#14/17 (3) Mines (26-5, 18-4 RMAC) vs. #21/20 (6) Black Hills State (25-5, 18-4 RMAC) – Saturday, 12 p.m. CT – First United Bank Center – Canyon, Texas [Live Stats] [Tickets] [LSC Digital Network] [Tournament Central]
South Central Regional Semifinals – Sunday, 5 p.m. CT – Canyon, Texas [Live Stats] [Tickets] [LSC Digital Network] [Tournament Central]
South Central Regional Championship – Tuesday, 7 p.m. CT  – Canyon, Texas [Live Stats] [Tickets] [LSC Digital Network] [Tournament Central]

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THE BIG DANCE
The 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship gets underway this weekend for the #14/17 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team as they'll travel to Canyon, Texas for the South Central Regional and take on a familiar foe in #21/20 Black Hills State Saturday afternoon in the first game of the weekend at 12 p.m. CT from the First United Bank Center.
 
FAN INFORMATION
Fans are reminded that there is no passlist for the postseason. Tickets can be purchased online in advance as well as at the door on the day of competition. Saturday's schedule will be split into two sessions with fans being asked to clear the venue following Session I then re-enter with their Session II ticket. Sideline Seat Session passes are $20, Reserved Chairback Session passes are $10, General Admission Session passes are $5, Children's General Admission passes for those between the ages of 3-17 are $4. Any Mines students who plan to attend will be admitted free of charge with their Blaster Card.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
All games and postgame press conferences this weekend will be available free of charge on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network free and live stats will be linked at minesathletics.com.
 
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 421-217 and 300-150 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 12 NCAA Tournaments including two Elite Eight trips. 
 
RECENT TOURNAMENT HISTORY
After missing the NCAA Tournament last season, Mines is back in the big show this year. The last time the Orediggers were in the national tournament in the 2020-21 season, it turned out pretty well. Mines hosted the West Regional and defeated Biola and Northwest Nazarene 83-52 and 84-52 to advance to the Elite Eight against Lincoln Memorial, who ultimately ended that postseason run winning 90-76.
 
THE BRACKET
The 2023 NCAA South Central Region Men's Basketball Tournament is an eight-team, single-elimination bracket. West Texas A&M earned hosting rights as the top-seeded team. The top-seeded Buffs will play eighth-seeded Texas A&M-Kingsville at 5 p.m. CT with fourth-seeded Angelo State and fifth-seeded Colorado Mesa will wrap up opening round action at 7:30 p.m. CT. The winners of those two games will play in the second semifinal Sunday at 7:30 p.m. CT, with the regional title game slated for 7 p.m. CT on Tuesday.
 
IN THE POLLS
The latest NABC Coaches Poll for Division II were released late last Tuesday afternoon and as NCAA Tournament play gets underway, the Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team maintained Top 15 status in the rankings, dropping one spot to #14 in the latest polls.
 
As for the other RMAC teams in the Top 25, FLC rose to seventh this week while Colorado Mesa and Black Hills dropped to #20 and #21. The top three spots remained unchanged, as Nova Southeastern, Northwest Missouri State and Indiana (Pa.) all won over the weekend, while Point Loma and West Liberty broke into the top five, moving up from sixth and eighth respectively.
 
The latest D2SIDA Media Poll was also released on Tuesday and saw Mines remain in the Top 25, rising to #17 from #25 last week. FLC broke back in to the top five in fifth while BHSU fell from 12th to t20th, joining CMU who dropped from #15. Like the NABC poll, NSU, IUP, NWMSU and PLNU remained in the top four spots, while the Skyhawks moved into fifth after UNC Pembrooke suffered a loss in their conference tournament to drop for fifth all the way to 10th.
 
