Mines at Fort Hays State, Saturday, 4 p.m. CT [Live Video] [Live Stats]
Mines at Nebraska-Kearney, Sunday, 2 p.m. CT [Live Video] [Live Stats]
 

---

THE WEEKEND AHEAD
Mines will take a swing through the Great Plains to visit a pair of former RMAC rivals as they visit Fort Hays State on Saturday and Nebraska-Kearney on Sunday. Note the game time at FHSU has been moved back an hour to 4 p.m. Central. The Tigers are 0-2 this season; the Lopers 1-2.

LAST WEEKEND
Mines went 1-1 in its opening weekend, falling to Lubbock Christian 70-62 on opening night before bouncing back to beat St. Mary's 61-56. True freshman Brendan Sullivan, Mason Baker, and Ben Sonnefeld led the scoring as all three averaged in double figures, while both Sullivan (6.5 rpg) and Michael Glen (6.0 rpg) cleaned up the glass. Mines shot only .390 from the floor for the two games and an uncharacteristic .308 for three.

MINES PICKED SECOND IN THE RMAC
The Orediggers were picked second in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll behind Regis. The Orediggers (22-9 in 2017-18) received 203 points and four first-place votes to sit second in the poll behind last year's RMAC Tournament winner Regis (216 points, 8 first) but ahead of defending regular-season champ Fort Lewis (199 points, 2 first) and new RMAC member Dixie State (185 points, 2 first), who won last year's PacWest regular-season and tournament titles.

LAST YEAR
Mines played both of this weekend's opponents at home last year, beating Fort Hays State 109-101 in double overtime before beating Nebraska-Kearney 86-79. The FHSU game – which was named "Competition of the Year" at the 2018 Blaster Awards – was an absolute thriller as Mines erased a 10-point deficit with less than a minute to go in regulation, then battled through two overtimes to beat the Tigers. Luke Schroepfer scored 28 while Ben Sonnefeld had a then-career-high 25. Against UNK, Mason Baker and Michael Glen had breakout performances with 18 points each as Baker shot 5-for-7 overall and Glen had a double-double with 10 rebounds.

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines will open up at home on Black Friday, hosting Kansas Wesleyan at 5 p.m.