In the last leg of a three-game homestand, Mules basketball will take on the Pittsburg State Gorillas Wednesday night. The Mules are rolling with a four-game winning streak, but a familiar face will return to the Multipurpose Building in an effort to halt their momentum.
Former Mules head coach, Kim Anderson, will return to Warrensburg to coach for the first time since his departure in 2014 for the University of Missouri. Anderson is now in his first season at Pittsburg State, his team is 13-9 and 6-7 in conference play.
Anderson spent 12 seasons as head coach at UCM, his 274 wins are the most by a coach in school history. Three of his teams advanced to the Division II Final Four, and his 2014 team captured the National Championship.
Mules head coach, Doug Karleskint, took over after Anderson left and knows the impact Anderson had on the basketball program.
“It should be an emotional night for the fans, you can’t take away what he did for this program,” Karleskint said. “I’m sure they’ll be fired up and our guys will be fired up because it’s another MIAA game.”
The Mules have struggled to outrebound their opponents in their last two games and were dominated on the offensive glass against Northeastern State 11-4. Mules leading rebounder, Jakob Lowrance, iterated that rebounding is a team effort.
“We stress that it takes all five, and we have to do whatever it takes to get the board,” Lowrance said.
Guard Clarence Smith is coming off a career high 17 points against Northeastern State in which he shot 6-9 and 3-6 from long range. Smith saw nearly 10 more minutes of play than he had in his previous three games and made the most of it in this performance.
Blake Spellman, Saturday’s starting guard, has had trouble missing in his last two games. In the games against Central Oklahoma and Northeastern State, Spellman made 6 of 8 attempted three-pointers for a ridiculous 75 percent mark. Spellman also hit double figures in both games.
The Gorillas have lost two of their last three games and come into this game at seventh in MIAA. Leading scorer, Xavier Adams, has scored in double figures in all but two games this season and had 18 in his last two contests. His ability to grab rebounds will be a factor against the Mules with their struggles on the glass.
This week’s edition of the National Association of Basketball Coaches Poll has the Mules ranked 25^th. This is the first appearance UCM has made in the NABC poll this season.
Wednesday night’s game is a #TeamUCM blackout; fans in attendance are encouraged to wear black to the game. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Multipurpose Building.