Opening Tip
•     The Washburn Ichabods will have their first true road game of the season as they open MIAA play at Fort Hays State on Wednesday in Gross Memorial Coliseum with tip scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
•    The Ichabods are coming off a 75-54 win over Saint Mary (Kan.) improving to 4-1 on the season.
•    Fort Hays State is 5-0 this season with all five wins coming at home.
•    The Tigers topped Sterling 86-70 on Nov. 28 in its final non-conference game of the season.
•    The Ichabods ended the Tigers' season last year with a 66-57 win on March 2, 2015 in the MIAA Tournament first round playoff game in Topeka.
•    The Ichabods are 15-10 in MIAA openers since joining the MIAA and have never faced the Tigers in the conference-opening game.

 Ichabods Notes
•    Overall the Ichabods have a balanced scoring attack with five players averaging at least 9.2 points per game.
•    The Ichabods are +10.6 in rebound margin this season.
•    Javion Blake had a season-high seven assists and four steals while scoring eight points against Saint Mary last time out … he is second on the team with 10.6 points per game.
•    Robert Christopher had a season-high 10 points and nine rebounds against Saint Mary.
•    Brady Skeens recorded his first career double double against Saint Mary with 12 points while tying a career-high with 11 rebounds … in the last three games he's averaged 7.6 rebounds a game with 10.0 points per game.
•    Cameron Wiggins had a career high with free throws made and attempted against Saint Mary hitting all six attempts … Wiggins leads the team with 11.0 points per game.
•    Randall Smith is averaging 10.2 points per game which is third on the team.
•    David Salach's 28 career blocks is tied for 24th all-time at Washburn.
    
 Ichabods on Radio
Washburn games will be broadcast on KTPK radio with Jake Lebahn and Pat Strathman calling the action. 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 37th season at the helm of the Ichabods.
•     a 1973 graduate of Kansas State earning both his undergraduate and master's degree in Manhattan.
•     is 777-331 overall.
•     has 535 wins since the Ichabods joined the MIAA, the most of any conference school since the 1989-90 season.
•    is the MIAA's all-time winningest coach by victories with 535.
•     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 455-86 going 404-75 in Lee Arena.
•     is second in all-time coaching victories in active NCAA Division II coaches.
•     his 777 coaching wins is 23rd 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.

Fort Hays State head coach Mark Johnson . . .
•    is 289-127 in his career, now in his 15th season at Fort Hays State. 
•    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. 
•    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. 
•    is 12-10 against the Ichabods.

  Last Time Out For The Ichabods
Washburn 78, Saint Mary 54 -- Nov. 28, 2015
TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods used a 16-0 run over a five minute stretch to turn a one-point deficit into a 24-point win over Saint Mary as they wrapped up non-conference play with a 78-54 win over the Spires. 
With the Ichabods (4-1) trailing 13-12, Washburn ripped off a 16-0 run putting itself up 26-13 with 7:23 to play in the first half as the Spires (4-2) were held without a field goal for 6:05 as the ichabods took a 36-24 lead into the halftime break. Washburn shot 41 percent in the first half while holding the Spires to 35 percent shooting.
A 19-4 run in the second half over a 5:23 stretch put the game away as the Ichabods hit all seven field goal attempts during the stretch holding the Spires to 1 of 8 shooting. In the second half overall, Washburn shot 53 percent in the frame while the Spires were limited to 31 percent as Washburn rolled to the win.
The Ichabods were led by Brady Skeens who recorded his first career double double with 12 points and 11 rebounds and Randall Smith had 12 points. Robert Christopher just missed a double double with 10 points and nine rebounds which were both career highs. Cameron Wiggins had nine points and Javion Blake had eight points, seven assists and four steals for Washburn.
Grant Greenberg led the Spires with 18 points.
Washburn had a 49 to 28 advantage on the glass turning 14 offensive rebounds into 18 second chance points. The Ichabods also outscored the Spires 50 to 18 in the paint and had a 16 to 6 in fast break points  

 About Fort Hays State
•    The Tigers are 5-0 this season with all five wins coming at home.
•    Dom Samac leads the team with an 18.4 ppg average also leading the team in rebounds with 7.0 rpg.
•    Rob Davis is scoring 14.4 ppg.
•    Jake Stoppel is scoring 9.7 ppg with 6.0 rpg (12 of 30 offensive rebounds) and Kenny Enoch is scoring 9.6 ppg
•    Craig Nicholson is averaging 8.6 ppg with a team-high 5.2 assists per game average.
•    The Tigers are +0.6 in rebounding margin this season and shooting 147 of 294 from the field for a 50 percent average. 
•    FHSU is 36 of 79 (.456) from 3-point range and have hit 82 of 121 free throw attempts (.678)

