Mules Finish Week at Home vs. Pittsburg State

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 27, 2020) - Central Missouri Mules Basketball finishes up Thanksgiving week with a home game Saturday afternoon.

OPPONENT
Pittsburg State Gorillas (2-0, 2-0 MIAA)

WHEN
Saturday, November 28, 2020 - 3 p.m.

WHERE
UCM Multipurpose Building - Warrensburg, Mo. 

FAN INFORMATION
• The UCM Multipurpose Building is limited to 25% capacity. Fans are strongly encourage to purchase their tickets in advance at the link above.
• Face masks are required at all times while on the UCM campus. 
• Fans are strongly encouraged to socially distance themselves when seated and only sit with the group they entered the facility with.
• Restrooms and east-end concessions will be open, but fans are asked not to congregate in hallways or the lobby. 
• There will be no reserved seating for visiting fans behind the visiting bench. 

HOW TO WATCH
• Home games will be broadcast on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com with Greg Hassler calling the action. 
• All games will also be webcast online through the MIAA's Blue Frame portal at http://www.themiaanetwork.com/ucmmules/. 
• Links to live stats and live video can also be found at ucmathletics.com. 

TIP-OFF
• The Mules continue the holiday break taking on Pittsburg State to finish off a two-game homestand. 
• UCM is coming off a season-opener road loss to Lincoln this past Saturday. 
• The Gorillas are off to a 2-0 start after coming from behind against Newman on Tuesday.  

MULE FEED
• The Mules are coming into 2020 revamped with eight of their 15 student-athletes having never stepped on the court for UCM.
• After finishing the 2019-20 season 10-18 overall and 5-14 in the MIAA, Central Missouri was picked to finish 11th by the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll, just four points behind 10th ranked Nebraska-Kearney and seven points behind ninth ranked Lincoln.
• With a 37.9% three-point field goal percentage last season, the Mules ranked second in the MIAA from behind the arc. 
• Central Missouri returns its 2019-20 leading scorer and rebounder Gavin Pinkley. The 6-9 junior forward averaged 13.2 points per game last season while scoring double-figures in 22 games. He is the only returern of the Mules 2019-20 starting line-up. 
• The Mules brought in Division I transfers Cameron Hunter of North Dakota State, Ja'Cor Nelson out of Campbell and Ante Sustic out of Marshall.
• Hunter helped the Bison to their second-straight Summit League title and a berth in the 2020 NCAA tournament. He started 12 of 33 games for NDSU averaging 6.6 points per game. 
• Nelson appeared in 25 games with 13 starts for the Fighting Camels,scoring in double-figures 11 times. 
• Other transfers include Mohammed Abubakar from Division II Oklahoma Baptist, and Jalen Blaize of Western Wyoming CC.
• Abubakar helped OBU to a 22-9 record last season, averaging 5.5 points and 3.3 boards in 25 games. 
• Blaize qualified for the NJCAA national tournament after helping the Mustangs to a 30-4 record and a NJCAA Division I Regional Championship. Blaize saw 14 games in double-figures and scored an average of 8.3 points per game. 
• Tristen Hull was a transfer who came to UCM at the start of 2019-20 but missed the season with an injury.
• The Mules also added two freshmen, Easton Darling and Austin Murrow.
• Darling graduated from Winterset High School as the all-time leading scorer (1,819 points) as well as the all-time leader in steals (200), field-goals (702), three-point field-goals made (210), and ranks second in all-time assists (277).
• In his senior season at Blue Valley Southwest High School, Murrow averaged 12 points and five rebounds per game while shooting 46% from the floor and 38% from the three. Murrow is also Blue Valley Southwest's all-time leader in three-pointers made. 

SERIES HISTORY VS. PITTSBURG STATE
• Saturday's match-up will be the 122nd meeting between the Gorillas and the Mules.
• Central Missouri holds a 74-48 advantage in the all-time series against Pitt.
• The Gorillas defeated UCM in both meetings during the 2019-20 season, winning the first match-up in Warrensburg 68-57 and the second 80-73 in Pittsburg.

SCOUTING PITTSBURG STATE
• The Gorillas were selected seventh in the MIAA Coaches Preseason Poll after posting a 7-12 league record and finishing 12-18 overall last season. 
• Pitt State welcome back three players who started 10 or more games in 2019-20: senior forward Dejon Waters Jr. (8.9 ppg), senior forward Antonio Givens II (8.2 ppg) and senior forward Xavier Womack (4.9 ppg).
• In addition to their seven returners, Pitt added nine newcomers.
• The Gorillas ranked sixth in the MIAA in scoring last season with an average of 74.4 points per game.

