Mines at MSU Denver, Friday, 7 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Stats] 
Mines at Colorado Christian, Saturday, 7 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Stats] 

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RED-HOT MINES STAYS LOCAL FOR THE WEEKEND
Colorado School of Mines simply keeps finding ways to win basketball games. The red-hot Orediggers (11-7, 9-5 RMAC) have won a conference-best six in a row heading into this weekend as they visit MSU Denver (13-6/7-6 RMAC) and Colorado Christian (6-13/3-10 RMAC) on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Mines has vaulted itself back into the postseason hunt, current tied for fourth in the RMAC at 9-5 after starting conference play 3-5.

LAST TIME OUT
A huge second-half comeback lifted Colorado School of Mines to its sixth straight win, beating Adams State 77-71 on the road last Saturday. Mines trailed by 14 in the second half but clawed back with a 17-0 mid-half run keyed by Justin Engesser's 24-point game and a whopping 50 points overall off the bench, which included Kai Barr's dozen and Grant Pressly's 10. 

SULLIVAN EARNS TOP RMAC ACADEMIC HONOR
On Monday, Brendan Sullivan was named the RMAC Academic Player of the Year for the second straight season in recognition of his outstanding athletic and academic achievement. The senior civil engineering major was joined as a First-Team Academic All-RMAC selection by senior mechanical engineering major Ben Boone, and senior mechanical engineering major Trent Dykema was named to the RMAC Academic Honor Roll.

ORSER SETS NEW STANDARD
Mines' win over Westminster on Jan. 22 marked the 387th of Pryor Orser's career at Mines, which set the program's all-time record for victories. In his 21st season, Orser is now 390-208 to surpass Jim Darden, who coached Mines from 1954 to 1992 with 386 wins. Orser is also 277-143 in RMAC play which marks 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. 

GETTING STOPS
Mines enters this week with the RMAC's best defense by a solid margin, allowing just 64.3 points per game ahead of Colorado Mesa's 67.5 pace. Mines has the RMAC's second-best field goal defense (.415), best three-point defense (.293), and third-best rebounding margin (+3.2) this season. 

ENGESSER HAS CAREER OUTING
Redshirt senior Justin Engesser is coming off a career game at Adams State, where he came off the bench to lead Mines to the win with 24 points on a 9-of-12, four three-pointer evening. That marked Engesser's best as an Oredigger and tied his overall career mark set as a CCU Cougar in the 2018-19 season. Engesser will make his final appearance at the CCU Event Center on Saturday after spending four years there as a Cougar before becoming a graduate transfer at Mines.

SCHROEDER PRODUCING IN STARTING ROLE
A new face over the last few weeks in the starting lineup is Riley Schroeder, who tied his career high at Adams State with 12 points. The power forward has started every game in Mines' current six-game win streak, averaging 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds in 18 minutes per game during that stretch.

PRESSLY BREAKING OUT
Guard Grant Pressly had a breakout January, seeing his minutes off the bench ramp up over the past six games. After being used sparingly in the first half of the season, the sophomore is averaging 15.2 minutes and 4.0 points per game over the last six outings, including a career-high 10-point, 7-assist game at Adams State last Saturday. Pressly is also shooting a white-hot .714 overall in that span. 

MINES VS. MSU DENVER
The Roadrunners are 13-6 overall and 7-6 in RMAC play coming off two heartbreakers, a 78-76 setback to Chadron State last Friday and then a 77-75 buzzerbeater loss to RMAC leaders Black Hills State on Saturday. They have lost four of their last five overall. The Roadrunners are led by the dynamic big man Laolu Oke who averages a double-double with 14.6 points and 11.5 rebounds per game, while McNeese State transfer Ra'Shawn Langston is their leading scorer with 16.1 points per game. Miles Gibson also adds 14.1 points per game. 

Mines and the Roadrunners are meeting for the 81st time, but it's been all Orediggers in recent years with six straight wins and 10 of the last 11 dating back to 2016. They did not play in RMAC action last year but did face each other in a non-conference game to start the 2020-21 season with Mines winning an 82-48 blowout in Denver paced by Kobi Betts' 18 points and Michael Glen's 12. The 34-point victory was Mines' largest over MSU Denver since 1978. 

MINES VS. COLORADO CHRISTIAN
The Cougars are 6-13 overall and 3-10 in the RMAC, coming off a 76-67 win over Western Colorado on Tuesday; they host Regis Friday before playing Mines. Ross Williams' 19.9 points per game ranks fourth in the RMAC while DJ McDonald pitches in 13.9 points and Andy Stafford 13.4 points per game. 

Mines and CCU match up for the 49th time with the Orediggers leading the series 35-13 and winning 13 in a row dating back to 2013. The two teams did not play last year; in their last meeting in December 2019, Mines won 86-78 paced by Mason Baker's 27 points and a 15-point game from Brendan Sullivan. 

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines returns home Feb. 11 to host Fort Lewis and Feb. 12 to play Western Colorado.