2008 Woodie Awards
Bring on the Bearcats, Pretty Please
After 197 Meetings, the Mules are Ready to Beat Their Archrivial Again and Climb the MIAA Standings.
Nate Taylor: Muleskinner
Issue date: 2/7/08 Section: Sports
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After the players got their food, they sat down at a table near the television to watch ESPN's "Rivalry Week" game between Division I opponents Louisville and Marquette.
On Monday, the Mules were gearing up for their own "rivalry weekend" Saturday when the team faces archrival Northwest Missouri State at 3:30 p.m. inside the Multipurpose Building.
This will be the 198th meeting between the two teams, marking the longest series of the two teams' history, and there is no love lost in this battle for bragging rights.
"We understand they don't like us, and they know we don't like them either," Wollbrinck said.
The Mules hold the overall record at 115-82 in the series, and they have won six of the last eight games in the series, including the two out of three last year. The Mules lost the last meeting this past January in Maryville, Mo., in Bearcat Arena the score ended up being 77-62 which pushed the team to a four-game losing streak.
Since then, the Mules have won two consecutive games and know in order to win Saturday, the team must be tougher than Northwest.
"The bottom line was that they were just tougher than us," Wollbrinck said. "Coach showed us the film from last year, and some of this year's film just to show us that we weren't ball pressuring enough."
Even though bragging rights come with winning the rivalry games, they are as important for conference standings as well.
Entering Saturday's match, both teams are tied for fifth place in the MIAA with 5-5 conference records.
"This is a must win, we have to keep getting wins," said sophomore guard Tremaine Luellen. "We lost to them last time so we have to get this one."
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