LAST TIME OUT
WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 24, 2020) - The Central Missouri Mules Basketball team suffered a 67-28 loss to 21st-ranked Missouri Southern in the 70th meeting between the Mules and Lions. Cameron Hunter led the UCM for the second-straight game with 16 points. 
• Both the Mules and Lions offense began on a slow start as MSSU led just 10-9 after 10 full minutes of play. 
• An 11-0 run by MSSU after the 10-minute mark in the first half helped the Lions to their largest lead of the game with a 32-15 advantage over the Mules with under two minutes to play in the first half. 
• Coming out of halftime with a 21-35 deficit, the Mules lessoned the Lion's lead point-by-point.
• After only scoring four points in the first half, Hunter scored eight of the Mules first nine points to begin the second half. 
• Central Missouri was able to come within three points of the Lions two different times in the second half. A pair of free throws by Gaven Pinkley brought the score to just a 52-49 MSSU lead with 7:39 left to play. 
• The Lions responded to the close score with a quick 8-1 run until the final media timeout as MSSU led 58-50 with under five minutes to play.
• Every UCM bucket was matched with a Lions in return. The Mules were unable to gain an advantage over MSSU and surrendered to a 67-58 loss. 
• MSSU finished 26-57 from the field for 46.2%, 6-18 for 33.3% from the three-point range, and hit just 9-14 from the foul line for 64.3%.
• The Mules responded to their 33.3% (8-24) shooting in the first half with 52.2% (12-23) shooting in the second. Altogether, UCM hit 20-47 for 42.6%, went just 6-18 from behind the arc for 33.3%, and finished 12-16 from the free-throw line for 75%. 
• The Lions outrebounded the Mules 37-25 to total 17 second-chance points compared to the Mules seven. 
• Back-to-back games Hunter has led the Mules offense. The senior transfer hit 5-13 from the floor, 1-5 from the three, and 5-6 at the foul line to total 16 points against the Lions. Hunter also recorded the team-high four assists and the game-high four steals. 
• Jalen Blaize finished 5-9 from the field with three three's to record a season-high 13 points.
• Pinkley led the UCM defense with seven boards while also hitting 2-4 from the field, 1-3 from the three-point range, and a perfect 2-2 at the free-throw line to finish with seven. 
• Ante Sustic also added seven points for the Mules, going 3-5 in the pain and 1-1 at the foul line. 
• In the home opener, the Mules had seven of their nine players playing their first minutes inside UCM's Multipurpose Building. 
• The Mules have outscored their opponents in the second half in both games so far this season. 
• UCM continues to lead the all-time series against the Mules 40-30. 

INDIVIDUAL MILESTONES.
• Gavin Pinkley is just seven points away from reaching his career 500th. 

PROGRAM SNAPSHOT
• This is the 115th season of Central Missouri Mules Basketball.
• Central Missouri is third all-time in NCAA Division II men's basketball with 1,719 wins.
• The Mules have won two NCAA Men's National Championships (1984 & 2014) and four National Championships overall (1937 & 1938 NAIB).

MULES IN MIAA PLAY
• UCM is currently 0-2 in league play.
• The Mules finished 12th in the MIAA, above Emporia State and Newman. 
• The Mules are 58-59 in conference play under Doug Karleskint.

MULES IN NON-CONFERENCE ACTION 
• Central Missouri went 5-4 in non-conference action last season. 
• They are 159-42 over the last 18 seasons.
• Central Missouri is now 82-5 in the last 87 non-conference home games at the Multipurpose Building.

MULES AT HOME
• Last season the Mules went 9-7 while playing in the Multipurpose Building.
• The Mules are 54-34 at home under Karleskint.
• Central Missouri posts a 191-35 record at home over the last 14 seasons, including 82-7 against non-conference opponents and 115-28 in MIAA play. 
• The Mules are 530-114 (.823) as they enter their 44th season playing home games at the Multipurpose Building.

MULES ON THE ROAD
• The Mules opened the 2020-21 season with a road loss to Lincoln. 
• UCM finished the 2019-20 season 0-11 on the road. 
• UCM is 23-43 in road games under Karleskint.

MULES IN NEUTRAL SITE GAMES
• Central Missouri went undefeated at 1-0 while completing at a neutral site last season. 
• In the past five seasons, UCM posts a record of 16-5 at neutral sites. 

UCM DURING THE KARLESKINT ERA
• Doug Karleskint enters the 2020-21 season with a record of 104-73 (.588) as head coach at Central Missouri and a 193-107 (.643) overall mark in his 10th season as a head coach.
• Doug saw is 100th career win as head coach of the Mules last season in a 93-62 victory over Saint Mary's. Their 93 points was the most single game points scored by the Mules all season.
• Karleskint 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.