Mules head to Jefferson City to take on hot-shooting Lincoln

TIP-OFF
• The Central Missouri Mules head back out on the road to take on the Lincoln Blue Tigers on Wednesday night, Jan. 18, in Jefferson City. Tip-off is set for approximately 7:30 p.m. at Jason Gym on the Lincoln campus.
• The Mules are coming off an 81-68 win over Missouri Western on Monday evening. A game that was postponed from its originally scheduled date of Saturday due to the threat of inclement weather.
• Lincoln enters the contest at 12-5 overall and 5-3 in league play after a 75-72 win over Missouri Southern last Saturday in Joplin.
• Wednesday night's game is the 200th game as a head coach for Doug Karleskint, 77th as head coach at UCM.

ON THE AIR
• The games will be broadcast on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com with Greg Hassler calling the action.
• The games will also be webcast online through Central Missouri's Stretch Internet portal at UCMathletics.com/gamecentral. It is a pay-per-view webcast.

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 1,664 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
• Spencer Reaves is averaging 17.4 points per game this season, best on the team and seventh in the MIAA. He recorded his first career double-double against Northwest Missouri with 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
• Marquiez Lawrence leads the Mules with a pair of double-doubles this season. He recorded his second of the year in the win over Missouri Western on Jan. 16. He has eight in his two seasons with UCM.
• Ten different players have scored in double figures for the Mules this season with Spencer Reaves scoring at least 20 points in seven games.
• The Mules are third in the MIAA in field goal percentage at 49.0 percent, third in three-point shooting at 40.4 percent and fourth in free throw percentage at 74.9 percent.
• Defensively, UCM is second in the league in scoring (67.1 ppg). The Mules are 10th in field goal percentage allowed at 45.8 percent and 13th in three-point field goal percentage allowed at 38.8 percent.

SERIES HISTORY
• This will be the 90th all-time meeting between Central Missouri and Lincoln. The Mules hold a 57-32 lead in the series.
• The Mules won the only meeting between the two schools last season, 51-48, in Warrensburg in January. UCM has won 17 straight games in the series.
• The Mules lead the series 25-15 in games played in Jefferson City and have won 10 straight games at Jason Gym. The last loss to Lincoln in Jefferson City was during the 1996-97 season.

LAST MEETING WITH  LINCOLN
WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Jan. 16, 2016) -- For the second straight game the Mules held one of the MIAA's top offenses 30 points below their season average. This time it was the first place Lincoln Blue Tigers, the league's top offense. UCM limited LU to 29 percent shooting in a 51-48 win on Saturday afternoon at the Multi.
    The Mules (11-5, 5-5 MIAA) shot 41 percent from the floor and held Lincoln to to just 16 first half points in the win. The Blue Tigers (11-6, 7-4 MIAA) came in to the game averaging almost 84 points per game, but the solid defensive effor by UCM limited them to just 48.
    The game was slow starting for both teams with a Jakob Lowrance layup the only bucket through the first 3:09 of the game. Lincoln grabbed a 7-4 lead behind five points from Anthony Virdure, the league's third leading scorer. A 7-0 run by the Mules gave them an 11-7 lead, but Virdure came right back with a three to pull LU within one.
    The Mules led 15-14 at the 7:17 mark when a Tereke Eckwood layup started an 8-0 run that gave UCM a 23-14 lead with 1:26 to play. Aaron Spudich made two free throws with just under a minute to play to pull the Blue Tigers within 23-16 at the break. The Mules held LU without a field goal over the final 7:17 of the first half.
    Central Missouri pushed the lead to 11 early in the second half on a three from Lowrance. The Blue Tigers didn't get their first field goal of the half until the 16:34 mark, a span of 10:43 between field goals. The Mules pushed the lead to 12 at 32-20 with 15:12 on the clock, but Lincoln began to crawl back in to the game.
    A three-point play from Richie Lewis cut the lead to nine and sparked a 14-2 run that tied the game at 34 with 9:17 to play. Lawrence's dunk at the 8:15 mark put UCM back in front and a layup from D'Marnier Cunningham pushed the lead to four. A three-pointer from Jaylon Smith and a later three from Lewis tied the game at 40 with 6:01 to play.
    Kyle Wolf made two free throws, however, and Lowrance scored on a layup to push UCM back in front by four, 44-40. Two free throws from Brett O'Neil made it a six point lead with 4:23 to play. Virdure scored on a layup and Smith made two foul shots to cut the lead to 48-46 with :49 left in regulation, but a layup from Cunningham pushed the lead to four and Spencer Reaves made one of two free throws to give UCM a 51-46 lead. Lewis scored on a layup with just over a second to play, but the Mules quickly inbounded the ball to run out the clock.
    Cunningham and Lowrance led the Mules with 15 points each with Lowrance adding six boards. Lawrence had eight and five rebounds off the bench.
    UCM shot 19-of-46 from the field for 41 percent, but made just 2-of-15 three-point attempts for 13 percent. UCM was 11-of-14 at the foul line for 78 percent.

