'Bod Quick notes
• Thursday's trip to Topeka will be the first for the Lopers since a 97-90 loss to the Ichabods on Feb. 25, 1989.
• Washburn has won the last six meetings in the series with the win earlier this season on Jan. 12.
• Overall the Ichabods have won 10 of the last 11 meetings with the Lopers.
• The 61 points scored by the Ichabods against Northwest Missouri was the third-lowest output of the season by Washburn this season.
• The game against the Bearcats marked the third time the Ichabods let a lead of at least nine points slip away in defeat. Washburn was up 10 with 15:40 to play in the first half against Truman and lost 85-78. Washburn had a nine-point lead against Missouri Western with 11:28 to play in the game and fell 79-74 and against the Bearcats the Ichabods were up 10 with 2:15 to play in the first half and fell 63-61.
• The seven assists against the Bearcats tied for the fewest by Washburn this season.
• Will McNeill has tied the Washburn senior class record for steals of 63 held by Jordy Canfield.
• Washburn is sixth in the NCAA in assist to turnover ratio and seventh in turnovers per game.
• Will McNeill is fifth on the NCAA Division II active steals chart with 228. Alex Falk of West Liberty leads all active players with 257.
• Will McNeill is sixth in active player free throws made with 462 in Division II.
• Will McNeill is ninth in the NCAA in steals at 2.9 per game this season.

Ichabods on radio
Washburn games will be broadcast on AM 580 WIBW with Mark Elliott and Jake Lebahn. The game will also be streamed live on the wusports.com website by following the listen live links on the men's basketball schedule page.

The coaches
Washburn Ichabod head basketball coach Bob Chipman
• is in his 34th season at the helm of the Ichabods.
• a 1973 graduate of Kansas State earning both his undergraduate and master's degree in Manhattan.
• is 737-302 overall.
• has 496 wins since the Ichabods joined the MIAA, the most of any conference school since the 1989-90 season.
• has led the Ichabods to 12 MIAA regular season titles and a MIAA-coaching tops of five postseason tournament championships.
• has led the Ichabods to 12 NCAA National Tournament appearances.
• in home games, he is 425-79 going 372-68 in Lee Arena.
• is second in all-time coaching victories in active NCAA Division II coaches.
• his 737 coaching wins is 22nd in all-time NCAA coaches at all levels.
• led the Ichabods to the 1987 NAIA National Championship and a 2001 NCAA National game, which was later vacated by Kentucky Wesleyan.
• Chipman played for legendary coach Jack Hartman earning two letters.
• Chipman is 12-9 against Nebraska-Kearney.

Nebraska-Kearney co-head coaches Tom Kropp and Kevin Lofton . . .
• Tom Kropp is 448-218 in his 23rd season as coach/co-coach for the Lopers.
• The 2012-13 season marked Kropp's 33rd year as a member of the Nebraska-Kearney men's basketball coaching staff. He served as a graduate assistant for two years (1977-79) and an assistant for seven years (1983-1990).
• From 1990-96 he was co-head coach with Jerry Hueser, and the duo posted a 111-60 record. Kropp was then the head coach of UNK from 1997-06, leading the Lopers to an impressive 215-60 record.
• The Lopers have won more than 20 games in 11 of the last 17 years, qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 10 of the last 16 years, have made three “Sweet Sixteens”, and one “Elite Eight” while compiling a winning record in the NCAA Tournament.
• Kevin Lofton is in his 18th year as a co-head coach and was promoted to co-head coach in 2005.
• He is 122-98 since the start of the 2006-07 season.

Last time out for the Ichabods • Northwest Missouri 63, #25 Washburn 61 •  2/16/13
MARYVILLE, Mo. -- The No. 25-ranked Washburn Ichabods dropped a heartbreaker falling 63-61 at Northwest Missouri. Washburn returns home on Thursday to face Nebraska-Kearney. The Ichabods are tied for third in the MIAA standings one game behind Fort Hays State and Central Missouri, who both will visit Topeka in the last two weeks of the season.
The Ichabods and the Bearcats were tied at 54 with 1:52 to play in the game after Will McNeill hit a jumper to tie the score leading to a Washburn timeout.The Bearcats' De'Angelo Hailey hit a pair of free throws with 1:25 to play putting Northwest back up two and they would go up four after they converted a layup. The Bearcats extended their lead to six with 18 seconds left after another pair of Hailey free throws.
The Ichabods' Martin Mitchell hit a 3-pointer from the corner cutting the lead in half with 15 seconds to play. The Bearcats were fouled and hit one of two free throws with 14 seconds to play.
Leon Flowers hit a 3-pointer of his own with 11 seconds to play pulling Washburn within one at 61-60. The Bearcats' Hailey went back to the line and hit both free throws with five seconds remaining. On the inbounds play, McNeill was fouled and went to the line with four seconds to play and hit the first one making the score 63-61. McNeill intentionally missed the second and Mitchell's shot after McNeill rebounded rimmed out and Joseph Smith's tip at the buzzer fell off the side wrapping up the win for the Bearcats.
The Ichabods (16-6, 9-5 MIAA) led 32-25 at the break after the Bearcats turned a double digit deficit into the seven-point difference after De'Angelo Hailey hit a buzzer beater from halfcourt with no time remaining on the clock.
Washburn was 13 of 24 in the first half shooting 54 percent while the Bearcats almost shot the same hitting 53 percent connecting on 10 of 19 shots. Washburn did have a 12 to 10 advantage on the glass turning nine offensive rebounds into seven second chance points.
The Ichabods were led by McNeill's 23 adding six rebounds. Wiggins had 11 points and Mitchell finished with 10. Bobby Chipman had six points and a team-high nine rebounds before fouling out.
The Bearcats were led by Hailey's 19 points while Connor Crooker had 16 and Grant Cozad had 11. None of the Bearcat starters reached double figures as the Northwest bench outscored the Ichabods 46 to 9.
After shooting 54 percent in the first half the Ichabods cooled off to 38 percent in the second half hitting 25 of 56 overall for a 45 percent average. Northwest finished 21 of 42 from the field overall. At the free throw line, the Bearcats were 18 of 27 compared to 7 of 10 for the Ichabods.

