Mules Basketball to Play Three Games During Thanksgiving Week

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 19, 2018) - Central Missouri Mules Basketball gets ready for three games during Thanksgiving week. UCM will play one game before the break and two this weekend.

OPPONENTS
Monday, Nov. 19 - Sioux Falls Cougars (3-0)
Friday, Nov. 23 - Maryville Saints (3-0)
Saturday, Nov. 24 - Missouri-St. Louis Tritons (3-1)

WHEN
Monday, Nov. 19 - 4 p.m. vs. Sioux Falls
Friday, Nov. 23 - 1 p.m. vs. Maryville
Saturday, Nov. 24 - 3 p.m. at Missouri-St. Louis

WHERE
Monday - Kansas City, Mo. - Municipal Auditorium
Friday-Saturday - St. Louis, Mo. - Mark Twain Building

ON THE AIR
• The games will be broadcast on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com with
Greg Hassler calling the action Monday and Dan Swoboda Friday and Saturday in St. Louis.
• The only game that will be webstreamed will be the Mules against the Tritons Saturday on the GLVC Digital Network. Live stats will be provided for all three games. 

TIP-OFF
• Central Missouri Mules Basketball hits the road for the first time this season. They won't be far, traveling west to Kansas City, Mo. and Municipal Auditorium to take on Sioux Falls as a part of the MIAA Showcase.
• The Mules have started the season 4-0 for the third time in Coach Karleskint's first five years. All four games have been at home to start the year. This past weekend, UCM defeated William Jewell and Illinois-Springfield in the Fairfield Inn Classic. 
• The Mules were picked to finish fourth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• Sioux Falls is also undefeated to start the season. They've won each of their first three games. The Cougars were picked third overall in the NSIC and first in the South Division. 
• Maryville will enter the week 3-0. The Saints will also be in Kansas City Monday for the MIAA Showcase taking on Pittsburg State. 
• Missouri-St. Louis comes into this week at 3-1. They lost their last game against MIAA foe Missouri Southern 85-76 last Thursday. 

PROGRAM SNAPSHOT
• This is the 114th season of Central Missouri Mules basketball.
• 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 seven letter winners from last season as well as three redshirts to their 2018-19 team while adding five transfers and only one true freshman to the program. 
• The Mules averaged 71.6 points per game and shot 48.2 percent from the field last season. Defensively, UCM allowed 66.3 points per game on 44.3 percent shooting.
• Back this season are three starters from a year ago: Jakob Lowrance, Blake Spellman and Matt Wilkinson.
• Eleven different Mules have appeared in the first two games this season. 

SERIES HISTORY
• There isn't much history between the Mules and Sioux Falls as well as UCM and Maryville. The Mules met Sioux Falls during Coach Karleskint's first season at UCM, a win for the Mules on a neutral court. The first meeting between UCM and Maryville was just a season ago when the Saints visited Warrensburg, a win for the Mules.
• The opposite is true for UCM and Missouri-St. Louis. The Mules lead the all-time series 21-11, however they haven't played since 1996. 

SCOUTING THE COUGARS  
• Sioux Falls is out to a 3-0 start this season. They defeated two MIAA teams on their opening weekend defeating Fort Hays State and Emporia State.
• The Cougars are scoring 84 points per game this season and have two at or near 20 points per game. Trevon Evans leads the team with 20. points per game and Drew Guebert is right behind him scoring 19.7 points per game.
• USF is shooting better than 50% for the season at 50.5%. They've made 96 of their 190 field goal attempts and have been deadly from three, hitting 40.% of their attempts from deep. Evans is shooting 53.5% from the floor with 11 made threes while Guebert is at 52.4% and eight triples.
• Defensively, the Cougars have allowed just 60 points per game. All three of their wins have been by a margin of at least 19 points.
• USF is coming down with 42.7 rebounds per game this season. Guebert nearly averages a double-double with 8.7 boards.
• Justin Taylor and Milan Surlic each are scoring nine points per game. Surlic also leads the team with 13 assists.

SCOUTING THE SAINTS
• Maryville is also off to a 3-0 start and will have a game Monday before the UMSL Thanksgiving Classic. 
• Casey Teson is the player to watch. He's scoring 24.7 points per game for the Saints knocking down 57.4% of all FG attempts and 47.4% of his threes.
• Chaz Glotta and Eugene Jones also average double-figures with Glotta scoring 13.7 and Jones 11.3 points per game.
• The Saints as a team are shooting right at 50% while opponents are under 40% at 38.7.
• Rebounding has been a big edge for Maryville with a +5.7 rebounding advantage 42-36.3.
• Jones is the leading rebounder with 8.3 per game. Jerome Davis also helps on the glass with 6.7 boards and 9.7 points per game.
• Maryville's defense has forced their opponents into 41 turnovers and they've also come away with 21 steals themselves. Dezmond McDaniel is the leader among theives with five.
• Jordan Gary has dished out a team-high 10 assists.
• The Saints are shooting just 69.4% at the free throw line, but Teson has hit all 11 of his attempts.

SCOUTING THE TRITONS
• The final team the Mules will face this week will be Missouri-St. Louis, the host of the UMSL Thanksgiving Classic.
• The Tritons have won three of their first four games. Most recently they fell to MIAA opponent Missouri Southern in St. Louis.
• Three Tritons are scoring in double-figures with Ronnie Carson's 15.3 leading the way.
• UMSL has used a committee approach. Eric Dust is scoring 14.8 points and Johnathan Matthews 11. They also have two other with more than eight points per game.
• For the season, UMSL is shooting 47.2% per game while opponents are at 46.7%. 
• Most of the Tritons success has come inside the arc, as they are shooting just 28.4% from three. Dust is personally shooting 64.1% to lead the club.
• Dust also leads the team with 7.8 rebounds per game. UMSL is outrebounding their opponents 153-123 through four games.
• Turnovers have been a problem for UMSL. They've given it up 64 times this season.
• Steve Webb has 18 assists to lead the team while Carson and Shane Wissink each have 17.

