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Starting introductions
The Washburn Ichabods will begin a three-game home stand starting with Fort Hays State at 3:30 p.m. in Lee Arena this Saturday. The Ichabods (15-6, 9-4 MIAA) are coming off a 66-45 win over Truman last time out while the Tigers (14-5, 8-5 MIAA) have been off since a 62-58 Monday night win over Missouri Western in St. Joseph. The Ichabods currently sit third in the MIAA standings trailing front-runners Central Missouri (11-3) and Northwest Missouri (10-3). Missouri Southern (9-5) and Fort Hays State (8-5) are fourth and fifth respectively in the conference race. Washburn will continue its home stand on Wednesday with Central Missouri and wrap it up with Southwest Baptist on Feb. 11.

Game Quick Facts . . .
Game No. 22 - Washburn (15-6, 9-4 MIAA) vs Fort Hays State (14-5, 8-5 MIAA)
Game Notes: Washburn | Fort Hays State
Date: Feb. 4, 2012
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Location: Topeka, Kan.
Arena: Lee Arena
Radio: WIBW AM 580
Online Audio: Through wusports.com (free)
Online Video: Through America One
Television: None
Live Stats: Through wusports.com
Media Stats: Through wusports.com
Washburn Head Coach: Bob Chipman (Kansas State, 1973) - 711-294, 33rd season
Fort Hays State Head Coach: Mark Johnson (Pittsburg State, 1993)  - 221-94, 11th season
Series History / Streak: WU leads 84-66 / WU - 1
Last Meeting: WU won 61-45 on Dec. 7, 2011 in Hays

Ichabods on radio
Washburn basketball games can be heard live on WIBW AM 580. 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 711-294 (.707) overall and he has 469 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 home record of 413-77 (.840) record going 359-66 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 29-26 against Fort Hays.
Fort Hays State head coach Mark Johnson is 221-94 in his career, now in his 11th season. Johnson became just the third coach in FHSU history to reach 200 wins in men's basketball on February 5, 2011 with a win over Washburn in Hays. He joined Cade Suran (257) and Bill Morse (235) as the only coaches to reach 200 wins at FHSU. Johnson is the second-fastest to 200 wins among the three, as Morse reached the mark in just 241 games, while Johnson did it in 285 games. Johnson has guided the Tigers to 20 or more wins in six seasons now after a 26-7 mark last year. He is just one shy of Bill Morse for most 20-win seasons at FHSU, as Morse has seven. He is 10-3 against the Ichabods.

Last time out for the Ichabods • WU 66, Truman 45 • 2/1/12
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. -- The Washburn Ichabods used a 12-2 run over the first 5:12 of the second half to breeze to a 66-45 win over Truman State winning their third straight over the Bulldogs and their fourth in the last five trips to Pershing Arena.
The Ichabods (15-6, 9-4 MIAA) jump started the second half with a quick 7-0 run to build the lead to 39-29 after taking a 32-29 advantage into the locker room at the break. The half started with a jumper by Martin Mitchell, then a pair of free throws by Will McNeill and a 3-pointer by Bobby Chipman forcing a Truman (6-15, 4-10 MIAA) timeout. The Ichabods continued the pressure on the Bulldogs holding Truman without a field goal for the first 4:20 of the second half. The Bulldogs finished 7 of 26 from the field in the second half including 2 of 12 from 3-point range.
The Ichabods trailed only twice in the game and held the lead for the remainder of the game after the Bulldogs took a brief 7-6 lead at the 13:23 mark of the first half.
Zack Riggins led the Ichabods with a career-high 14 points with 12 coming in the first half. McNeill finished with 13 points. Chipman recorded a career-high 12 rebounds with 10 coming on the defensive end. Christian Ulsaker tied a career-high with eight points adding four rebounds. The Ichabods finished with 11 team steals with Jared Henry grabbing four and McNeill swiping three. Washburn turned 13 Bulldog turnovers into 18 points.
The Ichabods hit only 9 of 21 field goal attempts in the second half of the game for a 43 percent clip, but were 14 of 16 from the free throw line in the period and finished 20 of 24 for the game.
Washburn finished the game 21 of 52 from the field while the Bulldogs were held to 17 of 45 shooting and 8 of 26 from 3-point range. Truman was also 3 of 9 from the free throw line.   

About Fort Hays State
The Tigers fell out of the NABC poll for the first time in 36 weeks following their loss to Northwest Missouri on Saturday, but still received votes in this week's poll. The Tigers are 14-5 overall and 8-5 in the MIAA after topping Missouri Western last time out on Monday night in St. Joseph. Karron McKenzie leads the team averaging 11.5  ppg and Moses Dayee is averaging 11.4. Tyrone Phillips is scoring 10.9 per contest and Kendrick Morse is also averaging double figures at 10.3 ppg. Matt Simmons is averaging 7.3 ppg and a team-high 9.4 rebounds per game. The Tigers are averaging 69.3 ppg while allowing 63.8 ppg.
 
