•    The Washburn Ichabods are back in action on Saturday night at 7 p.m. when they will face Pittsburg State in their first game in a week.
•   Washburn (11-3, 4-3 MIAA) is look to snap a two-game losing streak after falling 83-76 on Jan. 11 to Northwest Missouri at home in its first home loss of the season. The Ichabods dropped a 79-69 decision at Central Missouri on Jan. 6.
•   Pittsburg State is 6-7 this season and 2-4 in MIAA play after losing at Emporia State on Wednesday 83-75 in Emporia.
 
•    The Washburn Ichabods have won 510 games since becoming a member of the NCAA Division II ranks prior to the start of the 1989-89 season - which is the most by any member of the MIAA during that stretch.
•   The Ichabods have scored 578 points in the first half and 570 points in the second half of games this season.
•   The Ichabods are playing only their fifth game on Schendel Court since Nov. 26.
•   The Ichabods are looking to avoid their first two-game losing streak at home since a Feb. 5 loss to Fort Hays State and a Feb. 10 loss to Central Missouri during the 2009-10 season.
•   The Ichabods are also looking to avoid their first three-game losing streak since the 2010-11 season when they fell to Fort Hays State at home on Dec. 8 and then had losses at Truman on Dec. 11 and at Missouri Western on Dec. 19.
•   Junior Alex North went over the 500-point mark against Northwest Missouri. He has scored 516 points in 75 games averaging 6.9 a game including a 14.1 ppg average this season.
•   Junior Jeff Reid went over the 600-point plateau as he now has 611 in his third season at Washburn.
•   Junior Kyle Wiggins went over the 600-point mark against Northwest Missouri. He now has 603 for his Washburn career averaging 8.3 ppg in 73 games including a tam-high 15.3 ppg this season.
•   Ichabod junior Christian Ulsaker will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a broken bone in his shooting hand in practice. He was averaging career-bests of 13.0 ppg and 3.8 rpg. He will apply for a medical redshirt as he played in only four games.
 
Washburn games will be broadcast on AM 580 WIBW radio with Mark Elliott and Jake Lebahn calling the action. 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.
 
Washburn Ichabod head basketball coach Bob Chipman
•    is in his 35th season at the helm of the Ichabods.
•    a 1973 graduate of Kansas State earning both his undergraduate and master's degree in Manhattan.
•    is 751-307 overall.
•    has 510 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 MIAA tournament championships.
•    has led the Ichabods to 12 NCAA National Tournament appearances.
•    in home games, he is 435-80 going 384-69 in Lee Arena.
•    is second in all-time coaching victories in active NCAA Division II coaches.
•    his 751 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.
 
Pittsburg State head coach Kevin Muff
•   is in his fourth season leading the Gorillas.
•   Muff (Kansas State, '86) became the Gorillas' 14th all-time head coach on Apr. 5, 2010, after spending 12 seasons at Cloud County Community College, where he helped the Thunderbirds to an average of 21 wins in each of the last five seasons.
•   is 54-44 in his fourth season at Pittsburg State.
•   is 1-5 against the Ichabods.
 
#3 • Jeff Reid • Was 3 of 4 from the field against Northwest Missouri scoring seven points before leaving the game with an injury.
#4 • Andy Wilson • Has gone 8 of 11 from the free throw line this season going 6 of 7 in the last four games from the charity stripe.
#5 • Korey Fisher • Season-high 32 minutes against Northwest Missouri scoring 10 points hitting a pair of 3-pointers in his second start of the season.
#11 • Kyle Wiggins • Recorded a career-high three blocks against Northwest Missouri as well as highs in free throws (9) and free throw attempts (12).
#13 • Chris Deanes • Second on the team with 13 steals.
#14 • Christian Ulsaker • will miss the rest of the season with a wrist injury and will apply for a medical redshirt playing in only four games.
#15 • Evan Robinson • has two rebounds this season.
#21 • Chris Davis • Eight of 21 field goals this season have been 3-pointers.
#22 • Alex North • Eight 3-point attempts against Northwest Missouri was a career high.
#24 • Stephon Drane • Team-high eight blocks this season.
#31 • Leon Flowers • Has gone 16 of 32 from the field in the last three games averaging 15.7 ppg.
#32 • Dalton Abel • scored first three points of the season hitting a 3-pointer against Missouri Southern.
#34 • Jeremy Lickteig • Eight of his 17 rebounds this season have been on the offensive end.
#42 • Colton Anderson • has at least one rebound in each of the last four games played.
 
