Opening Tip
•     The Washburn Ichabods will return home on Thursday when they will take on Central Oklahoma at 7:30 p.m. on Schendel Court at Lee Arena.
•    The Ichabods (11-14, 6-8 MIAA) dropped an 85-78 decision at Nebraska-Kearney losing their second-straight game.
•    Central Oklahoma  has won its last two games and three of the last four contests.
•    The Ichabods won the first meeting of the season 68-60 in Edmond on Jan. 22.
•    In the MIAA standings, Lindenwood, Northwest Missouri and Central Missouri are all tied at 10-4 and have clinched a postseason spot in the MIAA Tournament. 
•    Pittsburg State is in fourth at 9-4 while Nebraska-Kearney is fifth at 9-5.
•    Fort Hays State and Central Oklahoma are tied for sixth at 8-6 while Washburn and Missouri Western are tied for ninth at 6-8. Southwest Baptist is in 11th at 4-9 and Emporia State is in 12th at 4-10. Northeastern State (3-10) and Lincoln (1-13) round out the league standings.
•    Washburn has been a combined 6 of 20 from the field with eight turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the last two games going 2 of 9 with 5 turnovers against Emporia State and 4 of 11 with three turnovers in the first 10 minutes against Nebraska-Kearney. 
•    Opponents have gone a combined 17 of 26 with opponents starting 9 of 15 against Emporia State and 8 of 11 against Nebraska-Kearney.
•    In the first half of the last two games the Ichabods have been outscored 73 to 51 while in the second half the Ichabods have outscored UNK and ESU 86 to 74.
•    The Ichabods are looking to avoid their first three-game losing streak since last season when they lost a home game at Nebraska-Kearney then road contests at Central Oklahoma and Northeastern State.
•    Kyle Wiggins became the 22nd person to go over the 1,000-point mark for his career against the Mules  and he now has 1,146 points in four years … his point total is 12th all-time at Washburn … next on the chart is Jemi Johnson who scored 1,215 points in three years from 1992-95.
•    Kyle Wiggins went over the 100 career 3-point mark against Fort Hays State … he ranks 12th overall in 3-pointers at Washburn with 103.
•    Alex North became the 23rd Ichabod to reach 1,000 for his career against Fort Hays State entering the game with Central Oklahoma with 1,023 points which is tied for 18th all-time at Washburn.
•    With Kyle Wiggins and Alex North going over the 1,000-point mark in a career it marked the first time Washburn had two different players go over the 1,000-point mark in the same season.
•    The Ichabods will have four of their final five games at home starting with Central Oklahoma on Feb. 12 and Northeastern State on Feb. 14. After a road game at Fort Hays State on Feb. 18, the Ichabods will wrap up the regular season with home games against Emporia State on Feb. 21 and Pittsburg State on Feb. 28. The MIAA Tournament starts its first round games on campus sites on March 2 and the tournament continues in Kansas City on March 5. 
•    The Ichabods have 30 regular season games scheduled this season and also had three exhibition games against NCAA Division I members Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma to have 33 games before the MIAA Tournament starts.
•    The Ichabods have used 13 different starting line ups this season.
    
 Bod Notes
•    Alex North has recorded 15 double doubles in his career at Washburn with his last one coming against Northeastern State on Jan. 24 … he scored his 1,000th career point against Fort Hays State and has played in 111 games with 78 starts … he went over the 650-rebound mark for his career against Emporia State … he has 1,023 career points averaging 9.2 ppg in his career and 6.0 rpg at Washburn … his 113 career 3-pointers at Washburn are ninth all-time … his 662 career rebounds are fifth all-time at Washburn … he has reached double figure scoring in 47 games as an Ichabod … he also ranks eighth in minutes played (2,758), 16th in free throws made (234), 12th in games started (78), 23rd in steals (78) and 29th in assists (180) as an Ichabod.
•    Kyle Wiggins has averaged 10.3 ppg in 111 games making 69 starts … he went over the 1,000-point mark against Central Missouri … he also has gone over the 200-rebound mark for his career and has 243 and he went over the 200-assist mark in Hawaii and has 244 for his career … his 1,146 career points is 12th all-time at Washburn … he became just the seventh Ichabod to record at least 1,000 points and have 200 assists in a career.
•    Ichabod junior Christian Ulsaker is averaging 6.4 points with 3.9 rebounds a game this season … he recorded his first career double double against Peru State with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
•    The Ichabods have hit at least one 3-pointer in 335 games … the last game the Ichabods did not hit a 3-pointer was Dec. 30, 2003 at Missouri Western … the Ichabods have not in a 3-pointer in only five games since the 3-point line came into existence prior to the 1986-87 season - a total of 873 of 878 games played.
•    Algie Key had a season-high 25 points in the loss at Nebraska-Kearney adding three assists and three steals in 33 minutes … he hit a season-high 11 of 14 free throw attempts against Emporia State  … he is averaging 9.7 points and 4.0 rebounds a game this season at Washburn after transferring from Alabama.
•    Turon Parker is scoring 6.0 ppg this season adding 39 assists and 18 steals in his first season as an Ichabod … he had a season-high eight rebounds against Tabor.
•    Kevin House leads the team with 48 assists this season while adding 4.7 points and 1.8 rebounds per game … he is 45 of 53 from the free throw line this season for a team-high 85 percent.
•    Jeremy Lickteig scored a career-high 19 points against Northwest Indian College going 9 of 10 from the field … he made his first career start against BYU-Hawaii.
•    The Ichabods are 151 of 451 from 3-point range this season with Kyle Wiggins hitting a team-high 36 of 90 attempts for a 40 percent average … Alex North has hit 27 of 81 attempts and Andy Wilson has hit 20 of 60 attempts … Ichabod opponents are 195 of 514 from 3-point range this season.
•    Brady Skeens recorded a season-high 14 points in his second game of the season against Tabor after having his planned redshirt pulled prior to the Rockhurst game and recorded a season-high four blocks against Central Oklahoma.
•    David Salach has started 10 games this season has averaged 3.5 rebounds a game this season and he is averaging 3.9 rebounds per game in MIAA play.
•    Washburn is 358 of 539 from the free throw line for a 66 percent average while its opponents are 381 of 527 hitting 72 percent of their charity stripe attempts … in MIAA play the Ichabods have improved to 211 of 303 from the line for a 70 percent average while opponents are 201 of 277 in MIAA play for a 73 percent average.
•    Washburn is +1.3 in rebounding margin and have been outrebounded in nine games this season.
•    The Ichabods have outscored their opponents 791 to 736 in the first half of games, but have been outscored 983 to 964 in the second half of games.

