Opening Tip
•     The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball team will wrap up the 2015 calendar with a trip to Joplin, Mo., to take on the Missouri Southern Lions.
•    Washburn (7-2, 3-1 MIAA) won its second-straight game at Pittsburg State 76-63 last time out on Dec. 16.
•    The Lions are coming off a 78-73 win over Emporia State at home improving to 7-4 overall and 4-1 in the MIAA.
•    The Lions are 5-2 in home games this season with losses coming Northwest Missouri (89-77) and Minnesota State (79-67).
•    The Lions have won the last two meetings with the Ichabods as the two squads have only met once in each of the last two seasons.
•    The Lions defeated the Ichabods 87-61 on Dec. 6, 2014 in Topeka and 110-73 on Dec. 7, 2013 in Joplin in those two games.
•    The Ichabods are averaging 17.0 ppg off opponent's turnovers compared to 13.8 ppg opponents are scoring off the Ichabods.
•    Ichabod head coach Bob Chipman recorded his 780th win against Pittsburg State tying him for 16th all-time on all-time NCAA coaching list with former Arizona coach Lute Olson and passing Lou Henson who coached at Illinois and New Mexico State.
•    Next up on the all-time NCAA coaching chart is Lefty Driesell and Jim Smith with 786 wins.
•    Washburn's bench is averaging 26.3 ppg compared to 23.4 ppg for its opponents.
•    Washburn is scoring 35.1 ppg in the paint compared to 20.9 ppg for its opponents.
•    In Washburn's six wins this season, they have overcome deficits of 14 against Augustana, 11 against Peru State and Fort Hays State, eight against Pittsburg State, five against Southwest Baptist and four against Saint Mary.
•    Washburn's only win they led from start to finish was against Tabor.

 Ichabod Notes
•    Overall the Ichabods have a balanced scoring attack with four players averaging at least 8.7 points per game and they have six averaging at least 6.3 ppg.
•    The Ichabods are +6.6 in rebound margin this season.
•    In scoring a career-high 26 points against the Gorillas Cameron Wiggins hit all six of his 3-point attempts … that's the most by an Ichabod in a single game since Martin Mitchell hit seven against Missouri Western on Feb. 6, 2013.
•    Javion Blake had a career-high in field goals with seven and field goal attempts with 14 against Pittsburg State en route to 19 points.
•    The 10 rebounds off the bench by Robert Christopher against Pittsburg State was a career high.
•    Brady Skeens tied a career high against the Gorillas with four steals … his .725 field goal percentage (37 of 51) would rank tops in the MIAA, however rankings start at five made field goals per game.
•    Against the Gorillas it was the third game Randall Smith had six assists … he's averaging more than four per game.
    
 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 780-332 overall.
•     has 538 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 538.
•     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 457-86 going 406-75 in Lee Arena.
•     is third in all-time coaching victories in active NCAA Division II coaches.
•     his 780 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.

Missouri Southern head coach Jeff Boschee . . .
•    is in his second season as the head coach at Missouri Southern and has gone 27-15.
•    served four seasons as an assistant and associate head coach.
•    was named the head coach of the Lions on July 1, 2014.
•    spent three years at the Barstow School in Kansas City where in 2010 his team went 22-4. 
•    was the Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 1999-2000 and was a third team All-Big 12 pick his senior season. He helped lead the Jayhawks to a Final Four appearance in 2002 and previously held the conference record for three pointers made in a career with 338.
•    holds the Kansas record for three's made in a career and is second all-time in games started.
•    while at KU, he came to Topeka to work several of Ichabod head coach Bob Chipman's summer basketball camps.
•    is 1-0 against Washburn.

  Last Time Out For The Ichabods
Washburn 76, Pittsburg State 63 -- Dec. 16, 2015
PITTSBURG, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods shot 71 percent from the field in the second half missing only six shots en route to a 76-63 win over Pittsburg State on Wednesday night in John Lance Arena.
In the second half with the Ichabods leading 54-54, Javion Blake hit a 3-pointer to push the Ichabods up four and then layups by Cameron Wiggins and Brady Skeens stretched the lead to eight at 62-54 with 8:27 to play. After a pair of free throws by Josiah Gustafson, the Ichabods ripped off a 19-6 to go up 14 at 74-60 with 3:59 to play in the game.
The Gorillas would get no closer than 11 the rest of the way after a 3-pointer with 1:46 to play as the Ichabods picked up the 12-point win as Washburn (7-2, 3-1 MIAA) won its 14th game in the last 16 meetings over Pittsburg State (7-4, 2-3 MIAA). Washburn was 15 of 21 in the second half from the field scoring 46 points while hitting all six 3-point attempts.
The score was tied 29-29 at the break after the Gorillas led by as many as eight points in the opening stanza at 25-17 with 9:59 to play. However the Ichabods outscored the Gorillas 12-4 the rest of the half to tie the score. Wiggins scored five points during the run for Washburn as the Ichabod defense forced five Gorilla turnovers. Washburn was 11 of 31 for a 36 percent clip in the first half while the Gorillas were 10 of 27 for a 37 percent average.
Wiggins led the Ichabods with a career-high 26 points hitting all six 3-pointers going 8 of 13 from the field overall. Javion Blake scored 19 dishing out four assists and Brady Skeens had 10 points with eight rebounds along with four steals and two blocks. Robert Christopher led the Ichabods with 10 rebounds and Randall Smith had six assists scoring two points.
Gustafson led the Gorillas with 14 points.
Washburn finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field going 26 of 52 overall hitting 9 of 15 3-point attempts. Washburn outrebounded the Gorillas 40 to 27 overall and outscored Pitt State 28 to 12 in the paint. The Gorillas were 18 of 49 from the field for a 37 percent average while hitting 10 of 19 shots from 3-point range.   
 
