• The Washburn Ichabods return to Topeka looking to snap a two-game slide as they play host to Emporia State in the first battle of the Turnpike Tussle.
• Washburn (14-5, 7-5 MIAA) is coming off an 87-85 overtime loss at No. 24-ranked Fort Hays State on Saturday snapping the Ichabods' five-game winning streak over the Tigers.
• Emporia State (14-8, 7-5 MIAA) is also looking to break a two-game losing streak after a double overtime loss at Fort Hays State and a 66-65 loss at Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday.
• Washburn is in a two-way tie for fifth in the MIAA standings with Emporia State two games behind Fort Hays State, Central Missouri and Missouri Southern who are all 9-3. Northwest Missouri leads the league with an 11-1 record.
• The Ichabods are 10-1 in games at home while the Hornets are 3-6 in road games this season.
 
• The Washburn Ichabods have won 513 games since becoming a member of the NCAA Division II ranks prior to the start of the 1989-89 season - which is the most by any member of the MIAA during that stretch.
• The Ichabods have hit at least one 3-pointer in 301 games entering the match up with ESU. The last game the Ichabods did not hit a 3-pointer was Dec. 30, 2003 at Missouri Western.
• Alex North recorded his seventh double double of the season, his fourth-straight and the ninth of his career with 23 points and 12 rebounds against Fort Hays State.
• The Ichabods have been outscored 246 to 187 in the second half of the five losses this season and have been outrebounded by an average of 14.2 per game.
• Alex North hit 600 career points against Fort Hays State. He has scored 600 points in 80 games averaging 7.5 a game including a 14.8 ppg average this season. He went over the 400-rebound total against Nebraska-Kearney and his is entering the game with ESU with 421 career boards.
• Jeff Reid went over the 650-point plateau as he now has 675 in his third season at Washburn and has averaged 8.7 ppg in 78 career games. He is averaging a career-high 10.3 ppg this season.
• Kyle Wiggins went over the 650-point mark at the Lopers. He now has 666 for his Washburn career averaging 8.5 ppg in 78 games including a team-high 14.6 ppg this season.
• Ichabod junior Christian Ulsaker will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a broken bone in his shooting hand in practice. He was averaging career-bests of 13.0 ppg and 3.8 rpg. He will apply for a medical redshirt as he played in only four games.
 
Washburn games will be broadcast on KTPK 106.9 FM radio with Mark Elliott and Jake Lebahn calling the action. The game will also be streamed live on the wusports.com website by following the listen live links on the men's basketball schedule page.
 
Washburn Ichabod head basketball coach Bob Chipman
• is in his 35th season at the helm of the Ichabods.
• a 1973 graduate of Kansas State earning both his undergraduate and master's degree in Manhattan.
• is 754-309 overall.
• has 513 wins since the Ichabods joined the MIAA, the most of any conference school since the 1989-90 season.
• 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 438-80 going 387-69 in Lee Arena.
• is second in all-time coaching victories in active NCAA Division II coaches.
• his 754 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.
 
Emporia State head coach Shaun Vandiver
• is 36-40 in his third season at Emporia State.
• was a first round draft pick by the Golden State Warriors in 1991 spent ten years as an assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level.
• as a player he was a key component in Hutchinson CC's tournament run to the 1988 NJCAA National Championship before earning first-team All-Big 8 honors at Colorado.
• is 1-4 against Washburn.
 
#3 • Jeff Reid • Moved into 10th on the Ichabods' all-time 3-pointers made chart against Fort Hays State hitting his 104th of his career … needs four more to catch Ryan Murphy (1999-2003).
#4 • Andy Wilson • Eleven of his 20 field goals this season have been 3-pointers and 30 of his 57 shot attempts have been from behind the 3-point line.
#5 • Korey Fisher • Nine assists in the last two games.
#11 • Kyle Wiggins • Has gone 15 of 21 from the field in the last two games averaging 15.5 ppg with 3.0 apg.
#13 • Chris Deanes • Has eight offensive rebounds and 25 defensive rebounds this season.
#14 • Christian Ulsaker • Will miss the rest of the season with a wrist injury and will apply for a medical redshirt playing in only four games.
#15 • Evan Robinson • Has two rebounds this season.
#21 • Chris Davis • Has gone 6 of 8 from 3-point land in the last two games averaging 10.0 ppg.
#22 • Alex North • Has had double figure rebound totals in each of the last four games recording 10, 20, 13 and 12 boards.
#24 • Stephon Drane • Team-high 14 blocks this season.
#31 • Leon Flowers • Has had six-straight games with double figure scoring outputs.
#32 • Dalton Abel • Scored first three points of the season hitting a 3-pointer against Missouri Southern.
#34 • Jeremy Lickteig • Recorded his eighth block of the season against Fort Hays State.
#42 • Colton Anderson • has at least one rebound in each of the last four games played.
 
