Mules Basketball Takes on Maryville in Home Opener Wednesday

TIP OFF

Central Missouri Mules basketball continues the 2024-25 season on Wednesday, Nov. 13, as they host the Maryville Saints at 7:00 p.m. from the Jerry M. Hughes Athletics Center in Warrensburg.
The Mules went 1-1 this past weekend defeating the Bemidji State Beavers by a final score of 74-68 on Friday, Nov. 8, before falling to the St. Cloud State Huskies 79-73 on Saturday, Nov. 9, from Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City, Mo. during the 2024 Central Region Challenge.
With a game-high 20 points against the Huskies, senior DeAirius Barker collected his 1,000th career point with a made layup at 1:20 remaining in the ballgame. The Cincinnati, Ohio native scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half and has totaled 1,006 points overall in his collegiate career.
This is the 119th season of Central Missouri Basketball as the Mules are the third winningest program in Division II with 1,764 victories having won two NCAA Men's National Championships (1984 & 2014) and four National Championships (1937 & 1938 NAIB) overall.

ON THE AIR

Wednesday's game against the Saints will be broadcasted on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com with the voice of the Mules Greg Hassler and former Mules head basketball coach Kim Anderson on the call.
The game will also be streamed on a pay-per-view basis through the MIAA Network with coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. from the Jerry M. Hughes Athletics Center in Warrensburg.

MEET THE MULES

Adam Bohac enters his second season as head coach of the Mules after finishing last season with a 13-15 overall record including 8-14 in the MIAA highlighted by two All-Conference performers in Tim Jordan Jr. (Honorable Mention) and Jordan Hayes (All Defensive Team).
The Mules are coming into the 2024-25 campaign with seven of their 14 student-athletes having never stepped on the court for UCM.
Central Missouri returns six players from last year's team including guard Corey Skillman Jr. while returning forwards Tim Jordan Jr., Jack Chapman, Yafet Haile, Noah Martin, and Josh Nwankwo.
The Mules brought in Division I transfer KJ Lee (Western Illinois), plus, Division II additions in DeAirius Barker (Charleston), Eain Mowat (Southern Nazarene), and Elijah Farr (Lincoln).
Central Missouri added three freshmen in guards Kyran Tilley (Louisville, Ky.) and Jake Fritz (Overland Park, Kan.), plus, forward Kyree Polk (Denver, Colo.).

LAST TIME OUT

The Central Missouri Mules (1-1, 0-0 MIAA) fell to the St. Cloud State Huskies (2-1, 0-0 NSIC) by a final score of 79-73 on Saturday, Nov. 9, inside historic Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City, Mo. in the final game of the 2024 Central Region Challenge.
After trailing by 11 at the break, Central Missouri outscored SCSU by five in the second half but were unable to complete the comeback as the Huskies earned their second win of the season led by 16 points from guard Anish Ramlall.
Central Missouri was paced offensively by guard DeAirius Barker's game-high 20 points, which allowed him to eclipse over 1,000 career points added two assists for good measure.
Three additional Mules finished the game with double-digit scoring including sophomore Tim Jordan Jr. (two rebounds) with 18, Kansas City, Mo., native Elijah Farr (game-high seven rebounds, two blocks, and two assists) had 13, while freshman Jake Fritz (five rebounds) contributed 10 points off the bench.
Central Missouri outscored the Huskies in the paint by a margin of 34-32 as guard KJ Lee had six points, two assists, and two rebounds while freshman Kyran Tilley had four points and two boards and sophomore Corey Skillman Jr. ended the game with two points, two assists, and two steals.

UCM BY THE NUMBERS

Through two games this season, the Mules are averaging 73.5 points per game while shooting 40 percent from the field, including 31 percent from beyond the arc and 70 percent from the charity stripe.
Central Missouri is averaging 29 rebounds, 11.5 assists, six steals, and 3.5 blocks per contest so far this season.
The Mules feature four players averaging 10 points or more per game this season including senior DeAirius Barker (16 points and 3.5 assists), sophomore Tim Jordan Jr. (15 points and two rebounds), graduate student Elijah Farr (11.5 points and seven rebounds), and guard KJ Lee (11.5 points and 5.5 rebounds).

SERIES HISTORY VS MARYVILLE

Wednesday night's contest will be the fourth meeting all-time between the Saints and UCM dating back to the 2017-18 season with the Mules leading the series 2-1 following a 57-54 loss in November of 2021 from the Multipurpose Building in Warrensburg.
Central Missouri was paced by Koray Gilbert's 12 points while forward Gaven Pinkley added 11 points.

UP NEXT FOR THE MULES

Central Missouri continues non-conference play as they host the Quincy Hawks (0-2, 0-0 GLCV) on Thursday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m. inside the Jerry M. Hughes Athletics Center in Warrensburg.