#15/24 Mines (22-4, 16-4) vs. Adams State (5-21, 3-17) – Friday, 7:30 p.m. – Alamosa, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
#15/24 Mines (22-4, 16-4) at #5/6 Fort Lewis (24-2, 18-2) – Saturday, 7 p.m. – Durango, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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REGULAR SEASON WRAPUP
Taking to the road for the final time before the postseason, the #15/24 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team will be making to return trips to a pair of opponents from January, as they'll head to Alamosa Friday night to take on Adams State before squaring off with #5/6 Fort Lewis in Durango Saturday night.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
The match this weekend will be available free of charge on the RMAC Network and will have live stats through Sidearm.
 
AT THE HELM
Entering his 22nd season in Golden, head coach Pryor Orser is the winningest coach in program history and on Friday November 25, he reached the 400-win mark in his career with an 82-58 win over Kansas Wesleyan. Heading into RMAC play this weekend, his overall record stands at 417-216 and 298-150 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 latest NABC and D2SIDA polls came out on Tuesday and saw Mines check in at #15 and #24 respectively. Blacks Hills State fell to #10 and #8 this week, while Fort Lewis and Colorado Mesa were both on the move, rising to fifth and sixth and 14th and 16th respectively. When it comes to the RMAC, Mines was tabbed to finish third in the league 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.
 
Additionally, the latest batch of regional rankings were released Wednesday, as the first numerical list had the Orediggers slotted in at the sixth spot. Fort Lewis, Black Hills State and Colorado Mesa occupy the top three spots while Angelo State and West Texas A&M follow. Behind Mines comes Lubbock Christian, Texas A&M-Kingsville, St. Edward's and Eastern New Mexico.
 
WEEK 14 RECAP
Mines closed out their regular season home slate with a pair of wins over Colorado Christian and Chadron State by scores of 83-58 and 78-74 respectively. Friday night against the Cougars, Adam Thistlewood led the way with a 19-point outing on 6-11 shooting and registered a season-high seven assists while fellow seniors Trent Dykema, Ben Boone and Brendan Sullivan all scored 10 or more in the win. Saturday night was a battle for all 40 minutes against the Eagles with the right to host an RMAC Tournament quarterfinal on the line, and the Orediggers answered the bell as Sullivan showed out on Senior Night with 24 points on 9-13 shooting, 18 of which came in the second half, while Kai Barr, Sam Beskind and Riley Schroeder all finished in double figures and combined for 34 points in the winning effort.
 
THE MILESTONE MAN
Continuing a storyline from last season, Brendan Sullivan continues to make his mark as one of the most prolific scorers in Orediggers history. Over the last four weekends, the Highlands Ranch product has cleared a quintet of milestones, surpassing 250 career assists on January 27 against Fort Lewis, collecting his 150th steal February 3 against Black Hills State, draining his 200th three-pointer on February 4 against SDM, collecting his 600th rebound against Colorado Mesa February 10 and eclipsing 100 career blocks Saturday night against Chadron State.  Through 26 games this season, he now stands at 1,864 career points, passing Kyle Pape (2005-2009) for seventh all-time and is coming off the second 400-point campaign of his career in 2021-22. A better than 51% shooter in his career, Sully has his eyes on continuing his march up the all-time scoring list. His 154 steals are fourth all-time while his 269 assists are good for 11th.
 
A BRAINY BUNCH
The College Sports Communicators (CSC) released the 2022-23 Academic All-District teams for basketball on Tuesday, and three members of the Colorado School of Mines men's basketball program were recognized for the accomplishments on the court and in the classroom, as redshirt seniors Sam Beskind and Brendan Sullivan along with redshirt freshman Reagan Koch were among those named to the Division II team. Read the full story here.
 
THE POSTSEASON AWAITS
With just two games left in the regular season, six teams have already punched their ticket to the 2023 RMAC Men's Basketball Championship. Fort Lewis is in the driver's seat for the regular season title followed by Colorado Mesa and Black Hills State just one game back. Mines is fourth and currently holds the final spot to host a quarterfinal game next week while Chadron State and Westminster are currently fifth and sixth. The final two spots in the tournament are up for grabs among six teams, with MSU Denver and New Mexico Highlands currently in the field, but Regis, UCCS, South Dakota Mines and CSU Pueblo are all in the hunt as five of those six teams are all 8-12 in conference. It'll be an exciting finish the regular season to say the least as we get ready for tournament time.
 
TOP OF THE CLASS
Earlier this month the RMAC announced the All-Academic First Team for men's basketball and three Orediggers earned recognition for their work in the classroom with one claiming the league's top academic accolade. Brendan Sullivan was named the Academic Player of the Year for the third consecutive season while Ben Boone and Trent Dykema were also recognized for their accomplishments. The trio all wrapped up their undergraduate studies last May and are all currently working towards graduate degrees in Engineering & Technology Management. Sullivan becomes the fifth Oredigger to earn Academic Player of the Year honors during the 2022-23 season from the RMAC, joining Michael Sprauer of men's soccer program, John Matocha of football and Zoe Baker and Duncan Fuehne of cross country.
 
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
The Orediggers rank fifth in all of NCAA D-II this season when it comes to assist/turnover ratio at 1.62. An assist/turnover ratio of 1.0 is considered great, and Mines is the only team in the RMAC with an ATR of higher than 1.4; Chadron State is second at 1.32 followed by Black Hills State and Fort Lewis at 1.23 and 1.09. Through 26 games, the Orediggers have 479 assists and have turned the ball over just 288 times. That's usually a recipe that will lead to a great deal of success on the court.
 
