TIP-OFF• The Central Missouri Mules host Missouri Southern in the final home game of the 2015-16 season on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at the Multi.
• Saturday's game is Senior Day with the Mules' seniors being honored during halftime of the Jennies' game.
• The Mules are 13-12 overall on the season and 7-12 in MIAA play after suffering their fifth straight defeat against Pittsburg State on Wednesday night.
• Missouri Southern is 15-11 overall and 12-8 in league play after an 80-70 win over Southwest Baptist on Thursday night in Bolivar.
• 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 1,653 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• The Mules are averaging 71.3 points per game while shooting 45.7 percent from the field. Opponents are averaging 69.2 points per game on 43.1 percent shooting.
• The Mules are shooting 35.3 percent from three-point range while the opposition shoots 34.9 percent.
• The Mules are 13th in the MIAA in scoring offense and third in scoring defense. They are seventh in the league in field goal percentage and third in field goal percentage defense and second in three-point field goal percentage defense.
• Eleven different players have scored in double figures for the Mules and six different players have led the team in scoring this season.
•
Marquiez Lawrence (10 points, 13 rebounds) recorded his fourth double-double of the season against Nebraska-Kearney.
•
Jakob Lowrance recorded his first career 20-point game in the loss at Southwest Baptist. He finished with 21 points on the night.
•
Spencer Reaves had the first 30-point performance of his UCM career when he scored 33 points against Pittsburg State on Feb. 17.
SERIES HISTORY• This will be the 61st all-time meeting between Central Missouri and Missouri Southern. The Mules hold a 36-24 advantage.
• Missouri Southern won the first meeting this season 100-89 on Jan. 9 in Joplin.
• The Mules won two of three meetings last season, sweeping the regular season series before the Lions won in the MIAA Tournament Semifinals in Kansas City.
• UCM holds a 19-8 lead in games played in Warrensburg and the Mules have won back-to-back games at the Multi.
LAST MEETING WITH MISSOURI SOUTHERN• The Mules rallied from 17 points down to within six, but fell 100-89 to Missouri Southern on Jan. 9 in Joplin.
• The Lions used a 13-1 run to open up a 16-point lead midway through the second half.
• UCM shot 56 percent from the field, but just 6-of-18 from three-point range. The Mules were 27-of-32 at the foul line.
• MSSU shot 57 percent for the game and made 11 three-pointers. The Lions were 31-of-38 at the line.
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D'Marnier Cunningham led UCM with 28 points, while
Marquiez Lawrence added 18 points and nine boards.
Jakob Lowrance had 14.
• Charlie Brown led Missouri Southern with 29 points, while the MIAA's leading scorer Taevaunn Prince finished with 25. DJ Feitl had 14 and Austin Wright scored 12.
• UCM had seven assists to 12 turnovers, while the Lions finished with 15 assists and just seven turnovers.
SCOUTING THE LIONS• Missouri Southern enters the contest at 15-11 overall and 12-8 in MIAA play after an 80-70 win over Southwest Baptist on Thursday night. The Lions are ranked No. 10 in the NCAA-II Central Region Rankings.
• Second-year head coach Jeff Boschee is 35-22 leading the Lion program.
• The Lions lead the MIAA in scoring at 84.1 points per game, but are last in scoring defense, allowing 79.7 per contest.
• MSSU is fourth in the league in field goal percentage (48.5) and second in three-point field goal percentage (41.3), while ranking 11th in field goal percentage defense (46.6) and ninth in three-point field goal percentage defense (37.2).
• The Lions are seventh in the league in rebounding, averaging 34.2 boards per game and eighth in rebounding margin at +0.5.
• Taevaunn Prince leads the league in scoring (26.7 ppg), rebounding (10.3 rpg) and field goal percentage (58.1). He also leads Missouri Southern in assists at 3.0 per outing.
• Two other Lions are averaging in double figures, Charlie Brown scores 14.3 points per game and Austin Wright chips in 12.4 per contest.
LAST TIME OUT • PITTSBURG STATE 74, CENTRAL MISSOURI 72 • 2/17/16WARRENSBURG, Mo. –
Spencer Reaves scored a season-high 33 points and
Jakob Lowrance added 17, but the Mules came up short in a 74-72 loss to Pittsburg State on Wednesday night at the Multi. The loss is the fifth straight for UCM and drops the Mules to 13-12 overall and 7-12 in MIAA play.
   The Mules started hot from the field as they jumped out to a 13-7 lead just over six minutes in to the game, but the Gorillas (15-11, 10-10 MIAA) came roaring back. A three-pointer from Trey Starks, one of nine in the game for PSU, jump started a 12-3 run that gave Pitt State a 19-16 lead with 10:38 left in the half. The Gorillas pushed the lead to four only to see the Mules come back with a 5-0 run to regain the lead, 25-24, with 7:50 left.
