It has been a season of streaks for Mules basketball, which has lost two straight contests after picking up four consecutive victories over the holiday break.
Prior to the four-game winning streak that started with a 76-75 triumph over NAIA opponent MidAmerica Nazarene, the Mules had lost three games in a row and appeared to be reeling without the presence of senior forward Jakob Lowrance, who was lost to a leg injury back in November. Lowrance missed seven games but made his return in a Jan. 3 win over Fort Hays State. The Mules went 3-4 in his absence.
“They thought it was a torn ACL, but luckily it wasn’t,” Lowrance said. “Now it’s about working on it and getting it as close to 100 percent as we can.”
Lowrance said he was able to see the game differently and gain perspective in his seven games on the end of the bench.
“It taught me a lot and showed me some things that I don’t notice while I’m playing,” he said. “I was able to see a lot of things and could help our guys with what I saw from the bench. Almost like taking it from the perspective of being a coach and a leader.”
Since returning to the lineup, Lowrance has averaged 15 points per game in four contests where the Mules went 2-2.
“I would like shoot it a little bit better,” Lowrance said. “I’m still trying to get my wind back, get in shape and in the flow of things. A lot of that is just seeing things from the bench and realizing I need to take my time more. I feel like I’ve been more patient with my back to the basket and seeing different things in the defense, knowing where the double team’s coming from and thinking about where the next guy is going to be.”
Lowrance said no one is hanging their head on the record and that the focus is on improvement.
“We have to get better,” he said. “Everybody realizes we’re not where we want to be right now. We have to come together and play better team ball, make shots as individuals and finish out games because we’ve lost some close winnable games.”
Despite losing on the road to Pittsburg State Saturday, Lowrance became the 21st Mule to join the 1,000-point club. Lowrance said he didn’t know how close he was until the week before when his dad told him.
“My dad called me and told me he was trying to make it out to these games,” he said. “I knew he wanted to come to as many games as he could since it’s my last year, but he usually doesn’t come by himself. So he told me he was going to try and fly my mom out to Pitt. I asked him why, but he wanted to keep it a secret. At some point they ended up telling me I was close to hitting 1,000.”
Lowrance said hitting the milestone wasn’t on his mind during the game.
“It was in the back of my head, but honestly, going into Pitt, I didn’t think about it at all,” he said. “I had totally forgotten about it until coach (Chris) Richardson shouted me out in our post-game talk. It was super bittersweet because I was frustrated about the game.”
Lowrance is the first four-year player in head coach Doug Karleskint’s tenure at UCM and expected himself be a player who could achieve 1,000 points since he arrived.
“When it happens, even in a loss, it’s still pretty surreal,” Lowrance said. “You think about all of those points and all of the time you put in, being here for four years, it has been great.”
The Mules next game will be at home against Lindenwood. Tip between the Mules and the Lions is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the Multipurpose Building. Follow ucmathletics.com or Mules basketball on twitter at @UCMMBB for updates on weather conditions.