Central Missouri 77, Washburn 63 • Jan. 6, 2014
TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods lost at home for the first time this season as Northwest Missouri rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to top Washburn 83-76 on Schendel Court at Lee Arena.
Washburn (11-3, 4-3 MIAA) led 42-28 at the break after shooting 48 percent from the field while holding the Bearcats to 8 of 27 shooting for a 30 percent average as three different Ichabods scored at least eight points.
In the second half, the Bearcats (10-5, 5-1 MIAA) scored the first six points of the frame cutting into the Washburn lead and continued on a 12-4 run over the first 3:13 of the half while the Ichabods were holding a 46-40 lead with 16:50 to play. Washburn pushed the lead to as many as 11 with 15:21 to play on a 3-pointer by Alex North, but again the Bearcats rallied to cut the lead back to four at 53-49 with 11:32 to play. Washburn then pushed its advantage back to 12 at 61-49 with 8:45 to play after a putback by Jeremy Lickteig.
The Bearcats would then go on a 17-2 run over the net 4:45 as the Ichabods went cold from the field hitting only 1 of their next eight shots while the Bearcats would go 11 of 12 from the free throw line and 3 of 4 from the field to take a 66-63 lead with four minutes to play.
Kyle Wiggins had a lay up to cut the lead back to one, but Washburn's DeShaun Cooper hit a three to push the margin back to four. North responded with a 3-pointer of his own to trim the margin back to one. After a bucket by the Bearcats, Wiggins hit another 3-pointer to tie the game at 71 with 1:32 remaining.
Cooper connected on a layup with 1:15 to play and Wiggins hit two free throws to tie the score back at 73. However a 3-pointer by Cooper stretched the lead back to three and after a pair of Bearcat free throws with 22 seconds left Washburn would get no closer than four the rest of the way as the Bearcats added two free throws with 0.9 seconds to play after a video review pushing the final margin back to seven at 83-76.
Wiggins led four Ichabods in double figures with 22 points while Leon Flowers scored 15 and North added 13 with nine rebounds. Korey Fisher scored 10. Conner Crooker scored 19 to lead the Bearcats.
Washburn was outrebounded 43 to 34 in the loss as the Bearcats scored 17 second chance points in the game. The Bearcats finished 28 of 34 from the free throw line while the Ichabods were 13 of 18.
 
•   The loss dropped the Ichabods to 59-37 all-time against the Bearcats.
•   Chris Davis tied a season-high with six field goal attempts and he made two 3-pointers in a game for the third time this season.
•   The nine field goal attempts by Korey Fisher tied a season high.
•    The 13 field goal attempts by Leon Flowers was a career-high.
•   Northwest Missouri was 11 of 12 from the free throw line in the final five minutes of the game.
  
•   Pittsburg State is 6-7 on the year and 2-4 in the MIAA.
•   The Gorillas are 1-6 on the road with a 1-3 record on the road in conference play.
•   Devon Branch is averaging 18.7 points per game leading three Gorillas in double figures.
•   Jake Bullard is averaging 14.8 ppg and Sam Pugh is scoring 10.8 ppg.
 
•    Saturday's meeting would be the 173rd between these two schools in a series that dates back to the first meeting on Feb. 19, 1920.
•    The two games on Feb. 19 and Feb. 20 of 1920 were both played in Topeka inside an empty Thomas Gymnasium because of a flu outbreak in Topeka.
•    Washburn leads the all-time series 97-75. 
•    The Ichabods have won the last 10 of the last 11 meetings.
•    The Ichabods are 28-2 in Lee Arena against PSU and 28-13 against the Gorillas in MIAA play. The home team is 28-7 in the last 35 regular season meetings, dating back to 1996-97.
•    The series goes back to 1919-20 and it has been played at least once a year since 1941-42.
•    Since the 1956-57 season, the Ichabods are 24-30 in Pittsburg while going 8-11 in Pittsburg since becoming a member of the MIAA.
•    Bob Chipman is 50-17 against Pittsburg State.
 
