The Mules will need contributions from Tremaine Luellen and others, if they are to reach their highest aspirations. (Jill Vorbeck file photo)

There needs to be no explanation for what the Mules will have to do this weekend in Wichita Falls, Texas to keep their season alive. The Mules need to get back to how they started the regular season rather than how they finished it.

Central Missouri, the No. 2 seed in the South Central Regional, will play Missouri Western State on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Midwestern State's campus in the first round of the NCAA Division II Tournament. The game will be a rematch between of the two teams from just two weeks ago. In that game, the Mules shot a season-low 29 percent from the floor in a loss.

"We're seeking revenge," forward Tremaine Luellen said.

Central Missouri (25-3) lost out on its chance to host the regional with a loss to Washburn on Friday in the first round of the MIAA Tournament.

Since then, the Mules have refocused their efforts on playing the type of basketball they played earlier in the season that allowed them to win their first 24 of 25 games. In practice, guard Alex Moosmann said the Mules have been working to play better defense on the perimeter.

"There were a lot of reasons we lost," Moosmann said. "We're trying to fix those things by going harder in practice."

Coach Kim Anderson has noticed how the Mules have raised the intensity inside of the Multipurpose Building during their practices earlier this week.

On Tuesday, he watched the team play better defense and had the team run drills longer than usual this late in the season.

"The last two days have been great," Anderson said. "We've gone back to some basic things, and I hope it helps us."

Back when the Mules were on a nine-game winning streak during conference play, the Mules had a good mix of scoring from forward Sanijay Watts and Moosmann. That allowed for other players to get open for their shots. But in the loss Friday, both Watts and Moosmann struggled from the floor, which forced other players to take more shots.

"I think we got complacent on offense where we thought we could just throw it into Sanijay and he'll score," Anderson said. "If I'm the opposing coach, I'm guarding Sanijay with more than one player, so I hope we'll do a better job."

The Mules will only get one chance to do better against a Griffon team that is struggling to shoot the basketball as well. For Luellen, he hopes the Mules will be motivated to finish their season just as strong as they started.

"I think we need to focus more on ourselves," he said. "We have to come out and win the first five minutes, and play good defense the whole game."

Mules vs. Missouri Western State by the numbers
Previous meetings: UCM 82, vs. Missouri Western 75 (Jan. 16); Missouri Western 55, vs. UCM 49 (Feb. 24)
Central Missouri
Record: 25-3 (18-2 MIAA)
Rank: No. 7
Coach: Kim Anderson, 183-62 (8 seasons)
Leading scorer: Sanijay Watts, 21.0 ppg
Last 10: 8-2
Points per game: 80.9 ppg
Opponents' points per game: 67 ppg

Missouri Western
Record: 18-11 (12-8 MIAA)
Rank: NR
Coach: Tom Smith (22nd season)
Leading scorer: Marcus Rhodes, 16.1 ppg
Last 10: 6-4
Points per game: 72.9
Opponents' points per game: 72.0