2017 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship – South Central Regional
#11 Mines vs. Arkansas-Fort Smith, Saturday, 5 p.m. [Tournament Central] [Live Video] [Live Stats]
hosted by Colorado School of Mines
 

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THE TOURNAMENT
March Madness comes to Golden this weekend as Colorado School of Mines hosts the 2017 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship South Central Regional. The eight-team bracket is headed by the #1-seeded Orediggers, who take on #8 seed Arkansas-Fort Smith in the first round. UT-Permian Basin, West Texas A&M, Tarleton State, Fort Lewis, Texas A&M-Commerce, and Texas A&M-Kingsville will also be at Lockridge Arena; for the full schedule, visit Tournament Central.

TICKETS
Tickets for this weekend's tournament are $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors, with children under 7 free. All Mines students will be admitted free courtesy of Student Life. Tickets are available day of the game only at the Lockridge Arena ticket office, located at the main entrance (Elm Street side). Each ticket is good for that entire day. Cash or credit cards are accepted.

WE'RE NUMBER ONE
The Orediggers earned one of eight #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament thanks to a 27-4 season that has seen them win both the RMAC regular-season and tournament titles. Mines has won nine straight and 20 of their last 21 heading into the Dance; it is the second time they've earned a #1 seed, also doing it in 2011-12. Mines is making its seventh NCAA appearance overall, all in the last eight years under Pryor Orser.

WORKING OVERTIME
Mines won the RMAC Tournament championship 102-98 in the most dramatic way possible, stunning Fort Lewis last Saturday with an eight-point comeback over the final 1:22 of regulation. Ben Clare sank two free throws with 2.0 seconds left to send the game to overtime, where Mines held the Skyhawks without a field goal for the first 2:32 and then used late free throw shooting to hold on for the win. Tournament MVP Gokul Natesan had 20 points with five assists and averaged 22 points, 5.3 assists, and 2.0 steals per game in the tournament; Ben Sonnefeld and Clare joined him on the all-tournament team after both posted career scoring highs in the final (18 for Sonnefeld, 23 for Clare).

IN THE POLLS
Mines moved up three spots to #11 in this week's NABC coaches' poll. A new D2SIDA media poll was not published this week but Mines was also #11 in last week's edition. Mines' #11 showing is their best of the year; they were #13 in the preseason edition. The only other ranked teams in this week's regional are #17 UT Permian Basin and #23 Fort Lewis. 

MINES VS. THE FIELD
The Orediggers have never met Arkansas-Fort Smith (23-10), who were the Heartland Tournament champions and regular-season co-champs. Looking ahead to potential second-round match-ups, there are a pair of familiar faces as #4 seed Tarleton State takes on #5 seed Fort Lewis; Mines fell to Tarleton in last year's NCAA first round, and let's just say Mines and Fort Lewis have met.

SCOUTING UAFS
The Lions are led by Heartland Conference tournament MVP Seth Youngblood (14.9 ppg/3.6 rpg/2.3 apg), Honorable-Mention All-Heartland Conference selection Alex Cooper (10.9 ppg/2.8 rpg/3.2 apg) and DaVaunta Thomas (12.0 ppg/6 rpg). The Lions (23-10) are making their second consecutive and third overall NCAA Tournament appearance under coach Josh Newman.

WITH HONORS
The Orediggers had three players make the all-RMAC squads last week, with head coach Pryor Orser being named the RMAC Coach of the Year. Gokul Natesan and Caleb Waitsman landed spots on the First Team, while Luke Schroepfer picked up Honorable Mention status.

CALL THE POLICE!
Mines basketball has a new all-time steals leader. Gokul Natesan surpassed the long-standing record of 234 on Saturday in the RMAC Tournament final and now has 236 thefts for his career, an average of 1.95 per game over his career.

MOVING ON UP
Natesan's standout career numbers are just in steals. With 1,951 career points, he stands fifth on the Mines career scoring list and could potentially move into fourth on Saturday if he can catch Russ Pulling's total of 1,969 set from 1985-89.