Opening Tip
•     The Washburn Ichabods, winners of four of their last five games, will wrap up a mini two-game road trip at Central Missouri on Saturday, 3:30 p.m. in Warrensburg.
•     Washburn is 14-5 and 6-4 in the MIAA after topping Southwest Baptist in Bolivar, Mo., on Thursday leading by as many as 26 points in the game.
•     The Mules are 13-5 overall and 7-3 in the MIAA after topping Emporia State 66-58 last time out … UCM has won five of its last six games including the last four.
•     The Mules are in a tie for second place with Central Oklahoma in the MIAA standings at 7-3 trailing Northwest Missouri who leads the league at 10-0. Washburn is in a three-way tie for fourth in the conference race at 6-4 with Nebraska-Kearney and Emporia State.
•     The Ichabods are second in the nation in blocks at 6.1 per game and second in total blocks at 110 and Brady Skeens is third in the nation with 3.5 blocks per game.
•     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 a career-record of 802-348 at Washburn and became only the 17th coach to reach that milestone in the win against Central Oklahoma … next on the coaching win list is Eddie Sutton with 806.
•     The Mules lead the all-time series 49-48 … the Ichabods have won the last two meetings and two of the last three games played at UCM … Washburn won 80-70 on Feb. 20, 2016 in Topeka and on Jan. 27 in a 58-56 win in Warrensburg.
•     In Washburn's 14 wins this season, the Ichabods are shooting 52 percent from the field and holding opponents to 38 percent … in the five losses Washburn is shooting 47 percent while opponents are shooting 45 percent from the field.
•     In the five losses opponents are averaging 11 made 3-pointers per game and Washburn is hitting 6.6 3-pointers per game.
•     In the five losses, opponents have attempts 34 more free throws (138 to 104) and have made 40 more free throws (110 to 70).
•     Brady Skeens leads the Ichabods in scoring and is ranked 15th in the MIAA in scoring at 13.4 ppg, Cameron Wiggins is 18th at 12.7 ppg and Javion Blake is 25th at 11.4 ppg, David Salach is ranked 38th at 9.6 ppg, Isaac Clark is 40th at 9.5 ppg, Randall Smith is 39th at 9.2 ppg and .
•     Wiggins' 3-point field goal percentage of 46 percent (46 of 101) is third in the MIAA and his 2.6 made 3-pointers per game is seventh in the MIAA.
•     Brady Skeens leads the league in rebounding at 10.6 rpg, field goal percentage at 68.4 percent (108 of 158) and blocks at 3.4 per game … he is also ranked seventh in assists with 3.5 per game and 13th in minutes at 31.7 per game … Skeens is ranked second in the nation in field goal percentage, third in blocked shots and third in total blocks.
•     Randall Smith's 4.1 assists per game is fifth in the MIAA and Javion Blake is ranked 10th at 3.3 per game.
•     Brady Skeens' 137 career blocks are the most in school after passing Ewan Auguste (100) on the all-time chart against Newman … he has broke his own school record of 61 set last season as a sophomore with 64 so far this season in 18 games.
 
  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 and final season at the helm of the Ichabods.
•      a 1973 graduate of Kansas State earning both his undergraduate and master's degree in Manhattan.
•      is 802-348 overall.
•      has 563 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 563.
•      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 468-94 going 417-83 in Lee Arena.
•      is third in all-time coaching victories in active NCAA Division II coaches.
•      his 802 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.
 
Central Missouri head coach Doug Karleskint
•     is 51-27 in his third season as the head coach at Central Missouri and 141-61 (.743) overall in his seventh season as a head coach.
•     spent five seasons at Arkansas Tech, including the last four as head coach
•     he compiled a 90-34 (.726) record with the Wonder Boys with four conference championships and four trips to the NCAA-II National Tournament, including a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2012.
•     is 1-2 against Washburn.   
 
