Opening Tip

• The Washburn Ichabods return to the court to face Northeastern State on Saturday on Schendel Court at Lee Arena at 7 p.m.

• Washburn (13-3, 6-3 MIAA) will be looking for its first win over the RiverHawks as they enter the game down 2-0 in the all-time series.

• Northeastern State is 11-6 and 6-4 in the MIAA this season.

• The RiverHawks are making their first appearance in Lee Arena.

• The RiverHawks are coming off a 72-67 home loss to Emporia State on Wednesday.

• NSU has dropped four of its last five games with three of the loses coming at home.

 Bod Notes

• The Washburn Ichabods have won 512 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 lost both meetings with Northeastern State.

• All five starters had one block against Central Oklahoma.

• The Ichabods have been outrebounded in their last three games (Northwest Missouri by 9, Pittsburg State by 3 and Central Oklahoma by 1).

• The Ichabods have scored 657 points in the first half and 650 points in the second half of games this season.

• Alex North recorded his fourth double double of the season and the sixth of his career with 17 points and 10 rebounds against Central Oklahoma and Jeff Reid recorded his second double double of his career and season with 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.

• Alex North went over the 550-point mark against Central Oklahoma. He has scored 551 points in 77 games averaging 7.2 a game including a 14.6 ppg average this season.

• Jeff Reid went over the 600-point plateau as he now has 642 in his third season at Washburn.

• Kyle Wiggins went over the 600-point mark against Northwest Missouri. He now has 622 for his Washburn career averaging 8.3 ppg in 75 games including a team-high 14.6 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.

 Ichabods on Radio

Washburn games will be broadcast on KTPK 106.9 FM 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.

 The Coaches

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 753-307 overall.

• has 512 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 437-80 going 386-69 in Lee Arena.

• is second in all-time coaching victories in active NCAA Division II coaches.

• his 753 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.

Northeastern State head coach Larry Gipson

• is 275-193 in his 17th year at Northeastern State and 343-266 in his 22nd year as a head coach.

• has posted nine winning seasons in his time at NSU, and those include five 20-win campaigns and a national championship in 2002-03 (32-3 record). 

• has led Northeastern State to five appearances in the NCAA tournament (1999-03, 2013).

• The 2003 NCAA title was the first for Northeastern State in any sport and the first national championship won in RiverHawks basketball history. 

• Gipson was inducted into the NSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004 for his outstanding coaching feat. 

• is 2-0 against Washburn.

 Ichabod Player Notes

#3 • Jeff Reid • Of his career-high 13 rebounds against Central Oklahoma, 11 were defensive.

#4 • Andy Wilson • Ten of his 18 field goals this season have been 3-pointers.

#5 • Korey Fisher • Averaging 9.3 ppg and 4.3 apg in the last three games since moving into the starting line up.

#11 • Kyle Wiggins • Had string of 14-straight double figure scoring games snapped after scoring eight against Central Oklahoma.

#13 • Chris Deanes • Has eight offensive rebounds and 24 defensive rebounds this season.

#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 • Ten of his 22 field goals this season have been 3-pointers.

#22 • Alex North • Recorded sixth double double of his career against Central Oklahoma with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

#24 • Stephon Drane • Team-high 10 blocks this season.

#31 • Leon Flowers • Averaging 14.3 ppg in the last three games hitting 5 of 13 3-point attempts.

#32 • Dalton Abel • Scored first three points of the season hitting a 3-pointer against Missouri Southern.

#34 • Jeremy Lickteig • Six of nine in the last four games from the field.

#42 • Colton Anderson • has at least one rebound in each of the last four games played.

 Last Time Out For The Ichabods

Washburn 76, Central Oklahoma 69 • Jan. 23, 2014

TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn's Jeff Reid and Alex North each had double doubles as the Ichabods improved to 13-3 overall and 6-3 in MIAA play as they defeated Central Oklahoma 76-69 on Thursday night on Schendel Court at Lee Arena. 

Washburn trailed Central Oklahoma (11-6, 5-5 MIAA) 60-59 with 6:43 to play and would trail by as many as three in the final 6:27 after a pair of free throws by Aaron Anderson at 62-59, but a 3-pointer by North with 6:18 to play tied the score and a driving layup by North with 4:01 to play gave the Ichabods the lead for good.

Reid added a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to five with 2:23 to play but Anderson hit a 3-pointer of his own cutting the lead in half with 1:51 to play at 67-64. Reid then connected on another 3-pointer with 1:25 to play giving the Ichabods a six-point cushion.

After two more free throws by Anderson, North would score the next four points for Washburn on another lay up with 33 seconds to play and two charity tosses with 21 seconds to play. UCO added another 3-pointer with 16 seconds to play, but Korey Fisher hit a pair of free throws with seven seconds left to wrap up the game.

North and Reid each scored 17 points with Reid collecting a career-high 13 rebounds with 11 defensive rebounds and North recorded 10 rebounds in the win with five coming on the offensive glass. Leon Flowers scored 15 points.

Anderson led Central Oklahoma with 19 points.

The Ichabods finished the game shooting 46 percent from the field after hitting 53 percent of their shots in the first half going 27 of 59 overall. Washburn was also 7 of 18 from 3-point range. UCO was held to 39 percent shooting as 11 of their 20 field goals were from 3-point range.

Washburn was outrebounded 36 to 35 in the game.

