Starting introductions
The Washburn Ichabods will open MIAA play as they travel to Maryville, Mo., to face the undefeated Northwest Missouri State Bearcats. The Ichabods (5-2, 0-0 MIAA) are coming off a 73-63 win at Nebraska Omaha on Tuesday night while the Bearcats (6-0, 1-0 MIAA) topped Emporia State at home in their conference opener 68-63 on Wednesday.

Game Quick Facts . . .
Game No. 8 - Washburn (5-2, 0-0 MIAA) at Northwest Missouri (6-0, 1-0 MIAA)
Game Notes: Washburn | Northwest Missouri
Date: Dec. 3, 2011
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Maryville, Mo.
Arena: Bearcat Arena
Radio: AM 580 WIBW
Online Audio: Through wusports.com (free)
Online Video: Through America One
Television: None
Live Stats: Through northwestbearcats.com
Washburn Head Coach: Bob Chipman (Kansas State, 1973) - 701-290, 33rd season
Northwest Missouri Head Coach: Ben McCollum (Northwest Missouri, 2003) - 26-31, 3rd season
Series History: Washburn leads 57-33

Ichabods on the radio
Washburn basketball games can be heard live on AM 580 WIBW. The game can also be heard on the internet at www.wusports.com by following the “Live Audio” link on the basketball schedule page. Mark Elliott will have the call on the radio with Jake Lebahn providing color commentary.

The coaches
Washburn Ichabod head basketball coach Bob Chipman is in his 33rd season at the helm of the Ichabod basketball program. Chipman is 701-290 (.707) overall and he has 460 wins since the Ichabods joined the MIAA - the most of any teams in the league since the 1991-92 season. Chipman has led the Ichabods to the MIAA Tournament 19 times collecting an all-time league-best 29 wins going 29-16 with a .675 winning percentage during tournament play. In home games, Chipman has amassed a 408-77 (.840) record going 353-65 in Lee Arena and 54-12 in Whiting Fieldhouse. Chipman is 11th amongst all NCAA II coaches in winning percentage who have coached at least 10 seasons. Among that group, he is second in all-time coaching victories in active coaches in career victories. Among all coaches who have at least 10 years experience in DII, he is 25th in winning percentage and seventh in victories. At Washburn he has led the Ichabods to 11 conference regular season titles (9 MIAA), 11 NCAA Tournament appearances and the 1987 NAIA National Championship. Chipman is 34-17 against the Bearcats.
Bearcats head coach Ben McCollum is 27-31 in his third season at Northwest Missouri. McCollum is the 20th head coach in the history of Northwest men's basketball. He replaced Steve Tappmeyer, who served as McCollum's coach for two seasons from 2001-03. In those two years, McCollum helped lead the Bearcats to a 51-12 record, including a 29-3 mark during the 2001-02 campaign that culminated with the program's first Elite Eight appearance. McCollum is 1-3 against the Ichabods.

Last time out for the Ichabods • WU 73, UNO 63 • 11/29/11
OMAHA, Neb. -- The Ichabods last win over an NCAA Division I team was on Nov. 29, 1984 in Stillwater, Okla. in a 67-66 win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys after defeating Nebraska Omaha 73-63 in Sapp Fieldhouse.
After leading 41-27 at the half, the Mavericks jumped back in the game in the second half cutting the Washburn lead to seven at 46-39 opening the half on a 12-4 run over the first 4:20 of the half hitting the first four of their second half shots.
The Ichabods pushed the lead back to 14 at 55-41 with 11:49 to go in the game after Bobby Chipman scored five straight points including his first 3-pointer of the night. UNO cut the Washburn lead back to seven at 55-48 with 9:10 to play in the game. A bucket by Will McNeill stopped a four-plus minute scoring drought.
Chipman hit his second three of the night with 5:20 to go extending Washburn's lead back to double digits at 65-55. A pair of free throws by Alex North put the Ichabods up a dozen with 4:36 to go.
Washburn led by 10 at 67-57 and would push its lead to 12 with 3:10 to go after a jumper in the lane by Kyle Wiggins. The Mavericks would not get closer than 10 the rest of the game as Washburn improved to 5-2 on the season.
The Ichabods never trailed in the first half stretching their lead to as many as 14 on a 3-pointer by Mitch Allen with 37 seconds left in the first half. Washburn was 16 of 30 from the field in the opening half and dominated the Mavericks on the boards outrebounding UNO 20 to 6 holding UNO to two offensive rebounds in the stanza.
McNeill led the Ichabods with 18 points while hitting all eight of his free throw attempts. Chipman scored 12 and Mitchell finished with 11.
UNO (2-5) was led by Alex Welhouse with 16 points. Mitch Albers scored 11 and C.J. Cater scored 10.   

