vs

TIP-OFF
• The No. 4-ranked Central Missouri Mules return to action after finals week hosting Culver-Stockton on Monday, Dec. 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the UCM Multipurpose Building.
• The Mules are 9-0 on the season after a 73-62 win over Alderson Broaddus on Monday night, Dec. 8 at the Multi.
• The Wildcats are 6-3 overall and 1-1 in Heart of America Conference play heading into a pair of games at the St. Ambrose Shootout this weekend in Davenport, Iowa.
• The Mules enter the season as the top pick in the MIAA Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• The Mules were 30-5 a season ago when they captured the NCAA-II National Championship. It was the third 30-win season in program history, the seventh 20-win season in the last 12 years and the 23rd in school history.
• The 2013-14 season was the 11th straight season of at least 18 wins for UCM, the longest active streak in the MIAA and tied for the longest streak in conference history with Northwest Missouri, who accomplished the feat from 1997-2008.
• Central Missouri finished 16-3 in MIAA play last year and captured a share of the MIAA regular season championship for the third straight season. It was the sixth conference crown in the last 12 years and 24th in school history.

QUICK HITS
• This is the 110th season of Central Missouri Mules basketball.
• Central Missouri is third all-time in NCAA Division II men's basketball with 1,624 wins.
• The Mules have won two NCAA Men's National Championships (1984 & 2014) and four National Championships overall (1937 & 1938 NAIB).
• The Mules are averaging 83.2 points per game through nine games and shooting nearly 55 percent from the field. The opposition is averaging 70.7 points per game and shooting 42 percent from the field and 42 percent from beyond the arc.
• In the Mules' 30 wins last season they are averaged 81.5 points per game and shot 50.6 percent from the field. They limited opponents to 40 percent shooting and 66.2 points per game.
• In the Mules' five losses last year they averaged 75.2 points per game and shot 42 percent from the field.

SERIES HISTORY
• This will be the fourth all-time meeting between Central Missouri and Culver-Stockton with the Mules holding a 3-0 lead in the series.
• Central Missouri beat Culver-Stockton 106-74 in Warrensburg last season and 89-56 in the second game of the 2012-13 season.
• The first all-time meeting was a 39-7 UCM win during the 1920-21 season.

LAST MEETING WITH CULVER-STOCKTON
• The Mules shot 60 percent from the floor and topped the century mark in a 106-74 win over Culver-Stockton on Dec. 16, 2013 in Warrensburg.
• UCM used a 26-6 run to start the game as they only trailed 2-0.
• Dillon Deck led the Mules with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Ryan Donald added 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Daylen Robinson and Jordan Epps each finished with 12 points.
• The Mules set season-highs in field goals made (42) and field goals attempted (70). They were 8-of-20 from three-point range for 40 percent.
• UCM out-rebounded CSC 44-29 and held a 42-26 advantage in points in the paint.
• James Johnson led Culver-Stockton with 20 points.
• The Wildcats were 27-of-66 from the floor for 40 percent, but just 5-of-27 from beyond the arc.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
• Culver-Stockton is 6-3 overall and 1-1 in Heart of America Conference play heading into a pair of games at the St. Ambrose Shootout this weekend in Davenport, Iowa. The Wildcats are ranked No. 25 in the first NAIA National Poll that was released on Dec. 9.
• CSC will play Mount Mercy and St. Ambrose over the weekend before coming to Warrensburg on Monday night to face the Mules.
• The Wildcats are averaging 82.4 points per game offensively and shooting 47 percent from the field and 35 percent from three-point range. They allow 77 points per contest, 41 percent shooting from the floor and 31 percent from beyond the arc.
• They out-rebound their opponents by seven boards per game and they average 46 rebounds per outing.
• The Wildcats dish out nearly 12 assists per game, but they do turn the ball over nearly 16 times per game.
• Jojuan Graham leads the team in scoring and rebounding at 17.1 points and 7.3 boards per contest. Johnnie Mills is the only other Wildcat in double figures at 13.9 points per game. He also leads the team with 2.7 assists per contest.
• Christian Jones averages 7.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
• Seven players average 5.0 points per game or more.