 Series History with Fort Hays State
•    Washburn leads the all-time series 91-68 and Wednesday's meeting will be the 160th between the two schools. 
•    The Ichabods have won eight of the last 10 in the series.
•    The series is the third-most played for Washburn behind Emporia State (206) and Pittsburg State (176). 
•    Washburn is 20-5 against the Tigers in Lee Arena. 
•    Fort Hays State is 5-2 against WU in overtime games. 
•    The teams have met twice in the MIAA tournament with the Ichabods winning both games. The first was the Ichabods winning 67-54 in the MIAA Tournament semifinals on March 3, 2012 in Kansas City and last season's first round win in Topeka 66-57.
•    The Ichabods have won the last five meetings in Lee Arena.
•    The Tigers' last win in Topeka was on Dec. 8, 2010 in a 70-58 win.
•    The Ichabods lost the last meeting in Hays by a score of 87-85 in overtime on Feb. 1, 2014.
•    The Ichabods have lost the last two games in Hays and have not won in Gross Memorial Coliseum since a 70-69 win on Jan. 10, 2013.

 Last meeting with Fort Hays State
(March 2, 2015) TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team defeated Fort Hays State 66-57 in the first round of the MIAA Tournament.
The Tigers led only once in the game at 2-0 scoring the first basket of the game but Alex North scored the first seven points for the Ichabods (16-15) as they would go on to lead by 10 in the first half over Fort Hays State, who finishes the season with a 16-13 record. After Washburn got out to the 10 point lead, the Tigers used an 8-0 run to cut the lead back to two at 24-22. Washburn stretched the lead back to seven with under five minutes to play, but finished the half on a 9-4 burst cutting the Ichabod lead to 33-31 at the break.
Washburn was 11 of 30 in the opening half hitting five 3-pointers while the Tigers were 11 of 25 from the field and hit 2 of 5 from deep.
In the second half the Tigers would go on to tie the score at 42 with 14:09 to play but Washburn used a 13-1 run over the next 6:31 of the game building a 12-point lead at 55-43 and the Tigers would not get closer than seven the rest of the way.
North led the Ichabods with 18 points and in rebounds with nine. Kyle Wiggins scored 13 while Kevin House dished out six assists.
Achoki Moikobu scored 22 points hitting 7 of 9 shots going 3 of 4 from 3-point range to lead the Tigers.
Washburn outrebounded the Tigers 32 to 29 and turned 14 Fort Hays State turnovers into 20 points. Washburn's bench also outscored the Tigers 21 to 8.  
 Last time out for Fort Hays State
(Nov. 28, 2015) HAYS, Kan. - Fort Hays State overcame first half struggles in the first half to pick up an 86-70 win over Sterling College on Saturday evening (Nov. 28). Down by three at halftime, FHSU outscored Sterling by 19 in the second half to move to 5-0 overall on the season.
Sterling held leads of eight points three times in the first half before the Tigers scored the final four points before the break. Sterling led 42-39 at halftime, led by hot 3-point shooting from Brandon Givens who had five in the first half for 15 points. Sterling also outrebounded the Tigers by four in the first half.
Building on the momentum at the end of the first half, FHSU opened the second half on a 6-0 run to take a 45-42 lead. It was the first lead for FHSU after the 6:36 mark of the first half. Sterling took one more lead at 48-47 with 16:06 to go before the Tigers went on a 10-1 run to take an eight-point lead. An 8-0 burst between the 8:56 and 7:07 marks pushed the lead to 14 and the Warriors never cut the lead inside double figures the rest of the way.
Dom Samac led the Tigers with 20 points, while Rob Davis added 19 with five 3-point field goals. Jake Stoppel had a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds. Craig Nicholson led the Tigers in assists with eight. FHSU finished at 46.9 percent from the field, but 52.4 percent beyond the 3-point line (11-of-21).
After shooting 45.5 percent in the first half, Sterling was held to 32 percent shooting from the field in the second half and 39.7 percent for the game. Givens finished with a team-high 19 points, while Terrence Boyd added 16 and Maurice Williams had 10.
 
 Ichabod basketball history
•     The Ichabods are 1,509-1,037-2 (.592) all-time in the 111th 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 535-250 since joining the conference and the NCAA.
•    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 404-75 (.848) all-time in Lee Arena.
•     The 2015-16 season marks the 31st 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 returns to the road on Dec. 5 for a game at Nebraska-Kearney. The Ichabods will have their first MIAA home game on Dec. 12 against Southwest Baptist.