2022 MIAA Men's Basketball Championship First Round
Game 27: (8) Central Missouri (13-13) vs. (9) Northeastern State (15-13)
Wednesday, Mar. 2 | 6 p.m. | Kansas City, Mo. (Municipal Auditorium)
Radio: 1450 KOKO, 107.9 FM, 98.5 The BAR
TIP-OFF
• Central Missouri Mules basketball will tip-off play in the 2022 MIAA Men's Basketball Championship presented by Citizens Bank & Trust Wednesday, March 2, at 6 p.m. inside historical Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. The Mules are the No. 8 seed in the tournament and will face No. 9 seed Northeastern State in the first round Wednesday.
• If the Mules win, they would advance to face top-seeded Central Oklahoma in a quarterfinal game Thursday, March 3, at 6 p.m.
• UCM is coming off a 89-79 loss to Lincoln Feb. 26 in Jefferson City.
ON THE AIR
• All MIAA tournament games will be broadcast on 1450 KOKO, 107.9 FM, 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.
• Links to live stats and live video can also be found at ucmathletics.com.
MULES IN THE MIAA POSTSEASON TOURNAMENT
• The Mules are 36-32 all-time in the MIAA Tournament and 16-1 in games played at home.
• Wednesday's game in Kansas City will mark UCM's first appearance in the tournament since the 2017-18 season. That season, the Mules advanced to the quarterfinals before falling to Central Oklahoma, 72-68.
• The Mules have captured six MIAA Tournament championships in school history, more than any other league school. UCM has been in the championship game 15 times in the history of the tournament.
• The Mules have made the championship game six of the 16 years the tournament has been held in Kansas City.
• UCM has won tournament championships in 1981-82, 1983-84, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2008-09 and 2012-13.
LAST TIME OUT
• The Lincoln Blue Tigers drained 17 three-pointers to help them down Central Missouri Mules basketball, 79-69, Saturday, Feb. 26, inside Jason Gymnasium in the regular season finale for UCM.
•
Ja'Cor Nelson netted 19 points and snagged four rebounds while
Gaven Pinkley scored 17 points, pacing Central Missouri in the game.
• UCM shot 44 percent from the field and were 35 percent from three-point range, while Lincoln shot a blistering 58 percent from the floor and went a sizzling 17-of-27 from three-point range for 63 percent.
• Both teams shot nearly 70 percent from the free-throw line in the game, with UCM making 23 of 34 attempts for 68 percent and Lincoln converting 16 out of 23 attempts for 70 percent.
• The Blue Tigers outrebounded the Mules, 34-23.
TRIO OF MULES AWARDED ALL-MIAA ACCOLADES
• Three Central Missouri Mules basketball student-athletes received All-MIAA postseason honors, the conference office unveiled Tuesday, March 1.
•
Ja'Cor Nelson was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Year and named to both the MIAA All-Defensive Team and the All-MIAA Honorable Mention team while
Cameron Hunter and
Gaven Pinkley both garnered All-MIAA Honorable Mention honors.
• Nelson and Pinkley are first-time All-MIAA honorees while Hunter received All-MIAA accolades for the second time in his career after being named honorable mention last season.
MIAA LEADERS
• Ja' Cor Nelson leads the MIAA in steals through 26 games with 2.3 steals per game and 60 takeaways.
• As a team, Central Missouri paces the conference in steals with 8.31steals per game.
• UCM has done a great job of taking care of the basketball this season. It is second in the MIAA in turnover margin at +3.92 going to Wednesday's evening.
CAREER MILESTONE
•
Gaven Pinkley surpassed the 1,000 career milestone after scoring 16 points in the overtime victory over Nebraska Kearney Feb. 17. Pinkley is at 1,034 points going into Wednesday's game against Northeastern.
SERIES HISTORY VS. NORTHEASTERN STATE
• Wednesday's game in Kansas City will mark the 12th meeting in the all-time series with the Riverhawks dating back to 1957. The RiverHawks hold a narrow 6-5 lead in the series.
• Central Missouri beat Northeastern State earlier this season in Tahlequah, Okla., 82-78, on Jan. 20.
• UCM and NSU have met just one time in the MIAA tournament, with the RiverHawks posting an 84-82 win in the 2014 tournament quarterfinals.
SCOUTING NORTHEASTERN STATE
• The Northeastern RiverHawks come into Wednesday' game at 15-13 overall and 9-12 in the MIAA after defeating Rogers State Saturday, 76-67.
• Through 28 games, Northeastern State is paced by graduate student forward Emeka Obukweleu (15.1 ppg., 8.6 rpg., 55 assists, .515 FG%, .438 3FG%, .840 FT%), sophomore guard Christian Cook (14.4 ppg., 1.9 rpg., 6 blocks) and senior guard Rashad Perkins (11.9 ppg., 4.3 rpg., 77 assists, 27 steals).
MULES IN NON-CONFERENCE ACTION
• The Mules 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
• The Mules are 8-7 at home in 2021-22 after falling to Fort Hays State.
• The Mules are 62-52 at home under Karleskint.
• Central Missouri has posted a 191-38 record at home over the last 14 seasons, including 82-7 against non-conference opponents and 115-31 in MIAA play.
UCM DURING THE KARLESKINT ERA
•
Doug Karleskint enters the 2021-22 season with a record of 112-88 (.588) as head coach at Central Missouri and a 193-107 (.643) overall mark in his 12th 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 88-34-2 (.718) 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.
PROGRAM SNAPSHOT
• This is the 116th 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 BASKETBALL HISTORY
• In the 116th season of UCM basketball, the Mules have compiled a 1,721-1,001 (.633) record in 2,722 total games.
• The Mules are the third winningest program by victories in NCAA-II history.
• Central Missouri is one of just four NCAA-II programs with 1,700 all-time wins.
• The Mules have won 20 or more games 26 times in the history of the program.
• Central Missouri has won 30 or more games in a season three times (2006-07, 2008-09, and 2013-14).
• UCM has won or shared 24 MIAA regular season championships and five MIAA tournament titles.
THE NEXT LEVEL
• In the past 16 years, 23 former UCM players have gone on to play professional basketball.
• Four players are either currently playing professionally or on a professional roster: Donte Adams (Conejos De Tuxtla (Mexico), Charles Hammork (Kosovo, Ylli Therande), Michael Hicks (Poland, Polpharma-Pakmet), and Zack Wright (Germany, Brose Basket).