EMPORIA, Kan. – Emporia State University used an 18-5 second-half to turn a one-point deficit into a 12-point lead and the Hornets held off the Gorillas down the stretch for an 83-75 victory Wednesday (Jan. 15).
The Gorillas (6-7, 2-4 MIAA) led 39-38 with 18:49 to play in the game, before the Hornets (12-6, 5-3 MIAA) made their 13-point surge that pushed them in front, 56-44, with 11:17 remaining.
Pitt State never got any closer than eight points of ESU down the stretch.
Kaleb Wright led all scorers with 21 points for the Hornets. He paced four ESU players in double figures. Terrence Moore added 19 points, while Jay Temaat added 12 and Gavin Brown finished with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Devon Branch scored a team-leading 15 points for the Gorillas, before fouling out of the game with 3:56 to play in the game. Josiah Gustafson and Sam Pugh added 13 and 12 points for Pitt State, respectively.
The Hornets and Gorillas traded the lead 15 times in the first half of the contest, before ESU took a 36-34 lead to the intermission by outscoring Pitt State, 8-0, in the final 1:34 of the opening period.
Pitt State shot just 34.7 percent from the field in the contest, making 25 of 72 attempts. ESU shot 53.3 percent on 24 of 45 shooting. The Hornets also converted 32 of 46 free throws in the contest as the Gorillas were whistled for 32 fouls.
 
Feb. 2, 2013 -- TOPEKA, Kan. -- The No. 21-ranked Washburn Ichabods had four players score in double figures while holding Pittsburg State to a season-tying low in points in a 67-51 win on Schendel Court at Lee Arena. With the win, Washburn improved to 12-4 on Groundhog Day.
The Ichabods (14-4, 7-3 MIAA) and the Gorillas started slow as only a total of 11 combined points were scored through the first media timeout at the 14:52 mark in the game. After the Gorillas (13-6, 6-5 MIAA) would go up three at 9-6 with 14:36 to go, back-to-back lay ups by Joseph Smith and Bobby Chipman put the Ichabods up 10-9. The teams traded leads and Washburn took the lead for good on a lay up by Zack Riggins kick starting a 16-3 run over the next 5:12 with an 8-0 during the stretch to provide the difference in the game as the Ichabods took a 35-21 lead into the halftime break.
In the second half it was much the same for the Ichabods as they would not let Pitt State get within 13 points the rest of the way building a lead as many as 20 taking the 16-point win.
Will McNeill led the Ichabods with 14 points going 9 of 11 from the free throw line while adding seven rebounds and four assists. Chipman finished with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds with two blocks. Martin Mitchell had 10 points and six rebounds and Smith finished with 10 points.
Kaleb Porter scored 11 points off the bench to lead the Gorillas.
Washburn held the Gorillas to 33 percent shooting on the night including a 7 of 26 performance in the first half as they finished 17 of 51 for the game. Washburn was 22 of 55 for the performance. Washburn had a 41-30 advantage on the glass with 15 offensive end leading to 16 second chance points.
 
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Ichabods fell out of the rankings after the loss to Missouri Southern and received votes in the last two weeks worth of polls, but fell completely out after the loss to Northwest Missouri.
•    The Ichabods are 1461-977-4 (.591) all-time in the 109th year in the program's history.
•    Washburn is the eighth-winningest program in NCAA Division II history by victories.
•    Washburn is the winningest MIAA program since the 1989-90 season with an overall record of 510-226.
•   The Ichabods have recorded 25 20-win seasons and they have one 30-win seasons after going 35-4 during the 1986-87 NAIA Championship season.
•   Washburn has won 21 conference championships including 10 MIAA titles.
•   Washburn has received 12 NCAA Tournament bids going to three Elite Eight's appearing in the 2001 NCAA National Championship game.
•    The Ichabods are 384-69 (.848) all-time in Lee Arena.
•    The 2013-14 season marks the 29th 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.
 
•   Washburn will return to action on Jan. 23 when they host Central Oklahoma at 7:30 p.m. and then wrap up the four-game homestand with Northeastern State on Jan. 25.