TIP-OFF
• The Central Missouri Mules return to action for the first time after the holiday break on Saturday, Dec. 31 at Rockhurst. Tip-off at the Mason-Halpin Fieldhouse in Kansas City is set for 1 p.m.
• The Mules beat Culver-Stockton 84-68 their last time out back on Monday, Dec. 19.
• The Mules were picked to finish ninth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Rockhurst is 6-4 on the season, including a 1-2 mark in GLVC play after a 73-66 win over Ottawa University back on Monday, Dec. 19.
• The Hawks were picked to finish fourth in the GLVC's West Division this season.
ON THE AIR
• The game will be broadcast on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com with Greg Hassler calling the action.
• The game will also be webcast online through the GLVC Sports Network at glvcsn.com/rockhurst.
PROGRAM SNAPSHOT
• This is the 112th season of Central Missouri Mules basketball.
• Central Missouri is third all-time in NCAA Division II men's basketball with 1,662 wins. One of just four NCAA-II programs with 1,600 wins.
• The Mules have won two NCAA Men's National Championships (1984 & 2014) and four National Championships overall (1937 & 1938 NAIB).
MULE FEED
• The Mules return one All-MIAA player from a season ago, junior guard
Spencer Reaves, who earned honorable mention all-conference accolades after averaging 12.3 points and 2.5 boards per game.
• Reaves is averaging 18.6 points per game this season, best on the team and sixth in the MIAA.
• Eleven different players scored in double figures for the Mules in 2015-16 and six of those players return to the squad this year.
•
Marquiez Lawrence recorded his first double-double of the season in the win over Culver-Stockton. The senior from Columbus, Ohio had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
• Last year, Lawrence recorded six double-doubles. He was the only UCM player to record a double-double during the season.
• Nine different players have scored in double figures for the Mules this season with
Spencer Reaves scoring at least 20 points in five games.
• The Mules are second in the MIAA in three-point shooting at 43.9 percent, fourth in overall field goal percentage at 48.8 and fourth in free throw percentage at 74.6 percent.
SERIES HISTORY
• This will be the 49th all-time meeting between Central Missouri and Rockhurst. The Mules lead the series 32-16.
• UCM has won five straight in the series after a 77-71 win at the Multi on Nov. 18 of last year.
• The teams have met 20 times in Kansas City with the Mules holding an 11-9 advantage.
LAST MEETING WITH ROCKHURST
WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 18, 2015) -- The Central Missouri Mules built a 15-point second half lead then withstood a late rally to beat Rockhurst 77-71 at the UCM Multipurpose Building.
   Rockhurst (1-1) scored the first five points of the game, but an 11-2 run by the Mules gave them a four-point advantage about five minutes in. The Hawks went back in front by one on a layup from Malachi Nix, but a three-pointer from
Kyle Wolf and another from
Brad Woodson gave UCM a 19-14 lead at the 11:15 mark of the first half. A nix jumper was answered by another three from Woodson and UCM led by six at the midway point of the opening period.
   Rockhurst whittled the lead back to one, but
Jakob Lowrance hit a three,
Spencer Reaves a jumper and
D'Marnier Cunningham threw down a dunk on successive possessions and UCM led 31-23 at the 6:07 mark. The lead see-sawed between three and six points for the next few minutes before Reaves made four free throws in the final minute of the half to give UCM a 42-33 lead at the intermission.
   Rockhurst opened the second half on a 9-2 run to cut the UCM lead to a pair, but
Tereke Eckwood sunk two free throws and
Roosevelt Scott drained a three and the lead was quickly back to seven with 16:17 to play. After an RU jumper cut the lead to five, UCM scored 10 straight points to build a 59-44 lead with 12:05 to play in regulation.
   The Hawks kept fighting back, however, using a 13-4 run to pull within six at 63-57 with 7:59 to play in the game. The Mules pushed the lead back to nine at 67-58, but a 10-3 run cut the UCM lead to 70-68 with just 2:56 to play. Woodson answered with five straight points to push the UCM lead to 75-68 at the 2:20 mark.
   Rockhurst could get no closer than four points the rest of the way as the Mules held off the charge to move to 3-0 for the third straight season and give UCM its fifth straight win over the Hawks.
   Reaves led three Mules in double figures with 16, incuding 12-of-13 at the free throw line. Woodson finished with 14 points, while
Marquiez Lawrence had nine points and 10 rebounds. UCM shot 41 percent from the floor, 22-of-54, and made 7-of-18 three-point attempts for 39 percent. UCM was 26-of-30 at the foul line for 87 percent.
