OPPONENT: Lincoln Blue Tigers (11-3, 4-1 MIAA)
Lindenwood Lions (9-8, 3-1 MIAA)
WHERE: Warrensburg, Mo.
WHEN: Wednesday, January 16 - 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, January 19 - 2 p.m.
TIP-OFF
• Central Missouri Mules Basketball returns home, to take on Lincoln in a mid-week match and Lindenwood this weekend.
• The Mules have been on fire when it comes to playing in the Multi. UCM is 8-0 in Warrensburg.
• Last week, the Mules fell on the road to Missouri Southern 65-55, before losing to Pitt State 78-69 in Kansas.
• LU is on a seven-game winning streak, putting them at 11-3 on the season and currently are 4-1 in conference play. The Blue Tigers defeated Missouri Southern 90-83 in Jefferson City, then traveled to St. Charles to down Lindenwood 96-87 in triple overtime.
• LWU comes into this game off of a two-game losing streak at home. The Lions fell to Pitt State 85-76, and Lincoln 96-87 in triple overtime.
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 game will be web streamed on the miaanetwork, and live stats will be available from sbubearcats.com
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.
• This season the Mules are averaging 70.9 points per contest and shooting 43.7 percent from the field. • Defensively, UCM allows 69.7 points per contest on 42.5 percent shooting.
SERIES HISTORY
• The series between the Mules and the Blue Tigers dates all the way back to 1954. UCM leads LU all-time 59-34 and 31-15 in the Multi.
• UCM and LWU first played in the 1979-80 season. The Mules lead this short series 9-5 overall and lead 6-2 at the Multi as the two teams have only met 14 times
SCOUTING THE Blue Tigers
• The Blue Tigers enter the 2018-19 season 11-3 after going on a seven-game winning streak. The Blue Tigers defeated Missouri Southern 90-83, and Lindenwood 96-87 last week.
• LU is averaging 79.7 points per game, shooting 49.1 percent from the field as a team 43.6 percent from behind the arc, and 77.8 percent from the free-throw line.
• The Blue Tigers have five players averaging double-digits per contest thus far this season in Terrance Smith, Amariontez Ivory, Jonell Burton, Ni'Sean Rigmaiden, and Grant Olsson.
• Terrance Smith leads LU averaging 18.1 points per game, shoots 60.0 percent from the field, 87 percent from the free-throw line, averages a team-high of 7.1 rebounds per contest, and leads the team with 16 blocks on the season. Smith also has the highest three-point percentage on the team shooting 52.5 percent from behind the arc. Amariontez Ivory leads the team in free-throw percentage shooting 93.9 percent, averaging 13.6 points per game, and averages 2.3 assists.
•Jonell Burton is next averaging 13.1 points per game, 5.4 rebounds, shooting 47.9 percent from the field. Ni'Sean Rigmaiden leads the Blue Tigers in steals with 25, leads the team in assists with 4.6 per contest, and averages 12.3 points per game.
• Grant Olsson is the final LU player averaging double-digits with 10.1 per contest. Clark is second on the team in field goal percentage shooting 52.8 percent from the field.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
• The Lions enter the 2018-19 season 9-8 heading into their MIAA matchup against Southwest Baptist Jan. 17, 2019 before taking on the Mules in Warrensburg.
• LWU is averaging 78.9 points per game, shooting 45.9 percent from the field as a team 34.6 percent from behind the arc, and 72.4 percent from the free-throw line.
• Lindenwood has two players averaging double-digits this season in Brad Newman and Chandler Diekvoss.
• Brad Newman leads the Lions averaging 18.4 points a game, shoots 42.6 percent from the field. Newman shoots 81.2 percent from the free-throw line and 37.8 percent from behind the arc.
• Chandler Diekvossis another asset for the Lions averaging 17.1 points per game and leads the team with 7.1 rebounds per game. Diekvossis shoots 56.6 percent from the field, leads the team in steals with 23 so far, and 66.7 percent from the free-throw line
• Chris King averages 9.6 points per game and has the team-high free throw percentage shooting 89.5 percent from the line. Adam Pohlam will be a player to watch as well, he currently leads the team in steals with 26.
