logan Stutz  • F • 6-9 • 205 • Jr.  • Has recorded 18 offensive and 18 defensive rebounds this season (4.5 per game)
#15  • Nate Wallace  • G • 6-1 • 210 • Sr.  • Season-high 10 points off the bench against Central Washington last time out
#20  • Bobby Chipman  • F • 6-8 • 210 • Fr.  • Career high eight rebounds (3 offensive) in last game against Central Washington
#21  • Bryce Simons  • G • 6-3 • 195 • Fr.  • Has hit at least one 3-pointer in 4 of last 5 games
#22  • Steve Feighny  • F • 6-5 • 215 • So.  • Tied season high with 6 points against Truman hitting all 3 field goal attempts
#23  • Dezahn Otis  • G • 6-3 • 180 • Jr.  • Season highs in FGA's, FTs, FTAs in last game scoring 11 against Cent. Wash.
#24  • Anthony Nocito  • F • 6-8 • 240 • Jr.  • Tied season high with 3 points against Truman
#32  • Todd Eils  • G • 6-2 • 175 • Rf.  • Has played in five games this season seeing 11 minutes of playing time
#33  • Nate Daniels  • G • 6-3 • 190 • Jr.  • Went 4 of 4 from the field with one 3-pointer scoring 9 on birthday against CWU
#35  • Jordan Lambkins  • G • 6-2 • 190 • Fr.  • Will redshirt this season

Three-second calls. . .(quick tid-bits on the 'Bods)
Washburn has outscored their opponents 107 to 105 in the last five minutes of games this season … the Ichabods are shooing 46 percent in the second half of games hitting 147 of 320 shots while hitting 44 percent of their attempts in the first half hitting 141 of 324 … the Ichabods are nearly even with their opponents reboudning total in the first half leading 188 to 185 - Washburn is outrebounding their opponents 192 to 150 (19.2 to 15.0) in the second half this season … the Ichabods are 9-7 on Dec. 28 since the 1961 season … William McNeill is 9 of 14 in the final five minutes of games this season … Bobby Chipman leads the Ichabods with 10 total rebounds in the final five minutes of games this season … the Truman game was the first game this season the Ichabods did not trail at any point during the game … Washburn's bench has outscored their opponents bench 325 to 213 this season (32.5 to 21.3) … the Ichabods have had 98 fast break points compared to 43 for their opponents including a season-high 16 against St. Mary … the Ichabods are outscoring their opponents 371 to 235 in the paint this season … in the Ichabods' win over Central Washington, it was the second time WU fought back for a victory when trailing by nine points (Bethany was the other) … Nate Daniels has averaged 7.0 ppg in two games against the Griffons hitting 5 of 6 attempts from the field connecting on 3 of 4 3-point attempt … De'Andre Washington is averaging 17.8 ppg in six home games this season hitting 9 of 17 3-pointers … the Ichabods are outscoring their opponents 82.8 to 55.8 in the six home games this season … the Ichabods have won thier last six home games with the last loss coming in the season finale to end the 2008-09 home slate to Emporia State.

Ichabod Basketball History . . .
Washburn is 1,367-952 (.682 in 2,319 games) in its 104th season of intercollegiate action. The Ichabods are the ninth-winningest team in NCAA Division II history and the 26th winningest team this decade. The Ichabods are 428-185 since joining the NCAA Division II ranks, which is the most since the 1989-90 season in the MIAA.

Ichabods In Lee Arena . . .
The Ichabods are 336-59 (.848) all-time in Lee Arena - the 26th season of play. The Ichabods recorded a school-best 28-game winning streak from Nov. 19, 1993 to Feb. 8, 1995 in Lee Arena. The Ichabods have won 15 straight regular season non-conference home games and 38 of their last 41 regular season non-conference games home.

Up Next . . .
The Ichabods will wrap up the 2009 calendar year when they will travel to No. 14 Fort Hays State on Dec. 30 before returning to the road again to face No. 1 ranked Central Missouri on Jan. 2 and No. 13 Southwest Baptist on Jan. 5 before facing Missouri Southern on Jan. 9 in Topeka.