MULES STAT LEADERS
• The Mules have used a committee approach to scoring with six Mules scoring more than eight points per game. Blake Spellman leads UCM scoring 13.3 points per game. Jafar Kinsey is the only other Mule in double-figures with 12.3 points per game.
• The Mules are shooting 50.2% from the floor and 36.5% from three. Blake Spellman has been on fire through three games hitting 13 of 25 threes and 18 for 34 overall. He leads the MIAA in three-point percentage. 
• Three Mules have already grabbed 20 or more rebounds this season with freshman Gaven Pinkley's 23 leading the way. Brandon Emmert has 22 and Jakob Lowrance is right at 20.
• Not only is Spellman the leading scorer, he's been the primary passer with a team-leading 17 assists. His 3.4 assist-to-turnover ratio is second in the MIAA. 

BACKCOURT NOTES
• The Mules will have a number of options in the back court this season as they return four letterwinners, one redshirt freshmen and welcome five talented newcomers. Blake Spellman, Daniel Farris, DJ Anderson and Michael Winger will all return for the Mules this season. James Byrd and Jafar Kinsey join UCM as transfers from Division I schools Missouri State and North Dakota, and add three other transfers in Drew Apsher, Malik Barnett, and Solomon Finley, respectively. 
• Spellman, Farris and Kinsey all started all three games with Byrd and Finley both playing significant minutes off the bench. Byrd actually leads the Mules with 37 field goal attempts.

FRONTCOURT NOTES
• Jakob Lowrance looks to anchor the front court, for his last season as a Mule. Matt Wilkinson will be a contributing factor going into his junior season after appearing in 30 games 16 of which he started as a sophomore and averaging 20.0 points per game. Dawson Jones who redshirted the 2017-18 season will look to be a factor as well as Brandon Emmert who played in 29 games averaging 10.3 points per game. The Mules welcome one newcomer to the front court in one true freshmen. Gaven Pinkley comes in as a Freshman from Hillsboro, Missouri where he scored over 2,000 points in his career and grabbed over 1,000 rebounds. 
• Lowrance was injured against William Jewell and played just three minutes against Illinois-Springfield. That led to a lot more playing time for Pinkley and Emmert and a season-high 31 minutes from Matt Wilkinson. 

MULES IN NON-CONFERENCE ACTION
• The Mules were 8-3 in non-conference games last season, including a 6-2 mark in regular season non-con games. They are 145-35 over the last 15+ seasons with their 4-0 start this year.
• Central Missouri is 72-1 in the last 71 non-conference home games at the Multipurpose Building.

MULES AT HOME
• The Mules are 46-15 all-time at home under Coach Doug Karleskint with their 2-0 start to the 2018-19 season.
• Last season they were 11-4 at the Multipurpose Building and are 512-103 at the Multi in their 43rd year in the arena. 

MULES AT NEUTRAL SITES
• The Mules are 14-4 all-time at neutral sites under Coach Karleskint. UCM went 5-1 on neutral courts last season. This will be their first of 2017-18.

MULES ON THE ROAD
• The Mules are 21-22 all-time on the road under Coach Karleskint. Their first true road game will be at Missouri-St. Louis. 

INDIVIDUAL MILESTONES
• Jakob Lowrance is 61 points shy of cracking UCM's career Top 20 list for scoring, and 48 points shy of eclipsing 1,000 career points.
• Blake Spellman and Matt Wilkinson each have 274 career points and need 26 more to get to 300. Wilkinson is also seven rebounds away from 100. 

SECOND HALF MAGIC
• Central Missouri has scored at least 40 points in the second half of all four games this season.
• The Mules have twice trailed at halftime, only to comeback to win.

UCM DURING THE KARLESKINT ERA
• Doug Karleskint has a record of 84-41 (.672) as he begins his fifth season as head coach at Central Missouri and a 173-75 (.698) overall mark in his eighth 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 114th season of UCM basketball, the Mules have compiled a 1,699-965 (.638) record in 2,664 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 26 times in the history of the program, including this year and five of the last six 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 16 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 (Conejos De Tuxtla (Mexico), Charles Hammork (Kosovo, Ylli Therande), Michael Hicks (Poland, Polpharma-Pakmet), and Zack Wright (Germany, Brose Basket).

A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE IN ATHLETICS
• Central Missouri has won a combined 215 MIAA regular season conference championships in 14 league sports to lead all schools.
• Last season, UCM captured two national championships, two MIAA regular season and two MIAA tournament championships. 
• Since 1983, the tenure of Athletic Director Jerry Hughes, UCM has won or shared 161 MIAA championships, more than any other league school.
• Central Missouri has won 10 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, women's indoor and outdoor track & field in 2015, and women's soccer and women's basketball) and 12 national championships overall.
• In 2016-17 and 2017-18, Central Missouri won the first two MIAA's Commissioner's Cup trophy for the conference's top overall athletic department. 

A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE IN THE CLASSROOM
• Central Missouri had 252 student-athletes named to the 2016-17 MIAA Academic Honor Roll with grade point averages of 3.0 or higher.
• 22 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.
• 20 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Academic Excellence Award winners with a 4.0 GPA.
• UCM had five student-athletes earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in their respective sports. 
• All-time UCM is fourth in NCAA-II with 103 Academic All-Americans.
• Carly Thomas of Jennies Bowling was awarded prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships last year.