Opening Tip
•   The Washburn Ichabod basketball team will open the 112th season of action with a pair of games at the Southwestern Oklahoma State University Classic where they will take on East Central on Friday, Nov. 11 at 4 p.m. followed by a 2:30 p.m. match up with the host Bulldogs on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center in Weatherford, Okla.
•   The Ichabods finished the 2015-16 season with a 15-13 record tying for fifth in the MIAA standings.
•   The Ichabods are coming off an 84-64 loss in their final exhibition game against Oklahoma on Tuesday night in Norman.
•   Washburn led the Sooners 50-47 with 15:00 left in the game before the Sooners outscored the Ichabods 37-14 over the final 13:50 of the game leading to the 20-point win.
•   Washburn trailed by nine points to the Jayhawks with 17:01 to play at 52-43 and trailed the Wildcats by 10 with 69 seconds left to play.
•   The Ichabods outrebounded the Jayhawks 45 to 44 and had 19 offensive rebounds.
•   Against Kansas State, Washburn forced the Wildcats into 21 turnovers leading to 16 points and outscored the Wildcats 31 to 27 in the second half and had 10 fast break points compared to 10 for KSU.
•   Washburn was picked second in the MIAA preseason coaches poll.
•   Washburn is 77-33-1 all-time in season openers and have gone 32-5 in season openers under head coach Bob Chipman.
•   This season will be Bob Chipman's last season on the bench at Washburn … Chipman announced prior to the start of the season this year would be his last … Chipman has recorded a career-record of 788-343 at Washburn needing only 12 wins to reach 800 for his career becoming only the 14th coach to reach that milestone.
•   The Washburn Ichabod men's basketball returns five starters, which include the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year and the MIAA Freshman of the Year, along with two junior college transfers and three freshmen.
•   The Ichabods' returning scorer from last season is sophomore Javion Blake, who became the first Ichabod player to be named the MIAA's Freshman of the Year … last season Blake averaged 13.4 points a game becoming the first freshman since Gary Carrier to lead the Ichabods in scoring earning honorable mention all-MIAA honors … Blake was also named to the National Division II Bulletin all-Freshman team.
•   Blake became the first Ichabod to win the MIAA Freshman of the Year Award after leading the team with a 13.4 points per game average adding 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game and was named honorable mention all-MIAA.
•   Also back is the MIAA's Defensive Player of the Year in junior Brady Skeens, who was the seventh Ichabod to average a double double for the season with 10.4 points and 10.2 rebounds a game … he also set a school single-season record with 61 blocks and shot 66 percent from the field hitting 112 of 169 shots en route to honorable mention all-MIAA accolades.
•   Junior Cameron Wiggins was second on the team last season averaging 12.2 points per game while hitting a team-high 58 3-pointers.
•   Joining Wiggins in the backcourt is junior guard Randall Smith, who averaged 9.9 points per game adding 4.3 assists per game.
•   Up front, senior Jeremy Lickteig started 20 of 28 games averaging 4.8 points and 3.0 rebounds a game.
•   Also back on the frontline will be sophomore David Salach who averaged 4.5 points and 3.5 rebounds a game before a foot injury ended his season
•   Sophomore guard Tyas Martin returns as well after starting five games averaging 4.2 points and 1.9 rebounds a game.
•   Fellow sophomore Emeka Ogbonna appeared in 17 games.
•   Junior guard Tom Huppe appeared in four games.
•   Newcomers include a pair of junior college transfers as Isaac Clark and Brandon Fagins join the squad … Clark scored 16.6 ppg while adding 4.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game hitting 49 of 144 3-pointers after averaging 14.9 ppg … Fagins averaged 3.5 points and 3.7 rebounds with 1.2 blocks per game as a sophomore.
•   Freshmen include Drew Pyle, the 4A-I Player of the Year after averaging 23.1 points a game as well as Cooper Holmes, who finished his prep career 14th on the all-time Kansas state high school scoring chart with 2,191 points and was named the 4A-II Player of the Year scoring 30.9 points per game as a senior … Clayton Holmberg, was an all-state pick as a senior rounds out the newcomers for the Ichabods.
 •  Ichabod head coach Bob Chipman 788 wins is three behind current West Virginia State head coach Bob Huggins.
 