   A layup from Josiah Gustafson put PSU back in front, but Reaves hit one of his six threes in the game to put the Mules in front 28-26. Jaxon Holden answered with a three for Pitt State and they led 29-28 with 6:43 left.
   The Mules jumped back in front 32-30 on a
Jakob Lowrance layup, but Dakota Jones answered with a jumper to knot the game at 32 with 4:08 left. Both teams made just one field goal the rest of the half and it was tied 34-34 at the intermission.
   The Mules opened the second half on a 5-0 run and scored 14 of the first 18 points to open a 48-38 lead with 15:03 to play in the game, but that's when UCM went ice cold. The Mules didn't make another field goal until the 8:38 mark, a span of 6:25, on a
D'Marnier Cunningham steal and fast-break layup, by that time it was 52-50 Gorillas.
   The Mules came back and regained the lead 59-58 with 6:31 to play on a Reaves jumper and three straight points from Lowrance pushed the UCM lead to 62-58 with 5:01 left. The lead was three at the 3:29 mark, but a missed UCM layup led to a three-pointer from Jones that tied the game at 63-all with 2:41 to play. A jumper from Cunningham put UCM back in front, but Starks buried a three from the top of the key that put PSU back in front for good.
   A three from Jones made it a four-point PSU lead, but
Marquiez Lawrence's layup with :32 to play cut it to a 69-67 lead. The Gorillas then made four straight free throws to lead 73-67 with just :17 to play. Reaves made two foul shots to cut it back to four, but Starks hit one of two and PSU led 74-69.
   Reaves was fouled shooting a three with :01 to play. He made all three shots, but PSU was able to inbound the ball and run out the clock and hand the Mules their fifth straight loss.
   Reaves finished the game 9-of-14 from the field as the Mules shot 52 percent as a team. UCM was 7-of-15 from beyond the arc for 47 percent and made 15-of-18 at the foul line for 83 percent.
   Pittsburg State was led by Jones and Starks with 19 points each, while Holden added 10 off the bench. PSU shot 47 percent from the floor and 9-of-21 from beyond the arc for 43 percent. The Gorillas made 17-of-26 at the free throw line for 65 percent.
   The Mules turned the ball over 14 times in the game, leading to 19 PSU points. The Gorilla bench also outscored UCM's 22-7. Both teams finished with 28 rebounds.
THE MULES AT HOME• The Mules are 10-5 at home this year after the 74-72 loss to Pittsburg State
• Central Missouri went 14-2 at home last season.
• Over the last 11 years, UCM is 161-18 at home, including 64-1 against non-conference opponents and 97-17 in MIAA play.
• The Mules are 489-95 (.837) in their 40th season playing home games at the Multipurpose Building.
MULES ON THE ROAD• The Mules are 3-7 on the road this season after the loss at Southwest Baptist
• 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 sit at 7-12 in MIAA play and in a three-way tie for 11th place in the league standings following the loss on Wednesday night.
• UCM finished the 2014-15 regular season 14-5 in conference action under
Doug Karleskint and second in the final league standings.
• Central Missouri is 180-82 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 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.
PICKING A WINNER• A pretty good indicator of a UCM win is how the Mules have played in the first half of games this season. The Mules are 13-1 when leading at the half this season and 0-11 when tied or trailing at the intermission.
• UCM is also 13-2 when leading with 5:00 left in regulation and 0-10 when tied or trailing after 35 minutes of action. The previous two seasons, the Mules were 46-2 when leading with 5:00 to play.
BLOCK PARTY• Junior
Marquiez Lawrence has 28 blocked shots on the season, an average of 1.1 blocks per game. He is four blocks away from cracking Central Missouri's single-season top 10 list.
A UCM WIN WOULD...• Give the Mules a 14-12 overall mark and snap a season-high five-game losing streak.
• Bring UCM to 8-12 in MIAA play with two regular season games left.
• Give UCM a split in the season series with Missouri Southern and three straight wins over the Lions at the Multi.
A UCM LOSS WOULD...• Drop UCM to 13-13 overall and 7-13 in conference play and possibly out of the top 12 in the league standings.
• Give Missouri Southern a sweep of the season series for the first time since the 2002-03 season.
• Give the Mules six straight losses.
UCM DURING THE KARLESKINT ERA•
Doug Karleskint has a record of 38-19 (.667) in his second season as head coach at Central Missouri and a 128-53 (.707) 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 BASKETBALL HISTORY• In the 111th season of UCM basketball, the Mules have compiled a 1,653-943 (.637) record in 2,596 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 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.
• 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 head out on the road for their final two games of the regular season. UCM is at Lindenwood on Wednesday night, Feb. 24 for a 7:30 p.m. tip before heading to Missouri Western for a 5 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 27.