A LOOK BACK
Mines took down top-seeded Colorado Mesa last Friday 64-53 to advance to the RMAC Tournament title game behind big nights from several players, as Sam Beskind and Adam Thistlewood each went for 14 while Brendan Sullivan went for a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards and Ben Boone came off the bench for 11 in a game that saw both sides struggle to find anything going on offense multiple times over the evening. In Saturday night's title game, Mines took on Fort Lewis and came oh so close to overcoming a shooting slump in the first half, falling to the Skyhawks 82-76 despite a season-high 26 points from Thistlewood and 17 from Sullivan as the Orediggers were handicapped from the opening minutes by foul trouble all game long.
 
TEXAS ROOTS
A trio of Orediggers will be heading back to the Lone Star State this weekend for the NCAA Tournament. Redshirt junior Kai Barr hails from Pottsboro and is a graduate of Pottsboro High School, up near the Texas-Oklahoma border and is 355 miles from Canyon. Junior and Plano West graduate Grant Pressly calls Plano home, which is 377 miles from Canyon on the northside of the Dallas Metroplex. Redshirt freshman and Westlake alum Cade Mankle is a native of West Lake Hills, just northeast of San Antonio and 468 miles from Canyon.
 
AWARDS SEASON
The RMAC announced its major award winners and All-Conference teams last Wednesday, and saw three members of the Colorado School of Mines men's basketball program earn All-RMAC laurels, as Brendan Sullivan and Adam Thistlewood were both named First Team honorees while Sam Beskind earned Honorable Mention Honors.
 
Joel Scott of Black Hills State and Mac Riniker were named Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year respectively, while MSU Denver's Brayden Maldonado and New Mexico Highlands' TJ Sanchez were voted Co-Freshmen of the Year. CMU boss Mike DeGeorge was tabbed as Coach of the Year. Read more about the RMAC postseason honors here.
 
 The duo of Thistlewood and Sullivan were also recognized again on Friday morning, as both were named to the D2CCA All-South Central Region Second Team as Mines was just one of three teams to have multiple players selected. Read more about the All-Region teams here.
 
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 month and a half of the season, 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.
 
In his career, Sully now stands at 1,937 career points, passing Jim Swain (1974-78) for sixth all-time and last Tuesday passed Stephen Bahl (2001-05) for fourth all-time in field goals and currently sits at 690 and would become only the fourth player in program history to reach the 700 mark if he is able to do so this season. He's also moved past Kyle Pape (2005-09) and Andy Van Wyk (1994-98) in three-point field goals, now having connected 216 times from deep, the sixth-most in program history. Meanwhile, his 160 steals still rank fourth while his 279 assists are now eighth all time, having passed Brett Green (2009-13)'s 275 and is one back of Trevor Ritchie (2013-15) for seventh.
 
A BRAINY BUNCH
The College Sports Communicators (CSC) released the 2022-23 Academic All-District teams for basketball last 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.
 
TOP OF THE CLASS
In early February, 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.
 
LEAGUE LEADERS
With the regular season in the books, Mines found themselves atop or near the top of the RMAC in several team and individual stat categories. When it comes to scoring, the Orediggers are second in the league in offensive PPG at 82.7 and scoring margin at 13.9, while ranking third in defensive PPG at 68.9. When it comes to shooting the rock, Mines does so at a rate of 50.1% from the field and 37.2% from long range, good for third and fifth in the league while holding opponents to 41.9% and 32.6% respectively, both second in the conference. The Orediggers also rank second in rebounds with 1,048 and turnover margin at 1.93, while leading the league in assists with a whopping 506.
 
Individually, Adam Thistlewood is 10th in the RMAC in scoring (15.5), rebounding (6.5) and field goal percentage (50.5%). while Brendan Sullivan (13.3 PPG) and Kai Barr (5.2 RPG) are both just outside the top 20. Sullivan also ranks eighth in field goal percentage at 51.6% and fourth in three-point field goal percentage at 43.1%. Sam Beskind and Thistlewood are among the top 20 conference wide in assists with 103 and 65 respectively, while Barr is tied for fifth with 30 blocks and is joined in the top 20 by Sullivan and Riley Schroeder with 18 each. Beskind also is among the league leaders in steals, as his 37 are tied for eighth.
 
