WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Dec. 3, 2019) - After seven non-conference games, Central Missouri Basketball is set to open MIAA play in the Multipurpose building this week. Following the Jennies games, the Mules host Missouri Western on Thursday night, then take on the top-ranked team in the nation, Northwest Missouri, on Saturday afternoon.
Opponents:
Missouri Western Griffons (3-5, 0-0 MIAA)
#1 Northwest Missouri Bearcats (7-0, 0-0 MIAA)
When:
Missouri Western - Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.
Northwest Missouri - Saturday, Dec. 7 at 3 p.m.
Where:
University of Central Missouri -
Multipurpose Building - Warrensburg, Mo.
Promotions
Thursday
• Santa Claus will be coming to the Multi! He'll be available for pictures at the start of the Jennies game to halftime of the Mules game.
• Toys For Tots will be on hand collecting donations of new and unwrapped toys as well as monetary donations at both entrances of the arena.
• Courtside Cafe will open at halftime of the Jennies game until the start of the Mules game. Thursday's menu: Beef or vegetable lasagna, Caesar salad, breadsticks, cheesecake dessert
Saturday
• "White Out" - all fans are encouraged to wear white tops. The first 1,000 fans will receive a white pom.
Tip off:
• Central Missouri and Missouri Western open MIAA play on Thursday night in UCM's Multipurpose Building. The Mules went 7-12 in league play last season while the Griffons finished 6-13.
• Northwest was selected to finished first in the league after posting a league record of 17-0 last season. The Bearcats are ranked first in the Division II and have not lost a game since March of 2018.
• The Mules are currently 2-3 at home this season.
• The meeting against Missouri Western marks the 69th matchup in program history while the Mules and the Bearcats are meeting for 223rd time.
• Central Missouri is coming off an undefeated week after defeating Midwestern State 72-67 on Tuesday in the 2019 MIAA Thanksgiving Challenge, then dominated Central Christian 82-46 at home the following Saturday.
• The Griffons travel to Warrensburg after two straight losses while competing in Colorado last week. Missouri Western suffered a 94-92 overtime loss to Colorado Mesa last Friday, then suffered a 86-82 deficit to Western Colorado on Saturday.
• The defending Division II national champions, Northwest, picked up two more wins while playing at home last week. Northwest dominated William Jewell 102-59 last Thursday, then beat Illinois Springfield 91-56 on Saturday. The Bearcats open MIAA against Lincoln on Thursday night in Jefferson City, Mo.
How to Watch:
• Both games this week will be broadcast on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com with Greg Hassler calling the action.
•The games will 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 and live video can also be found at ucmathletics.com.
Quick Hits:
Last Time Out
WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 30, 2019) - Central Missouri Mules Basketball scored a season-high of 82 points against Central Christian on Saturday afternoon in the Multipurpose Building.
Michael Winger shot 87.5% from the field and 83.3% from the three-point range to led the Mules offense with a career-high of 21 points.
• Central Missouri gained control the lead against the Saints in the 18th minute and continued to hold a lead for the rest of the game.
• With a 18-9 lead at the 12:58 mark in the first half, a made three by Winger began a Mules 13-0 run that was ended by a Clifford Detiege layup with 8:22 left to play in the first half.
• A last second offensive rebound and a layup by
Gaven Pinkley sent the Mules into the half with a 47-21 lead over the Saints.
• Central Missouri continued to grow their lead throughout the second half with their biggest lead of the game being a 40 point advantage with 3:41 left to play.
• The Mules went 32-69 from the field for 46.4% and finished 10-33 from the three-point range for 30.3%.
• Central Christian hit 20-59 from the field for 33.9% and made just two of their 18 attempts from beyond the arc for 11.1%.
• Central Missouri capitalized on the Saints mistakes, scoring 28 point off Central Christian's 17 turnovers.
• The Mules also won the rebounding battle over the Saints 45-32.
• Winger's 21 points against the Saints is a career-high for redshirt junior. Winger hit 7-8 from inside the arc, 2-2 from the free throw line and recorded a season-high of five three's on six attempts.
• Pinkley scored in double-figures for the fifth game this season. The 6-9 sophomore also shot 87.5% from the field and 2-2 at the line to finished with 16 points against the Saints. Pinkley also brought down seven boards.
•
Joshua Greer went 5-8 from the field, 2-3 from the three-point range and 1-2 at the line to total 13 points.
• Greer also lead the Mules defense with eight rebounds, four offensive and four defensive.
•
Daniel Farris lead the Mules with six assists while also recording a season-high of five steals.
Perviously vs. Missouri Western
• Central Missouri has one the last seven consecutive meetings against the Griffons and leads the all-time series against Missouri Western 41-28.
