#RV Mines (10-3, 5-1) at Regis (7-5, 4-3) – Thursday, 5 p.m.– Denver, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
#RV Mines (10-3, 5-1) vs. Colorado Christian (6-6, 2-4) – Saturday, 3 p.m.– Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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KEEPING IT LOCAL
Winners of their last six games going back to December 2, the Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team will be in action twice in the first week of the new year, first making the short trip down I-70 to Denver to close out non-conference play against Regis Thursday evening at 5 p.m. before resuming Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. from Lockridge Arena against another local opponent in Colorado Christian.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Coverage of this weekend's games will be available on the RMAC Network and have live stats available at minesathletics.com.
 
AT THE HELM
The 2023-24 season will be the 23rd for the Orediggers under the guidance of head coach Pryor Orser. Already the winningest coach in program history, he eclipsed the 400-win mark in November of last season and has a career record of 431-221 overall and a mark of 305-151 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, with both marks being second-most wins in conference history behind legendary Fort Lewis and Western Colorado head coach Bob Hofman, who recorded 309 conference wins and 443 overall wins during his time in the league while leading the Skyhawks and Mountaineers. 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. 
 
THE CAPTAINS
Second-year graduate transfer Sam Beskind and redshirt sophomore guard Cade Mankle will serve as captains for the Orediggers in 2023-24. Beskind burst onto the RMAC scene last year, averaging 9.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while also shooting .481/.338/.835 on the season and ranking second in the conference in total assists with 120 and leading the league in assist to turnover ratio at 2.2. Mankle split time between the starting five and the bench rotation in his first season of action last year, averaging 4.4 points and 1.6 assists per game while shooting .397/.310/.542 for the year.
 
IN THE POLLS
The first set of NABC rankings in 2024 were released on Tuesday and once more, Mines earned votes in this week's poll. Fort Lewis cracked the Top 10 for the first time this season, checking in at #10 while Colorado Mesa was back on the rise, moving up two spots to #14. In the latest D2CSC Media Poll released before the holidays, the Mavericks found themselves in 11th while the Skyhawks were ranked 24th.
 
Looking at the RMAC, Mines earned a trio of first place votes and was picked to finish third in the league season behind Colorado Mesa, who earned eight first place votes, and Fort Lewis who earned four. Black Hills State and Chadron State rounded out the rest of the top five.
 
WEEK 7 RECAP
The Orediggers showed no signs of rust in their return to action from the holiday season on Sunday, rolling to a 31-point win over Northern New Mexico by a final score of 93-62. Juani Dassie had the best day of his career in the win, going 6-6 from the floor and 4-4 from long range, scoring 16 points in the winning effort. Majok Deng also finished with 16 and went 5-10 from the floor and 4-7 from three while Cade Mankle added 12 on 5-8 shooting. Alex Romack went 4-4 from the floor and added two from the line for 10 points and five boards, Riley Schroeder pulled down seven rebounds of his own and Sam Beskind recorded his second 10-assist game of the season.
 
THEY CALL THAT A WINNING STREAK
After being dealt a tough 86-79 loss by preseason RMAC favorite and then #18 Colorado Mesa to start the month of December, the Orediggers have done nothing but find ways to win. Currently on a six-game winning streak, Mines has averaged 78.8 PPG and won by an average of 15.3 points during that span. They've proven they can win close games, picking up a 66-65 win at South Dakota Mines on December 8 and proven they can win by 20 or more as they did against Westminster on December 2 and Northern New Mexico on December 31. Last season's longest winning streak was nine games which happened on two occasions, and this year's club is now just three away from matching that while already tying the second longest streak of the season at six games. While the remaining schedule certainly isn't easy by any stretch, Mines will have a chance this weekend and possibly beyond to keep the train rolling.
 
DISHING OUT DIMES
If you've followed the Orediggers closely in recent years, you'll know that finding the extra pass on offense for a made field is a priority and subsequently, Mines is always near or at the top of the RMAC when it comes to assists. Following a season-high 28 in Sunday's win, Mines now leads the conference with 201 dimes on the season, while their average of 15.46 trails only Colorado Mesa (17.91) and Chadron State (16.50). Last season, the Orediggers lead the league with 564 assists while ranking inside the top five each of the last three seasons.
 
