WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 14, 2019) - Central Missouri Mules Basketball looks to pick up their first win of the season this weekend while hosting the Fairfield Inn Classic.
Opponents:
Upper Iowa Peacocks (1-1, 0-0 NSIC)
William Jewell Cardinals (1-1, 0-0 GLVC)
Where:
Central Missouri's Multipurpose Building - Warrensburg, Mo.
When:
Saturday, Nov. 16 - 7 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 17 - 4 p.m.
Tip Off:
• Central Missouri hosts three teams this weekend to compete in the Mules annual Fairfield Inn Classic. Central Oklahoma and William Jewell tipoff first at 5 p.m. Saturday, followed by the Mules vs. the Peacocks at 7 p.m. The Bronchos also open day two of the classic against Upper Iowa at 2 p.m. on Sunday before UCM faces William Jewell at 4 p.m.
• The Mules suffered two close losses last weekend in UCM's Central Region Tipoff Classic. Central Missouri fell to Southwest Minnesota State in their season opener, then lost to Augustana the following day. Both of the Mules losses were within a four-point margin.
• Central Missouri finished the 2018-19 season 14-14 overall with a 7-12 mark in MIAA play to finish 11th in the regular-season standings.
• The Mules were picked to finish sixth in the MIAA Coaches Preseason Poll.
• Upper Iowa finished 7-22 last season including going 4-18 in NSIC competitions. The Peacocks were selected to finished 13th overall in the NSIC and seventh in the NSIC South Division.
• William Jewell is coming off an overall record of 12-18 in the final season under Larry Holley. The Cardinals were selected to finish 15th in the GLVC Preseason Poll after 6-12 in league play last season.
How to watch:
• All four games of the Fairfield Inn Classic will be broadcasted on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and
warrensburgradio.com with Joe Moore calling the action on Saturday, then Greg Hassler returns as the voice of Mules Basketball on Sunday.
• The games will also be webcast online through the MIAA's Blue Frame portal at
http://www.themiaanetwork.com/ucmmules/. It is a pay-per-view webcast.
• Links to live stats of both UCM games can be found at
ucmathletics.com.
Quick Hits:
Last Time Out
Augustana 76, UCM 72
• A second-half surge from Central Missouri wasn't enough to overcome Augustana's early lead as the Mules fall to the Vikings 76-72 in the final game of the Central Region Tipoff Classic.
• The Vikings finished 24-60 inside the arc while hitting just 9-28 from the three-point range.
• Central Missouri shot 56% from the field and hit seven of their 21 attempted three-pointers.
• The Mules entered the half down 43-30 and returned to the court with vengeance as UCM won the second half 42-33.
• Central Missouri was able to get it down to a two-point game with seven minutes to play but too many fouls and too many Augustana trips to the free throw line kept the Mules from ever gaining a lead.
•
Gaven Pinkley lead UCM's offensive with 21 points. The sophomore finished 7-12 from the field and hit three of the Mules nine total threes. Pinkley also recorded five boards and three assists while playing the team-high of 34 minutes against the Vikings.
• Close behind Pinkley was
Kendale Hampton with 20 points. Hampton led the Mules with nine made shots from inside and hit 28.6% from beyond the arc. The senior guard also totaled five rebounds.
•
Daniel Farris was 3-5 from the field and recorded the team-high of six made free throws on seven attempts. Farris also led the Mules with four assists.
•
Matt Wilkinson lead the UCM defense with six rebounds.
Previously vs Upper Iowa
• Saturday marks the second meeting between the Mules and the Peacocks.
• The first meeting between SMSU and UCM was in 2012.
• The game resulted in a 74-67 Mules victory at Northwest's Bearcat Classic in Maryville, Mo
Previously vs William Jewell
• Central Missouri leads the all-time series against the Cardinals 27-8 in a series that dates back to 1909.
• The Mules hosted William Jewell last season in the Fairfield Inn Classic which resulted in a 78-75 UCM victory.
• The last time the Cardinals defeated the Mules was 77-54 Jewell victory in the 1958-59 season.