#24 Fort Hays State 87, Washburn 85 • Feb. 1, 2014
HAYS, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods trailed by as 14 at halftime and by as many as 17 in the second half but came up shy of the comeback win falling 87-85 to No. 24-ranked Fort Hays State.
The Tigers' Dwayne Brunson hit a jumper with 0.3 left to put the Tigers (18-3, 9-3 MIAA) up and then stole the ensuing inbounds pass to lock up the game snapping the Ichabods (14-5, 7-5 MIAA) five game winning streak over the Fort Hays State.
Washburn trailed by 17 in the second half with 16:23 to go at 50-33 before Washburn outscored the Tigers the rest of the half 44-27 with 10 of Washburn's 13 field goals were 3-pointers. Alex North hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with four seconds remaining to tie the game at 77 sending the game into overtime after the Tigers shot came up short at the buzzer.
In the overtime period the Tigers Carson Konrade scored the first four points from the free throw line and then a 3-pointer by Jeff Reid and a layup by Kyle Wiggins put Washburn up 82-81 with 2:47 to play. The Tigers tied the game with 2:20 remaining and Washburn regained the lead with a free throw by North with 2:07 at 83-82 and Wiggins put Washburn up 85-82 with 1:28 left. Konrade tied it with a 3-pointer with 1:02 remaining and neither team scored until Brunson's game-winner.
Washburn trailed 43-29 at the break after shooting 10 of 25 from the field while the Tigers were 15 of 27 in the opening half. The Ichabods improved to 15 of 28 from the field going 10 of 16 from 3-point range finishing 14 of 25 from 3-point land. The 14 was one shy of the school record. Washburn finished 15 of 22 from the free throw line and the Tigers were 26 of 30.
North led five Ichabods in double figures with 23 points recording his fourth-straight double double adding 12 rebounds. Chris Davis scored 14 hitting all four 3-point attempts. Leon Flowers and Wiggins each scored 13 and Reid finished with 12.
Craig Nicholson led the Tigers with 23 points adding eight assists.
 
• Washburn now leads the all-time series 88-67.
• The Ichabods had their five-game winning streak snapped in the series with the loss.
• Fort Hays State is now 5-2 against WU in overtime games.
• Chris Davis his all four of his 3-point attempts scoring a season-high 14 points.
• Korey Fisher tied a season high with five assists for the third time this year.
• The 18 field goal attempts by Alex North was a career-high and his four 3-pointers tied a career high.
• Jeff Reid recorded a career-high four steals.
  
• The Hornets are 14-7 and 7-5 in the MIAA tied for fifth with the Ichabods in the MIAA standings.
• Emporia State has won six of their last nine games losing its last two contests.
• They are led by Kaleb Wright at 19.1 points per game. Terrence Moore is averaging 15.6 points and leads the MIAA in steals with 52 averaging 2.4 per game this season.
• Paul Bunch leads the league in blocked shots with 64 averaging 2.9 per game.
 
• The meeting on Wednesday will be the 204th meeting between these two schools and the Ichabods lead at 104-99. This is the most-played series for Washburn.
• The Ichabods have won four of the last five meetings in the series overall.
• The two teams started the series in 1905-06, Washburn's first recorded year of basketball, and they have met every year since the 1945-46 season.
• This will be the 69th straight year they have played each other at least once.
• The Ichabods are 21-8 against the Hornets in Lee Arena.
• Washburn is 27-14 against ESU in MIAA games.
• Washburn is 4-1 against ESU in MIAA Postseason tournament games. 
 