• When these teams faced off last season, Central Missouri beat the Griffons by a three-point margin, winning at home 69-66.
• The last time Missouri Western defeated the Mules was a 63-62 Griffon victory in St. Joseph in the 2015-16 season.
Perviously vs. Northwest Missouri
• Central Missouri posts an all-time record of 127-69 against the Bearcats in a series that dates back to 1919.
• The Bearcats have one the last eight consecutive matches against the Mules.
• When the Mules and the Bearcats met last season, Northwest defeated UCM 64-49 in the Multipurpose Building.
• The last time Central Missouri beat NWMS was a 66-61 Mules victory in the 2014-15 season.
• Central Missouri has faced Northwest more than any other team in the program's history.
Individual Milestones
•
Matt Wilkinson surpassed the 300 career point marker in the first seven games last season. Wilkinson now just nine points away from 500 career points. Wilkinson also surpassed 100 rebounds on his career and is currently 16 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 eight 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.
•
Michael Winger had a career-high shooting performance in UCM's 82-46 win over Central Christian on Nov. 30, 2019. The redshirt junior hit 7-8 from 87.5% from the field and 5-6 for 83.3% from the three point range to record a career-high of 21 points.
Scouting the Competition:
The Griffons
• Missouri Western is off to a 3-5 start to the 2019-20 season after going 12-18 overall and 6-13 in MIAA play last season.
• Sophomore guard Tyrell Carroll currently ranks as one of the top-five scorers in the MIAA and leads the Griffons offense with an average of 19.6 points per game.
• Carroll leads the MIAA in steals per game with a rate of 2.8 per game, and also ranks in the top-five of the league in field goal percentage averaging 54% from the field
• Senior Tyus Millhollin is in the top-five of the league in average three-point percentage with a rate of 32% from beyond the arc.
• The Griffon's 6-8 freshman Alex John ranks fourth in the MIAA in average blocked shots per game with 1.6 rejections per contest.
• As a team, Missouri Western currently leads the MIAA in blocked shots per game averaging 4.88 blocks per contest and rank in the top-five in free throw percentage averaging 75% through eight games.
The Bearcats
• The Bearcats went 38-0 in 2018-19 and captured the program's second NCAA Division II
national title. The Bearcats are 7-0 so far this season.
• Northwest's 45-game win streak is the longest active win streak among all NCAA divisions. The Bearcats also possess the longest neutral court win streak (36), longest conference win streak (23), the second-longest road win streak (15) and ninth-longest home court win streak (20).
• The defending national champions know how to protect the ball, ranking at the top of the nation with just 8.7 turnovers per game.
• Bearcat freshman Wes Dreamers was named this week's MIAA Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week. Dreamer scored 29 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked three shots as No. 1-ranked Northwest defeated Illinois-Springfield. Dreamer finished the game 10-of-13 from the field, including 7-of-10 from distance. Dreamer is currently shooting 61.5% from the field, while averaging 9.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
• Junior forward Ryan Hawkins leads the Bearcats and the MIAA with an average of 23.6 points per game. Hawkins also leads Northwest with 52 rebounds so far this season.
• Sophomore guard Diego Bernard posted back-to-back double-double performances with 20 points, 10 rebounds vs. St. Mary and 21 points and 11 rebounds vs. William Jewell.
• Trevor Hudgins has handed out 55 assists this season which ranks third in the nation. Hudgins has posted double figures in assists in three straight games.
Mules Feed:
• Central Missouri went 1-4 in their first five games this season for the first time since the start of the 1970-71 season.
• As a team, the Mules are currently shooting 42.2% from the field and 33.5% from the three-point range.
• Central Missouri currently ranks in the top-10 of the MIAA in three-pointers made per game averaging eight per contest. The Mules also rank seventh in the league in blocked shots per game averaging 3.14 through seven games.
• Sophomore forward
Gaven Pinkley paces Central Missouri averaging 14.4 points and about seven rebounds per game. Pinkley has scored in double figures in five of the Mules seven games so far this season, including a season-high performance of 21 points against Augustana and followed with a 20-point effort against Upper Iowa.
• Pinkley also ranks fourth in the MIAA with an average field goal percentage of 54%.
• Redshirt junior
Michael Winger shot lights out in UCM's 82-46 win over Central Christian last week. Winger hit 87.5% from the field and went 5-6 from the three to record a career-high of 21 points against the Saints.
• Junior transfer
Dyllan Robinson ranks in the top-10 of the conference in blocked shots per game averaging one per contest.
• Junior guard
Daniel Farris leads the Mules with 35 assists and ranks in the top-10 of the MIAA with an average of five assists per game.
