OPPONENT: Northeastern State RiverHawks  (11-8, 5-5 MIAA)
                     Central Oklahoma Bronchos ( 8-11, 1-9 MIAA)  

WHERE: Tahlequah, Ok.
                Edmond, Ok.
                
WHEN: Thursday, January 31 - 7:30 p.m.
            Saturday, February 2 - 3:30 p.m.
            
TIP-OFF
• Central Missouri Mules Basketball is hitting the road, after three straight home games. 
• Last week, the Mules had some time off before taking in Southwest Baptist last Saturday. UCM fell to SBU 83-79. 
• Northeastern State is currently on a five-game winning streak. The RiverHawks took down Lincoln and Lindenwood last week on the road.
• Central Oklahoma on the other hand, is on a five-game losing streak. The Bronchos fell to Lincoln and Lindenwood.

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 70.6 points per contest and shooting 43.8 percent from the field.
• Defensively, UCM allows 69.2  points per contest on 42.7 percent shooting.

SERIES HISTORY
• The series between the Mules and NSU has not been a long one, onlyn dating back to the 1013 season. UCM leads the series 5-2.
• The Mules and the Bronchos have met a lot more dating back to 1957. UCO leads the close series 9-8.  

SCOUTING THE RIVERHAWKS
• NSU enters the 2018-19 season 11-8 after going 2-0 last week in the MIAA. The RiverHawks defeated Lindenwood 76-71 and  Lincoln 80-72. 
• Northeastern State is averaging 79.1 points per game, shooting 48.9 percent from the field as a team 39.5 percent from behind the arc, and 69.3 percent from the free-throw line. 
• The RiverHawks have three players averaging double-digits per contest thus far this season in Caleb Smith, Tanner Mouse, and Trent Cantrell.
• Caleb Smith leads NSU averaging 16.1 points per game, shoots 48.4 percent from the field, 78 percent from the free-throw line, and a team-high of 19 steals per contest.
• Tanner Mouse is next averaging 13.2 points per game, 3.4 rebounds, shooting 82.0 percent from the free-throw line. 
• Trent Cantrell is the final NSU player in double-digits averaging 10.8 points per game.

SCOUTING THE BRONCHOS
• The Bearcats enter the 2018-19 season 8-11 after going 0-2 last week in the MIAA. UCO  fell to Lindenwood 85-80 and fell to Lincoln 78-65. 
• UCO is averaging 78.4 points per game, shooting 44.6 percent from the field as a team 32.9 percent from behind the arc, and 78.5 percent from the free-throw line. 
• The Bronchos have two players averaging double-digits per contest thus far this season in Adarius Avery and Ashford Golden.
• Adarius Avery leads UCO averaging 19.9 points per game, shooting 53.6 percent from the field, 77 percent from the free-throw line, averages a team-high of 7.6 rebounds per contest, and is tied for first in blocks  with 10.
• Adarius Avery is next averaging 15.5 points per game, 3.1 rebounds, shooting 77 percent from the free-throw line. 

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 13.4 points per contest. Jakob Lowrance is next averaging 11.0 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 9.6 points, as well as Daniel Farris who averages 9.2. 
• The Mules are shooting 43.8 percent from the floor, 69.0 percent from the free-throw line, and 35.2 percent from three. .
• Daniel Farris is the leader in the field dishing out 65 assists so far which is 10th in the MIAA. Matt Wilkinson's 1.1 steals per contest make him 18th in the MIAA in steals, and James Byrd sits at 24th and Michael Winger 25th both 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 13.4 points per game, 5.4 rebounds. Spellman has started in 10 games this season while dishing out 46 assists. Farris has started in every game this season dishing out 65 assists thus far. Spellman averaging double digits with 11.1. Farris averages 9.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. Winger is has seen some starting action shooting averaging 6.1 per contest with Byrd right above him at 6.7 per game.

FRONTCOURT NOTES
• Senior Jakob Lowrance is back on the court after an early injury. Lowrance is back averaging double-digits sitting at 11.0 per game with 7.0 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 5.3 points per game, 3.1 rebounds. Brandon Emmert has had several standout games for the Mules averaging 6.3 points per contest and 4.6 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 19 while grabbing 3.2 rebounds a game. Wilkinson returned against Avila and lead the Mules to an 86-71 victory with 16 points and is back averaging 9.6 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 3-6 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 49-39 overall in conference play. 

MULES ON THE ROAD
• The Mules are 21-27 all-time on the road under Coach Karleskint. The Mules have not won a road game this season and are 0-5 on the year thus far. UCM went 4-5 on the road last season and are 0-2 this season.