TIP-OFF
• The Central Missouri Mules will play their third game in six days as they wrap up the week with another road game on Saturday afternoon at Lindenwood. Tip-off between the Mules and the Lions is set for 3:30 p.m. at the Hyland Arena on the Lindenwood campus in St. Charles.
• The Mules are coming off a 66-64 win at Lincoln on Wednesday night. It was the second straight win for UCM and the third in the last four games.
• Lindenwood enters the contest at 14-7 overall and 4-5 in MIAA play after an 81-54 loss to Southwest Baptist on Thursday night in St. Charles.

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 1,665 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 17.1 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 49.2 percent, third in three-point shooting at 39.4 percent and fourth in free throw percentage at 74.7 percent.
• Defensively, UCM is second in the league in scoring (66.9 ppg). The Mules are ninth in field goal percentage allowed at 45.2 percent and 13th in three-point field goal percentage allowed at 38.5 percent.

SERIES HISTORY
• This will be the 11th all-time meeting between Central Missouri and Lindenwood. The Mules lead the series 8-2.
• UCM swept the season series last year and the Mules have won three straight in the series.
• The Mules are 2-2 against the Lions in St. Charles after a 59-58 win last year. All four meetings at Hyland Arena have come since Lindenwood joined the MIAA.

LAST MEETING WITH  LINDENWOOD
ST. CHARLES, Mo. (Feb. 24, 2016) -- D'Marnier Cunningham made two free throws with 7.9 seconds to play and Lindenwood's last second jumper was off the mark and the Mules held on for a 59-58 win. The Mules ended the game on an 8-0 run and with the win they sweep the season series with the Lions.
    The Mules (14-13, 8-13 MIAA) trailed 58-51 with 2:57 to play in the game, before the late rally. Six of the final eight points for the Mules came at the free throw line.
    UCM led by 10 at halftime and pushed the lead to 12 out of the break at 35-23 with 19:14 to play, but Lindenwood (15-12, 11-10 MIAA) came storming back. The Lions cut the lead to six on a three-pointer from Cory Arentsen and after to Mule free throws, he made two more buckets to pull LWU within a pair at 39-37. Brad Woodson hit a three to push the lead back to five, but a three-point play from Brad Newman and another three from Arentsen gave Lindenwood at 43-42 lead at the 9:58 mark.
    Cunningham sank two free throws to put UCM back in front, but a three from Arentsen kick-started an 8-0 run that gave the Lions a 51-44 lead with 8:06 to play. UCM was able to crawl back within two before five quick points gave LWU the 58-51 lead that UCM would rally from.
    Both teams came out shooting well to open the game. The lead changed hands on nearly every possession. UCM went in front 13-12 on a three-point play by Jakob Lowrance at the 11:48 mark. The Mules pushed the lead to six at 20-14 on a three from Lowrance, but a 9-3 run by the Lions tied the game at 23. The Mules outscored LWU 10-0 over the final 3:44 of the half and led 33-23 at halftime.
    Marquiez Lawrence led the Mules with 13 points and eight rebounds. Lowrance finished with 11 points and seven boards, while Cunningham had 10 points, five boards and four assists.
    The Mules shot 44 percent for the game (20-of-45) after shooting 61 percent in the first half. The Mules were 5-of-13 from three point range and made 14-of-18 at the free throw line.
    Lindenwood shot 40 percent in the game (23-of-57) after going just 9-of-31 in the first half. LWU was 14-of-26 in the second half and made 8-of-23 from beyond the arc in the game. The Lions were 4-of-9 at the free throw line. Arentsen led the Lions with 35 points, while Newman added 14. Only four Lions scored in the game.

SCOUTING LINDENWOOD
• The Lions  enter the contest at 14-7 overall and 4-5 in MIAA play following an 81-54 loss to Southwest Baptist at home on Thursday night. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Lindenwood. The Lions had won five of six games before Thursday night's loss.
• LWU is ninth in the MIAA in scoring (75.6 ppg) and fourth in scoring defense (68.7). The Lions are eighth in the league in field goal percentage (45.5%) and seventh in three-point field goal percentage (37.4), while ranking sixth in field goal percentage defense (43.8) and fourth in three-point defense (34.1).
• Four Lions are averaging in double figures, led by Chandler Diekvoss' 15.1 points per game. Dominique Dobbs is averaging 11.5 per game, while Jackson price (11.2 ppg) and Brenon Larson-Gulsvig (10.8) also average in double figures.
• Dobbs also leads the team in rebounding, and ranks third in the MIAA, at 8.0 boards per game as the Lions out-rebound the opposition by just under one rebound per game.
• Lindenwood forces 14 turnovers per game, but the Lions commit nearly 12 per game of their own.