 
TO BE THE BEST…
As the chase for the 2023 NCAA Division II Tournament heats up, its worth at least noting the makeup of the most recent Top 25 coaches poll. 17 different conferences are represented and six of them are represented by at least two members of the league, but only one, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, has four teams inside the Top 25. The same can be said of the D2SIDA Media Poll where 16 different leagues are represented with seven claiming multiple teams, but again none can boast more than the RMAC. Just taking that a face value, Mines is playing in one of the toughest conferences in Division II this season against one of the toughest schedules around, meaning by the time the postseason rolls around, they'll be well-tested in big games.
 
SCOUTING ADAMS STATE
Adams State, currently 14th in the RMAC standings, will see their season come to an end following this weekend against Mines and MSU Denver and have been playing better down the stretch with wins in two of their last five games and enduring a 13-game losing streak. Despite going 0-2 last weekend against South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State, the Grizzlies do have recent wins over CSU Pueblo and Western Colorado by scores of 80-68 and 104-93. Kolby Walker has been one of the best three-point shooters in the RMAC this season, connecting 60 times from deep and shooting at a .392 clip and scoring 13.5 PPG with a team-high 31 steals and 49 assists. Maison Adeleye is the only player to start every game for ASU this season and enters the week shooting .515 from the floor and scoring 12.2 PPG with 30 steals and 115 rebounds. Isaiah Sampson's 5.3 RPG leads the team as do his 26 blocks, which are good for sixth in the RMAC, as the big man also scores 11.0 PPG. Jaylin Reed has been a spark off the bench, soring 7.4 PPG as nearly half of his 52 made field goals this season have been of the three-point variety. For the season, ASU is -8.5 in scoring margin and averaging 74.8 points per game and shooting .432/.353/.744. they are -3.3 in rebounding margin and average just under 12 assists per game while turning the ball over more than 15 times per night. One bright spot, the Grizzlies are one of the best shot-blocking teams in the RMAC this season with 88 trailing only Mines and New Mexico Highlands and have three players with 10 or more on the season, led by Sampson along with Kaleb Mitchell and Liam Canty.
 
SCOUTING FORT LEWIS
Coming off a week where they beat #2 Black Hills State twice in span of five days, the newly-minted #5 team in the NABC Coaches Poll also swept the RMAC weekly awards this week, as Akuel Kot and JaQuaylon Mays took home Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors respectively. The Skyhawks have rattled off wins in each of their last nine games with their last loss coming on January 20 to then #23 Colorado Mesa. They'll take on MSU Denver Friday night before hosting Mines Saturday. The aforementioned Kot leads FLC in scoring at 24.4 PPG, tied for second in all of NCAA DII with Dante Moses of New Mexico Highlands, and is shooting .503 from the floor and .389 from three with 63 three-pointers. He also has 80 rebounds, 36 steals, 35 assists and seven blocks to his credit. Mays follows with 11.7 PPG and is shooting .479 from the floor and .430 from three with a team-high 76 assists, good for 10th in the league, and is also the team's leading rebounder with 5.6 per game. Brenden Boatwright has 17 blocks on the season and is second behind Mays at 5.5 RPG and is shooting .561 from the field and scoring at a clip of 10.9 PPG. Obi Agbim isn't too far off at 9.6 PPG while shooting .426 with 49 assists, while Brendan La Rose has the ability to step outside as a big man and shoot .443 from three-point land score 6.1 PPG while also recording 30 blocks, tied for third in the league. For the season, the Skyhawks average 84.7 PPG and are +11.2 in scoring margin and shoot .476/.381/.751. They average 35.1 rebounds and 10.3 assists per game and turn the ball over less than 10 times per night while forcing more than 13 per game by the opposition. Their 190 steals trail only CMU and NMHU in the RMAC and are seven better than Mines.
 
CHECKING THE STAT SHEET
Adam Thistlewood remains the leading scorer and rebounder for Mines at 15.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game and is second on the team with 64 assists, all of which have him among the top 15 in the RMAC this season. Brendan Sullivan is scoring at a clip of 13.4 PPG and is shooting .515/.435/.800 this season with 92 rebounds, 51 assists, 26 steals and 16 blocks while Ben Boone is averaging 11.5 PPG add shooting .465/.406/.857 with 30 rebounds, eight steals and eight blocks. Sam Beskind's average dropped to 9.8 PPG but still sees him shooting .517 from the floor and being one of the best in the RMAC when it comes to steals with 37 and assists with 98. Kai Barr (9.4 PPG, 4.8 RPG) has been almost unstoppable the last five weeks, scoring in double-figures in eight of the last 10 games and ranking among the conference leaders with 30 blocked shots, while Riley Schroeder (7.4 PPG) has remained a solid contributor off the bench and is second behind Barr with 18 blocks. Regan Koch (5.8 PPG) and his 56 assists and 29 steals off the bench continue to be something opponents must deal with, as the redshirt freshman is also a threat to score at will, entering the weekend with a 21-game scoring streak.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Mines won their eight straight over Adams State back on January 28 with a 102-81 decision in Golden, but the Grizzlies still lead the all-time series 90-74, and are 53-23 in Alamosa all-time. However, the Orediggers are 3-3 in their last three visits to town in the series, most recently winning 77-71 back in January of 2022. Fort Lewis took the first meeting of the season between the two teams on January 27 93-87 to improve to 57-37 in the series. Mines will look to snap a three-game skid in the series Saturday night, but will have to do so in a place where there at 17-30 all-time and saw their last win on the road come nearly two years ago by a score of 67-63.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Up next for Mines will be the 2023 RMAC Men's Basketball Championship beginning Tuesday February 28. More information about the Orediggers' opponent, time and location will be announced once it is known.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines men's basketball on Twitter and Instagram 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.