About Northwest Missouri
The Bearcats are off to a 6-0 start after topping Emporia State 68-63 in their season opener.  The Bearcats have not started the season 6-0 since the 2003-04 season when they won their first 13 games before falling to Washburn on Jan. 14 in Bearcat Arena. The Bearcats went on to win the MIAA that season. DeShaun Cooper leads the team in scoring as the only Bearcat in double figures averaging 15.7 ppg. DeAngelo Hailey is scoring 9.7 ppg. Jake Reinders is the team's leading rebounder at 5.7 per game.
 
Series history with Northwest Missouri
Saturday's meeting will be the 91st between the two schools and Washburn holds a 57-33 lead in the series. Washburn has won seven of the last nine including the last three in the series. The series dates back to the 1940-41 season and they have played each other every year since WU joined the MIAA in 1989-90. The Ichabods are 21-7 against the Bearcats in Lee Arena and have won the last five at home. Since the 1956-57 season, Washburn is 20-18 in Maryville and since joining the MIAA during the 1990-91 season, the Ichabods are 11-8 on the road.

Last time out for Northwest Missouri • NWMSU 68, ESU 63
(Nov. 30, 2011) – The Bearcats defeated Emporia State 68-63 in their conference opener.
Northwest had four Bearcats reach double figures led by Kyle Haake's 12 points. DeShaun Cooper and DeAngelo Hailey each had 11 and Dillon Startzi scored 10 with a game-high seven rebounds. Both teams combined for 12 field goals in the first half as the Bearcats were 7 of 25 and ESU was 5 of 21. The Hornets rebounded to shoot 69 percent in the second half to finish 25 of 50 for the game. The Bearcats were 20 of 25 from the free throw line compared to the Hornets going 9 of 14. Northwest also held a 36 to 25 advantage on the glass.

Last meeting with NWMSU • WU 71, NWMSU 55
MARYVILLE, Mo. -- The Washburn Ichabods won their fifth straight game sweeping the season series with Northwest Missouri in a 71-55 win over the Bearcats in Bearcat Arena on Wednesday night.
The Ichabods led 30-26 at the break after shooting 50 percent in the half hitting 11 of 22 points going 4 of 9 from 3-point range. The Ichabods were out rebounded on the glass 14 to 8 collecting only one offensive rebound. The Ichabods led by nine at 24-15 with 9:43 to play in the opening half on a 3-pointer by Jeff Reid.
The Ichabods built the lead back to seven at 39-32 prior to a Bearcat timeout with 15:21 to go in the game after Northwest's Elijah Allen tipped in a Logan Stutz miss crediting the basket to Stutz. Following a 3-pointer by De'Andre Washington with 11:12 to go in the game the Ichabod lead was stretched to 17 at 49-32 while continuing the run in the second half at 19-6.
Washburn would stretch the lead to as many as 20 with 5:54 to go in the game before the Bearcats would cut the lead to 65-55 with 2:10 to go before Reid scored six straight points to push it back to 14 and drew a charge on the Bearcats' next possession with 1:35 to go in the game.
Washington led the Ichabods with 16 points while dishing out eight assists with five rebounds. Mumpfield finished with 12 points going 3 of 4 from 3-point range and Scaife tallied a career-high 10 points on 5 of 6 shooting from the field.
Elijah Allen scored 12 points and DeShaun Cooper had 10.
Washburn finished the game shooting 56 percent including a 16 of 26 performance in the second half going 5 of 9 from 3-point range.
Both teams finished with 21 rebounds collecting identical lines of eight offensive boards and 13 defensive rebounds. Washburn had 19 assists and nine turnovers while Northwest had 12 assists and 15 turnovers.  