SCOUTING BLACK HILLS STATE
The Yellow Jackets enter the NCAA Tournament after dropping an 83-78 decision to Fort Lewis in the RMAC Tournament semifinals on March third. The Yellow Jackets are led by RMAC Player of the Year and First Team All-Conference selection Joel Scott along with Second Team All-RMAC honoree Matthew Ragsdale, but will be without another Second Teamer, as starting point guard Adam Moussa is no longer with the team and has entered the transfer portal. Moussa was the team's third leading scorer behind Scott and Ragsdale at 11.4 PPG and was second in rebounding at 6.1 PPG while his 127 assists on the season led the conference as he averaged 5.1 per night. Despite his absence, BHSU is still a dangerous team as Scott nearly averaged a double-double this season, scoring 23.0 PPG and pulling down 9.2 RPG and recording 31 blocks while shooting .618 from the floor, while Ragsdale scored at a clip of 13.1 PPG and connected on a team-leading 77 three-pointers at a rate of 42.1%. PJ Hayes is also a key part of the offense, averaging 10.9 PPG and shooting .512 from the floor and hitting from three 66 times and shooting .446 from deep while pulling down 4.6 boards per game. Sindou Cisse will likely inherit point guard duties for the Yellow Jackets and for the season, is averaging 7.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting .451 with 63 assists, now the high water mark on the team. For the season BHSU is shooting .505/.399/.739 and averaging 81.8 points per game and is +13.5 in scoring margin. They haul in more than 37 rebounds per game and are +3.8 in rebounding margin and average 14.5 assists per game, due in large part to Moussa. BHSU does turn the ball over 11.3 times per night but does manage 5.2 steals and 3.0 blocks per game on defense.
 
CHECKING THE STAT SHEET
Entering the NCAA Tournament, Mines is led by Golden native Adam Thistlewood in both scoring and rebounding at 16.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. The Colorado State graduate transfer has shot .515/.383/.728 this season and has 69 assists, 22 steals and 13 blocks to his ledger this season and leads the team with 169 made field goals. Brendan Sullivan dropped a double-double in the RMAC Tournament last week for his first of the season and is scoring 13.6 PPG and pulling down 4.0 RPG in his final season in a Mines uniform. He's shooting .519/.430/.829 this season with a team-leading 64 three-pointers and also has 61 assists, 32 steals and 19 blocks. Ben Boone has split time between the starting lineup and coming off the bench this season and is scoring 10.8 PPG and has shot .463 from the floor and has 42 assists. Sam Beskind's scoring average has dropped some over the last few weeks but the grad transfer from Stanford in his first season with Mines has been one of the RMAC leaders in assists with 117 and steals with 37 and is scoring 9.3 PPG and shooting .490 from the field. Kai Barr will look to get back on track after a tough outing in the RMAC title game, and enters the week averaging 8.8 PPG and is second on the team in rebounding at 4.8 per night. One of the leading shot blockers in the conference with 32, Barr has also shot .577 this season in addition to 29 assists and 10 steals. Adam Krasovec has emerged in recent weeks, having started all three games in the postseason and is scoring 6.7 PPG while Riley Schroeder continues to be one of the first men off the bench, scoring 7.3 PPG while also pulling down 3.7 boards per night and has 18 blocked shots on the year.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Yellow Jackets took both meetings in the regular season this year, winning in Golden in December 85-77 in overtime before securing an 85-66 win in Spearfish in February. Mines leads all-time in the series 15-11 but has dropped three straight games, with their last win coming in 2021 in the RMAC Tournament Semifinals.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Should Mines advance in the 2023 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship, they will play the winner of second-seeded Fort Lewis and seventh-seeded Lubbock Christian on Sunday March 15 at 5 p.m. CT. A loss will bring the Orediggers' season to an end.
 
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.