LAST TIME OUT • CENTRAL MISSOURI 73, ALDERSON BROADDUS 62 • 12/8/14
WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Preston Brunz led four Mules in double figures and tied his career-high with 17 points as sixth-ranked Central Missouri beat Alderson Broaddus 73-62 on Monday night at the UCM Multipurpose Building. The Mules opened the game on a 19-2 run then withstood a rally from the Battlers to improve to 9-0 on the season.
    The game was tied 2-2 with 18:01 to play in the half when the Mules scored 17 straight points to lead 19-2 at the 11:05 mark of the first half. Alderson Broaddus' (6-3) first made basket came on a Imanol Artinano layup with 10:56 to play in the half and made it 19-4 in favor of UCM.
    The bucket by Artinano started a 14-5 run for the Battlers that cut the UCM lead to 24-16 with 5:06 to play in the half. A 10-2 run by the Mules pushed the lead back to 16 and UCM would go into halftime leading 38-25.
    A 5-2 ABU spurt out of the intermission cut the UCM lead to 10 at 40-30, but a three from Kyle Wolf pushed the lead back to 13. A Richard Lemon layup on the other end made it an 11-point game and the Battlers started to chip away at the Mule lead.
    Thylas Perkins made back-to-back layups to cut the UCM lead to eight with 14:33 to play in the game and a Lemon layup made it a six-point game with 13:42 to play. Dillon Deck made a layup to push the lead back to eight, but Devin Colston drained one of his three three-pointers and it was a five-point lead at 49-44 with 12:01 to play.
    Brunz drained a triple and the lead was back to eight at the 11:00 mark. UCM pushed the lead to nine with 8:09 to play in the game on a Wolf layup from Brennen Hughes. A three from Malcolm Tatum and two free throws cut the UCM lead to five, but Brunz answered again with another three to give the Mules a 62-54 lead with 4:47 to play.
    Colston score on a layup with 3:16 to play to cut the lead to six, but Brunz hit his fifth three-pointer of the game to push the lead to nine and Deck's layup with 2:12 to play made it an 11-point game. The Battlers got back to within eight, but a Rakeem Dickerson layup and two more free throws from Dickerson made it a 12-point game as the Mules went on to the 11-point win.
    Brunz finished 5-of-8 from the field, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc to tie his career-high with 17 points. Wolf finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds for the first double-double of his career. Dickerson had 14 points and five assists and Deck added 14 points off the bench.
    The Mules shot 52 percent from the field going 27-of-51. They were 7-of-19 from beyond the arc for 36 percent and shot 12-of-16 at the foul line for 75 percent. UCM out-rebounded ABU 33-25 and outscored the Battlers 36-20 in the paint.
    Colston led ABU with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Perkins had 13 points, while Lemon and Tatum added 11 and 10, respectively.
    The Battlers were 20-of-51 from the field for 39 percent and 9-of-27 from three-point range for 33 percent. ABU shot 13-of-17 at the free throw line for 76 percent.
    The win gives the Mules 15 straight wins dating back to last season and 32 consecutive wins at home. The Mules are 58-1 in their last 59 non-conference home games.

THE MULES AT HOME
• Central Missouri is 159-21 at the Multipurpose Building over the last 13 years and 5-0 under Doug Karleskint after the 73-62 win over Alderson Broaddus on Monday night, Dec. 8.
• The Mules were 13-0 at home each of the last two seasons and have won 32 straight games at the Multi dating back to the 2011-12 season. It's the longest winning streak since ...
• Over the last nine years, UCM is 142-11 at home, including 58-1 against non-conference opponents and 84-10 in MIAA play.
• The Mules are 470-88 in their 39th season playing home games at the Multi.

MULES ON THE ROAD
• The Mules are 1-0 on the road this season after the 90-81 win at Fort Hays State on Dec. 4. It was the first win in Hays, Kansas since the 2009-10 season.
• UCM was 8-4 on the road last season, including 7-3 in MIAA play.

MULES IN NEUTRAL SITE GAMES
• UCM is 3-0 this year and 53-20 in neutral site games over the last 13 years after the 90-84 overtime win over Quincy on Nov. 25 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
• The Mules were 9-1 in neutral site games last season.

MULES IN MIAA PLAY
• The Mules are 1-0 in conference action under Doug Karlskint after an 80-71 win at Fort Hays State on Thursday night.
• Central Missouri is 160-66 in MIAA play over the last 13 seasons.
• UCM has won or shared 24 MIAA regular season championships and five MIAA Tournament titles.

MULES IN NON-CONFERENCE ACTION
• The Mules are 7-0 in non-conference games this season and 122-29 over the last 13 seasons after the wins over Arkansas-Fort Smith and Tabor over the weekend.
• The Mules went 14-2 in non-MIAA games last year.
• Central Missouri is 57-1 in the last 58 non-conference games at the Multipurpose Building.

A UCM WIN WOULD...
• Give the Mules an 10-0 record for the first time since the 2009-10 season, when they started the year 12-0.
• Give UCM a 4-0 lead in the all-time series with Culver-Stockton.
• Give the Mules a 16-game winning streak dating back to last season and 33 straight wins at the Multipurpose Building.

A UCM LOSS WOULD...
• Be the first ever to Culver-Stockton.
• Snap UCM's 15-game winning streak dating back to last season and snap the Mules' 32-game home court winning streak.
• Be just the second in the last 60 non-conference games at the Multi.
• Give Doug Karleskint his first loss as head coach of the Mules.

