Opening Tip
•     The Washburn Ichabods return to the friendly confines of Lee Arena as the Ichabods start the home stretch of the 2016-17 season with six of their final eight regular season games at home starting with Nebraska-Kearney on Thursday night on Schendel Court.
•     Washburn is 14-6 and 6-5 in the MIAA after falling at Central Missouri last time out 87-71.
•     The Lopers are 14-6 on the year and 7-4 in the MIAA after beating Lincoln 102-90 last time out on Saturday. The Lopers have won their last two games after dropping two on the road at Northwest Missouri and at Missouri Western.
•     The Lopers are in a three-way tie for third place with Central Oklahoma and Missouri Southern in the MIAA standings at 7-4 trailing Northwest Missouri who leads the league at 11-0 and Central Missouri at 8-3. Washburn is in a two-way tie for sixth in the conference race at 6-5 with Emporia State.
•     The Ichabods are second in the nation in blocks at 5.7 per game and third in total blocks at 113 and Brady Skeens is fifth in the nation with 3.2 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 802-349 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 Ichabods trail the all-time series with Nebraska-Kearney 17-21 and have lost the last six games to the Lopers including a 93-80 win over the Ichabods earlier this season.
•     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 six losses opponents are averaging 11 made 3-pointers per game and Washburn is hitting 7.0 3-pointers per game.
•     In the six losses, opponents have attempts 40 more free throws (164 to 124) and have made 46 more free throws (132 to 86).
•     Brady Skeens leads the Ichabods in scoring and is ranked 15th in the MIAA in scoring at 13.4 ppg and Cameron Wiggins is 20th at 12.4 ppg.
•     Wiggins' 3-point field goals made per game of 2.5 made is seventh in the MIAA.
•     Brady Skeens leads the league in rebounding at 10.6 rpg, field goal percentage at 68.5 percent (113 of 165) and blocks at 3.2 per game … he is also ranked seventh in assists with 3.7 per game and 13th in minutes at 31.9 per game … Skeens is ranked third in the nation in field goal percentage, fifth in blocked shots and fourth in total blocks.
•     Randall Smith's 3.9 assists per game is fifth in the MIAA and Javion Blake is ranked 12th at 3.2 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 20 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 802-349 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.
 
Nebraska-Kearney head coach Kevin Lofton
•     is in his 12th year as head coach at Nebraska-Kearney after being promoted from co-head coach two seasons ago.
•     has recorded a 191-143 (.555) mark at UNK.
•     is 6-2 against Washburn.
 
Last Time Out For The Ichabods
CENTRAL MISSOURI 87, Washburn 71 -- Jan. 28, 2017
WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The Washburn Ichabods fell behind 22-7 8:46 into the game but rallied to take a lead late in the first half but could not hang on in an 87-71 loss at Central Missouri on Saturday afternoon.
The Ichabods fell behind 17-2 to start the game as the Mules would go on to lead by as many as 17 at 22-5 with 11:14 to play in the frame, but from that point Washburn returned serve with an 18-2 run of its own over the next 5:39 cutting the lead to one at 24-23 with 5:35 to play.
Washburn (14-6, 6-5 MIAA) would go on to take the lead at 33-32 with 1:11 to play in the frame on a 3-pointer by Drew Pyle, but it was short-lived as the Mules (14-5, 8-3 MIAA) hit one on their next possession for the final points of the half with the Mules taking a 35-33 lead into the break.
In the second half, Washburn cut the lead to one at 42-41 with 15:20 to play, but UCM would use an 18-5 run including 8 of 10 from the free throw line to go up 60-46 with 10:17 to play as Washburn committed six turnovers going 2 of 6 from the field.
After trailing by as many 17 in the half, the Ichabods cut it back to 11 at 74-63 with 3:58 to play after a putback dunk by Brady Skeens, but the Ichabods would not get any closer the rest of the way.
Washburn was led by Brady Skeens with team highs of 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Javion Blake, Isaac Clark and Drew Pyle all had 10 points.
Washburn finished 23 of 48 from the field and 15 of 19 from the free throw line. Central Missouri was 26 of 57 overall and 22 of 26 from the free throw line including a 21 of 23 performance in the second half.
Washburn was outrebounded 31 to 28 in the game and had 16 turnovers including 10 in the second half leading to 19 points overall for the Mules.

About Nebraska-Kearney
•     The Lopers are 14-6 on the year and 7-4 in the MIAA after beating Lincoln 102-90 last time out on Saturday. The Lopers have won their last two games after dropping two on the road at Northwest Missouri and at Missouri Western.
•     The Lopers are in a three-way tie for third place with Central Oklahoma and Missouri Southern in the MIAA standings at 7-4 trailing Northwest Missouri who leads the league at 11-0 and Central Missouri at 8-3. Washburn is in a two-way tie for sixth in the conference race at 6-5 with Emporia State.
•     Trey Lansman lead the team in scoring at 18.9 ppg and 8.2 rebounds per game. Ty Danielson is scoring 13.3 ppg and Yashua Trent is scoring 12.9 ppg.
•     The Lopers are hitting 37 percent of their 3-pointers and 48 percent from the field overall.
 