A BUSY, BUSY MAN
Graduate student Sam Beskind is an ambitious man and a bright one at that. After all, how many people can boast having two degrees from Stanford (B.S. & M.S. in Management Science & Engineering) already to their name while working on a second Master's degree while at Mines (Humanitarian Engineering/Advanced Energy Systems). The Tucson native is also doing all that in the classroom while also running the Orediggers offense from his point guard spot and is currently averaging 9.7 points per game and scored in double-digits in four of six contests this season while also averaging 5.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. And as if he weren't busy enough, he hosts his own podcast called "Built for Earth", which is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Started in January 2023, the series is already 23 episodes deep and features interviews with industry leaders in the renewable energy space and discuss wide-ranging solutions to help preserve the planet and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. If you need something new to listen to and maybe learn a thing or tune, be sure to tune in. We're sure Sam won't mind some new listeners when he checks his analytics.
 
MILESTONE WATCH
Sam Beskind has picked up this season right where he left off last year when it comes to dishing out assists. The RMAC runner up in that category behind former BHSU point guard Adam Moussa, the Stanford transfer is second the league with 61 assists and is averaging 4.7 per night, turning in his second 10-assist game of the season on New Year's Eve against Northern New Mexico. In parts of two seasons so far in Golden, he's racked up 181 assists and including his time at Stanford, has 190 dimes in his career. Depending on what he does the rest of the season, Beskind could pencil his name into the all-time assists list, eyeing Russ Pulling (1985-89) in 12th place with 248.
 
LOCKDOWN DEFENSE
As is no surprise when it comes to Pryor Orser coached teams, defense plays a big part in the success of the team and how the year will go. 13 games into the season, Mines leads the RMAC in scoring defense at 66.1 PPG and is just one of two teams in the league holding opponents under 70 per night with Fort Lewis (68.1). The Orediggers are also limiting teams to a .417 shooting percentage and a .316 three-point percentage, both of which rank in the top five in the RMAC. When it comes to rebounding, Mines leads the RMAC with 482 for an average of 37.1 RPG and have held opposing clubs to just 389 on the season, an average of 29.9 per game. Additionally, Mines is now tied for the RMAC lead in blocked with 40, averaging 3.08 per game and has an assist to turnover ratio of 1.18, trailing only Chadron State.
 
STANDINGS RESET
With RMAC play resuming this weekend, it's worth taking a look at the latest conference standings as all 15 teams look to jockey for one of the eight spots in the 2024 RMAC Men's Basketball Tournament in March. Fort Lewis and Colorado Mesa lead the way at 5-0 in league play with Mines hot their heels along with Chadron State at 5-1. Black Hills State is in fifth with a 3-2 record in conference while Regis took over sole possession of sixth with their win over UCCS Tuesday. Currently, the final two spots in the field are held by New Mexico Highlands and South Dakota Mines, both of which are 3-3 in the RMAC. Just on the outside looking in right now are MSU Denver and CSU Pueblo at 2-3, following by Colorado Christian at 2-4. Western Colorado, Adams State, UCCS and Westminster take the final four spots in the standings, posting a combined league record of 3-19 between them. This is by no means an indication of where everyone in the league might finish, but rest assured the final nine weeks of the regular season are sure to be exciting.
 
LOOKING AT THE STATS
Running the numbers coming into this week, Majok Deng remains the Orediggers' leading scorer at 15.1 PPG and is shooting .439/.429/.800 on the season while averaging 3.6 RPG. He's tied for the team lead in made field goals with 61 and his 30 three-pointers are double Cade Manke, who is scoring at a rate of 13.3 per night, going .550 from the floor and .455 from downtown while dishing out 32 assists and pulling down 40 boards. Riley Schroeder follows at 9.8 PPG and leads the team in blocks with 12 while his eight steals are tied for second.
 
Sam Beskind continues to remain one of the elite ball distributors in the RMAC, leading the conference with 61 dimes and scoring 8.1 PPG while shooting .451 with six blocks and six steals. Alex Romack has been one of the best rebounders in the league, as he's now up to 104 on the season to rank near the top at a rate of 8.0 per night to go with 10 blocks, eight steals and a .661 shooting percentage. Juani Dassie has been finding his stroke of late and is now shooting .575 from the floor and .515 from downtown, connecting on 17 treys this season and is now averaging 6.5 PPG. Markus Pastorcic-Straun has been a jolt off the bench, leading the team with 12 steals and dishing out 17 assists while scoring 5.9 PPG, while Grant Pressly is nearing 20 assists on the season off the bench.
 
For the year, Mines is scoring 73.7 PPG and finds themselves +7.6 in scoring margin while shooting .482/.360/.673. They average 37.1 rebounds per night and are +7.2 in rebounding margin and dish out 15.5 assists per game while averaging 13.1 turnovers, 5.5 steals and 3.1 blocks per game. Opponents are scoring 66.1 PPG and shooting .417/.316/.773 while averaging 29.9 rebounds, 9.9 assists, 10.7 turnovers, 6.4 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while maintaining a edge in turnover margin by almost 2.5.
 
