Opening Tip

• The Washburn Ichabods hit the road after a four-game homestand as they travel to Kearney, Neb., starting a two-game trip against the Lopers on Thursday night.

• Washburn (14-3, 7-3 MIAA) has won its last three games overall.

• The Ichabods have won the last seven meetings over the Lopers.

• Nebraska-Kearney has won its last two games and enters the contest with the Ichabods 7-10 overall and 3-7 MIAA.

• The Ichabods are making only their second appearance in Kearney since the 1988-89 season after winning last year's match up 72-56 on Jan. 12, 2013.

• The Lopers have won their last two game and they are coming off an 81-69 win over South Dakota Mines on Jan. 24.

• The Ichabods are playing their first road game since Jan. 6 when the lost at Central Missouri 77-63. Overall the Ichabods are 2-2 in road games and 2-0 in neutral site games this season.

 Bod Notes

• The Washburn Ichabods have won 513 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 hit at least one 3-pointer in 299 games enter the match up with UNK. The last game the Ichabods did not hit a 3-pointer was Dec. 30, 2003 at Missouri Western.

• The Ichabods are 5-12 in all-time meetings in Kearney.

• Alex North recorded his fifth double double of the season, his second-straight and the seventh of his career with 10 points and a career-high 20 rebounds against Northeastern State. His 20 rebounds tied a Lee Arena record for an Ichabod with Andy Berlin.

• Against the RiverHawks two Ichabods (Leon Flowers with 22 and Korey Fisher with 20) reach at least 20 points. It was the first time two Ichabods reached 20 in the same game since Alex North and Will McNeill each scored 20 points on Dec. 17, 2011 against Missouri Western.

• Alex North went over the 550-point mark against Central Oklahoma. He has scored 561 points in 78 games averaging 7.2 a game including a 14.3 ppg average this season. He needs four rebounds for 400 for his career.

• Jeff Reid went over the 600-point plateau as he now has 644 in his third season at Washburn.

• Kyle Wiggins went over the 600-point mark against Northwest Missouri. He now has 635 for his Washburn career averaging 8.4 ppg in 76 games including a team-high 14.5 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 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.

 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 754-307 overall.

• has 513 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 438-80 going 387-69 in Lee Arena.

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

• his 754 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.

Nebraska-Kearney co-head coach Tom Kropp

• is in his 24th year as head coach at Nebraska-Kearney. Kropp (Nebraska-Kearney, '75) has notched a 456-232 (.662) mark at UNK. 

• is 0-2 against Washburn.

 Ichabod Player Notes

#3 • Jeff Reid • Twenty four of his 56 field goals this season have been 3-pointers.

#4 • Andy Wilson • Ten of his 19 field goals this season have been 3-pointers.

#5 • Korey Fisher • Since moving into the starting line up he has scored in double figures in three games with a career-high 20 last time out against the RiverHawks.

#11 • Kyle Wiggins • Has averaged 5.3 assists per game in the last four adding 13.5 ppg.

#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 • Eleven of his 23 field goals this season have been 3-pointers.

#22 • Alex North • Recorded seventh double double of his career against Northeastern State with 10 points and 20 rebounds.

#24 • Stephon Drane • Team-high 12 blocks this season, adding two blocks in each of the last two contests.

#31 • Leon Flowers • Career-high 37 minutes against Northeastern going 8 of 11 from the field with 22 points.

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

#34 • Jeremy Lickteig • Recorded his seventh block of the season against Northeastern.

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

 Last Time Out For The Ichabods

Washburn 75, Northeastern State 63 • Jan. 25, 2014

TOPEKA, Kan. -- Northeastern State scored the first seven points of the game but it was all Ichabods after that as Washburn improved to 14-3 and 7-3 in the MIAA with a 75-63 win over the RiverHawks. Washburn will return to action on Thursday at Nebraska-Kearney.

After the RiverHawks (11-7, 6-5) scored the first seven of the game, Washburn used a 17-1 run sparked by four Ichabod 3-pointers over the next 4:58 to take a 17-8 lead with 11:49 to play. NSU cut the lead to six with 10:39 to play but the Ichabods used a 17-4 run over the next 5:37 to put the game out of reach as the RiverHawks would get no closer than eight the rest of the way as the Ichabods built a lead of as many as 19 in the game.

Washburn led 43-31 at the break behind 48 percent shooting including 9 of 17 from 3-point range. Washburn held the RiverHawks to 37 percent shooting in the frame as they were 10 of 27 including 2 of 9 from deep.

Alex North recorded his second-straight double double with 10 points and a career-high 20 rebounds. The rebound total was three shy of the Ichabod record of 23 set by Joe Luebcke against Emporia State during the 1973-74 season. The rebound was the most by an Ichabod since Frank Phifer had 18 on Dec. 16, 2006 at Cameron. North also added five assists and one block playing 36 minutes.

Leon Flower led the Ichabods with 22 points going 8 of 11 from the field and 3 of 5 from 3-point range. Korey Fisher recorded a career-high 20 points hitting three 3-pointers. Kyle Wiggins added 13 with five assists.

Bryton Hobbs led the RiverHawks with 24 points off the bench. Curtis Evans scored 10.