Last Time Out For The Ichabods
Washburn 76, Southwest Baptist 63 -- Jan. 26, 2017
BOLIVAR, Mo. -- The Washburn Ichabods fell behind 7-0 2:31 into the game but outscored Southwest Baptist 36-16 the rest of the first half as the Ichabods rolled to a 76-63 over the Bearcats. Washburn will be back in action on Saturday at Central Missouri.
After the Ichabods (14-5, 6-4 MIAA) would go 12 of 20 hitting 6 of 10 3-point attempts the rest of the first half while SBU (10-9, 3-7 MIAA) were limited to 6 of 22 shooting and 2 of 8 shooting while committing nine turnovers.
Washburn turned a 15-point lead with 14:10 to play in the game into a 26-point lead  as they went 7 of 7 from the field during the stretch connecting on a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach as the Bearcats would get no  closer than 13 with 25 seconds to play.
Isaac Clark led the Ichabods with 15 points going 6 of 11 from the field pacing five different Washburn player in double figures. Drew Pyle scored 12 all coming on 3-pointers finishing 4 of 5 overall. David Salach, Cameron Wiggins and Brandon Fagins all scored 10. Brady Skeens just missed a double double with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds adding five assists tying for game-high honors with Randall Smith who also had five assists.
SBU was led by Cartier Dean with 12 points.
Washburn finished 53 percent from the field going 30 of 57 including 8 of 19 from 3-point range while SBU was 21 of 49 for a 43 percent clip hitting 10 of 19 3-pointers.
Each team finished with 33 rebounds and the Ichabods took advantage of 16 Bearcat turnovers leading to 20 points for Washburn. The Ichabod bench outscored SBU 38 to 24 in the game and 30 to 22 in the paint.
Washburn, who shot 43 percent overall in the first half, hit 18 of 29 shots in the second half for a blistering 62 percent from the field as they would lead by as many as 26 in the game midway through the second half.

About Central Missouri
•     The Mules are 13-5 this season and 7-3 in the MIAA in a two-way tie for second in the league race.
•     The Mules have won four straight and five of their last six games.
•     Spencer Reaves leads the team in scoring at 16.6 ppg adding 4.6 rebounds per game and has gone 38 of 91 from 3-point range hitting 42 percent of his shots from deep … he is also shooting 83 percent from the free throw line hitting 81 of 98 attempts.
•     Kyle Wolf is averaging 12.1 ppg with 4.1 rpg and has hit 36 of 74 3-point attempts this season.
•     Three other players average at least 8.5 ppg.
•     As a team the Mules are shooting 49.8 percent from the field and 40 percent from deep.
•     They are +2.3 in rebound margin this season and have attempts 163 more free throws than their opponents hitting 134 more free throws.
 
Series History with Central Missouri
•     Saturday's meeting will be the 98th between these two teams
•     UCM leads the all-time series 49-48.
•     Washburn is 20-8 against UCM in Lee Arena and 24-22 in all-time MIAA games.
•     In road MIAA games played in Warrensburg, the Ichabods are 9-14 including winning two of the last three.
•     The Ichabods have won seven of the last 10 meetings.
•     The last time the teams met in the conference tournament was during the 2010 season when the Ichabods as the No. 8 seed topped the No. 1-seeded Mules 79-60.
•     The Ichabods are 5-1 all-time against Central Missouri in the MIAA Tournament.
 