Series history with Nebraska-Kearney
• Washburn leads the all-time series 16-15 with the Ichabods winning the last six meetings.
• The Ichabods have won the last three in Kearney and four of the last five.
• All-time in games in Kearney, the Ichabods are 5-12 after losing the first 11 times they played there.
• The teams have not met since a Feb. 25, 1989 game in Topeka in which the Ichabods won 97-90. 

Last meeting with Nebraska-Kearney
(Jan. 12, 2013) KEARNEY, Neb. -- The No. 13-ranked Ichabods made their first trip to face the Lopers in more than 20 years a good one as Washburn cruised to a 72-56 win over Nebraska-Kearney.
Martin Mitchell led the Ichabods with 23 points tying a career high and Will McNeill recorded his second-straight double double - his sixth of his career - in the win while Bobby Chipman filled up his stat line with eight points, 10 rebounds and a career-high seven assists.
The Ichabods (10-2, 3-1 MIAA) trailed only once at 4-3 during the game as Washburn turned an 11-11 tie using a 13-2 run over a four-minute span to go up 11 at 24-13 with 8:19 to play in the first half. The Ichabods would go on to lead by as many as 14 in the first half before taking a 36-25 lead into the break over the Lopers (4-10, 1-5 MIAA).
In the second half the Lopers would get no closer than 13 as Washburn started on a 6-0 run to put the game out of reach as the Ichabods would go on to build a margin of 25 points at 59-34 with 11:15 to play rolling to the 16-point win.
Mitchell scored 17 of his 23 in the first half hitting 7 of 9 shots from the field including three 3-pointers. Washburn shot 58 percent in the first half hitting 15 of 26 shots and finished 30 of 55 from the field for a 55 percent average. Defensively the Ichabods held the Lopers to 34 percent from the field.
Washburn had 24 assists on its 30 made field goals. Following Chipman's seven, Kyle Wiggins and Mitchell each had five assists and McNeill had four. Joseph Smith had three blocks eight points and seven rebounds.
Pierre Newton led the Lopers with 14 points and Jon Henderson scored 13.

About Nebraska-Kearney
• The Lopers are 6-16 overall and 3-11 coming off  an 82-70 loss at home to Fort Hays State.
• Jon Henderson leads three active Lopers in double figures averaging 15.5 ppg.
• Pierre Newton is scoring 13.1 ppg and Mike Dentlinger is averaging 12.5 ppg.
• Tyler Shields leads the team in rebounds at 6.8 per game chipping in 9.8 ppg.
• UNK is shooting 46 percent from the field while averaging 72.9 ppg and allowing 79.0 per contest.

Last time out for Nebraska-Kearney
Feb. 16, 2013 -- Fort Hays State junior post Dwayne Brunson scored 35 points as the Fort Hays State Tigers overcame a slow start to beat Nebraska-Kearney, 82-70, Saturday afternoon at the Health & Sports Center.
The Tigers (17-6, 11-4) have now won seven straight, currently tops in the MIAA, to be tied for first place in the league standings with Central Missouri.
UNK (6-16, 3-11) came out red hot, shooting well over 70% from the field to grab a 29-19 lead by the 7:15 mark. This early stretch included nine points from sophomore wing Pierre Newton (Laveen, Ariz.) and two threes by junior point guard Taylor Shipley (Pacific Palisades, Calif.).
However, Hays used an 11-0 run to grab its first lead of the day. This spurt included five straight points by freshman point guard Craig Nicholson and four straight points by senior wing Lance Russell.
The Lopers briefly led 31-30 before the Tigers closed the half on a 9-6 run to lead by two at the break. Brunson had 18 of his points in the first 20 minutes.
FHSU shot 69.6% (16 of 23) in the second half as Brunson and Russell combined for 29 points on 12 of 14 shooting.
The Tigers opened up a 58-45 advantage with 13:18 to play as Brunson scored 10 more points, two coming on a dunk.  The lead grew to 19 points before UNK rallied, getting a three from senior Jon Henderson (Salt Lake City, Utah) to make it 73-64 by the 2:47 mark.
But, Brunson scored the game's next seven points to cap his big day. The Queens, N.Y., native reached his career-high point total by going 14 of 16 from the field and 7 of 7 at the line. He also had seven rebounds (five offensive) and five blocks in  27 minutes of work.
Also, Russell finished with 18 points and five assists with Nicholson, saddled with foul trouble, at 11 points and four dimes.
Making 34.5% (10 of 29) of its shots after the break, UNK got 19 points from Newton and 17 from Henderson. The pair combined to go 6 of 13 from behind the arc with Newton going 7 of 9 at the line.
Off the bench, Lincoln senior post Drew Sankey had nine points, five rebounds and two steals.