  Ichabods on Radio
Washburn games will be broadcast on KTPK 106.9 FM radio with Jake Lebahn and Dan Lucero 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 38th season at the helm of the Ichabods.
•   a 1973 graduate of Kansas State earning both his undergraduate and master's degree in Manhattan.
•   is 788-343 overall.
•   has 549 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 549.
•   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 462-92 going 411-81 in Lee Arena.
•   is third in all-time coaching victories in active NCAA Division II coaches.
•   his 788 coaching wins is 17th 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.
 
East Central head coach Ja Havens
•   is 58-30 in his fourth season as the head coach of the Tigers.
•   became the seventh head coach for the East Central University men's basketball team in April 2013.
•   came back to his roots in the Oklahoma basketball community after spending his playing career at St. Gregory's and Northeastern State and the first seven of his 15 years in collegiate coaching in Oklahoma.
•   led the Tigers to their first Great American Conference regular-season title, with a 22-8 overall record and a 17-5 mark in the league.
                                                             
Southwestern oklahoma state head coach Bob Battisti
•   is in his fourth season at SWOSU in 2016-17 after being tabbed as the 14th men's basketball coach in Bulldog basketball history in April 2013.
•   in three years with the Bulldogs, Battisti has guided SWOSU to a record of 50-35, giving him a career record of 459-331 in 27 years as a collegiate head coach.
 •  has guided five All-Great American Conference selections while at SWOSU, including two-time all-conference selection Martell Collins, who was named a First Team All-GAC honoree in 2016. Battisti has also mentored one All-American (Rod Camphor), one GAC Player of the Year (Camphor) and one GAC Defensive Player of the Year (Michael Bradley).
 
 Last Time Out For The Ichabods
Oklahoma 84, Washburn 64 -- Nov. 8, 2016
NORMAN, Okla. -- A 33-13 run over the final 11:36 of the game after the Ichabods had taken a 51-49 lead was too much to overcome as Washburn lost its final exhibition game 84-64 to the Oklahoma Sooners. Washburn will open the regular season on Friday back in Oklahoma when they will take on East Central at the Southwestern Oklahoma State Classic at 4 p.m.
Washburn led the Sooners by two with 13:41 to play in the game after a free throw by Randall Smith, but the Sooners would rip off the deciding run.
In the opening half, Oklahoma led by as many as nine at 39-30 with 2:30 to play in the frame before the Ichabods rallied with an 11-3 run capped by a layup by Tyas Martin cutting the halftime margin to 42-41.
Washburn shot 39 percent in the first half hitting 13 of 33 shots while going 12 of 16 shots from the free throw line. OU was 13 of 32 from the field in the opening stanza and 10 of 17 from the free throw line and hit 6 of 16 3-pointers.
After Washburn led by three at 50-47 after a dunk by Brady Skeens and a layup by Emeka Ogbonna, but the Sooners outscored the Ichabods 37-14 over the final 13:50 of the game leading to the 20-point win.
The Ichabods cooled off to 9 of 27 shooting in the second half, while the Sooners improved to 15 of 29 overall. Washburn was 2 of 11 from 3-point range and only 3 of 5 from the free throw line while the Soooners were 10 of 13 from the charity stripe.
Washburn was led by Skeens' 14 points adding seven rebounds with three assists, two blocks and two steals. Ogbonna had 11 points with six rebounds and Randall Smith had 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Christian James scored 16 points grabbing eight rebounds and six assists leading the Sooners.
Washburn finished 22 of 60 from the field for the game for a 37 percent average with 5 of 20 from 3-point range and 15 of 21 from the stripe. OU was 28 of 61 overall with 8 of 26 from deep and 20 of 30 from the line.
Washburn committed 21 turnovers leading to 21 Sooner points. Washburn was outrebounded by OU 42 to 40 overall. 
 
About East Central
•   After earning its first regular-season title in 2015-16 the East Central University men's basketball team has been picked as the team to beat in the 2016-17 Great American Conference Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches.
•   The Tigers received seven of the 12 first-place votes and a total of 117 points. 
•   ECU has also received national attention already for the 2016-17 season, as they have been ranked No. 24 in the Division II Bulletin Preseason Poll.  This is the second straight season for the Tigers to be ranked by DII Bulletin in the Preseason Poll, as they were No. 25 in 2015-16.
•   Senior Braxton Reeves also received an honor from DII Bulletin, being named a Preseason All-American Honorable Mention.  Reeves is the second player to be earn an award by DII Bulletin in the preseason, as Stirling Thomas was a preseason Honorable Mention All-America pick in 2015-16.
•   While ECU has lost the 2015-16 GAC leading scorer in Thomas, The Tigers return eight players from a season ago.  Reeves is the top returner for ECU, averaging 15.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game and claiming All-GAC First Team honors.
•   Senior Ishmael Donzo is also a key returner for the Tigers, as he claimed All-GAC Honorable Mention honors after averaging 11.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.