Individual Milestones
• Wilkinson surpassed the 300 career point marker in the first seven games last season. Wilkinson now has 464 points on his career at UCM. Wilkinson also surpassed 100 rebounds on his career.
• Farris also surpassed the 300 career point market last season with 263 points on the year. Farris will begin his junior campaign with 348 career points.
Scouting the Competition:
Upper Iowa (7-22, 4-18 NSIC - 2018-19 Record)
• Upper Iowa brings back 10 players from a 2018-19 squad that went 7-22, including three of its top-five scorers. Joe Smoldt led the program with 14.7 points per game and 91 total assists, while Jareese Williams was second on the scoring chart with 13.5 ppg. Chris Olson, who averaged 10.3 ppg. and dished 76 assists, also returns.
• Joe Smoldt was named an NSIC Player to Watch. Along with leading the Peacocks in points and assists, Smoldt also averaged 3.2 rebounds per game last season.
• Upper Iowa added eight new Peacocks on their 22 man roster this season.
• Newcoming freshman guard Jake Hilmer was Iowa's co Mr.Basketball in 2019 after an impressive senior season at North Linn in which he lead his team to victory in the Iowa 2A State Championship.
• Lucas Duax also returns to the team after redshirting his freshman season. Duax earned the starting point guard role during the 2018-19 season before suffering the season-ending injury in the first game of the year.
• The Peacocks are 1-1 after their opening weekend competing in the Central Region Challenge is Kansas City. Williams currently leads the Peacocks offense with 32 points while Joshua Carter leads the defense with 13 rebounds.
William Jewell (12-18, 6-12 GLVC - 2018-19 Record)
• William Jewell is in its first season under head coach, Chris McCabe, after McCabe spent nine seasons as the head coach at Liberty North High School where he started the program.
• The Cardinals graduated their top three scorers after the 2018-19 season including the GLVC leading scorer, Keith Hayes.
• Jewell's top returner is Eysan Wiley. Wiley earned All-GLVC Defensive Team honors while averaged 13.3 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game last season.
• The Cardinals also return GLVC All-Freshmen selection Mason Alexander. Alexander appeared in all 30 games, starting 16 of the final 17 and becomes the first Jewell player to be named to the All-Freshman Team since the award began in 2016-17.
• Jewell is also off to an 1-1 start to their 2019-20 season. Wiley currently leads the Cardinals with 42 points and 21 boards.
Mules Feed:
• Central Missouri is off to an 0-2 start to the season after suffering back-to-back, four-point margin losses while hosting the Central Region Tipoff Classic.
•
Kendale Hampton currently leads the Mules offense in the 2019-20 season with 43 points and 10 rebounds.
• Pinkley has totaled 34 points in two games and leads UCM with six three's on 12 attempts.
• The Mules finished off 2018-19 at 14-14 overall and were selected sixth in the MIAA Preseason Poll.
• UCM brings back All-MIAA selection junior guard
Daniel Farris. Farris joins a group of returners including senior
Matt Wilkinson, junior
Michael Winger and sophomores
Gaven Pinkley and
Dawson Jones.
• Farris finished his sophomore season ranked in the top-10 in two categories in the MIAA. His 3.6 assists per game and 1.5 assists to turnover ration put him 10th in the MIAA. Farris averaged 9.4 points per contest, shooting 46-percent from the field and 70.5 percent from the stripe. He has a team-high of 102 assists, 39 steals, and his 1.4 per game make him third in the MIAA.
• Last season, UCM's defense finished second in the league in scoring (66.1 ppg). The Mules also finished third in field goal percentage defense at 43.8% and sixth in three-point field goal percentage defense at 34.6%.
• The Mules introduce six talented transfers to the squad this season: senior
Kendale Hampton, juniors
Koray Gilbert,
Joshua Greer,
Tristen Hull and
Dyllan Robinson and sophomore
Garrett Luinstra.
• UCM's lone freshman is
DeAndre Sorrells from Grandview, Mo.
