TIP-OFF• The 12th-ranked Central Missouri Mules open MIAA play hosting Missouri Western on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. at the UCM Multipurpose Building.
• The Mules are 6-0 on the season after an 85-65 win over MidAmerica Nazarene on Saturday night.
• Missouri Western enters the contest at 2-4 after a 60-56 loss at St. Mary's (Texas) on Saturday.
• The Mules are picked No. 2 in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
• The Mules were 25-7 a season ago and advanced to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. It was the eighth 20-win season in the last 11 years and the 24th in school history.
• Central Missouri finished 14-5 in MIAA play last year and finished as the regular season runner-up.
QUICK HITS• This is the 111th season of Central Missouri Mules basketball.
• Central Missouri is third all-time in NCAA Division II men's basketball with 1,646 wins.
• Last season was the 12th straight season of at least 18 wins for UCM, an MIAA record.
• Last season was the third straight 20-win season for UCM and the 24th in program history.
• The Mules have won two NCAA Men's National Championships (1984 & 2014) and four National Championships overall (1937 & 1938 NAIB).
MULE FEED• Through six games this season, the Mules are averaging 81.3 points per game while shooting 46.8 percent from the field. They are limiting opponents to 66.5 points per game on 39.8 percent shooting.
• The Mules are shooting 37.2 percent (48-of-129) from three-point range compared to 30 percent (36-of-120) for the opposition.
• UCM has attempted seven less free throws than the opponents. The Mules are averaging 23 free throw attempts per game. Last year, they attempted 23.5 free throws per outing.
• The Mules are fifth in the MIAA in scoring offense (81.3 ppg) and first in scoring defense (66.5 ppg). They are ninth in the league in field goal percentage (46.8) and first in field goal percentage defense (39.8) and three-point field goal percentage defense (30.0).
• Ten different Mules scored in double figures last season and nine different Mules led the team in scoring. Through six games this season, 10 different players have scored in double figures and five players have led the team in scoring.
•
Marquiez Lawrence (14 points, 10 rebounds) recorded the first double-double of the season for Central Missouri in the win over MidAmerica Nazarene.
SERIES HISTORY• This will be the 61st all-time meeting between Central Missouri and Missouri Western. the Mules lead the series 33-27 and have won seven straight after a 64-42 win in Warrensburg on Feb. 25 of last season.
• UCM has won 13 of the last 16 meetings.
• The Mules are 19-7 all-time at home against the Griffons and have won four straight at the Multi.
• UCM is 2-0 against the Griffons under
Doug Karleskint and the Griffons are 0-4 against UCM under Brett Weiberg.
LAST MEETING WITH MISSOURI WESTERN• After leading 29-27 at halftime, the Mules used a 22-0 run after the Griffons had tied the game early in the second half to cruise to a 64-42 win on Feb. 25, 2015 at the Multi.
• The Mules held the Griffons to 15 second half points in the win. It was the seventh straight win over MWSU for UCM.
• T.J. White led the Mules with a game-high 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field.
• The Mules held the Griffons to 38 percent shooting in the game and a season-low 42 points.
• UCM shot 45 percent from the floor and 39 percent from three-point range.
• UCM forced 17 Missouri Western turnovers and had 11 assists on 23 made baskets.
SCOUTING THE GRIFFONS• Missouri Western enters MIAA play at 2-4 overall. They dropped a pair of games last week at the St. Mary's (Texas) Thanksgiving Classic. MWSU fell 84-73 to Angelo State and 60-56 to St. Mary's.
• The Griffons are led by third year head coach Brett Weiberg. He has a 24-37 mark leading the Griffons and a 163-142 mark in his 10th season as a head coach.
• The Griffons are averaging 76.3 points per game offensively while shooting 42.5 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from three-point range.
• Opponents are averaging 77.3 points per outing against MWSU, shooting 43 percent from the floor, including 34.5 percent from beyond the arc. They've also shot 32 more free throws than the Griffons and are averaging 27.8 free throws per contest.
• Trey Sampson leads three Griffons scoring in double figures at 13.2 per outing. Aaron Emmanuel scored 11.8 per game and Mataika Koyamainavure chips in 10.7.
• Kevin Thomas leads the team in rebounding at 7.3 boards per game, while also scoring 8.5 per contest. The Griffs are averaging 39.2 boards per outing and out-rebound opponents by almost one board per game.
• The Griffons dish out 13.2 assists per game and force 12.7 turnovers by the opposition.
LAST TIME OUT • CENTRAL MISSOURI 85, MIDAMERICA NAZARENE 65 • 11/28/15WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The 16th-ranked Mules ran their season-opening win streak to six games with an 85-65 win over MidAmerica Nazarene on Saturday night at the UCM Multipurpose Building. Five Mules finished in double figures in the win over head coach
Doug Karleskint's alma mater.
   Both teams came out firing in the early going. A three-pointer from
Roosevelt Scott gave the Mules their first lead of the game at 7-4. The lead grew to six at 20-14, helped by treys from Kyle wolf and
Spencer Reaves.
   The Pioneers (6-2) battled back to within a point at 22-21 at the 8:04 mark.
Marquiez Lawrence and
D'Marnier Cunningham made four straight free throws and Cunningham added a jumper to push UCM back in front 28-21 with 6:19 to play. MNU pulled back to within four, but another three from Reaves ignited a 10-2 run that gave the Mules a 40-28 lead with 2:04 left in the half. The Mules would lead by 13, 47-34 at the intermission thanks to a
Tony Cochran steal and lay-in right before the buzzer.
   A 6-2 spurt out of halftime gave the Mules a 17-point lead just 70 seconds in to the second half at 53-36. The Pioneers used a 6-0 run to get back within 11 at the 16:57 mark, but a 15-8 run by the Mules pushed the lead back to 18 at the 12:38 mark. The lead was grow to as many as 25 in the game as the Mules cruised to their sixth straight win.
