WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 25, 2019) - Central Missouri Mules Basketball will compete twice over the Thanksgiving break. The Mules take on Midwestern State (TX) in the MIAA's 2019 Thanksgiving Challenge on Tuesday night at in Kansas City, then host Central Christian in the Multi on Saturday, Nov. 30.
Opponent:
Tuesday - Midwestern State Mustangs (0-5, 0-0 LSC)
Saturday - Central Christian Saints (4-3, 0-0 MCCC)
When:
Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 6 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 30 at 1 p.m.
Where:
Tuesday -
Municipal Auditorium - Kansas City, Mo.
Saturday -
Multipurpose Building - Warrensburg, Mo.
Tip Off:
• Central Missouri and Midwestern State are facing off for the fifth time in program history in the MIAA's 2019 Men's Basketball Thanksgiving Challenge hosted at the Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City.
• Then, the Mules return to the Multi the following Saturday to take on Central Christian at 1 p.m. in the Burg.
• Central Missouri suffered a 10 point loss last week in their first road game of the season against Wayne State. Freshman guard
DeAndre Sorrells lead the Mules offense with a career-high of 16 points against the Wildcats.
• At 0-5, Midwestern State has yet to win a game this season.The Mustangs senior guard D'monta Harris erupted for a career-high 36 points in a 73-72 loss to Central Oklahoma Wednesday night at Hamilton Field House in Edmond.
• Central Christian picked up their fourth win of the season last week in a 87-84 victory over Calrvary. The Saint shot 49% from the field, led by Trey Black with 19 points, while Josh Crawford recorded a double-double with 15 points and 14 boards.
How to Watch:
• Tuesday's game will be broadcast on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com with Greg Hassler calling the action. There will be no radio broadcast on Saturday.
• Saturday's home game against the Saints will be webcast online through the MIAA's Blue Frame portal at http://www.themiaanetwork.com/ucmmules/. It is a pay-per-view webcast. Tuesday's game against the Mustangs will not have live video.
• Links to live stats and live video can also be found at ucmathletics.com.
Quick Hits:
Last Time Out
Wayne State 73, Central Missouri 63
• Central Missouri finished the first half 15-33 from the field for 45.5% and 3-9 from the three-point range. Wayne State made 38.7% from inside the arc and 23.1% from outside in the first 20 minutes against the Mules.
• Wayne State opened the second half with a 13-0 run to gain a seven point lead over the Mules at the 15:54 mark.
• Central Missouri fought back to tie Wayne State 54-54 with 7:25 left to play in the half. The Wildcats would go on to outscore the Mules 21-11 in the remaining minutes of the second half.
• The Mules out shot Wayne State from the field and the three-point range. Central Missouri hit 47.4% from the field compared to Wayne State's 44.1%, and finished 6-17 from the three compared to the Wildcats hitting 6-22.
• Wayne State had the edge of the boards, out-rebounding the Mules 37-31.
• It was over when the Wildcats went on 7-0 run that eventually award Wayne State with the biggest advantage of the game, leading 71-57 with 44 seconds left to play.
• Sorrells lead the Mules with a career-high of 16 points. Sorrells finished 6-11 from the field and 3-6 from the three.
• Greer finished 5-6 inside the arc to total 10 points.
• Dllyan Robinson and
Koray Gilbert each finished with eight points for the Mules.
• Robinson lead the Mules defense with six rebounds, four of which were offensive boards.
• Junior guard
Daniel Farris recorded a season-high of four steals against the Wildcats.
Perviously vs Midwestern State
• Midwestern State and Central Missouri have split the four previous meetings between the programs with the last two coming in consecutive years in the South Central Region.
• The last time the Mustangs and the Mules met was a 60-59 Midwestern state victory in 2010.
Perviously vs Central Christian
• Saturday's meeting between the Mules and the Saints will mark the second competition between the two Missouri teams.
• The last time the Central Missouri and Central Christian faced off was in the 2003-04 season when the Mules beat the Saints 93-53 at home.
Scouting the Competition:
The Mustangs
• After finishing 9-19 overall and 5-13 in the LSC last season, Midwestern State is picked to finish 12th in the 2019-20 Lone Star Conference race according to the annual preseason poll.
• The Mustangs also introduce Justin Leslie as the team's new head coach. Leslie makes the move to Wichita Falls following a highly successful run at Azusa Pacific in California. He led the Cougars to an average of 22 wins per season in his 12 years at the helm of his alma mater including nine 20-win campaigns, two Pacific West Conference titles and an NCAA Division II Elite Eight appearance in 2015.
• Senior guard D'monta Harris connected on eight of his nine 3-point attempts at Central Oklahoma (11/20). The 88.9-percent accuracy is the best in a single game in program history and is the third best in NCAA Division II this season. Harris leads the Mustangs offense and defense, averaging 18.8 points per game and posts the team-high of 40 rebounds.
• Darius Thompson leads Midwestern State with 18 assists and has scored in double figures in each of the Mustangs' five games including a season-high 21 with 11 rebounds against Texas Wesleyan (11/16).
• As a team, the Mustangs are shooting 43% from the field and 34.6% from the three-point range, while the Midwestern State defense ranks fifth in the Lone Star Conference field goal percentage defense limiting the opposition to 41.5 percent shooting.
The Saints
• The Saints closed their 2018-19 season with an overall record of 13-15 and finished 3-3 in the MCCC.
• Trey Black leads the Central Christian offense with 120 points on the season. Black is currently shooting 46.4% from the field and has hit 20-43 from the three-point range to average 17.1 points per game.
• Josh Crawford leads the Saints defense with 48 rebounds while also averaging 12.3 points per game.
• A 6-8 forward for the Saints, Rodrigo Nunez, has totaled 12 blocks in just five games.
• As a team, Central Christian is shooting 52.2% from the field and just 31.5% from the three.
Individual Milestones
•
Matt Wilkinson surpassed the 300 career point marker in the first seven games last season. Wilkinson now has 477 points on his career at UCM. Wilkinson also surpassed 100 rebounds on his career and is currently 31 boards away from 200 career rebounds.
•
Daniel Farris also surpassed the 300 career point market last season with 263 points on the year. Farris began his junior campaign with 348 career points and is currently 23 points away from 400.
•
Gaven Pinkley had a career-high game against Upper Iowa in the second week of the 2019-20 season. Pinkley scored a career-high of 21 points and brought down a career-high of 17 rebounds.
Mules Feed:
• Central Missouri is 1-4 for the first time since the start of the 1970-71 season. The Mules beat Upper Iowa 70-65 for the lone win of the season on Nov. 16 at The Multi in Warrensburg.
• As a team, the Mules are currently shooting 38.7% from the field and 35.2% from the three-point range.
• Sophomore forward
Gaven Pinkley paces Central Missouri averaging 13.4 points and seven rebounds per game. He notched a season-high 21 points against Augustana and followed with a 20-point effort against Upper Iowa, but hasn't reached double digits in his last two games.
• Senior guard Hampton nets 11.2 points a game going for 23 against Southwest Minnesota State and 20 versus Augustana. He has combined for a total of 13 points in his last three outings.
• Junior guard Farris leads the Mules with 24 assists.