   The Mules out-rebounded Rockhurst 37-29 and had 16 second chance points.
   Rockhurst shot 51 percent from the floor, 26-of-51, but made just 6-of-19 from beyond the arc for 32 percent. The Hawks were 13-of-19 at the free throw line for 68 percent. Nix led three Hawks in double figures with 15 points to go along with eight assists. Austin LeVan had 11 points and Adam Fatkin chipped in 10.
SCOUTING ROCKHURST
• The Hawks enter the contest at 6-4 overall and 1-2 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play. Rockhurst beat Ottawa 73-66 in their last game out on Dec. 19.
• The Hawks are averaging 75.6 points per game offensively on 45.8 percent shooting from the field and 35.2 percent shooting from three-point range. They give up 77.6 ppg on 44.2 percent shooting, including 39.7 percent from beyond the arc.
• Four players are averaging in double figures, led by Alex Hagan's 16.7 points per game. He also leads the team in rebounding, pulling down 7.0 boards per contest. Hagan has only played in three games this season, however, and has not played since Nov. 19.
• Hagan is joined in double figures by Kaleb Warner (14.8 ppg), Malachi Nix (11.2 ppg), and Travis House (10.2 ppg).
• Nix leads the team averaging 2.9 assists per game.
• The Hawks have shot 48 more free throws than their opponents this season and they are getting to the foul line an average of 26.1 times per game.
• Rockhurst is being outrebounded by over seven rebounds per game as well (38.0-30.9)
LAST TIME OUT • CENTRAL MISSOURI 84, CULVER-STOCKTON 68 • 12/19/16
WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Dec. 19, 2016) – The Central Missouri Mules used a 15-3 run midway through the second half to pull away from a game Culver-Stockton club and captured their third straight win with an 84-68 victory on Monday night at the UCM Multipurpose Building. With the win, the Mules improve to 8-2 on the season.
   The game started at a frenetic pace with the teams trading buckets on seemingly every possession. At the first media timeout, the Mules led 15-10. A 10-3 spurt gave the Mules a 25-13 advantage at the 11:51 mark, but Culver-Stockton (1-11) came fighting back. The Wildcats cut the lead to seven at 25-18 by the 9:38 mark only to see the Mules push the lead back to double digits at 30-18 with 8:01 to play in the first half.
   A 9-0 run by Culver-Stockton cut the UCM lead to three at 30-27 and the Wildcats later cut it to two at 35-33 with 4:39 to play. Back-to-back layups from
Kyle Wolf and
Jakob Lowrance pushed the lead back to six and a
Spencer Reaves three-point play gave the Mules a 42-33 lead late in the first half, but CSC got a jumper from Francesc Iturria with just over a minute to play to cut the lead to 42-35 at the intermission.
   The Wildcats crawled even closer in the early going of the second half. The lead was cut to one at 48-47 with 16:53 to play in the game, but Wolf scored on a layup and following a bucket from
Brett O'Neil and a dunk from
Marquiez Lawrence, Reaves hit a fast break jumper and it was 56-47 Mules with 14:16 to play.
   A three from Adrian Fernandez cut the UCM lead to six, but Reaves and Lowrance drilled consecutive three-pointers and the lead was back to 12. Culver-Stockton got back to within single digits two more times, but another late spurt pushed the UCM lead to as many as 16 as the Mules won their third game in a row.
   Reaves led all scorers with 23 points, his sixth 20-point game of the season and third straight. Lawrence recorded his first double-double of the season and seventh of his career with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Wolf finished with 11 points as the Mules shot 47 percent from the field, going 30-of-64. UCM was 8-of-23 from three-point range for 35 percent and 16-of-25 for 64 percent at the foul line.
   Culver-Stockton shot 45 percent from the field, 26-of-58, and 41 percent from three-point range going 13-of-32. The Wildcats were 3-of-4 at the charity stripe.
   The Mules out-rebounded the Wildcats 42-30 and forced 19 CSC turnovers. UCM outscored CSC 42-22 in the paint and 29-11 in points off turnovers as well.
MULES IN MIAA PLAY
• The Mules are 2-1 in MIAA play after the 87-66 win over Southwest Baptist on Saturday, Dec. 17.
• UCM is 24-20 in conference play under
Doug Karleskint.
• The Mules have won or shared 24 MIAA Regular Season Championships and five MIAA Tournament titles.
MULES IN NON-CONFERENCE ACTION
• The Mules are 6-1 in non-conference action after the win over Culver-Stockton on Dec. 19.
• UCM was 6-1 in non-conference games last season, including a 6-0 mark in regular season non-con games. They are 138-33 over the last 15 seasons.