LAST TIME OUT • CENTRAL MISSOURI 66, LINCOLN 64 • 1/18/17
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Jan. 18, 2017) -- The Mules built a 14-point second half lead, but had to withstand a late Lincoln rally to beat the Blue Tigers 66-64 on Wednesday night. Lincoln had a last second three-point attempt off the mark to give the Mules the win.
    The Mules (11-5, 5-3 MIAA) had an 11-2 run midway through the second half that gave them a 52-38 lead with 11:25 to play in the game. A three-pointer from Anthony Virdure and two free throws from Richie Lewis pulled Lincoln (12-6, 5-4 MIAA) within nine just one minute later. The Mules pushed the lead back to 11 on a jumper from Marquiez Lawrence, but a 7-2 spurt by the Blue Tigers pulled them to within six at 56-50 with 5:24 to play in the game.
    UCM led by eight, 65-57, with exactly 1:17 to play in the game, but the Blue Tigers scored on a three-pointer by Virdure then forced a turnover and Jaylon Smith made two free throws to pull within three with :40. Lincoln had the ball back with a chance to tie, but Virdure turned it over. The Mules missed the front end of the one and one, however, with eight seconds left. The Mules then fouled Virdure on the inbounds so he couldn't attempt a three. He made both free throws and the lead was 65-64 with :04 to play.
    Reaves was fouled on the ensuing inbounds and hit one of two free throws to give UCM a 66-64 lead. Lincoln called timeout with two seconds left and had one last chance, but Virdure's three-pointer glanced off the side of the rim and the Mules held on for their 18th consecutive win over the Blue Tigers and the 11th straight in Jefferson City.
    The Mules opened the game on a 4-0 run and built a seven-point lead at 19-12 midway through the first half. The lead was still seven when Lincoln used a 10-2 run to grab a 24-23 lead with 4:37 to play in the first half. A three-pointer from Jakob Lowrance and a layup from Kyle Wolf quickly put UCM back in front by four. The Mules would push the lead back to six before leading by five, 34-29 at halftime.
    Lowrance led the Mules in scoring with 14 points off the bench. Reaves finished with 12 and Wolf had 11. UCM shot 52 percent for the game, 24-of-46, but made just 5-of-20 from three-point range. They were 13-of-18 at the foul line.
    Lincoln was led by Virdure's game-high 25 points. Maurice Mason had 12 points and Lewis finished with 10. The Mules held Jaylon Smith, the MIAA's second-leading scorer to just nine points on 3-of-11 shooting. LU finished the game 17-of-48 from the field for just 35 percent. The Blue Tigers were 9-of-26 from three-point range for 35 percent and 21-of-27 at the charity stripe.

MULES IN MIAA PLAY
• The Mules are 5-3 in MIAA play after the 66-64 win at Lincoln on Wednesday night.
• UCM is 27-22 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 3-4 on the road this season after the win at Lincoln on Wednesday night.
• UCM is 13-16 on the road under Doug Karleskint.

A CENTRAL MISSOURI WIN WOULD...
Give the Mules three straight wins for the third time this season and make UCM 12-5 overall and 6-3 in MIAA play ... give UCM four straight wins over Lindenwood overall and back-to-back wins at Hyland Arena ... give the Mules a 3-2 advantage in games played in St. Charles and make the all-time series 9-2 in favor of UCM ... make UCM 1,666-951 all-time.

A CENTRAL MISSOURI LOSS WOULD...
Snap the Mules' two-game winning streak ... make the Mules 11-6 overall and drop them to 5-4 in MIAA play ... snap a three-game winning streak against Lindenwood ... give the Lions a 3-2 edge in games played in St. Charles ... make the all-time series 8-3 in favor of UCM ... make UCM 1,665-952 all-time.

BLOCK PARTY
• Senior Marquiez Lawrence had one blocked shot in the win at Lincoln, giving him 18 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 50 for his career, tied for sixth all-time at UCM. He is six blocks shy of fifth all-time.

MIAA STAT LEADERS
• Spencer Reaves is seventh in the MIAA in scoring with an average of 17.1 points per game. Kyle Wolf is 23rd in the conference at 11.8 points per game.
• Reaves is fifth in the MIAA in field goal percentage (49.4) and ninth in free throw percentage at 82.8 percent. Reaves also leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.5 (49 ast - 14 TO) and is 16th 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 eighth in the MIAA in steals averaging 1.6 per game, while Clarence Smith is 16th with 1.1 per outing.

UCM DURING THE KARLESKINT ERA
• Doug Karleskint has a record of 50-27 (.649) in his third season as head coach at Central Missouri and a 139-61 (.695) 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 1,665-951 (.636) record in 2,616 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 home next week with games against Emporia State on Wednesday, Jan. 25 and Washburn on Saturday, Jan. 28.