 Series History with East Central
•   The Ichabods lead the all-time series 2-0 after winning a pair of neutral site games on Jan. 3, 1975 (69-59) and on Jan. 3, 1976 (56-51) in the only meetings in the series.
 
Last meeting with East Central
(Jan. 3, 1976) WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- The Washburn Ichabods topped East Central in the second game of the Ligon Classic hosted by Midwestern State in a 56-51 win.
Pat Murphy led the Ichabods with 20 points adding five rebounds while Sam Thomas had 10 points and eight rebounds. Larry Mack also had 10 points with three rebounds.
Washburn was 14 of 22 from the free throw line compared to 3 of 6 for the Tigers. Washburn was outrebounded 51 to 41 in the game and led 29-26 at the break.
 
About Southwestern Oklahoma State
•   The Bulldogs lost exhibition games to Oklahoma City 80-59 and to Mid-America Christian 87-77 this season and will open with defending NCAA National Champions Augustana on Friday before taking on the Ichabods on Saturday.
•   SWOSU is picked to finish seventh in the Great American Conference this year after going 17-12 last season and tying for fourth place in the league with a 13-9 record before being ousted by Southern Arkansas in the quarterfinals of the GAC Tournament.
•   The Bulldogs return just six players from last season, but they welcome back two starters in Honorable Mention All-GAC point guard Markeise Champion and junior guard Collin Jennings. The Bulldogs also have a strong recruiting class of nine players (six transfers, three freshmen) that have joined the roster for the upcoming season.   

 Series History with Southwestern Oklahoma State
•   The Ichabods are tied 1-1 in the all-time series with Southwestern Oklahoma State.
•   The Ichabods won the first meeting Nov. 17, 1977 game in which the Ichabods won 87-71.
•   The Bulldogs won the last meeting on Nov. 28, 2008 in a 105-99 overtime win over the Ichabods at the Central Oklahoma Classic in Edmond.

Last meeting with Southwestern Oklahoma State
(Nov. 28, 2008) EDMOND, Okla. - Darnell Kimble and Paul Byers had career high scoring nights but the Ichabods fell in overtime Friday night, 105-99 to Southwestern Oklahoma in the first game of the Central Oklahoma OSSO Thanksgiving Classic.
Kimble was 11-of-17 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line for a career-high 29 points and Byers tied his career high with 15 points as he was 9-of-13 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers.
Kimble, one of three Ichabods to foul out, did so after pulling in seven rebounds and blocking a career-high four shots. Mario Scott scored 15 points and Will McNeill had 14.
The Ichabods never led in the second half and they were down by 16 at the 10:05 mark. They got within a point at 6:18 on a lay-up by Kimble that capped a 12-0 run. Kimble also started the run with two straight baskets.
The Bulldogs went back up by six, 85-79 with 4:26 remaining but Byers hit a jumper with 3:02 remaining and then Scott hit two straight shots, the last at 1:32 to tie the score at 88-88.
The score stayed that way and Washburn went into its first overtime of the year.
The Bulldogs scored first in the extra period and Washburn didn't score until the 3:32 mark when Byers made a free throw. Kenneth White hit a 3-pointer for SWOSU to give his team an eight-point lead and they made three of four free throws in the final 32 seconds to pull away.
White led his team with 34 points and four others also reached double figures.
The Ichabods shot 50 percent while the Bulldogs were 52 percent. Washburn out-rebounded SWOSU, 54-25 but the Ichabods turned the ball over 33 times.
Byers led the team with nine rebounds and Scott led with six assists.
 
 Ichabod basketball history
•   The Ichabods are 1,520-1,049-2 (.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 549-262 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 411-81 (.848) all-time in Lee Arena.
•   The 2016-17 season marks the 32nd 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 open the 32nd season in Lee Arena on Nov. 19 when they will play host to Rockhurst.