Washburn led 40-36 at the break and the lead changed seven times in the game.

 Central Oklahoma State Leftovers

• The win improved the Ichabods to 8-12 all-time against the Bronchos snapping a three-game losing streak to UCO.

• Stephon Drake had a season-high two blocks.

• The five assists by Korey Fisher tied his season-high.

• Leon Flowers recorded a career-high five assists.

• Alex North tied a career-high with 16 field goal attempts.

• The Ichabods recorded seven blocks against UCO, which is tied for the eighth on the Washburn single game chart.

• Washburn had a season-low five turnovers including only one in the first half against UCO.

   
 About Northeastern State

• Northeastern State is 11-6 on the year and 6-4 in the MIAA. 

• They have lost four of their last five games after Wednesday's loss to Emporia State.

• NSU is 2-3 on the road overall and 2-1 in MIAA road games.

• Bryton Hobbs is the leading scorer in the MIAA at 23.8 points per game.

 Series History With Northeastern State

• Saturday's meeting will be the third all-time between the two schools.

• The RiverHawks lead the all-time series 2-0.

• The Ichabods and RiverHawks played in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with Washburn falling 64-59 on March 15, 2003 in Stephenville, Texas.

• The RiverHawks went on to win the NCAA National Championship in 2003.

• Washburn lost the only meeting played in Tahlequah on Jan. 19, 2013 by a score of 85-78.

• Bob Chipman is 0-2 against Northeastern State.

 Last Time Out for Northeastern State

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State men's basketball team lost 72-67 to Emporia State Wednesday night inside the NSU Event Center.

The RiverHawks (11-6, 6-4 MIAA) have now lost four of their last five games, while the Hornets (13-6, 6-3 MIAA) improved their win streak to four games.

Northeastern State had four players score in double figures, led by 21 points from senior guard Bryton Hobbs. Junior forward Curtis Evans added 12, while junior guards Dalen Qualls (11) and Michael Harmon (10) also hit double digits.

NSU was outrebounded for the fifth-straight game (31-25), and the Hornets also led in points in the paint (36-26), assists (9-7), second-chance points (10-4), and bench points (23-14).

The RiverHawks shot 42.9 percent (18-for-42) from the field, 30.8 percent (4-for-13) from downtown and 73 percent (27-for-37) at the free-throw line. Emporia State shot 48 percent (24-for-50) from the field, 26.7 percent (4-for-15) from distance and 71.4 percent (20-for-28) at the charity stripe.

ESU was led by Terrence Moore's 17 points. Kaleb Wright finished with 16 points despite shooting just 3-for-13 from the field, and Paul Bunch added 11 points and eight rebounds.

Neither team led by more than four points in the early going. It wasn't until NSU closed the half on a 23-8 run to lead 39-28 at intermission that either team led by double digits.

Northeastern State really began to pick up momentum at the 4:18 mark when Hobbs came out of the game and NSU led 25-22. The RiverHawks were 5-for-5 from the field with Hobbs on the bench and had four different members of the team contribute on the scoreboard in the final minutes of the opening half.

Hobbs played the entire second half and tried to take the game over by attacking the rim on nearly every offensive possession, but the Hornets were able to fend off NSU as they stormed back to take their first lead of the game with 8:48 to play. The visiting side closed the game strong and was able to leave Tahlequah with a five-point victory.

 Last Meeting With Northeastern State

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. -- The No. 10-ranked Washburn Ichabods lost their second straight game falling 85-78 to Northeastern State. 

Of the RiverHawks' 22 field goals, 13 came from 3-point range as Northeastern State shot 72 percent from 3-point range. NSU was aided by 28 points from the free throw line as they finished 28 of 35 from the line in front of a near-capacity 700 fans.

The Ichabods (10-4, 3-3 MIAA) led 32-31 at the break marking the second time in a row the Ichabods lost after leading at halftime. Washburn shot 60 percent in the first from the field hitting 14 of 24 shots for a 58 percent average finishing at 53 percent for the game after hitting 27 of 51 shots overall. The RiverHawks finished 22 of 38 from the field for a 58 percent average on the day.

Coming out of the break, Bobby Chipman put the Ichabods up 34-31 but a 3-pointer by Jermaine Bransford started a 15-5 run over the next 4:38 to put the RiverHawks up 46-39 with 14:41 remaining in the game.

The Ichabods cut the lead to four at 52-48 with 10:14 to play after a pair of Will McNeill free throws but the RiverHawks would go on a 10-2 run over the net 2:56 to build a 12 -point lead at 62-50 with 7:05 to play and Washburn would not get closer than seven the rest of the way after two McNeill free throws in the closing seconds.

McNeill led the Ichabods with 23 points going 11 of 15 from the free throw line and he also led the Ichabods with six assists. Martin Mitchell scored 16 and Chipman finished with 12.

Bryton Hobbs scored 25 to lead the RiverHawks pacing four Northeastern State players in double figures.

 Ichabods in the national rankings

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. 

 Ichabod basketball history

• The Ichabods are 1463-977-4 (.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 512-226.

• 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.

 Home sweet home

• The Ichabods are 386-69 (.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.

 Up next

• Washburn will have two road games at Nebraska-Kearney on Jan. 30 and at Fort Hays State on Feb. 1 before returning home on Feb. 5 when they will face Emporia State in the first of two Turnpike Tussle meetings this season.