 Ichabods on Radio
Washburn games will be broadcast on AM580 WIBW radio with Jake Lebahn calling the action and color commentary from Pat Strathman. 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 36th season at the helm of the Ichabods.
•     a 1973 graduate of Kansas State earning both his undergraduate and master's degree in Manhattan.
•     is 768-328 overall.
•     has 527 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 527.
•     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 447-85 going 396-74 in Lee Arena.
•     is second in all-time coaching victories in active NCAA Division II coaches.
•     his 768 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.

Central Oklahoma head basketball coach Terry Evans
•      now in his 13th year at the helm of the Central Oklahoma 
•      is 258-122 in 13 years and has directed the Bronchos to seven national tournament appearances, including one Elite Eight and one Sweet 16 … he also led the team to six Lone Star Conference North Division titles and two overall league crowns during Central's association with that league.
•      has had six 20-win seasons in the past eight years -- including a school-record 30-win campaign in 2010-11 -- and coached 14 All-LSC North Division players while earning LSC North Division Coach of the Year honors five times and South Central Regional Coach of the Year accolades once.
•      played his college ball at Oklahoma, where he was a four-year starter for Bill Tubbs and later assisted Tubbs at Texas Christian.
•  He is 7-6 against Washburn.

 Last Time Out For The Ichabods
Nebraska-Kearney 85, Washburn 78 • Feb. 7, 2015
KEARNEY, Neb. -- A hot-shooting Lopers squad and a slow start was too much to overcome as the Ichabods fell 85-78 at Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday. The Ichabods return home on Thursday to face Central Oklahoma.
After trailing by as many as 15 in the first half the Ichabods battled back to cut the lead to 10 at 39-29 at the break after falling behind 12-2 and 17-7 to start the game. Washburn shot 42 percent from the field while the Lopers shot 62 percent hitting 13 of 21 shots including 4 of 7 shots from 3-point range.
Washburn opened the second half with a pair of buckets cutting the lead to five, but a 3-pointer by the Lopers pushed it right back to eight with under 19 minutes to play in the game.
A 3-pointer by Korey Fisher trimmed the lead back to five at 51-46 with 14:46, but a traditional 3-point play by the Lopers pushed it back to eight with 14:26 to go in the game.
The Lopers would go on an 11-3 run after the Ichabods trimmed the margin to five pushed in back to 13 at 65-52 with 10:43 to play in the game.
With under eight minutes to play, Washburn cut the lead to seven four times and to five twice and to four twice but could not get any closer as the Lopers held on for the win. 
Key led four Ichabods in doubles figures with a career-high 25 points. Kyle Wiggins had 18, Fisher had 15 and Alex North had 12. Washburn's bench scored three points in the game.
Connor Beranek led the Lopers with 32 points. 

 About Central Oklahoma
•    The Bronchos enter the game with a 15-8 record and a 8-6 overall mark in MIAA play.
•    After dropping four of its five games prior to playing Washburn, UCO has won three of its last four games including the last two.
•    Mahlon Jones leads the Bronchos with 13.6 ppg …he has hit 23 of 78 3-pointers and 62 of 92 free throws.
•    Garen Wright is scoring 11.0 ppg. 
•    Seth Heckart is scoring 10.1 ppg as 55 of his 71 field goals have been 3-pointers this season.
•    Overall UCO has hit 195 3-pointers and they average 80.8 ppg while allowing 72.0 ppg. UCO holds a +2.0 rebounding margin this season.

