#13/16 Mines (20-3, 14-3) vs. #19/22 Colorado Mesa (18-4, 13-3) – Friday,  7:30 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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THE HOME STRETCH
After hitting the road last weekend for the South Dakota swing of the schedule, the #13/16 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team returns home Friday night to open the final home stand of the season, welcoming in #19/22 Colorado Mesa to Lockridge Arena for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
The match this weekend will be available free of charge on the RMAC Network and will have live stats through Sidearm.
 
ROCK THE LOCK
It's become an annual event with the goal of packing Lockridge Arena and giving away cool prizes. The 2022-23 edition includes free food, prizes, giveaways, t-shirts. Starting with the women's game, the first 200 students will receive free food from Mines Athletics sponsor Pierogies Factory. There will also be a poster contest in the concourse outside Lockridge Arena with prizes for the best posters. During the game, Rock the Lock t-shirts will be thrown out to fans on each Oredigger three-pointer. In-game action will also include raffle prizes, a prize wheel, and a dice game. The big giveaway is a 43-inch Vizio TV. Each student who comes to the game will receive a raffle ticket. The winner will be announced at the final media timeout of the men's game and must be present to win. Also, the Mines fall sports teams will be recognized at various times during the night, with women's soccer and football being recognized during the women's game, along with men's soccer and volleyball during the men's game. There will also be hospitality available for Oredigger Club members in the McNeil Room on the upper level of Lockridge Arena.
 
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 415-215 and 296-149 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 checked in at #13 in the latest NABC Coaches Poll this week and slid back to #16 in the D2SIDA Media Poll. Three other RMAC teams were also among the national leaders this week, with Black Hills State remaining third in both polls, while Fort Lewis moved to #10 and #12 in the respective polls while Colorado Mesa was on the rise in both polls, moving to #19 in the coaches poll and returning to #22 in the media rankings. 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.
 
WEEK 12 RECAP
The Orediggers were on the road last weekend and saw their trip to South Dakota get off to a rocky start, as they dropped the second meeting of the season to #3/3 Black Hills State 85-66. Adam Thistlewood and Kai Barr each scored 11 points while Ben Boone and Sam Beskind had 10 apiece, but it wasn't enough as BHSU shot .615 in the first half and held mines to just 2-15 shooting from beyond the arc in the game. Saturday Mines looked to bounce back in a meeting of the minds against South Dakota Mines and emerged victorious in a candidate for RMAC game of the year, winning 98-92 that saw a combined 104 points scored in the first half. Despite falling behind early to a Hardrockers team that went 20-30 from the floor and 10-15 from three in the first half, a trio of 20-point performances led by 28 from Brendan Sullivan along with 22 from Thistlewood and 21 from Boone and a strong night at the free throw line propelled Mines to the win.
 
ONE OF THE GREATS
Continuing a storyline from last season, Brendan Sullivan continues to make his mark as one of the most prolific scorers in Orediggers history. Through 23 games of this season, he now stands at 1,815 career points, good for eighth all-time and just four back of Kyle Pape (2005-09), 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. Over the last two weekends, the Highlands Ranch product has cleared a trio of milestones, surpassing 250 career assists on January 27 against Fort Lewis, collecting his 150th steal last Friday against Black Hills State and draining his 200th three-pointer on Saturday against SDM. His 154 steals are fourth all-time while his 259 assists are good for 11th. Entering play this weekend, Sully is on the cusp of two more milestone numbers; he's five rebounds away from 600 and two blocks away from the century mark.

RACE TO THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN
With just three weeks left in the regular season, it's a tight race for the regular season crown, as Black Hills State and Fort Lewis hold the top two spots in the league with Mines and Colorado Mesa close behind and Chadron State lurking in fifth. The Orediggers remaining schedule sees them take on CMU this weekend before hosting Colorado Christian and Chadron State and ending the season the road against Adams State and Fort Lewis. The Yellow Jackets have seven games over a span of 14 days starting this weekend at UCCS and Regis before playing FLC twice in a span of five days starting in Durango next Monday in a makeup game from December 31 before they return to Spearfish with the Skyhawks February 17 before ending the season against ASU, CCU and CSC. Fort Lewis has six games left after knocking off Adams State Tuesday, as they end with Western Colorado on the road, the home-and-home with BHSU, South Dakota Mines, MSU Denver and the Orediggers. Colorado Mesa will play the Roadrunners following their Friday night clash with Mines and end with three of four at home against New Mexico Highlands, CSU Pueblo and Westminster before heading to Gunnison to close the regular season at WCU. It's sure to be an exciting race to the finish to see who will claim the regular season title and how the seeding will shake out for the 2023 RMAC Men's Basketball Championships.

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.
 
3 FOR 20
Last time out against South Dakota Mines, Brendan Sullivan, Adam Thistlewood and Ben Boone all finished on the north side of 20 points, putting up 28, 22, and 21 respectively in a shootout win over the Hardrockers, marking the first time this season three Orediggers have gone for 20 or more points in a single game. Saturday night also marked the first time in over three years since the feat was last accomplished, as the last time Mines had three players with 20 or more in a game was during the 2019-20 season, when Sullivan (28 PTS), Kobi Betts (28 PTS) and Boone (23) points combined for 79 points in a 95-87 win over Chadron State on January 25, 2020. It is also the third time Sullivan has been a part of the feat, having done so a third time scoring 21 with Michael Glen (26 PTS) and Mason Baker (20 PTS) as that trio combined for 67 points in an 85-84 loss to St. Mary's (TX) in the 2019 season opener.

TOP OF THE CLASS
Last Thursday 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.
 