Washburn finished 25 of 58 from the field and the RiverHawks were 22 of 60 overall for a 37 percent average. Washburn also held a 43 to 36 advantage on the glass and dished out a season-high 18 assists on the 25 made field goals.

 Northeastern State Leftovers

• The win improved the Ichabods to 1-2 all-time against the RiverHawks snapping a two-game losing streak to NSU.

• Chris Davis had a career-high five 3-point field goal attempts.

• Stephon Drane had two blocks for the second straight game and for the third time this season.

• On top of his career-high 20 points, Korey Fisher had career highs in FGs (7), FG attempts (12) and 3FGs made (3).

• The Ichabods recorded seven blocks as a team for the second game in a row.

   
 About Nebraska-Kearney

• UNK has five players averaging in double figures: Connor Beranek (18.1 ppg), Ethan Mrozek (15.3 ppg), Mike Dentlinger (13.8 ppg), Tyler Shields (11.6 ppg) Davion Pearson (11.2 ppg).

• Beranek, who currently ranks fourth in the MIAA in scoring, also averages 6.5 rebounds per game to rank seventh in the conference. He also leads the Tigers with 15 blocks.  

• As a team, UNK averages 79.8 points and shoot 49 percent from the field (472-959), 35.2 percent from the 3-point line (112-318) and 70 percent from the free throw line (301-428.

• UNK's opponents are averaging 81.6 points and shooting 49.7 percent from the field (476-958). 

 Series History With Nebraska-Kearney

• Washburn leads the all-time series 17-15 with the Ichabods winning the last seven meetings.

• The Ichabods have won the last four in Kearney and five of the last six.

• All-time in games in Kearney, the Ichabods are 5-12 after losing the first 11 times they played there.

 Last Time Out for Nebraska-Kearney

Jan. 24, 2014 -- Kearney, Neb. – Four starters scored in double figures and Nebraska-Kearney sunk a season-high 32 free throws to beat South Dakota Mines, 81-69, Friday night at the Health & Sports Center.

With the non-conference win, UNK (7-10) avenges an 84-76 loss to the Hardrockers (6-14) earlier this year in Rapid City.

A hotly contested game featured 14 lead changes, five ties, 50 fouls, two technical fouls on the 'Rockers and 61 free throws. In the second half, the Lopers shot 61 percent (14 of 23) from the field and had a plus four rebounding margin to break a 36 all tie.

UNK came out strong after the break, using a 10-0 run to grab the lead for good. The spurt was started by a three from Ravenna sophomore Connor Beranek and included buckets by three other Lopers.

The lead grew to 16 points as the 'Rockers shot 39 percent after the intermission and committed 10 more fouls than the Lopers.

Beranek and senior post Mike Dentlinger (Omaha) each tallied 15 with sophomore post Ethan Brozek (Norfolk) having 14 points, four blocks and three boards. On the perimeter, junior point guard Davion Pearson (Las Vegas, Nev.) had 12 points, five assists and five rebounds.

UNK was 18 of 22 at the line in the first half and 14 of 23 in the second. Beranek had nine makes with Brozek and junior reserve Delquan Thomas (Louisville, Ky.) each sinking six freebies. 

The 32 makes and 45 attempts are both season-high efforts with the attempts total tied for the 10th most in school history.

A tall Mines team was paced by reserve Trevor Zacher (14 points and three rebounds) and starter Michael Dietz (13 points, five rebounds and two assists).

 Last Meeting With Nebraska-Kearney

Feb. 21, 2013 -- TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods kept pace in the MIAA race putting five players in double figures with a pair recording a double double in a 71-52 win over Nebraska-Kearney. 

Washburn led from start to finish as they jumped out to an 8-0 lead as four different Ichabods scored pushing on out to a 15-9 lead before the Lopers (6-17, 3-12 MIAA) would cut the lead to three at 20-17 with 9:26 to play in the first half.

From that point the Ichabods (17-6, 10-5 MIAA) used an 18-2 run over the next 7:17 to double up the Lopers with a 38-19 lead just before the half as Washburn went on to lead 38-24 at the break.

In the second half the Lopers would close within nine three minutes into the second half but Washburn would go on to lead by as many as 22 in the frame.

Bobby Chipman led the Ichabods with his fifth career double double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Will McNeill finished with his ninth double double recording 12 points with a career-high 10 assists. He also added six steals and five rebounds. Martin Mitchell added 12 points while Kyle Wiggins had 11 points and Joseph Smith had 10 points.

Pierre Newton and Jon Henderson had 14 to lead the Lopers.

Washburn finished 28 of 64 from the field for a 44 percent average while the Lopers improved to 21 of 56 for a 38 percent clip after going 8 of 24 in the first half.

Washburn held a 45 to 29 advantage on the glass and a 24-0 margin in fast break points. Washburn had 44 points in the paint compared to the Lopers' 18 points and turned 14 offensive rebounds into 18 second chance points.

 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 1464-977-4 (.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 513-226.

• 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 387-69 (.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 take on Fort Hays State on Feb. 1 on the road before returning home on Feb. 5 when they will face Emporia State in the first of two Turnpike Tussle meetings this season.