  Series History with UCO
•      Thursday's meeting will be the 23rd in the series history. 
•      The Bronchos lead the series 13-9.
•    The Ichabods snapped a four-game losing streak in Edmond with the win on Jan. 22 at UCO. The win was the first by an Ichabod team in Hamilton Field House since a 101-94 win on Nov. 20, 2004.
•      The Ichabods lost the first match ups as MIAA schools on Jan. 5, 2013 67-72 in Edmond and in the MIAA tournament quarterfinals on March 3, 2013 99-88 in Kansas City.
•      Washburn's two highest-scoring combined games in school history came against UCO. In 1992 the two teams scored 246 points (132-114, UCO) and in 1998 they scored 218 points (111-107, UCO).
•      WU has scored at least 100 points against UCO three times and the Bronchos have done so twice.
•      Bob Chipman is 8-9 coaching against UCO. 

 Last meeting with Central Oklahoma
(Jan. 22, 2015) EDMOND, Okla. -- The Washburn Ichabods jumped out to an early double digit lead and fought back after Central Oklahoma regained the lead in the second half and took the lead back for good with under five minutes to play in a 68-60 win over the Bronchos. 
Washburn (10-10, 5-4 MIAA) led 37-28 at the break after jumping out to the early 15-point lead at 20-5 with 12:54 to play in the opening half.
The Ichabods shot 42 percent from the field in the first half hitting 14 of 33 shots and 6 of 12 shots from 3-point range as all nine players who checked into the game in the frame scored led.
Washburn went on to lead by as many as 13 with 15:30 to play in the game before the Bronchos (12-7, 5-5 MIAA) used a 9-0 run to cut the Ichabod advantage to four at 46-42 before a free throw by Korey Fisher stopped the run with a free throw, however UCO tied the game and took the lead at 49-47 with 11:24 to play. 
UCO took the lead at 52-49 with 10:37 to play after a 3-pointer. Neither team would score until a layup by Christian Ulsaker cut the UCO lead to 52-51 with 8:29 to go in the game.
The teams traded baskets and Kyle Wiggins put Washburn up 55-54 with 5:42 to play in the game. Six straight points by Andy Wilson off a layup and a 3-pointer with 3:32 to go put the Ichabods up 63-55.
Fisher then hit four free throws with 47 seconds to play and Turon Parker hit two more with 37 seconds to play putting Washburn up 67-57. A 3-pointer by the Bronchos cut the lead to seven with 28 seconds to play. Alex North connected on a free throw with 18 seconds to play and after a UCO turnover Washburn ran out the clock picking up the eight-point win.
Wilson led the Ichabods with 14 points going 4 of 8 from 3-point range. Fisher, Kyle Wiggins and Parker each had 11 points. North had a game-high eight rebounds adding five points.
Garen Wright scored 18 to lead the Bronchos.
Washburn finished 25 of 66 from the field after shooting 11 of 33 from the field in the second half. 
The Bronchos shot 40 percent in the second half and finished the game 21 of 59 overall for a 36 percent average.
Each team finished with 43 rebounds as both squads had 34 defensive and nine offensive rebounds.  

 Last time out for Central Oklahoma
(Feb. 7, 2015) Seth Heckart scored 13 of his game-high 15 points in the first half and Central Oklahoma took command early en route to an 82-65 drubbing of Pittsburg State Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Field House.
 The Bronchos led for all but 43 seconds of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association contest in easily avenging last Saturday's 17-point road loss to the Gorillas as Heckart paced a balanced attack that saw 10 players score.
 UCO's swarming defense also played a key role in the big win as the Bronchos limited PSU to 33.3-percent shooting from the field while forcing 20 turnovers in improving to 15-8 on the season and 8-6 in the league.
 Heckart was 9-of-9 from the free throw line and had two 3-pointers in his 15-point outing while adding five assists and two steals.  Mahlon Jones made 6-of-9 shots in scoring 14 points and Philip Brown chipped in 11 points on a 5-of-6 effort from the field.
 PSU's only lead in the game was at 3-2, with Heckart's trey from the wing putting the Bronchos on top to stay at the 17:48 mark.  Two Heckart free throws had UCO on top by 10 (26-16) at 9:47 and it was a 16-point advantage at 39-23 following a Cal Andrews 3-pointer at the 4:23 mark.
 Heckart gave the Bronchos a big 17-point (48-31) halftime cushion when he converted a four-point play with just six seconds left, draining a 22-footer from the top of the key while getting fouled and adding the free throw.
 The Gorillas got within 15 on three occasions in the second half, the final time at 61-46 with 11:20 remaining.  UCO answered with six straight points as Brown had a three-point play, Darrius Bryson a free throw and Jarred Bairstow two foul shots to make it 67-46 at 9:43 and the Bronchos coasted in.
 
 Ichabod basketball history
•     The Ichabods are 1478-998-4 (.591) all-time in the 110th 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 527-244 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 396-74 (.848) all-time in Lee Arena.
•     The 2014-15 season marks the 30th 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 have four of their final five games at home starting with Central Oklahoma on Feb. 12 and Northeastern State on Feb. 14. After a road game at Fort Hays State on Feb. 18, the Ichabods will wrap up the regular season with home games against Emporia State on Feb. 21 and Pittsburg State on Feb. 28.