MULES STAT LEADERS
• The Mules have found a way to move the ball to get points on the board. UCM has three players averaging double-digits, and two more players close to tapping into double-digits. Jafar Kinsey leads UCM scoring 13.8 points per contest. Jakob Lowrance is next averaging 12.1 per game. Blake Spellman is the final Mule in double-digits, scoring 11.1 points per game. Matt Wilkinson is a strong player for the Mules averaging 9.3 points, as well as Daniel Farris who averages 8.1.
• The Mules are shooting 43.7 percent from the floor, 67.5 percent from the free-throw line, and 34.7 percent from three. Blake Spellman's 2.5 three-pointers per contest put him at sixth in the MIAA in three-point percentage. Jafar Kinsey, Matt Wilkinson, and Michael Winger have climbed up in the MIAA standings, Kinsey's 1.8 three-pointers a game has him sitting 20th in the MIAA, Winger's 1.5 put him 39th, and Wilkinson's 1.4 puts him at 40th. Jafar Kinsey's 67.2 free-throw percentage puts him at 25th in the MIAA.
• One Mule, Brandon Emmert, who has 72 rebounds on the season is 26th in the MIAA rebounding standings.
• Daniel Farris and Blake Spellman are the leading field dishing out 58 and 46 assists so far which is 10th and 11th in the MIAA. Spellman's 3.1 assist-to-turnover ratio is fifth in the MIAA. Matt Wilkinson's 1.2 steals per contest make him 16th in the MIAA in steals, and
James Byrd sits at 29th averaging 1.0 steals per game.
BACKCOURT NOTES
• The Mules will have a number of options in the backcourt 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.
• Kinsey is back in the mix averaging 13.8 points per game, 5.2 rebounds. Spellman has started in 10 games this season while dishing out 46 assists. Farris has started in every game this season dishing out 58 assists thus far. Spellman averaging double digits with 11.1. Farris averages 8.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Winger is has seen some starting action shooting averaging 5.8 per contest with Byrd right above him at 6.6 per game.
FRONTCOURT NOTES
• Senior Jakob Lowrance is back on the court after an early injury. Lowrance is back averaging double-digits sitting at 12.1 per fame with 6.4 rebounds per contest.
• Freshman Gavin Pinkley and Sophomore Brandon Emmert have stepped up in the frontcourt after a few Mules fell to injury. So far on the season Pinkley is getting a feel of things on the court averaging 6.3 points per game, 3.5 rebounds, and leading the team in blocks with eight. Brandon Emmert has had several standout games for the Mules averaging 6.9 points per contest and 4.8 rebounds per game.
• Matt Wilkinson went down due to injury in the Washburn game, which gave Pinkly his first career start as a Mules against Mid-America Nazarene. Wilkinson started in 14 games and leads the team in steals with 17 while grabbing 3.6 rebounds a game. Wilkinson returned against Avila and lead the Mules to an 86-71 victory with 16 points and is back averaging 9.3 points per game shooting, 74.4 percent from the free-throw line.
MULES IN CONFERENCE ACTION
• In the 2018-19 season, the Mules have had a rocky start to conference play but have come back strong within the last week with a record of 2-4 in the MIAA.
• A season ago the Mules were 11-8 in conference play.
• Under the direction of Head Coach, Doug Karlskint the Mules are 48-37 overall in conference play.
MULES AT HOME
• The Mules are 52-15 all-time at home under Coach Doug Karleskint with their 4-0 start to the 2018-19 season.
• Mules captured their eighth home victory this season against UNK defeating the Lopers in overtime 62-58.
• Last season they were 11-4 at the Multipurpose Building and are 512-103 at the Multi in their 43rd year in the arena.
UCM DURING THE KARLESKINT ERA
• Doug Karleskint has a record of 89-46 (.516) as he begins his fifth season as head coach at Central Missouri and a 178-80 (.449) 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.
