Colorado School of Mines vs. Black Hills State, Friday, 8 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Stats]
Colorado School of Mines vs. South Dakota Mines, Saturday, 7 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Stats]
 

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THIS WEEKEND
Mines hosts its final home regular season games of the season in a big weekend against league-leading Black Hills State and a playoff-contending South Dakota Mines. The Orediggers hope to avenge road losses to both teams from January as they battle to stay near the top of the RMAC standings.
 
ON THE RMAC NETWORK
Every Mines home game and all RMAC contests can be seen live and for free on the RMAC Network at minesathletics.com/tv. The RMAC Network can also be found on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Android TV devices by going to the app store and searching "RMAC".

GAME DAY INFO
New in 2019-20, fans can purchase digital tickets online in advance via Mines' new ticketing portal, or buy them at the gate on game day. Ticket pricing remains the same as 2018-19 at $10 for adults and $5 for seniors, military, and children. Mines students, faculty, and staff are free with their Blaster Card. No pets (except service animals) are permitted inside Lockridge Arena.

LAST WEEKEND
Mines extended its win streak to four games – all on the road – as it survived at New Mexico Highlands 93-86 and then routed CSU-Pueblo 84-65. At NMHU, Michael Glen scored 22 and Titus Reed had an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double to lead the way as the Orediggers shot .542 for the game but overcame 21 turnovers to win. At Pueblo, hometown returner Kobi Betts scored a game-high 23 as Mines shot 17-of-27 in the first half to build an insurmountable lead. CSUP was held to 38 percent shooting for the game.

AROUND THE RMAC
At 14-5 in the RMAC, Mines has clinched an RMAC Tournament spot and can wrap up a top-four seed (and home quarterfinal) with two more wins, or a single win over South Dakota Mines. Mines is two games ahead of Colorado and South Dakota Mines (12-7), with Westminster (11-8), UCCS (11-8), and New Mexico Highlands (10-9) also on the right side of .500. Dixie State and Black Hills State are knotted atop the RMAC at 16-3 in a race that will likely come down to the final game next weekend; DSU owns the head-to-head tiebreak over BHSU.

GLEN NEARS 1,000 POINTS
Mason Baker became the latest Oredigger to reach 1,000 career points when he did it against CSU-Pueblo back on Jan. 31, and now Michael Glen is on the verge of joining him. Glen enters this weekend with 985 points putting him 15 short of the milestone.

SULLIVAN NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
On Thursday, sophomore Brendan Sullivan was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team for his outstanding combination of athletic and academic achievement in 2019-20. A sophomore with a 3.79 GPA in civil engineering, Sullivan has enjoyed a terrific second season with the Orediggers, averaging 13.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game from the starting 3 spot. Sullivan is shooting .523/.488/.750, leading Mines in three-point shooting at 41-of-84, and he's also adding a team-best 1.4 steals to go with 0.8 blocks per game.

OREDIGGERS PICK UP RMAC ACADEMIC HONORS
Michael Glen and Brendan Sullivan led five Orediggers on the annual RMAC All-Academic Men's Basketball team announced on Feb. 3. Both Glen and Sullivan were named RMAC First-Team All-Academic for their combination of athletic and academic achievement. Luke Golter, Ben Boone, and Trent Dykema were named to the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll.

KOBI BUCKETS
In his first year playing for the Orediggers, Kobi Betts has proven himself to be an explosive scorer. Working his way back into basketball for the first time in nearly four years, Betts started the season slowly, but since the calendar turned to 2020, the redshirt junior has averaged 13.8 points, 1.6 three-pointers, and 1.2 steals per game as his minutes have ramped up. He has been outstanding at the line (.824) as well this season.

DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE
Mines enters this weekend with the RMAC's #2-rated defense at 68.9 points allowed per game; only South Dakota Mines' 67.3 is better. The Orediggers rank among the RMAC top-3 in rebounding (3rd) and blocks (2nd). Individually, three starters – Brendan Sullivan (+10.9), Michael Glen (+10.7), and Ben Boone (+10.6) – own plus/minus per-40s of +10 or better.

SCOUTING BLACK HILLS STATE [Series: CSM, 12-8]
The RMAC co-leaders come in 19-6 overall and 16-3 in the league as they've won three straight and 15 of their last 16. They are led by RMAC Freshman of the Year candidate Joel Scott, who averaged 17.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game; Trey Whitley adds 15.3 points per game while Tyler Oliver averages 13.9 points and a team-best 7.4 rebounds per night. BHSU is +7.7 in points and +5.4 in rebounds per game. The Yellow Jackets won 65-61 over Mines back on Jan. 18 in Spearfish, holding off a late Oredigger run led by Ben Boone's game-high 17 points and 11 from Kobi Betts. Four players - Stefan Desnica (14), Joel Scott (13), Sava Dukic (13), and Tyler Oliver (12) - scored in double figures for BHSU.

SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA MINES [Series: CSM, 14-8]
The upstart Hardrockers are in the midst of arguably their best season of their short RMAC tenure at 15-10 overall and 12-7 in-conference as they try to wrap up a postseason berth. They have won six straight, and face UCCS Friday before coming to Golden. RMAC Player of the Week Allec Williams leads them scoring 16.7 points per game, while Mitchell Sueker adds 14 and Logan Elers 11. Sueker also averages a team-best 5.4 rebounds per game. When they met on Jan. 17, SDSMT came away with an 84-69 win as they ended the game on a 15-5 run to break open a one-point contest. Kobi Betts scored 16 off the bench but Jack Fiddler had 19 points to lead a 10-of-11 three-point shooting night for the Hardrockers.

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines ends the regular season on Feb. 28 at UCCS.