Colorado School of Mines at UCCS, Friday, 7:30 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Stats]
 

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THIS WEEKEND
Mines ends the regular season on the road with a single game at UCCS as they battle for playoff positioning and, potentially, a share of the RMAC title. The Orediggers enter the weekend 15-6 in the RMAC and in third place; UCCS is battling for a possible home quarterfinal in a tie for fifth at 13-8 in the RMAC.
 
ON THE RMAC NETWORK
Every Mines home game and all RMAC road 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".

UP IN THE AIR
With one game left for all 16 teams, the RMAC Tournament picture is still very much up in the air. Black Hills State and Dixie State are tied for first at 16-5, a game ahead of Mines; if those two should lose and Mines wins, it would be a three-way tie for the regular-season title and there would be a complex set of tiebreakers based on the RMAC's "win quality" point system that would mean the Orediggers would likely be the tournament #1 seed. In any event, Mines can be no lower than the #3 seed, win or lose on Friday. If either BHSU or DSU wins and the other loses, the winner would be the lone RMAC champion; if both win they would share it and DSU would be the #1 seed. Dixie State ends at Westminster, BHSU plays at South Dakota Mines.

At the bottom of the top eight, Regis and Westminster (both 11-10) are battling for the final playoff slot, with Western Colorado and CSU-Pueblo (10-11) holding slim hopes of getting into a tiebreaker scenario.

LAST WEEKEND
Mines picked up a huge win over league-leader Black Hills State, 79-43, on Friday, but fell 78-73 to South Dakota Mines on Saturday at home. Against BHSU, Michael Glen produced 22 points, six rebounds, two blocks, and two steals to lead a masterful defensive effort holding the Yellow Jackets to .255 shooting; against SDSMT, the Hardrockers pulled away early in the second half and Mines couldn't catch up despite Brendan Sullivan's 15 and Titus Reed's 14/6/5 performance.

GLEN HITS 1,000 POINTS
Against Black Hills State, Michael Glen became the second Oredigger this season to score his 1,000th career point, joining Mason Baker. Glen now has 1,018 points in his three seasons to go with 606 rebounds; Baker is just ahead of him with 1,039 points.

SULLIVAN NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Last week, 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 13.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game from the starting 3 spot. Sullivan is shooting .512/.421/.759, leading Mines in three-point shooting at 43-of-87, 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.

SCOUTING UCCS [Series: CSM, 33-12]
The Mountain Lions are 17-9 overall and 13-8 in the RMAC, having clinched an RMAC Tournament berth but looking to potentially bump up into the top four with a win and Colorado Mesa loss. They're on a roll coming off wins against Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines last weekend. Padiet Wang leads the team with 17.1 points per game while Blend Avdili adds 13 per game. UCCS is especially good on the boards where they hold a +6.2 rebounding advantage per game; they are also the RMAC's leading shot-blocking team at 4.7 per game. Mines and UCCS met all the way back on Nov. 30, an 82-77 Mountain Lion win in Golden; Mason Baker scored 27 in that game and Titus Reed added 18, while DeRaun Clark scored 30 for UCCS and Wang had 18. Geoff Kelly's late three-pointer was the go-ahead bucket for UCCS.

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines will host an RMAC Tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. against an opponent to be determined.