Feb. 1, 2014 -- Nebraska-Kearney's Davion Pearson hit a three pointer with 12.2 seconds left to defeat the Emporia State men 66-65 on Saturday afternoon in Kearney, Neb.  The Hornets had a shot at the end but a three point shot and rebound attempt both missed.
Emporia State used a 13-2 run to take a 23-12 lead with 8:59 left in the first half. The Hornet lead would reach 15 on four occasions before the Hornets settled into a 40-27 lead at the break.  Emporia State shot 50% from the field in the first half, including a seven of 14 effort from behind the three point line.  Jay Temaat hit all three of his three point attempts in a 2:19 span near the end of the half.
The Lopers scored the first six points of the second half to get back in the game at 40-33 with 17:48 left. They would later use a 10-2 run to cut the Hornet lead down to one at 54-53 with 7:00 remaining.  Gavin Brown answered with a three pointer to put Emporia State back up by four.  A pair of free throws by Pearson with 3:23 left gave the Lopers their first lead of the second half.  Kaleb Wright gave the lead back to the Hornets at 61-59 with a three-pointer at the 3:01 mark.  A layup from Paul Bunch and two free throws from Wright gave Emporia State a 65-60 lead with 1:24 left.  Pearson hit three-pointer with 1:01 left to pull UNK within two points.  The Hornets worked the shot clock down but turned it over with 26.2 seconds left.  Pearson, who's only field goals came in the final 1:24, then hit the go ahead three.  Emporia State had a shot with 1.8 left but Temaat's contested three was off and Bunch couldn't get the tip in to fall.
Wright led Emporia State with 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists.  Terrence Moore was six of seven from the field for 15 points while Bunch finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.
 
Feb. 28, 2013 -- EMPORIA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods trailed by as many as 14 but cut it back to three late but couldn't get over the hump as they fell 61-55 at Emporia State.
The Hornets (13-12, 8-9 MIAA) led 27-21 at the break after finishing the half on a 9-0 run holding the Ichabods (18-7, 11-6 MIAA) without a field goal for the final 5:17. The Ichabods led 21-18 after a pair of free throws with 4:47 remaining prior to the Hornets run. The Ichabods struggled from the field hitting 6 of 29 shots in the opening stanza going 1 of 8 from 3-point range. Washburn did go 8-8 of from the free throw line.
A swipe and steal by Will McNeill put a halt to a 16-0 Hornet run Washburn within 11 at 34-23. Five straight more by McNeill and a lay up by Wiggins put Washburn down four at 34-30 with 14:18 to go in the game.
The Hornets would push their lead back to 12 at 44-32 with 10:33 to play in the game before the Ichabods would cut the lead back to seven at 5:50 to play after a pair of Joseph Smith free throws.
A 3-pointer by the Hornets put the lead back to double digits at 50-40 with 5:29 to go in the game, but Washburn trimmed the lead back to three after a dunk by Bobby Chipman ad four straight points by Smith pulling Washburn back within three at 53-50.
After the Hornets went back up six with 1:49 to go, Washburn had two free throws by McNeill. Two more free throws by ESU was answered by a 3-pointer by Wiggins with 23 seconds left cutting the lead to 58-55 would be the closest the Ichabods would get the rest of the game as the Hornets finished 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch.
McNeill led the Ichabods with 27 points going 10 of 14 from the free throw line adding six rebounds and four steals. Joseph Smith had 12 points as the only other Ichabod to reach double figures. Chipman led the team with nine rebounds and had two blocks.
Paul Bunch had 15 to lead the Hornets.
The Ichabods were 17 of 60 from the field going 3 of 17 from 3-point range in the game. ESU finished 20 of 48 overall and 17 of 24 from the free throw line compared to 18 of 22 by the Ichabods.
ESU held a 37 to 34 advantage on the glass. Washburn had 15 offensive rebounds leading to 13 second chance points. Washburn turned 21 Hornet turnovers into 23 points.
 
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Ichabods fell out of the rankings after the loss to Missouri Southern and received votes in the last two weeks worth of polls, but fell completely out after the loss to Northwest Missouri.
• The Ichabods are 1464-979-4 (.591) all-time in the 109th 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 513-228.
• 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.
• The Ichabods are 387-69 (.848) all-time in Lee Arena.
• The 2013-14 season marks the 29th 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.
 
• Washburn returns to the court facing Nebraska-Kearney on Feb. 8 looking to avenge an 88-79 loss to the Lopers on Jan. 30. Washburn will then take on Central Oklahoma on Feb. 13 and Northeastern State on Feb. 15 before wrapping up the regular season home slate with Fort Hays State on Feb. 19. Washburn will wrap up the regular season with road contests at Emporia State on Feb. 22 and at Pittsburg State on March 1.