Series History with Nebraska-Kearney
•     Saturday's meeting will be the 39th in the series and the Lopers lead 21-17 and have won the last six games.
•     The Ichabods have won 11 of the last 18 meetings.
•     All-time in games in Kearney, the Ichabods are 5-16.
•     Washburn has lost the last four meetings in Kearney.
•     Washburn's last win in Kearney came on Jan. 12, 2013 in a 72-56 victory.
•     Washburn leads 11-5 in games played in Topeka.
 
Last Meeting with Nebraska-Kearney
Nebraska-Kearney 93, Washburn 80 -- Dec. 10, 2016
KEARNEY, Neb. -- The Washburn Ichabods fell behind 7-0 and coupled with a Nebraska-Kearney team who shot 57 percent from 3-point range was too much for Washburn to overcome as they dropped to 0-2 in MIAA play and 8-2 overall in a 93-80 loss to the Lopers.
Washburn was led by Brady Skeens who scored a career-high 23 points adding nine rebounds with six assists and five blocks to lead the Ichabods going 11 of 13 from the field. Javion Blake finished with 18 points followed by Randall Smith with 15 and David Salach with 11.
Washburn trailed 44-37 at the break and cut the lead to four in the second half before the Lopers would pull away.
UNK finished 60 percent from the field hitting 31 of 52 shots and went 57 percent from 3-point range hitting 12 of 21 attempts. UNK was also 19 of 25 from the free throw line compared to 15 of 18 for the Ichabods. Washburn shot 52 percent from the field in the game going 30 of 58 overall and 5 of 12 from 3-point range.
The loss was the sixth-straight to the Lopers. Ty Dannielson led the Lopers with 28 points hitting 4 of 6 shots from 3-point range and 10 of 11 free throw attempts. 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 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 Nebraska-Kearney
Nebraska-Kearney 102, Lincoln 90 -- Jan. 28, 2017
Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney men's basketball team shot 58 percent from the field and took advantage of five technical fouls to make 36 three throws in a 102-90 win over Lincoln Saturday evening at the Health & Sports Center.
This was the only meeting between the Lopers (14-6, 7-4) and Blue Tigers (13-8, 6-6) this year. By winning twice this week, UNK moved up three places to third in the MIAA standings.
To beat LU for the sixth straight time, Kearney went 29 of 50 (8 of 21 threes) from the field and 36 of 38 from the line. Making its first 28 free throws, the Lopers also got 35 points off its bench.
Both of Lincoln's star senior guards, Jaylon Smith and Anthony Virdure, were ejected from the contest. They came into the week both averaging just over 20 points per game.
Smith and Lincoln got off to a quick start, grabbing leads of 5-0 and 15-6. Using its hot shooting, UNK got back into things and took a 38-37 lead on a layup from junior Trey Lansman (Harlan, Ia.) at the 2:57 mark of the first half.
Ten seconds later, while going up court, Smith got tangled with UNK junior guard Ty Danielson (York). Both were whistled for technical fouls with Smith ejected for his being a flagrant two. He finished with 19 points in 17 minutes.
Lincoln still led 46-42 at the break as they nailed two triples in the final 33 seconds. Scoring 22 of his game-high 34 points in the second half, Virdure helped his team remain close.
A three by Lincoln freshman reserve Sam Morris made the score 64-62 with 10:55 left and the Lopers wouldn't trail the rest of the way. Morris finished with a season-high 17 thanks to 6 of 10 (2 of 5 threes) shooting).
Lincoln's last gasp came with 1:17 left after a layup from Virdure cut the Kearney lead to five, 92-87. However, while trying to foul senior guard Kevin Dineen soon after, he was called for a foul and two technicals. The LU bench was also whistled for a tech. Earlier in the half, reserve O'Shai Clark was called for a "T" after UNK made a bucket.
The three late techs led to Danielson making 5 of 6 free throws and Dineen (Creighton Prep H.S.) sinking two more. Danielson finished 17 of 18 at the line, one of the busiest efforts in school history.
Having a height advantage inside, Lansman went 12 of 15 from the field to tally 30. Going 3 of 4 from downtown, he also had seven rebounds, three assists and played all 40 minutes.
Next, Danielson finished with 24 points, four shy of his career-best effort. He went 3 of 7 from the field and also supplied four assists. Finally, Dineen had nine points, four rebounds, two assists and played tough defense on Lincoln's guards with Chicago junior Yashua Trent at seven dimes, six points and two steals.
Virdure reached his point total by making 12 of 18 (4 of 5 threes) shots. Playing 39 minutes, he also had six assists and four rebounds. As a team, Lincoln went 13 of 22 (59%) from the three point line but was just 11 of 16 at the line.
 
 Ichabod basketball history
•      The Ichabods are 1,534-1,055-2 (.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 to Lee Arena on Saturday for a nationally-televised NCAA Division II Game of the Week with Fort Hays State on Feb. 4 starting at 7 p.m.