Series history with Fort Hays State
Saturday's meeting will be the 151st in the series history and Washburn leads 84-66. The series is the third-most played for Washburn behind Emporia State (197) and Pittsburg State (166). Washburn is 15-5 against the Tigers in Lee Arena. Fort Hays State is 4-2 against WU in overtime games. The Ichabods snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Tigers in Gross Memorial Coliseum with their 61-45 win on Dec. 7, 2011 marking their first win in Hays since an 84-75 victory on Nov. 28, 1998 prior to the Tigers joining the MIAA. The Ichabods also snapped a five-game losing streak overall to the Tigers in the win. The teams have never met in the MIAA Tournament.
 
Last meeting with Fort Hays State • WU 61, FHSU 45 • 12/7/11
HAYS, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods knocked off their second top 10 team of the season on the road handing the No. 10-ranked Fort Hays State Tigers their first loss of the season in a 61-45 win in Gross Memorial Coliseum.
The Ichabods led by five at the break 25-20 as Washburn held the Tigers to 8 of 26 shooting in the first half connecting on 31 percent of their shots. The Ichabods were 9 of 26 in the first half for a 35 percent average.
In the second half the Ichabods heated up to 13 of 24 from the field for a 54 percent average while the Washburn defense continued its pressure in the second half holding the Tigers (7-1, 1-1 MIAA) to 6 of 19 shooting in the frame for a 32 percent clip.
The Ichabods scored the first points of the second half to push their lead to seven on a lay up by Will McNeill and would push it to eight at 29-21 with 16:47 remaining in the game on a lay up by Zack Riggins, but a 3-pointer by Lance Russell cut the margin to five with 15:46 to play in the game with the Ichabods holding a 29-24 lead.
Washburn would eventually stretch its second half lead to as many as 16 three different times - the first with 6:37 remaining in the game on a jumper by Martin Mitchell. The Tigers cut the lead to 10 with 3:45 remaining but an dunk by McNeill and another bucket by McNeill pushed the margin back to 14 and a pair of free throws by Martin got the lead back to 16 points with 1:40 to play. After a lay up by the Tigers, Martin hit a lay up with 1:11 to wrap up the scoring and the win over the Tigers.
McNeill led the Ichabods with 20 points while pulling down nine rebounds. Mitchell tied a career-high with 18 points on 7 of 9 shooting from the field. Bobby Chipman set a career-high with a game-high nine rebounds.
Russell led the Tigers with nine points.
The Ichabods outscored the Tigers 32 to 12 in the paint and held a 39 to 23 advantage on the glass.   

Last time out for FHSU • FHSU 62, MWSU 58 • 1/30/12
(Jan. 30, 2012) – (FHSU Media Relations) -- Fort Hays State erased a 10-point halftime deficit at Missouri Western on Monday night (Jan. 30) and pulled out a hard-fought 62-58 win. Moses Dayee buried a huge 3-point field goal with 20 seconds remaining to put the Tigers up four, then Kendrick Morse sealed the win for the Tigers with a pair of free-throws with 13 seconds remaining.  
For the second straight game, the Tigers had a rough offensive first half. They shot just 25 percent (8-of-32) from the field and 15.4 percent (2-of-13) behind the 3-point line before the break, compared to 47.6 percent overall by the Griffons. Karron McKenzie was the only Tiger starter to score in the first half with eight points as 13 points came from the bench.
Fort Hays State forced 12 first half turnovers out of the Griffons to stay in the game and trail 31-21 at the half. The 21 first-half points matched the same amount scored in the opening half at Northwest Missouri State on Saturday.
The offensive woes went away quickly at the start of the second half as 3-point field goals started to fall for the Tigers. FHSU buried five of its first seven attempts beyond the arc after the break. Three of those came within a 19-7 run between the 16:37 and 8:22 marks by the Tigers that erased a nine-point deficit and gave them a three-point lead of 46-43. A layup by Markus Yarbrough with 9:58 remaining gave FHSU its first lead of the game.
The game was tight the rest of the way as there were four lead changes and three ties up to the 4:05 mark. Moses Dayee, as he did a few times last year in tight games, rose to the occasion and buried one of his four 3-point field goals with 2:07 remaining to give FHSU a five-point cushion.
Free-throw shooting became critical down the stretch and the Tigers left the Griffons in the game when both Kendrick Morse and Karron McKenzie missed the front end of a pair of 1-and-1 situations at the line. After the McKenzie miss, James Harris of Missouri Western hit a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left to cut the FHSU lead back to one.
The Tigers had to score on their next possession to keep the Griffons from having the last possession possibly to win the game. With ice water in his veins, Dayee buried another 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining that drove a dagger in the Griffons' comeback plans.
Missouri Western quickly went down the floor and got a two-point basket with 13 seconds remaining, but Morse got redemption at the free-throw line and buried a pair of free-throws to put the game away for the Tigers. He finished the game 6-of-7 at the line.
Dayee led the Tigers scoring effort with 14 points, all in the second half. He was 4-of-11 beyond the 3-point line in the game. Lance Russell and Morse provided huge sparks off the bench, each with 13 points. Russell was 5-of-7 from the field with two 3-point field goals. He had a fast-break dunk that capped the 19-7 run by the Tigers to go up three points with a little over eight minutes to go.
FHSU finished 56 percent (14-of-25) from the field in the second half, a complete turn around from the first half. The Tigers forced 19 turnovers out of the Griffons overall and hit 10 3-point field goals (8 in the second half), which allowed them to overcome a poor shooting night overall of 38.6 percent.
Lavonte Douglas led Missouri Western (7-13, 2-12 MIAA) in scoring with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Reed Mells and James Harris each had 13.