• Central Missouri is 68-1 in the last 69 non-conference home games at the Multipurpose Building.
MULES AT HOME
• The Mules are 5-0 at home after the 84-68 win over Culver-Stockton on Dec. 19 and are 28-8 at home under
Doug Karleskint.
• UCM is 166-19 at home over the last 12 seasons, including 68-1 against non-conference opponents and 98-18 in MIAA play.
• The Mules are 494-96 (.837) in their 41st season playing home games at the Multipurpose Building.
MULES ON THE ROAD
• The Mules are 1-2 on the road this season after the loss at Northwest Missouri on Dec. 11.
• UCM was 4-9 in road games last season and is 11-14 on the road under
Doug Karleskint.
BLOCK PARTY
• Senior
Marquiez Lawrence blocked 32 shots last season, tied for the 10th most in a single season in Central Missouri history.
• He has eight blocks this season and is now at 40 for his career, 10th most all-time at UCM.
MIAA STAT LEADERS
•
Spencer Reaves is sixth in the MIAA in scoring with an average of 18.6 points per game.
Kyle Wolf is tied for 17th in the conference at 14.0 points per game.
• Reaves is fourth in the MIAA in free throw percentage at 89.3 percent, fifth in three-point field goal percentage (48.3) and fifth in field goal percentage (54.5), while Wolf is third in three-point field goal percentage at 53.2.
•
Marquiez Lawrence is tied for 11th in the league with 6.1 rebounds per game. He also ranks tied for 13th in blocked shots, averaging 0.8 per contest.
•
Erick Locke is 15th in the MIAA dishing out 3.1 assists per game, but he is tied for fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.4.
• Reaves is sixth in the MIAA in steals averaging 1.6 per game, while
Clarence Smith is tied for 13th with 1.3 per outing.
A WIN OVER ROCKHURST WOULD...
• Improve the Mules' record to 9-2 and give UCM a 7-1 record in non-conference play this season.
• Give UCM four straight wins overall and six straight wins over Rockhurst.
A LOSS TO ROCKHURST WOULD...
• Drop the Mules 8-3 overall on the season.
• Snap the Mules' five-game winning streak over Rockhurst.
UCM DURING THE KARLESKINT ERA
•
Doug Karleskint has a record of 47-24 (.662) in his third season as head coach at Central Missouri and a 136-58 (.701) overall mark in his seventh 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 in 2014-15.
• His 25 wins in 2014-15 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 an 89-34 (.724) 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 BASKETBALL HISTORY
• In the 112th season of UCM basketball, the Mules have compiled a 1,662-948 (.637) record in 2,610 total games.
• The Mules are the third winningest program by victories in NCAA-II history.
• Central Missouri is one of just four 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 three of the last four 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 15 years, 23 former UCM players have gone on to play professional basketball.
• Four players are either currently playing professionally or on a professional roster; Donte Adams (Mexico, Conejos De Tuxtla), Charles Hammork (Kosovo, Ylli Therande), Michael Hicks (Poland, Polpharma-Pakmet), and Zack Wright (Germany, Brose Basket).
A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE IN ATHLETICS
• Entering the 2016 fall semester, Central Missouri has won a combined 207 MIAA regular season conference championships in 14 league sports to lead all schools.
• Last year, UCM captured two MIAA regular season titles, three MIAA Tournament crowns and three NCAA Regional Championships.
• Since 1983, the tenure of Athletic Director
Jerry Hughes, UCM has won or shared 153 MIAA championships, more than any other league school.
• Central Missouri has won eight national championships during Hughes' tenure (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 232 student-athletes named to the 2015-16 MIAA Academic Honor Roll with grade point averages of 3.0 or higher.
• 28 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.
• 19 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Academic Excellence Award winners with a 4.0 GPA.
• UCM had seven student-athletes earn Academic All-Region awards in their respective sports with four of those earning CoSIDA Academic All-America honors.
• Since the year 2000, UCM is sixth in NCAA-II with 53 Academic All-Americans.
• Two UCM student-athletes were awarded prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships last year.
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.
• The
Doug Karleskint Show, presented by Bob Showers of Ameritas Investment Corp., live from Traditions Restaurant airs on Tuesday nights at 6:30 p.m. The Show is hosted by Greg Hassler and is broadcast live from Traditions Restaurant at Mules National Golf Club.
UPCOMING
• The Mules return to MIAA play after the new year with the western road swing on Jan. 5 and 7. The Mules travel to Fort Hays State on Thursday, Jan. 5 at 7:30 p.m. and to Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 4 p.m.