SCOUTING LINCOLN
• The Blue Tigers enter the contest at 12-5 overall and 5-3 in MIAA play following a 75-72 win over Missouri Southern in Joplin last Saturday afternoon. Lincoln has won three straight games.
• LU is fifth in the MIAA in scoring (79.5 ppg) and eighth in scoring defense (71.1). The Blue Tigers are ninth in the league in field goal percentage (45.1%) and ninth in three-point field goal percentage (36.2), while ranking fourth in field goal percentage defense (42.6) and sixth in three-point defense (35.2).
• Lincoln is fifth in the league in rebounding, but third on the offensive glass avereraging almost 12 offensive rebounds per game.
• Over 52 percent of Lincoln's scoring comes from two players, Jaylon Smith and Anthony Virdure. Smith is second in the league averaging 22.0 points per game, while Virdure is fourth at 19.5 per contest.
• Smith also leads the Blue Tigers in rebounding with 7.1 per game, while Virdure dishes out a team-high 4.6 assists per game.
• During their current three-game winning streak Virdure is averaging 22.3 points per game, while Smith is averaging 21 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.
• Lincoln averages over eight steals a game and they force 16 turnovers per contest.

LAST TIME OUT • CENTRAL MISSOURI 81, MISSOURI WESTERN 68 • 1/16/17
WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Jan. 16, 2017) -- Central Missouri shot 72 percent in the second half and 62 percent for the game en route to an 81-68 win over Missouri Western on Monday evening at the UCM Multipurpose Building. The Mules held the Griffons to 37 percent shooting in the second half and 41 percent for the game.
    The Griffons (5-11, 2-6 MIAA) got out to a quick start claiming an early six point lead at 9-3. They extended that lead to nine at 14-5 just under six minutes in to the game. An 8-2 spurt by the Mules (10-5, 4-3 MIAA) pulled them within three at 16-13 with 11:20 to go in the half, but the Griffons pushed back. Missouri Western went on a 6-0 spurt of its own to lead 22-13 with 10:12 left in the half.
    Each time the Mules would crawl back to within four or five the Griffons had an answer. A jumper from Erick Locke and a three-pointer by Jakob Lowrance pulled UCM within a pair at 29-27, but Aaron Emmanuel converted a three-point play to push the lead back to five at 32-27. The Mules closed the half on 9-1 run, however, and led 36-33 at the intermission.
    The Griffons tied the game right out of halftime on a three-pointer by Cole Clearman, but a 7-0 run by UCM gave the Mules a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Missouri Western pulled back to within five at 43-38, but Spencer Reaves hit a three-pointer to spark a 14-6 spurt that gave the Mules a 57-44 lead with 11:56 to play. Clearman and Emmanuel hit back-to-back threes to pull MWSU back within seven with 10:15 to play and the Griffons later got to within six at 60-54, but an 8-0 run put the Mules up 14 at 68-54, and essentially iced the game. The lead never dipped below 11 the rest of the way as the Mules swept the season series with the Griffons.
    Lowrance led the Mules with 19 points off the bench. DJ Richardson had 16 points, making his first start of the season, and Marquiez Lawrence recorded his second double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. He also added three blocks. All 10 Mules to play in the game scored.
    UCM was 24-of-39 from the field, including 9-of-14 from beyond the arc for 69 percent from three. UCM was also 24-of-30 at the free throw line. The Mules out-rebounded the Griffons 29-24 and held a 33-11 advantage in bench scoring.
    Clearman led Missouri Western with a game-high 20 points. Emmanuel added 16 and Seth Bonifas scored 10. The Griffons were 24-of-58 from the field for 41 percent, and were 11-of-27 from three-point range.

