Mines (0-0) vs. St. Mary's (TX) (0-0) – Friday, 5 p.m. – Denver, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
Mines (0-0) vs. #16/24 Lubbock Christian (0-0) – Saturday, 4 p.m. – Denver, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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GOOD TO BE BACK
The 2022-23 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team will get their season underway this week when they make the short trip down to Denver this weekend for the RMAC/Lone Star Conference Challenge this week, hosted by Regis. The Orediggers will get underway first on Friday evening at 5 p.m. against St. Mary's (TX) before taking on preseason #16/24 Lubbock Christian Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.

AT THE HELM
Entering his 22nd season in Golden, head coach Pryor Orser is the winningest coach in program history and enters the 2022-23 season on the cusp of 400 career wins, owning a career mark of 395-212 and a 282-146 mark in RMAC play, the second-most wins in conference history. Under Orser, Mines has won five RMAC regular-season championships and two RMAC Tournament titles, and qualified for 11 NCAA Tournaments including two Elite Eight trips. 
 
IN THE POLLS
The Orediggers were tabbed to finish third in the RMAC in the preseason poll, receiving 169 points and a first-place vote. Black Hills State garnered 196 points and the remaining 14 first-place votes while Colorado Mesa was picked second, earning 178 points. Fort Lewis (152) and UCCS (138) rounded out the top five in the poll. On the national stage, the Orediggers received votes in the initial NABC Coaches Poll. Black Hills State checked in at #5 in the D2SIDA preseason poll and #10 in the NABC rankings, while Lubbock Christian checked in at #24 and #16 respectively.
 
SULLY'S SUPERLATIVES
Brendan Sullivan accumulated seven more honors following last season, including his second consecutive CoSIDA Academic All-America honor, second consecutive RMAC Academic Player of the Year award, RMAC First Team All-Academic for the third straight year as well as NABC Second Team All-District Laurels. He also wrapped up his undergraduate studies at Mines, completing a Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering in May and is now pursuing a Master's in Engineering Technology & Management. Through his first four seasons in a Mines uniform, Sully's earned 25 honors, achievements and accolades; he might want to look into adding a shelf or two in order to have enough room for them all.
 
HELLO, MY NAME IS….
Several new faces join the Orediggers this season, including a pair of Division I transfers. Golden native Adam Thistlewood returns to play for his hometown team after a standout four-year career at Colorado State in which he etched his name all over the Rams record books. Sam Beskind arrives in Mines after four seasons at Stanford and already having earned a Bachelor's and Master's degree during his time with the Cardinal. They are joined by a trio of freshmen in guard Dom Girish and forwards John Derrick and Wade Kahl.
 
GRIZZLED VETERANS
Mines isn't short on experienced returners this season either, as Ben Boone, Trent Dykema and Brendan Sullivan are all back for a fifth year. Sullivan led the team in scoring last season, averaging 15.0 PPG and shooting 51% from the floor and hitting from beyond the arc nearly 39% of the time He also led the team in rebounding, pulling down 133 boards and averaging nearly five per contest. He also led the Orediggers with 35 steals and 24 blocks en route to First Team All-RMAC honors. Boone, an Honorable Mention All-RMAC selection last season, is coming off a year in which he dished out a team-high 59 assists while still scoring better than 13 PPG and shooting 46.5% from the floor, including a scorching 43.7% from three-point land. Dykema was a key contributor off the bench last season, shooting over 40% from the field and from beyond the arc while going turning in a perfect season from the free throw line.
 
CLIMBING THE RANKS
Continuing a storyline from last season, Brendan Sullivan continues to make his mark as one of the most prolific scorers in Orediggers history. He enters this season with 1,515 careers points and is coming off the second 400-point campaign of his career in 2021-22. Just about a 52% shooter in his career, Sully has his eyes on continuing his march up the all-time scoring list. Additionally, he's just 31 assists away from 250 for his career and would become the 10th player in program history to hit that milestone. His 128 steals currently rank fifth all-time and he trails Farris Broussard (2000-05) by just two for fourth all-time.
 
RAISING THE BARR
Kai Barr took a big step forward in 2021-22 despite fighting through injury last season. The redshirt junior posted career bests in scoring (8.9 PPG), rebounding (4.2 RPG), assists (1.1 APG) and blocks (0.8 BPG), and is the fourth-leading returning scorer entering this season. He scored 19 on three occasions and put up double-figures in four of Mines' last six games.

SCOUTING ST. MARY'S (TX)
The Rattlers are coming off a 12-13 mark last season that included a 9-5 record in LSC play and return four of five starters from last year's team, led by redshirt junior Tyler Caron, who finished last season as the team co-leader in scoring and rebounding with 11.7 PPG and 5.5 RPG while shooting 46.8% from the field. Ryan Leonard shot 47.3% from the floor last season as he averaged 11.0 PPG while leading the team with 35 steals and recording 22 blocks. Mamady Djikine was the lone player to start all 25 games for the Rattlers last season and averaged 10.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while shooting better than 56% from the field in less than 20 minutes per contest. Caleb Jordan rounds out the group, coming off a season where he too averaged 10.4 PPG and enters this year as the leading returner in assists, dishing out 67 dimes last season. St. Mary's has eight newcomers on their roster this season, including five transfers from the junior college or Division I level along with a trio of freshmen.

SCOUTING LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN
The Chapparals checked in at #24 in the first D2SIDA rankings and at #16 in the first NABC rankings of the season and are coming off a 27-4 campaign in 2021-22 which included a 12-2 mark in LSC play and a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Chaps return just one starter off last year's team in Rowan Mackenzie, who started in in all 28 games he appeared, averaging 11.4 PPG and shooting 51.7% from the floor and 41.5% from beyond the arc. In all, LCU returns just four players from last year's team but did add three transfers and six freshmen to their roster for this season. One of those transfers, Harrison Russell, arrives from Louisiana-Monroe where he averaged 13.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game and was among the Sun Belt leaders in scoring, rebounding and three-pointers last season. Kurt Wegscheider, played in 28 games last year for Utah State Eastern College and averaged 14.2 PPG while Najeeb Muhammad is coming off a season at Arizona Western where he averaged 11.1 PPG and shots 37.6% from the field and 35.7% from three-point land.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Against St. Mary's, Mines is 5-2 all-time, with both losses coming in the previous two meetings with the Rattlers, including an 82-59 loss last November. The Orediggers' last win in the series came on the road in San Antonio in 2018 by a score of 61-56. Saturday will be the ninth meeting between Mines and Lubbock Christian, with the Orediggers and Chaps having split the first eight meetings. LCU took last year's meeting in Lubbock 79-63, but Mines had the upper hand the last time the teams played in Colorado in 2019, winning 75-47.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Orediggers continue non-conference play with a trip out west next week, heading to Seaside, California for the Otter Invitational hosted by Cal State Monterey Bay. They take on Cal State East Bay Friday November 18 at 4:30 p.m. PT before squaring off against the host Otters Saturday November 19 at 3 p.m. PT.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines men's basketball on Twitter at @minesmbb. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.