Bod tweets . . . 140-character or less notes on the ichabods
• In Washburn's wins the Ichabods are -84 in turnovers, the losses they are -2 compared to their opponents #GoodHandsTeam
• The Ichabods are 21 of 100 (.210) from 3-point range in their four losses #Ouch
• Washburn is shooting 84 of 224 (.375) from 3-point range in the wins #MuchBetter
• Opponents are 44 of 125 (.352) from 3-point range in Washburn's losses #DefendTheLongBall
• Will McNeill (20.7 ppg) is the only Ichabod averaging double figures in the WU losses #NeedScoringHelp
• Washburn is second in the MIAA in scoring defense at 61.4 ppg #TenaciousD
• Washburn leads the MIAA in defensive field goal percentage at .389 #PressureD
• The Ichabods are second (9.3) in the MIAA in steals per game #GoodHands
• Washburn is leading the MIAA in turnover margin (+4.1) #TakingCareOfTheBall
• The Ichabods are third in the MIAA in rebounding defense at 31.9 rpg #Boards
• Washburn is third in the MIAA in offensive rebounds at 12.9 rpg #SecondChances
• Will McNeill is second in the MIAA in scoring and 14th in rebounding (19.2 ppg/5.3 rpg) #HeIsAGuardPeople
• Alex North is 18th in the MIAA in rebounding at 5.1 per game #GlassMan
• Bobby Chipman is 11th in the MIAA in rebounding at 5.7 rpg #Boards
• Will McNeill is third in the MIAA in FG % at .478 (143 of 299) #SelectiveShooting
• North is eighth in the MIAA in FT percentage .797 (47-59) #Pure
• Will McNeill leads the MIAA in steals at 2.8 per game #QuickHands
• Martin Mitchell is seventh in the MIAA in assists with 3.3 per game #DishingTheBall
• Will McNeill needs 103 points to reach 1,000 for his career #WhenNotIf
• Will McNeill needs four steals to break the junior class record set by Rob Reilly's mark of 61 set during the 1985-86 season #recordbreaker
• Will McNeill's 102 free throw attempts this season is eighth on the junior class record chart #gettingtotheline

Ichabod Player Notes
#4  • Jared Henry  • G • 6-1 • 170 • So. • Career-high four steals vs Truman last time out
#5  • Jeff Reid  • G • 6-6 • 190 • So. • Twice tied season high with 5 rebounds in each of last two games
#10  • Will McNeill  • G • 6-1 • 190 • Jr. • 147 career steals 3rd on all-time chart (156-Canfield, 149-Summler)
#11  • Kyle Wiggins  • G • 6-2 • 165 • Fr. • Returned after missing MWSU game to play 17 minutes at Truman
#12  • Martin Mitchell  • G • 6-0 • 185 • Jr. • Scored a season-high 18 points in last meeting with FHSU
#14  • Christian Ulsaker  • F • 6-5 • 190 • Fr. • Tied career-high with eight points against Truman last time out
#15  • Mitch Allen  • G • 5-9 • 165 • Jr. • Has hit 30 career 3-pointers (30 of 88 attempts)
#20  • Bobby Chipman  • F • 6-8 • 210 • Jr. • Has led the team in rebounding in each of the last three games (10.0)
#21  • Joseph Smith  • F • 6-9 • 235 • Jr. • 11 of 22 from the field in the last four games (5.0 ppg)
#22  • Alex North  • F • 6-6 • 210 • So. • Has gone 49 of 61 from the free throw line this season
#24  • Zack Riggins  • F • 6-6 • 230 • RS-Jr. • Career-high 14 points against Truman last time out

Ichabod Basketball HIstory
Washburn is 1,419-980 (.590 in 2,399 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 470-210 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 359-66 (.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 take on Central Missouri on Feb. 8 and Southwest Baptist on Feb. 11 wrapping up the current three-game home stand.