BLOCK PARTY
• Senior Dillon Deck now has 44 blocked shots in his UCM career, placing him eighth all-time on Central Missouri's career blocks list. He is five blocks shy of tying Darryl Somerset and Matt Webb for sixh place on the career list.
• He blocked 32 shots last season, the eighth most in a single season in Central Missouri history.

DISHING IT OUT
• Senior point guard Rakeem Dickerson is second in the MIAA averaging 5.7 assists per game and has a 3.4 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• He has had at least five assists in eight of nine games this season and dished out a career-high 10 in the win over Missouri S&T.

KARLESKINT ERA OFF TO A GOOD START
• Doug Karleskint is 9-0 in his first season as the head coach at Central Missouri and 99-34 (.744) overall in his fifth season as a head coach.
• He became the first Mules' head coach to start his first season at UCM 7-0.
• He spent the previous 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.

MULES IN THE POLLS
• The Mules jumped up two spots to No. 4 in the latest NABC/Division II Rankings released on Tuesday. UCM had been unranked to start the season and moved up to No. 10 in the first regular season poll after starting the season 4-0, before moving up to No. 6 last week.
• The Mules have been ranked in 142 polls in the history of the program, the seventh most in NCAA-II history.

MULES BASKETBALL HISTORY
• In the 110th season of UCM basketball, the Mules have compiled a 1,624-924 (.637) record in 2,548 total games.
• The Mules are the third winningest program by victories in NCAA-II history.
• Central Missouri is one of just three NCAA-II programs with 1,600 all-time wins.
• The Mules have won 20 or more games 23 times in the history of the program.
• Central Missouri has won 30 or more games in a season three times, including last year.
• UCM has won or shared 24 MIAA regular season championships and five MIAA tournament titles.

THE NEXT LEVEL
• In the past 12 years, 21 former UCM players have gone on to play professional basketball.
• Four players are either currently playing professionally or on a professional roster; Charles Hammork (Kosovo, Ylli Therande), Michael Hicks (Poland, Polpharma-Pakmet), Sanijay Watts (Germany, Dorsten) and Zack Wright (Germany, Brose Basket).

A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE IN ATHLETICS
• Following the fall sports seasons, Central Missouri has won a combined 202 MIAA regular-season conference championships in 14 league sports to lead all schools.
• Last season, UCM captured seven MIAA regular season titles, the most of any school in league history and the second time Central Missouri accomplished the feat.
• Since 1983, the tenure of Athletic Director Jerry Hughes, UCM has won or shared 146 MIAA championships, more than any other league school.
• Central Missouri has won six national championships since 1980 (men's and women's basketball in 1984, baseball in 1994 and 2003, women's bowling in 2003 and men's basketball in 2014) and eight national championships overall.

A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE IN THE CLASSROOM
• Central Missouri had 220 student-athletes named to the 2013-14 MIAA Academic Honor Roll with grade point averages of 3.0 or higher.
• 41 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Scholar Athletes with at least a 3.5 GPA and having earned all-MIAA honors in their respective sport.
• 17 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Academic Excellence Award winners with a 4.0 GPA.
• UCM had 12 student-athletes earn Academic All-Region awards in their respective sports with seven of those earning CoSIDA Academic All-America honors.

MULES BASKETBALL ON THE AIR
• Central Missouri basketball is broadcast live on the 44,000-watt 98.5 "The Bar, 1450 KOKO and online at warrensburgradio.com. All games are broadcast by 1450 KOKO/98.5 "The Bar" Sports Director, Greg Hassler and Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations, Mike Knipper.
• The Doug Karleskint Show, Live from Traditions Restaurant presented by Bob Showers of Ameritas Investment Corp. will air on Monday nights at 6 p.m. on 98.5 The Bar and 1450 KOKO as well as warrensburgradio.com.
• The Central Missouri Sportspage is your weekly 30-minute look at UCM athletics each Thursday night at 7 p.m. on KMOS-TV and re-airs on Saturdays at 5 p.m.

LIVE VIDEO STREAMING
• Live video coverage for all Central Missouri home and away MIAA games will be available through Stretch Internet on a pay-per-view basis. The cost is $9.95 for a day pass or $89.95 for an all-season pass for UCM basketball. With a day pass, fans can access any MIAA game being broadcast that day. Fans can access webcasts through the GameCentral by Stretch Internet link on the UCM Athletics homepage or through the "Video" links on the Mules Basketball schedule page. Fans can also go directly to
portal.stretchinternet.com/ucmo/

UPCOMING
• The Mules return to MIAA play with two games before the winter break. UCM hosts Central Oklahoma on Thursday night, Dec. 18 at 7:30 p.m. and then hosts Northeastern State on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 10 a.m. That game will be broadcast to a national televisio audience on CBS Sports Network.