Bod bits
• Will McNeill was named a preseason All-American by the Basketball Times. He is the first Ichabod to receive preseason All-American honors since Travis Robbins prior to the 2004-05 season.
• Will McNeill has been named the MIAA Player of the Week twice on Nov. 26 and on Dec. 3.
• The Ichabods are +9.9 in scoring margin this season.
• The three freshman on the Ichabod roster (Khai Hutchinson, Evan Robinson and Colton Anderson) are all redshirting this season.
• Bryce Simons has missed the entire season with a knee injury.
• Alex North suffered a knee injury against Central Oklahoma and missed the last nine games and is likely heading for a medical redshirt as he's played in only five games this season after suffering a concussion against Bethany on Nov. 19.
• McNeill also became only the second Ichabod to score at least 1,500 points and 200 assists joining Tom Meier (2,082/242).
• With 24 more rebounds, McNeill would become the ninth Ichabod to have at least 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
• With 24 more rebounds, McNeill would become the first Ichabod to have at least 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 200 steals.

Bod tweets . . . 140-character or less notes on the Ichabods
• Will McNeill sits in sixth-place on the all-time scoring chart with his 1,560 career points.
• Next on the chart is in fifth-place on the all-time scoring chart is Ewan Auguste (1,636 - 1997-2001) #SelectCompany
• Will McNeill's 519 field goals is eighth all-time at Washburn #Scorer
• Bobby Chipman's 213 3-point attempts is 20th in school history #FromWayDowntown
• Bobby Chipman's 87 career blocks is third all-time at Washburn and can move into the top two with nine more #RejectionCity
• Bobby Chipman's 521 rebounds is 14th all-time at Washburn #boards
• Will McNeill's 462 free throw made is third at Washburn and 12 from second place #GetToTheLine
• Will McNeill's 548 free throw attempts is fifth and four from fourth at Washburn #LineTime
• Will McNeill's .791 free throw percentage is eighth all-time at WU #Automatic
• Will McNeill moved into 21st on the Washburn all-time rebounding chart with 476 #HeIsAGuard
• Will McNeill's 203 assists is 20th all-time at Washburn. #PassingTheRock
• Martin Mitchell's career assist average of 3.5 per game is tied for ninth all-time at Washburn #Dimes
• Martin Mitchell's 193 career assists is 20th on the all-time chart at Washburn #NoLook
• Martin Mitchell's 77 3-pointers is tied for 21st on the all-time Washburn chart.
• Joseph Smith's 40 career blocks is 14th all-time at Washburn. #NoNos
• Will McNeill's 228 career steals is first at Washburn #NoBodyInFrontOfHim
• The MIAA record for career steals is 383 by Eddin Santiago #FastHands
• In scoring 23 points against Northwest Missouri, Will McNeill kept his double-figure scoring streak alive at 55 games with all 33 games in the 2011-12 season and the first 22 of this season. #DoNotTalkAboutTheStreak

Ichabod Basketball HIstory
• Washburn is 1,447-975-2 all-time in 2,424 games played
• The 2012-13 season is Washburn's 107th of basketball.
• Washburn is the ninth-winningest program in NCAA Division II history.
• The Ichabods are 496-218 since joining the NCAA Division II ranks, which is the most wins by any program in the MIAA since the 1989-90 season.
• Washburn has won ten MIAA regular season championships and 21 conference championships in school history.
• The Ichabods previously won the MIAA regular season championship in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2012.

Ichabods in the national rankings
The Ichabods fell out of the NABC Top 25 coaches poll for the first time this season after going 1-1 last week after winning at Missouri Western and dropping a 63-61 decision at Northwest Missouri. The Ichabods have been in the top 25 a total of 98 times since joining the NCAA ranks and they have been voted in the top 10 a total of 51 times since the 1989-90 season.

Home sweet home
• The Ichabods are 372-68 (.848) all-time in Lee Arena.
• The 2012-13 season marks the 28th season of play in Lee Arena.
• 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 face Fort Hays State on Feb. 23. Washburn's final regular season away game will be at Emporia State on Feb. 28 and they will wrap up the regular season at home on senior night against Central Missouri in the MIAA's TV game of the week on March 2.