TIP-OFF• The No. 6-ranked Central Missouri Mules open MIAA play on Thursday night, Dec. 4 against Fort Hays State in Hays, Kansas. Tipoff at Gross Memorial Coliseum is set for 7:30 p.m.
• The Mules are 7-0 on the season after a 77-62 win over Tabor on Sunday afternoon at the UCM Multipurpose Building.
• Fort Hays State enters conference play at 4-2 after victories over Newman and Sterling last week. The Tigers are riding a four-game winning streak.
• 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 1,622 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 85.1 points per game through their first seven games of the season and shooting nearly 54 percent from the field. The opposition is averaging 71.9 points per game and shooting 42 percent from the field and 41 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 20th all-time meeting between Central Missouri and Fort Hays State. The Mules lead the series 11-8 after a 93-85 overtime win last year in Warrensburg. The win last year snapped a two-game skid in the series for UCM.
• The Tigers lead the series 7-3 in games played in Hays and have won three straight games in the series at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
LAST MEETING WITH FORT HAYS STATE• The Mules scored 20 points in overtime to beat No. 15 Fort Hays State 93-85 on Dec. 5, 2013 in Warrensburg. It was the 2013-14 MIAA opener for both teams.
• UCM had a 15-0 spurt in the first half that gave the Mules their largest lead of the night at 29-16.
• The Mules used a 6-0 run in overtime to grab an 81-76 lead that they wouldn't relinquish.
•
Daylen Robinson led UCM with 20 points and 10 rebounds and also dished out seven assists.
Dillon Deck finished with 19 points and nine boards, while
Kyle Wolf chipped in 17 points and nine rebounds.
Ryan Donald and
Jordan Epps each finished with 13 points for the Mules.
• FHSU was led by Carson Konrade's 30 points. Dwayne Brunson had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Craig Nicholson had 16 points and 11 assists.
• UCM held a 48-24 advantage in rebounding and the UCM bench outscored FHSU's bench 37-18.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS• Fort Hays State enters MIAA play at 4-2 overall and riding a four-game winning streak after wins at Newman and at home against Sterling last week.
• Craig Nicholson leads the way for FHSU averaging 16.3 points and 6.0 assists per game. Dom Samac averages 9.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Jake Stoppel is pulling down a team-best 7.2 boards per contest in addition to scoring 7.3 points per game.
• The Tigers are averaging 85.8 points per game offensively and giving up just 65.7 per contest. FHSU is shooting nearly 49 percent from the field and 34 percent from three-point range. The Tigers are holding opponents to just 38 percent shooting from the floor and 35 percent from beyond the arc.
• FHSU has committed just 56 turnovers through six games for a 9.3 per game average. The Tigers are forcing 15 turnovers per game and averaging nearly 10 steals per contest.
• They out-rebound opponents by 7.7 boards per outing and are averaging nearly 40 rebounds per game.
LAST TIME OUT • CENTRAL MISSOURI 77, TABOR 62 • 11/30/14WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The 10th-ranked Mules used a 24-6 run to open the second half and pull away from Tabor for a 77-62 win on Sunday afternoon at the UCM Multipurpose Building. The Mules led 42-32 at halftime before the big run to open the second half.
   With the win, the Mules run their record to 7-0 and head coach
Doug Karleskint became the first Central Missouri head coach to start his first season 7-0.
   The game was back and forth early on with both teams struggling from the field early. The Bluejays (2-7) led 18-17 midway through the opening half, but the Mules went in front for good with a 14-2 run to lead 31-20 at the 5:54 mark. UCM pushed the lead to 14 with just under three minutes left in the half and went into the intermission leading by 10.
   The Mules came out on fire to start the second half as they put the game out of reach early. After the team traded buckets in the first :50 of the second half UCM scored 22 of the next 26 points to lead 66-38 with 10:47 to play in the game. The Mules pushed the lead to as many as 29 at 70-41 on a dunk from
Sean O'Brien with 8:14 to play in the game as they cruised to the victory.
   UCM shot 57 percent from the floor, 30-of-52 and made 9-of-20 from beyond the arc for 45 percent. The Mules shot 8-of-11 at the foul line for 72 percent. The Mules were led in scoring by
Dillon Deck's 12 points off the bench.
Brennen Hughes had 10 points as the only other Mule in double figures.
Garrett Sandbothe and
TJ White both finished with a game-high five rebounds.
   The Bluejays were led in scoring by Malik Brooks' 16 points, while Andrew Thomas chipped in 10. Tabor was 20-of-54 from the field for 37 percent shooting. They were 10-of-26 from three-point range for 38 percent and 12-of-14 the charity stripe.
   The Mules out-rebounded the Bluejays 31-28 and held a 36-14 advantage in points the paint and 42-20 in bench scoring.
THE MULES AT HOME• Central Missouri is 158-21 at the Multipurpose Building over the last 13 years and 4-0 under
Doug Karleskint after the 77-62 win over Tabor on Nov. 30.
• The Mules were 13-0 at home each of the last two seasons and have won 31 straight games at the Multi dating back to the 2011-12 season. It's the longest winning streak since UCM won 31 straight between Jan. 18, 2006 and Jan. 19, 2008.
• Over the last nine years, UCM is 141-11 at home, including 57-1 against non-conference opponents and 84-10 in MIAA play.
• The Mules are 469-88 in their 39th season playing home games at the Multi.
MULES ON THE ROAD• This will be the first true road game of the 2014-15 season for Central Missouri, the Mules have played three neutral site games.
• 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.
A UCM WIN WOULD...• Give the Mules an 8-0 record for the first time since the 2009-10 season and give them a 1-0 MIAA mark for the second straight season.
• Give UCM two straight wins over Fort Hays State and snap a three-game losing streak at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
• Give the Mules a 14-game winning streak dating back to last season.
A UCM LOSS WOULD...• Give the Mules an 7-1 record for the second straight season and drop UCM to 0-1 in MIAA play for the second time in three seasons (both losses would be at FHSU).
• Snap UCM's 13-game winning streak dating back to last season.
• Give
Doug Karleskint his first loss as head coach of the Mules.
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.
DICKERSON NAMED MIAA PLAYER OF THE WEEK• Senior point guard
Rakeem Dickerson was named the MIAA Player of the Week for his performance in three UCM wins last week. He averaged 22.3 points, 4.7 assists, 1.7 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game for the week.
• The Little Rock, Arkansas native scored a Sprint Center record 41 points in UCM's 90-84 overtime win over Quincy on Tuesday. He also dished out six assists and had two steals. In the win triple overtime win over Arkansas-Fort Smith he had 19 points and five assists.
BLOCK PARTY• Senior
Dillon Deck now has 38 blocked shots in his UCM career, putting him in a tie for ninth on Central Missouri's career blocks list. He is one block shy of tying Brian Rhodes for eighth 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 5.0 assist-to-turnover ratio through seven games.
• He has had at least five assists in six of seven 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 7-0 in his first season as the head coach at Central Missouri and 97-34 (.740) 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 four spots to No. 6 in the latest NABC/Division II Rankings released on Tuesday afternoon. 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.
• The Mules have been ranked in 141 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 1,622-924 (.637) record in 2,546 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• Central Missouri has won a combined 200 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 first show of the season will air on Monday, Dec. 1.
• 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 home to host Alderson Broaddus in a non-conference game on Monday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. at the UCM Multipurpose Building. The game was added after the season began and did not appear in preseason publications.
