#5 Colorado School of Mines (4-0, 3-0 RMAC) vs. Western Colorado (0-3, 0-2 RMAC), Friday, 7 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Stats]
#5 Colorado School of Mines (4-0, 3-0 RMAC) vs. Fort Lewis (2-1, 1-1 RMAC), Saturday, 7 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Stats]
 

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OREDIGGERS CLOSE 2020 AT HOME
If there's one thing that pretty much everyone can agree on, it's that 2020 has not exactly been the best year ever. But for Mines men's basketball, it hasn't been so bad – the Orediggers hold a 20-6 record in this calendar year and hope to tack on two more wins this weekend in their final action of December. Mines will host RMAC foes Western Colorado (Friday) and Fort Lewis (Saturday), rekindling two long-time rivalries at Lockridge Arena.  

NO SPECTATORS AT LEAST THROUGH THE END OF 2020
Spectators will be not allowed to attend any Mines game – home or away – at least through the end of December due to local and state guidelines in Jefferson and Denver counties. Mines Athletics will continue to re-evaluate this policy for home games in the future as conditions allow. In the meantime, all games home and away are streamed live and for free on the RMAC Network, which is also available on the AppleTV, Roku, and AmazonFire app stores.

IN THE POLLS
Mines continued to climb up the NABC Top 25 this week, moving up three spots to #5. That marks their highest ranking since the middle of the 2014-15 season. Mines received plenty of preseason love, appearing in three different national rankings and topping the RMAC coaches' poll. The Orediggers were #24 in the D2SIDA media poll (whose first regular-season edition comes out Jan. 12), and #11 in the Basketball Times poll. On Nov. 17, Mines was announced as the near-unanimous #1 team in the RMAC preseason poll with 13 first-place votes, ahead of Black Hills State, UCCS, and Colorado Mesa.

GROUND RULES
In late November, the RMAC released information about the season structure and return-to-play guidelines for basketball. All teams will have a 22-game conference schedule (non-conference play being optional), and any game that is not played due to COVID-19 issues will be declared a "no contest." All student-athletes and team support staff must test negative within 72 hours of the game, and in the state of Colorado, everyone in the arena will wear a mask except for the 10 active players on the court. An RMAC champion will be declared if at least five teams complete 50 percent of their originally approved schedule (11 games). The champion and RMAC Tournament qualifiers will be determined by use of the NCAA Division II RPI system.

OREDIGGERS BEAT REGIS, UCCS TO STAY PERFECT
At Regis on Thursday, Brendan Sullivan's 20-point day complemented Mines' defense allowing just 50 points as they held the Rangers to .291 shooting to win 73-50. Saturday's game with UCCS was a battle as Michael Glen scored 17 and Ben Boone had 14 of his 16 in the second to pull away late from the Mountain Lions and win, 64-54.

DEFENSE DOMINATES FOR THE OREDIGGERS
Mines' defense has been historically good early this season, owning the nation's #2 scoring defense of 50.2 points per game, #2 field goal percentage defense at .319, and #3 scoring margin at 22.0 points per game while ranking sixth nationally with 4.25 blocks per game. Mines held opponents to 50 or fewer points in three straight games for the first time since 1982, and their scoring defense through four games is the program's lowest in the three-point era.

BITS AND PIECES
Mines is 4-0 under Pryor Orser for the seventh time ... UCCS' 54 points were the most scored against Mines this season ... Mines turned the ball over a season-low seven times against UCCS ... Oredigger opponents are averaging 16.5 turnovers per game ... The Orediggers are dominating inside this year, shooting .502 as a team overall despite just .383 from the outside ... Mines ranks second in the RMAC in shooting percentage and first in percent defense (.319) ... Michael Glen is shooting .833 overall (15-for-18) from the floor this season ... Five Orediggers average a steal or more per game: Sullivan (2.3), Baker (1.5), Boone (1.3), Titus Reed (1.3), and Betts (1.0) ... Austin Means is second in the RMAC in blocked shots per game (1.8) and first in total blocks (7).

MINES VS. WESTERN COLORADO SERIES
Both the most-played and oldest continuous series for Mines, Western Colorado matches up with the Orediggers for the 183rd time on Friday. Stretching back to 1925, Western leads the series 98-84 but Mines has dominated in recent years winning 10 of the last 11 dating back to 2012-13. The two met once last season, an 85-67 Mines win in Golden paced by Mason Baker's 19-point, six-assist night. The Mountaineers enter this weekend 0-3, having lost twice to Western Slope rival Fort Lewis before being edged 74-72 by MSU Denver last Saturday. Matthew Ragsdale leads the team averaging 14.7 points per game ahead of Jackson Ehrlin (13.0 ppg) and Cole Sienknecht (12.0 ppg).

MINES VS. FORT LEWIS SERIES
Arguably the RMAC's best rivalry of the 2010s, Mines and Fort Lewis carry that into the 2020s with the 90th meeting in a series that goes back to 1968. Fort Lewis leads all-time 54-35, but Mines has won the last six and could equal their longest winning streak in the series with a victory Saturday. Last year, Mines won 86-77 in Golden hitting 12 three-pointers; Titus Reed scored 17 and Kobi Betts 15 to lead Mines. The Skyhawks are 2-1 overall before facing Regis Friday night, beating Western Colorado twice decisively, but falling most recently to Colorado Christian, 84-79. FLC received votes in this week's NABC Top 25, and have a high-scoring offense (85.0 ppg) led by 2020 First-Team All-RMAC selection Riley Farris (18.0 ppg), Akuel Kot (13.7 ppg), and Dunnell Stafford (13.7 ppg).

TWO DECADES AT THE HELM
The 2020-21 season marks the 20th on the bench for Mines head coach Pryor Orser. Under Orser, Mines has gone 365-198, won five RMAC regular-season championships and two RMAC Tournament titles, qualified for 10 NCAA Tournaments, and currently is on a seven-season 20+ win streak.

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines will start the new year on the road, visiting Chadron State on Jan. 3 and Black Hills State Jan. 4. The Jan. 9 game at New Mexico Highlands has been canceled as NMHU has opted out of the season; the Orediggers' next home action will be Tuesday, Jan. 12 against Regis.