Last Meeting with Central Missouri
Washburn 80, Central Missouri 70-- Feb. 10, 2016
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods led for 33 minutes as they swept the regular season series with Central Missouri in an 80-70 win over the Mules on Wednesday night in Lee Arena.
The Ichabods (13-9, 9-8 MIAA) jumped out to an early 18-12 lead just after the midway point of the first half before the Mules (13-10, 7-10 MIAA) came back and took a two-point lead at 31-29 with 45 seconds to play before the half, but the Ichabods scored five straight points on a 3-pointer by Javion Blake and a pair of free throws by Robert Christopher pushed the Washburn lead to 34-31 at the intermission.
Starting the second half, Washburn came out on a 12-2 run over the next 3:31 stretching its lead to 13 at 46-33 after another 3-pointer by Blake with 16:33 to play. The Mules cut the lead to seven at 64-57 with 6:04 to play, but would not get any closer as the Ichabods snapped a three-game losing streak and evened the all-time series with the Mules at 49 wins each.
Blake led five Ichabods in double figures with 21 points hitting 4 of 9 3-point attempts. Cameron Wiggins recorded 16 points off the bench going 6 of 9 from the field and 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Brady Skeens scored 13 points adding three blocks while Christian Ulsaker scored 10 points with three assists and Randall Smith scored 10 points adding eight assists. Cole Johnson, Jeremy Lickteig and Smith all had five rebounds to tie for game-high honors.
Jakob Lowrance led the Mules with 18 points followed by Spencer Reaves who scored 17 and D'Marnier Cuningham with 11.
Washburn outrebounded the Mules 32 to 19 turning 13 offensive rebounds into 11 second chance points while outscoring the Mules 30 to 16 in the paint.
Washburn finished 26 of 50 overall from the field hitting 10 of 18 3-point attempts and 18 of 24 free throws. The Mules were 23 of 49 overall and 9 of 20 from deep hitting 15 of 20 free throws in the game.
 
Last Time Out For Central Missouri
Central Missouri 66, Emporia State 58 -- Jan. 25, 2017
WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The Mules shot 60 percent from the field and outscored Emporia State by nine points in the second half to come away with a 66-58 win on Wednesday night. The Mules have now won four straight games and are 13-5 overall and 7-3 in MIAA play.
Both teams got off to a slow start with the Mules scoring the games first points, a three-pointer from Kyle Wolf, at the 16:49 mark. The Mules led 5-0 before Emporia State (10-9, 6-4 MIAA) got on the board. The Hornets grabbed their first lead of the game at 11-9 on a three-point play by Garin Vandiver with 12:17 left in the half. They pushed the lead to seven before the Mules went on a 12-4 run to regain the lead at 21-20 with 7:10 left in the opening period.
The UCM lead grew to four at 26-22 on a three-pointer by Dushaun Rice, but the Mules went the final 5:37 of the half without a field goal and trailed 29-28 at halftime.
The second half started the same way the first did with both teams struggling offensively. UCM grabbed a 31-29 lead at the 17:25 mark only to see ESU tie the game at the 16:07 mark. The game see-sawed back and forth through much of the half before a 5-0 run gave the Mules a 43-38 lead with 9:21 to play. Emporia State responded with a 7-2 spurt of its own to tie the game yet again at 43-all with 8:17 to play.
The Mules responded with a 7-0 run to regain the lead for good at 50-43. The Hornets fought back to within two at 57-55, but Spencer Reaves made a pair of free throws and the Mules led 59-55 with 2:22 to play. A jumper from Reaves and two free throws gave UCM a 63-55 lead with :32 to play. Jevon Taylor hit a three for the Hornets to pull them within five, but the Mules iced the game at the line to come away with the eight-point win.
DJ Richardson led the Mules with 14 points. He was joined in double figures by Spencer Reaves' 13 and Kyle Wolf's 12 points as the Mules shot 60 percent from the field (22-37). UCM was 6-10 from beyond the arc, but struggled at the foul line, making just 16-28 attempts.
Vandiver led ESU with 14 points, while Brandon Hall had 11 and Josh Pedersen had 10. ESU was 22-44 from the field and 8-20 from three-point range for 40 percent.
 
 Ichabod basketball history
•      The Ichabods are 1,534-1,054-2 (.592) all-time in the 112th year in the program's history.
•      Washburn is the fifth-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 563-266 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 417-83 (.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 return back Topeka for home games with Nebraska-Kearney on Feb. 2 and a nationally-televised NCAA Division II Game of the Week with Fort Hays State on Feb. 4.