#12/15 Mines vs. Chadron State, Friday, 8 p.m. [Live Video] [Live Stats]
#12/15 Mines vs. MSU Denver, Saturday, 7 p.m. [Live Video] [Live Stats]
 

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THE WEEKEND AHEAD
One of the nation's hottest teams, #12/15 Colorado School of Mines returns home to face a pair of familiar foes in Chadron State and MSU Denver. The Orediggers (18-3, 15-0 RMAC) will face off against that pair for the second time in three weeks after winning against both on the road. Saturday night's game against MSU Denver will be the annual Rock the Lock Night, featuring free t-shirts for the first 500 students in attendance and a halftime performance by the Colorado Disc Dogs.

THE STREAK CONTINUES
With its comeback win at New Mexico Highlands last Saturday, Mines tied the program record for consecutive wins at 17. The Orediggers, after starting out 1-3 this season, have not lost a game in more than two months, since falling in overtime at Fort Hays State on Nov. 17. Mines' streak is the second-longest active in NCAA Division II behind undefeated Northwest Missouri State (21-0) and tied for the fourth-longest in all of college basketball.

Longest Active Win Streaks In College Basketball
Northwest Missouri State - 21 (NCAA D-II)
St. Thomas (Minn.) - 21 (NCAA D-III)
Wisconsin-Oshkosh - 20 (NCAA D-III)
Colorado School of Mines - 17 (NCAA D-II)
Tennessee - 17 (NCAA D-I)

IN THE POLLS
Mines moved up four spots in this week's NABC Top-25 poll to #12, and advanced two spots to #15 in the D2SIDA poll. The Orediggers broke into the national rankings two weeks ago and have shot up the rankings thanks to their hot run of play.
 
IN THE RMAC
With seven games left to play in the regular season, Mines holds a three-game lead over Regis (12-3) for first place in the RMAC at 15-0. New Mexico Highlands and Black Hills State are tied for third at 10-5. Mines' next win will clinch them an RMAC Tournament berth; two wins this weekend would ensure the Orediggers of a top-four seed in the postseason, and potentially a top-two seed should NMHU and BHSU also lose.

LAST TIME OUT
A late go-ahead three-pointer by Ben Sonnefeld helped Mines survive New Mexico Highlands last Saturday in an 81-78 win on the road. Sonnefeld tied his career high with 26 points as he led Mines to a 17-point comeback. Mines took its first lead of the game with 8:41 remaining, then had to break a tie game in the final 30 seconds on Sonnefeld's three-pointer. NMHU led by as much as 17 in the first half after a red-hot start, but Mines limited the Cowboys to only .320 shooting in the second half to catch up.

COMEBACK KIDS
The New Mexico Highlands game was the latest in a string of big comebacks by Mines this year. The Orediggers have won five games in which they've trailed by double digits; the NMHU comeback was the largest at 17 points, but Mines has also rallied to beat St. Mary's (down by 11), Colorado Mesa (11), Adams State (12), and Chadron State (13).

SECOND HALF SUCCESS
Part of the reason Mines has been able to come back in games? They've been very, very good in the second half. The Orediggers are shooting an exceptional .573 from the floor in the second half of RMAC games (to .509 in the first) while holding opponents to only .421 (compared to .487 in the first). The second-half margins are staggering: +10.0 points and +4.8 rebounds, while shooting.452 for three to opponents' .310. Mines has outscored opponents in the second half in a dozen consecutive games.

A HELPING HAND
Two weeks ago, Ben Sonnefeld became the fourth player in program history to reach 400 career assists, and he now stands at 408 overall. Sonnefeld joins Jeff Rhodes (607), Gokul Natesan (427), and Mike Ziegler (416) in the 400 club. Sonnefeld ranks second in the RMAC this season in assists (4.3 per game) and first in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.7).

SPREADING THE LOVE
Mines is one of two teams in the RMAC with all five of its starters scoring 10+ points per game (along with Westminster), but what has impressed is how much that scoring has been spread around. Six different Orediggers have been the team's high scorer in a game this year, led by Mason Baker (8 times) and Ben Sonnefeld (5 times). Brendan Sullivan has been the high scorer four times with Ben Clare at three, and Michael Glen and Joe Miks have one apiece.

OREDIGGERS HONORED FOR ACADEMICS
On Thursday, four Orediggers were named to the RMAC All-Academic teams for their classroom performance. Ben Clare and Ben Sonnefeld were each named RMAC All-Academic First-Team, while Michael Glen and Luke Golter were named to the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll.

EARLIER THIS SEASON
In one of their toughest challenges of the year, Mines beat Chadron State 82-75 on Jan. 26 after erasing a 13-point second-half deficit to win. Both Brendan Sullivan (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Michael Glen (15 points, 10 rebounds) had double-doubles and Ben Clare sank 18. Mines was down 43-32 at the half before a 12-4 run pulled them even in the game.

Mines beat MSU Denver 77-71 back on Jan. 25, holding off a Roadrunner comeback attempt as the trio of Mason Baker, Ben Sonnefeld, and Ben Clare combined for 55 points and Michael Glen had a double-double. A 21-6 run in the second half erased a Roadrunner lead and put Mines in control of the game despite being outscored 24-17 in the closing eight minutes.

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Including their game against Mines on Jan. 26, Chadron State has lost three in a row with an 82-62 setback to Black Hills State and an 80-59 loss to South Dakota Mines. The Eagles are 8-4 at home but 2-6 on the road, and are 10-11 overall and 8-7 in the RMAC. Diontae Champion and Michael Sparks co-lead the team averaging 11.7 points per game, with Colby Jackson adding 10.4 a night.

MSU Denver is 8-11 overall and 6-9 in the RMAC having lost four of their last five including to BHSU and SDSMT last weekend. Druce Asah leads the team in scoring at 15.9 ppg followed by Garrett Carter (13.1 ppg) and Kendall McIntosh (11.8 ppg). The Roadrunners are just 1-6 away from the Auraria Events Center.

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines stays at home to host New Mexico Highlands on Feb. 15 and CSU-Pueblo on Feb. 16.