   Scott and Cunningham led the way for UCM with 17 points apiece. Lawrence had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Reaves and Wolf added 12 points apiece. The Mules shot 50 percent for the game, going 31-of-62. They were 8-of-20 at the free throw line for 40 percent, but just 15-of-27 for 55 percent at the foul line.
   MNU was led by Gabriel Jordan's 13 points. The Pioneers were 22-of-52 from the field for 42 percent, 4-of-14 from three-point range for 28 percent and 17-of-29 at the free throw line for 58 percent.
   The Mules out-rebounded MNU 42-28 and came away with 10 steals while forcing 15 Pioneer turnovers.
THE MULES AT HOME• The Mules are 5-0 at home after a pair of wins over the weekend.
• Central Missouri went 14-2 at home last season.
• Over the last 11 years, UCM is 156-13 at home, including 64-1 against non-conference opponents and 92-12 in MIAA play.
• The Mules are 484-90 in their 39th season playing home games at the Multipurpose Building.
MULES ON THE ROAD• The Mules are 1-0 on the road this season after the win at Missouri S&T on Nov. 21.
• UCM was 6-3 on the road last season and were one of only three teams with a winning record on the road during MIAA play.
MULES IN MIAA PLAY• The Mules finished the 2014-15 regular season 14-5 in conference action under
Doug Karleskint and second in the final league standings.
• Central Missouri is 172-71 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 MIAA OPENERS• The Mules are 1-0 in MIAA openers under Doug Karleksint. They beat Fort Hays State 80-71 in last season's conference lid-lifter in Hays.
• UCM has won two straight conference openers and three of the last four.
MULES IN NON-CONFERENCE ACTION• The Mules are 6-0 in non-conference action after the wins over SE Oklahoma State and MidAmerica Nazarene.
• The Mules were 11-0 in regular season non-con games last season and are 132-31 over the last 13 seasons.
• Central Missouri is 64-1 in the last 65 non-conference home games at the Multipurpose Building.
A UCM WIN WOULD...• Give the Mules a 7-0 overall start for the second straight season and a 1-0 start in MIAA play for the third straight year.
• Give UCM eight straight wins over Missouri Western and a 34-27 lead in the all-time series. Give the Mules five straight wins over Missouri Western in Warrensburg and 11 straight home wins overall.
• Give Central Missouri three straight MIAA-opening wins.
A UCM LOSS WOULD...• Drop the Mules to 6-1 overall for the second time in three seasons and 0-1 in MIAA play for the first time since 2012-13.
• Snap UCM's 10-game home court winning streak and their seven-game winning streak against the Girffons.
• Snap the Mules' four-game winning streak against MWSU at the Multi.
UCM DURING THE KARLESKINT ERA•
Doug Karleskint has a record of 31-7 (.816) in his second season as head coach at Central Missouri and a 121-41 (.747) overall mark in his sixth season as a head coach.
• He became the first Mules' head coach to start his first season at UCM 7-0 when he accomplished the mark last season.
• His 25 wins last year were the most by a first-year head coach in Central Missouri history.
• Karleskint became the fourth Mules' head coach to win at least 20 games in his first season.
• Before coming to UCM, 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 NATIONAL POLLS• The Mules moved up four spots in this week's NABC Poll to No. 12. UCM has been ranked in 154 polls in the history of the program, the seventh most in NCAA-II history.
• The Mules moved up four spots to No. 4 in the Division II Media Poll sponsored by D2SIDA. The poll is voted on by a panel of Sports Information Directors.
• The Mules stayed put at No. 2 in the latest USBWA Central Region Poll. The Mules totaled 45 points to trail only Minnesota State-Moorehead in the poll. The United State Basketball Writers' Association poll is voted on by a panel of Sports Information Directors from the Central Region.
MULES BASKETBALL HISTORY• In the 111th season of UCM basketball, the Mules have compiled a 1,646-931 (.639) record in 2,577 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 24 times in the history of the program, including each of the last three seasons.
• Central Missouri has won 30 or more games in a season three times (2006-07, 2008-09, and 2013-14).
• 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• Entering the 2015-16 academic year, Central Missouri had won a combined 205 MIAA regular season conference championships in 14 league sports to lead all schools.
• Last season, UCM captured five MIAA regular season titles, and three MIAA Tournament crowns.
• Since 1983, the tenure of Athletic Director
Jerry Hughes, UCM has won or shared 151 MIAA championships, more than any other league school.
• Central Missouri has won eight national championships since 1980 (men's and women's basketball in 1984, baseball in 1994 and 2003, women's bowling in 2003, men's basketball in 2014, and women's indoor and outdoor track & field in 2015) and 10 national championships overall.
A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE IN THE CLASSROOM• Central Missouri had 218 student-athletes named to the 2014-15 MIAA Academic Honor Roll with grade point averages of 3.0 or higher.
• 29 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 six student-athletes earn Academic All-Region awards in their respective sports with three of those earning CoSIDA Academic All-America honors.
• Since the year 2000, UCM is tied for sixth in NCAA-II with 49 Academic All-Americans.
MULES BASKETBALL ON THE AIR• Central Missouri basketball is broadcast live on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar, and online at warrensburgradio.com. Games are broadcast by 1450 KOKO/98.5 The Bar Sports Director, Greg Hassler and Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations,
Mike Knipper.
UPCOMING• The Mules welcome defending MIAA champion Northwest Missouri to the Multi on Saturday, Dec. 5 for 3:30 p.m. showdown.
• UCM has a week off for finals before hitting the road for the first MIAA road test of the season on Saturday, Dec. 12 at Emporia State. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. at White Auditorium.
