#4 Colorado School of Mines (6-0, 5-0 RMAC) at Chadron State (1-1, 1-1 RMAC), Sunday, 6 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Stats]
#4 Colorado School of Mines (6-0, 5-0 RMAC) at Black Hills State (1-1, 1-1 RMAC), Monday, 7:30 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Stats]
 

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OREDIGGERS START 2021 ON THE ROAD
#4 Colorado School of Mines starts the new year by heading out of the Centennial State for the first time this season, visiting Chadron State and Black Hills State on Sunday and Monday. The Orediggers are 6-0 through the end of December and will face a pair of 1-1 teams. The series was originally set to open the season on Nov. 22-23 but was postponed due to COVID-19 conditions in the region at that time. No spectators will be admitted to either game, but both will stream live on the RMAC Network.  

NO SPECTATORS POLICY CONTINUES
Spectators will be not allowed to attend this weekend's games at Chadron State and Black Hills State. The Orediggers have also announced that due to local and state guidelines, spectators will not be allowed at home games until further notice. 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 moved up one spot to #4 in this week's NABC Top 25 poll, marking their highest showing since they climbed to #2 late in the 2011-12 season. Mines received plenty of preseason poll love as well, 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.

OREDIGGERS END 2020 WITH WINS OVER WESTERN, FORT LEWIS
The Orediggers ended 2020 with a pair of wins, getting past Western Colorado 67-57 on Dec. 18 before dispatching a tough Fort Lewis team 79-73 the next day. Against WCU, Brendan Sullivan scored 24 as Mines pulled away early in the second half to win. Michael Glenn chipped in 12 and and Ben Boone 11 points. Against FLC, Mines survived its toughest test of the season with a late 7-0 run as Sullivan scored a career-high 31 points and Boone and Glen each had 12.

SULLIVAN WINS RMAC HONOR
For his play in the WCU/FLC weekend, junior Brendan Sullivan was named the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career. Sullivan averaged 27.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game over the two games; against Western Colorado, he scored a game-high 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting and added eight rebounds and two assists, and he erupted for a career-high 31 points in the win over Fort Lewis, going 10-of-14 overall and 10-of-13 at the line along with four boards, four assists, three blocks, and a steal. This season, Sullivan leads Mines in multiple categories averaging 17.8 points, 2.7 assists, and 1.7 steals per game, while shooting .542 overall. He also adds 4.5 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game.

DEFENSE DOMINATES FOR THE OREDIGGERS
Mines' defense has been historically good early this season, owning the nation's #2 scoring defense of 55.2 points per game, #3 field goal percentage defense at .343, and #7 scoring margin at 17.3 points per game. Mines held opponents to 50 or fewer points in three straight games for the first time since 1982, and they have held opponents to below-.400 shooting in five of six games.

BITS AND PIECES
The Orediggers start 6-0 for the sixth time under Pryor Orser and first time since 2017-18 … Mines is shooting .498 overall to opponents' .343 this season ... Mines struggled early at the line shooting .633 through their first three games, but is a much-improved .702 in their last three including a season-best 18-of-24 (.750) vs. Fort Lewis ... Austin Means leads the RMAC in blocks (10) ... As a team, Mines is 10th in NCAA Division II with 4.3 blocks per game ... The Orediggers have not been outrebounded in a game this year ... Means leads the team with 6.8 rebounds per game followed by Michael Glen (5.3) and Brendan Sullivan (4.5) ... Glen is shooting .684 overall, making 26 of his 38 field goal attempts including a 4-for-6 three-point clip.

MINES VS. CHADRON STATE
Chadron State leads the all-time series 44-41 dating back to the 1937-38 season, but the Orediggers have dominated over the last decade and a half winning 24 straight games since 2007-08. Last year the two played a close game in Golden as Mines won 95-87 as Brendan Sullivan and Kobi Betts eached scored career highs of 28 points and Ben Boone had a career-best 23; Mines blew out the Eagles 81-47 in the return trip as CSC was held to just 18 second-half points and Michael Glen scored 19 points with nine rebounds and three blocks.

CSC has struggled to get games in due to COVID-19 postponements and are 1-1, beating Westminster 66-60 on Dec. 11 and taking then-#22 Colorado Mesa to double overtime in a 77-68 loss on Dec. 12, the last time they played. Guard Marcus Jefferson leads the team with 13.5 points per game while post Jacob Jefferson adds 12.5 ppg.

MINES VS. BLACK HILLS STATE
Mines leads the all-time series against Black Hills State 13-8 dating back to 1960, and it's been competitive over the last several seasons including a home-and-home split last year. Mines lost 65-61 in Spearfish on Jan. 18 as a big BHSU run early in the second half gave them the lead despite Ben Boone's 17-point night. The Orediggers were red-hot in the return game on Feb. 21, winning 79-43 at home as Michael Glen scored 22, including his 1,000th career point, to go with six boards, two blocks, and two steals.

Like Chadron State, the Yellow Jackets have struggled through postponements and haven't played since Dec. 12 when they beat Westminster 75-70. They played then-#22 Colorado Mesa close, losing by the same score. Guard Trey Whitley, a Second-Team All-RMAC pick last year, averaged 20.5 points in that weekend series while 2020 RMAC Freshman of the Year Joel Scott averaged 18 points and 6.5 rebounds.

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 367-198, 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.

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.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Jan. 9 game at New Mexico Highlands has been canceled as NMHU has opted out of the season; the Orediggers' next action will be Tuesday, Jan. 12 at home against Regis.