Bod tweets . . . 140-character or less notes on the ichabods
• The Ichabods are 12-9 in MIAA openers while going 3-1 against the Bearcats in conference openers #gamequickfacts
• December 1st is the earliest date the Ichabods have started the MIAA season #getreadytoplay
• Bobby Chipman has scored 12 points in two of five career meetings with UNO -both tying career highs #likesthecolorred
• Will McNeill has scored 26 more points (140) as a junior in seven games than he did as a freshman in 27 games (114) #growingup
• The Ichabods are 4-0 when leading at the half this season #lockerroomconfidence
• Alex North has made all 16 free throw attempts this season #doesnotbeleiveinjinxes
• The Ichabods are 3-1 in the last four games played in Bearcat Arena #friendlyconfines
• The game against the Bearcats will be Bob Chipman's 992nd game coached for the Ichabods going 701-290 #winningformula

Ichabod Player Notes
#1  • Dejuan Lofton  • G • 5-11 • 185 • Jr. • Two of 4 from field (2-2 from 3's) in last two games played
#4  • Jared Henry  • G • 6-1 • 170 • So. • Three of 3 from the field in the last two games played (3.5 ppg)
#5  • Jeff Reid  • G • 6-6 • 190 • So. • Made first start of the season scoring 6 points hitting 2 3's
#10  • Will McNeill  • G • 6-1 • 190 • Jr. • Eight of 8 from FT line against UNO in last game.
#11  • Kyle Wiggins  • G • 6-2 • 165 • Fr. • Seven rebounds against UNO was a career high (6 defensive)
#12  • Martin Mitchell  • G • 6-0 • 185 • Jr. • Fourteen to 2 assist to turnover ration in last three games
#14  • Christian Ulsaker  • F • 6-5 • 190 • Fr. • Five of 8 from the field in last three games (4.0 ppg)
#15  • Mitch Allen  • G • 5-9 • 165 • Jr. • All 11 field goal attempts this season have been from 3-point range
#20  • Bobby Chipman  • F • 6-8 • 210 • Jr. • Season high 12 points against UNO last time out
#21  • Joseph Smith  • F • 6-9 • 235 • Jr. • At least one block in four of seven games this season
#22  • Alex North  • F • 6-6 • 210 • So. • Has hit 6 of last 8 3-point attempts
#24  • Zack Riggins  • F • 6-6 • 230 • RS-So. • Tied career high with four FT attempts in last game at UNO

Ichabod Basketball HIstory
Washburn is 1,409-976 (.590 in 2,385 games) in its 106th season of intercollegiate action. The Ichabods are the 10th-winningest team in NCAA Division II history and the 26th winningest team this decade. The Ichabods are 459-205 since joining the NCAA Division II ranks, which is the most since the 1989-90 season in the MIAA.

Home sweet home . . . the Ichabods in Lee Arena
The Ichabods are 354-65 (.848) all-time in Lee Arena - the 28th season of play. The Ichabods recorded a school-best 28-game winning streak from Nov. 19, 1993 to Feb. 8, 1995 in Lee Arena.

Up Next
Washburn will continue its three-game road trip with a drive on Dec. 7 to face Fort Hays State. Washburn will finally get a conference game when they will face Truman on Dec. 10 before taking a week off for finals returning to the court on Dec. 17 when they will play host to Missouri Western.