 About Missouri Southern
• Missouri Southern is 7-4 overall and 4-1 in the MIAA. 
• Taevaunn Prince is leading the MIAA in scoring and rebounding at 24.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game … he's scored at least 30 points in two games including a season-high 37 at Northeastern State and scored 31 against Emporia State last time out going 10 of 15 from the field and hitting 11 of 16 free throws … he's averaging 26.4 ppg in MIAA play.
• The Lions are shooting 47 percent from the field hitting 292 of 620 shots and they are 79 of 195 from 3-point range.
• The Lions have also attempted 45 more free throws than their opponents (298 to 253) and have made 53 more (222 to 169).
• Charlie Brow is scoring 14.5 ppg and Austin Wright is averaging 11.8 ppg and DJ Feitl is scoring 9.5 ppg. The next-highest scoring Lion is Isaac Kreuer at 4.6 ppg.
 
 Series History with Missouri Southern
•    Saturday's meeting will be 76th between these two schools in a series that dates back to 1968-69. 
•    Washburn leads the all-time series 47-28.  
•    Washburn is 24-15 in MIAA games against the Lions and 9-12 on the road against MSSU since joining the league in 1989-90. 
•    The Ichabods have lost seven in a row on the road to the Lions with their last win coming in Joplin on Jan. 21, 2006 in a 60-56 win. 
•    The two teams have met at least once a year since 1976-77. 
•    The Ichabods are 3-2 against the Lions in the MIAA Tournament. 
•    In games played in Topeka, the Ichabods are 29-9 overall and 22-6 in games played in Lee Arena. 
•    The teams have met twice in the NCAA Tournament - on March 10, 2000 when the Lions picked up a 79-73 overtime win in Joplin and on March 12, 2011 when the Lions topped the Ichabods in overtime again 82-79 in Edmond, Okla.
•    The 110-73 win by the Lions over the Ichabods in Joplin on Dec. 7, 2013 was the largest defeat suffered by an Ichabod team since joining the NCAA Division II ranks. 

 Last meeting with Missouri Southern
(Dec. 6, 2014) TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods men's basketball team fell behind 21-7 after the second media timeout and could not recover as Missouri Southern picked up an 87-61 win on Saturday in Lee Arena. 
The Lions shot 55 percent in the game and 59 percent in the second half en route to the 26-point win. After the Lions jumped out to the 21-7 lead in the opening frame, the Lions would go on to lead by 18 at the break taking a 37-19 advantage into the locker room. Washburn was held to 7 of 31 shooting in the first half going 1 of 9 from 3-point range.
In the second half, the Lions would go on to lead by as many as 29 points riding a 6 of 11 performance from 3-point range leading to the win as the Ichabods would get no closer than 16 in the stanza.
Alex North led the Ichabods with 14 points adding seven rebounds as the only Washburn player who would reach double figures. David Salach had seven rebounds and Kyle Wiggins scored nine points. Cameron Wiggins came off the bench to score eight points hitting all three shots including both 3-point attempts. 
The Lions had six player reach doubles figure-scoring as Taevaunn Prince and Blaine Miller each had 17.
The Ichabods finished 20 of 58 from the field overall going 6 of 21 from 3-point range. Washburn did hit 15 of 20 free throw attempts in the game.  

 Last time out for Missouri Southern
(Dec. 16, 2015) The Missouri Southern men's basketball team held off a late rally from visiting Emporia State and the Lions defeated the Hornets 78-73 tonight on Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
 Taevaunn Prince led the way for the Lions with 31 points and 10 rebounds, going 10-15 from the field and 11-16 from the free throw line. Charlie Brown scored 23 points and added six boards, going 6-11 from the field and 9-9 from the charity stripe. Austin Wright scored seven points and dished out five assists, tying a career-high in helpers.
 Emporia (4-5, 2-2 MIAA) was led offensively by 21 points from Terrence Moore on 9-17 shooting.
 A jumper from Prince gave the Lions a seven-point lead (13-6) with 14:28 left in the half, but a jumper from the Hornets' Moore cut the Southern lead to just two (15-13) two minutes later.
 A jumper from Prince with 11:38 to go capped a 5-0 run for the Lions and gave the team a seven-point lead (20-13). Emporia got to within three with four minutes to go, but a 12-0 run for the Lions to end the half made the score 43-28, Southern at the break.
 A layup from Prince with 15:11 left in the second half gave the Lions a 48-36 lead and a pair of free throws from Vince Fritz with 10:44 left made the Southern lead 16 (56-40). A 28-13 run by the Hornets, however, got ESU back to within one (69-68) with 2:23 to go in the game.
 A pair of free throws from DJ Feitl the next trip down pushed the lead back to three and a defensive stop, followed by a three-point play from Brown gave the Lions a 74-68 lead with 1:35 to go.
 Two free throws from Brown pushed the Lions' lead to eight (76-68) with 40 seconds left, and the Lions held on for the win.
 Southern shot 52 percent from the field and 38 percent from long-range, while making 79 percent of its free throws. The Lions forced 11 ESU turnovers, scoring 19 points off of the miscues. 
 
 Ichabod basketball history
•     The Ichabods are 1,512-1,038-2 (.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 538-251 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 406-75 (.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
•    The Ichabods will be off from games until Jan. 2 when the Ichabods will host Lindenwood in Lee Arena followed by another home game against Lincon on Jan. 4.