WATCHLIST SEASON
Sam Beskind and Adam Thistlewood were both recently named to the Bevo Francis Award watch list. The award is presented annually by Small College Basketball to the player who has had the finest overall season for a non-NCAA Division I team. The initial watch list consists of 100 players from the NCAA II, NCAA III, NAIA and USCAA ranks. The duo, both Division I transfers from Stanford and Colorado State respectively, have started every game of the season for the Orediggers and have emerged as some of the top players in the RMAC this season. Beskind ranks in the top five in the league when it comes to assists and leads the league in steals, while Thistlewood is inside the top 10 in both scoring and rebounding. The two are responsible for close to 33% of the Orediggers' scoring output this season and are also the top rebounders on the team, pulling down 221 between them, nearly one-third of the team total, as well as the top two distributors on scoring plays with 116 assists.
 
SHARING THE ROCK
With just five games left before the postseason, Mines leads the RMAC with 424 assists on the season, which comes out to an average of 18.4 per night and ranks sixth nationally in Division II. Stanford transfer Sam Beskind has been at the head of that effort of distributing the ball on offense, as he is fourth in the RMAC and also among the top 30 in DII with 86 dimes. Adam Thistlewood is second on the club with 53 assists and is followed by Reagan Koch (49), Brendan Sullivan (42) and Cade Mankle (41). Of the 13 players who have seen game action this season for the Orediggers, 12 have recorded an assist and 11 have 16 or more.

WE'LL TAKE THAT
Mines' success on offense this season has been a big result of what they have been able to do on defense, especially when it comes to steals. The Orediggers are second in the RMAC with 171 swipes, trailing only Colorado Mesa, which breaks down to an eye-popping 7.4 per game. Again, Beskind leads the team and is fourth in the RMAC with 35, while redshirt freshman Reagan Koch has come off the bench to tally 26, including a career-high five against Western Colorado back on December 18. Brendan Sullivan also now has 26 on the season while Adam Thistlewood has 17.
 
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
The Orediggers rank fifth in all of NCAA D-II this season when it comes to assist/turnover ratio at 1.7. 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 1.3; Chadron State is second at 1.29 followed by Black Hills State and Fort Lewis at 1.20 and 1.10. Through 23 games, the Orediggers have 424 assists and have turned the ball over just 255 times. That's usually a recipe that will lead to a great deal of success on the court.
 
SCOUTING COLORADO MESA
The Mavericks saw a 10-game winning streak end at Westminster on January 24 but have rebounded by winning their last three games by an average of 26.7 PPG and scoring at least 82 points in each game. Last weekend, they knocked off Regis 88-64 and UCCS 83-63 to complete a 3-3 home stand. Blaise Threatt leads CMU in scoring at 18.4 PPG and is shooting .538 from the floor and has a team-high 38 three-pointers in addition to 75 assists and 39 steals, both of which also lead the team. Trevor Baskin follows at 14.0 PPG and is the leading rebounder for the Mavericks at 7.4 per game and is shooting .585 from the floor with 28 blocks, the best mark on the team second only to Ezichi Kalu of New Mexico Highlands in the RMAC. Reece Johnson enters the weeks scoring at a clip of 8.1 PPG and has 29 three-pointers this season along with 32 assists and 17 steals, while Mac Riniker (7.9 PPG) is tied for the RMAC lead with 41 steals and also has 19 blocks. Issac Jessup is also one to watch for CMU, splitting time as a starter and reserve to lead CMU in three-point percentage at .515, connecting on 35 treys this season while also collecting 26 assists and 20 steals. As a team, Colorado Mesa is averaging 76.0 PPG and is +11.3 in scoring margin while shooting .498/.397/.726 on the season. They average 34.2 rebounds per game and are +6.7 in rebounding margin and turn the ball over just about 15 times per game while collecting 8.6 steals and 3.0 blocks per game.
 
CHECKING THE STAT SHEET
Adam Thistlewood leads a group of four Orediggers in double figure scoring for the season while a fifth isn't too far off from joining the party. The Golden native checks in at 15.4 PPG and also leads Mines in rebounding at seven per night and is shooting .491 from the floor with 46 assists, 14 steals and eight blocks. Brendan Sullivan follows at 12.6 PPG and is shooting an even .500 from the field and .427 from deep with 76 boards, 37 assists, 21 steals and 11 blocks while Ben Boone is scoring at an 11.5 clip and also shooting .500 for the season and is .460 from three-point land. Sam Beskind rounds out the group at 10.8 PPG and is one of the league leaders in both assists and steals with 82 and 35 respectively and is shooting .543 from the floor. Kai Barr is coming off his second 20-point night of the season and is now up to 9.0 PPG and is second in rebounding at 4.7 per night while leading the team with 22 rejections, good for fifth in the RMAC this season. Riley Schroeder is scoring better than eight points per night and went for double-digits twice last weekend while Cade Mankle and Reagan Koch are both scoring better than five points per night and have combined for 84 assists and 28 steals.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Mines took the first meeting the season between the teams 74-62 in Grand Junction behind 17-point games from Sam Beskind and Adam Thistlewood to improve to 32-53 all-time in the series. At home against the Mavericks, Mines is 17-22 and won the last meeting in Golden a season ago 68-58. Dating back to 2015, the Orediggers have won four of the last six games in Golden.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Just four games remain in the regular season after this weekend and the Orediggers will split the remaining balance between the home and the road, as they'll take on Colorado Christian and Chadron State next weekend at Lockridge Arena, with a start time of 7 p.m. on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday. The February 18 date against the Eagles will be Senior Day for the Orediggers and also be broadcasted on KWGN Colorado's Own Channel 2.
 
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.