MULES FOLLOWING A LOSS
• The Mules are 4-1 this season in games immediately following a loss after the 81-68 win over Missouri Western on Monday night.
• In those five games UCM is averaging 77.2 points per game and giving up just 65.8 points.
• The Mules are 15-10 following a loss during Doug Karleskint's three seasons at the helm.

MULES IN MIAA PLAY
• The Mules are 4-3 in MIAA play after beating Missouri Western 81-68 on Monday night.
• UCM is 26-22 in conference play during the Doug Karleskint era.
• The Mules have won or shared 24 MIAA Regular Season Championships and five MIAA Tournament titles.

MULES IN NON-CONFERENCE ACTION
• The Mules are 6-2 in non-conference action this season after the 74-66 loss at Rockhurst on Dec. 31.
• UCM was 6-1 in non-conference games last season, including a 6-0 mark in regular season non-con games. They are 138-34 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 6-1 at home this season after the 81-68 win over Missouri Western and are 29-9 at home under Doug Karleskint.
• UCM is 167-20 at home over the last 12 seasons, including 68-1 against non-conference opponents and 99-19 in MIAA play.
• The Mules are 495-97 (.836) in their 41st season playing home games at the Multipurpose Building.

MULES ON THE ROAD
• The Mules are 2-4 on the road this season after splitting a pair of road games against Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney.
• UCM was 4-9 in road games last season and is 12-16 on the road under Doug Karleskint.

A CENTRAL MISSOURI WIN WOULD...
Give the Mules back-to-back wins and make UCM 11-5 overall and 5-3 in MIAA play ... give UCM 18 straight wins over Lincoln overall and 11 straight wins in Jason Gym ... give the Mules a 26-15 advantage in games played in Jefferson City and make the all-time series 58-32 in favor of UCM ... make UCM 1,665-951 all-time.

A CENTRAL MISSOURI LOSS WOULD...
Give UCM four losses in the last six games ... make the Mules 10-6 overall and drop them back to .500 in league play at 4-4 ... snap a 17-game winning streak against Lincoln and a 10-game winning streak at Jason Gym ... make the all-time series 57-33 in favor of UCM ... make UCM 1,664-952 all-time.

BLOCK PARTY
• Senior Marquiez Lawrence recorded three more blocked shots in the win over Missouri Western on Jan. 16, giving him 17 blocks on the season.
• He blocked 32 shots last season, tied for the 10th most in a single season in Central Missouri history.
• He is now at 49 for his career, tied with Darryl Somerset (2005-07) and Matt Webb (2011-13) for eighth all-time in UCM history. He is one block shy of a tie for sixth and seven shy of fifth all-time.

MIAA STAT LEADERS
• Spencer Reaves is seventh in the MIAA in scoring with an average of 17.4 points per game. Kyle Wolf is 23rd in the conference at 11.9 points per game.
• Reaves is fifth in the MIAA in field goal percentage (49.4) and sixth in free throw percentage at 85.0 percent. Reaves also leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.6 (46 ast - 10 TO) and is 15th in assists per game at 3.1.
• Marquiez Lawrence is 12th in the league with 6.1 rebounds per game. He also ranks eighth in blocked shots, averaging 1.1 per contest.
• Reaves is ninth in the MIAA in steals averaging 1.5 per game, while Clarence Smith is 17th with 1.1 per outing.

UCM DURING THE KARLESKINT ERA
• Doug Karleskint has a record of 49-27 (.645) in his third season as head coach at Central Missouri and a 138-61 (.693) 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 1,664-951 (.636) record in 2,615 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 head to Lindenwood on this Saturday, Jan. 21 to take on the Lions in a 3:30 p.m. tip-off at the Hyland Arena.
• UCM returns home next week with games against Emporia State on Wednesday, Jan. 25 and Washburn on Saturday, Jan. 28.