SCOUTING REGIS
Regis resumed action Tuesday night against UCCS in a midweek RMAC showdown, posting a convincing 88-62 win over the Mountain Lions behind 21 points off the bench from Tarig Eisa. Leading scorer Chase Mayo Harmon went for 11 in the game and is averaging 15.3 PPG and is the lone Ranger scoring better than 10.0 PPG, shooting .417/.411/.893 on the season with a team-best 23 three-pointers along with 25 assists and 12 steals. Ty Cox follows at 9.5 PPG and is shooting .448 on the season and has 13 steals while leading the team in rebounding at 5.3 per game.
 
Eddy Egun comes into play Thursday night 8.8 PPG and is shooting .553 and has been one of the most turnover-prone players for RU, coughing it up 27 times in 12 games. Circling around back to Eisa, he has been a true sixth-man this season, coming off the bench in every game and averaging 8.6 PPG and shooting .606 along with .440 from downtown while leading the club with 15 blocks to rank among the RMAC leaders in addition to being second on the team with 15 steals. Speaking of steals, CJ Reed leads Regis with 22 and also has 23 assists while scoring 6.4 PPG with Trey Bryant has a team-high 31 assists and 13 steals while shooting .424 for 5.7 PPG.
 
As a unit, RU is averaging 73.6 PPG and is +2.3 in scoring margin, shooting .428/.336/.743 this year. They average 33.7 RPG but are still -1.7 in rebounding margin and also crank out 13.2 assists, 8.9 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while turning it over 13.8 times per night, leading to a +2.5 turnover margin. Opponents average 71.3 PPG and shoot .464/.335/.669 with 35.4 rebounds, 13.2 assists, 16.3 turnovers, 5.9 steals and 2.6 blocks per game.
 
SCOUTING COLORADO CHRISTIAN
The Cougars, much like the Orediggers, got a chance to shake the rust off coming back from the break against Northern New Mexico, picking up an 85-64 win but having their hands full at times with Eagles, trailing at one point before pulling back out to a comfortable lead in the second half and ending the game with three three-pointers to push the final margin to 21. Prior to the win over NNMC, CCU dropped three of their last four games to close out 2023, losing on the road to New Mexico Highlands (72-63), CSU Pueblo (73-70) and Chadron State (80-73) while picking up a home win over Western Colorado (63-58). Entering play this weekend, the Cougars are yet to win a game away from home in four tries.
 
Point Guard Noah Kon in his second year in Lakewood after transferring from Northern Illinois leads the team in scoring at 17.7 PPG, field goals made (68) and field goals percentage (.519), three-point percentage (.475) and assists (33). Grad transfer Brendan Patrick has come off the bench in 10 games this season and is averaging 10.7 PPG and shooting .538/.385/.833 and is one of three players along with Kon and Bradley Land with 10 steals on the season. Land is also averaging 9.8 PPG and is shooting .588 from the field and leads the team in rebounding at 5.4 per game and has seven blocks, good for second on the team.
 
Schafer Reichart's 19 steals lead the team while CJ Barnes' 11 blocks lead the team. Nic Zeil is scoring 8.4 PPG and is the CCU leader in three-point field goals with 20 on the season, just one ahead of Kon while he and Shaylen Woodberry are tied for second on the team with 11 steals.
 
On the season, CCU is averaging 78.4 PPG and shooting .472/.352/.691. They average 34.2 rebounds per game and are +2.0 in rebounding margin while averaging 13 assists, 15.3 turnovers, 8.0 steals and 2.8 blocks per game. Opponents meanwhile score 77.6 PPG and shoot .468/.374/.713 with 32.2 rebounds, 14.3 assists, 15.5 turnovers, 7.7 steals and 1.8 blocks per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY
In the lone meeting between the teams last season, Mines knocked off Regis 93-61 on the road to inch closer to the .500 mark all-time in the series, trailing now 68-70 while also improving their mark on the road to 26-38. The win snapped a two-game skid in the series as Mines dropped both meetings in the 2021-22 season and looking at the last 10 games going back to 2017, the Orediggers are 6-4 and 4-1 when playing the Rangers away from home. Against Colorado Christian, Mines has won 16 in a row over the Cougars and took both games last season by scores of 77-63 in Lakewood and 83-58 in Golden. The Orediggers are 19-7 when playing CCU at Lockridge Arena and haven't lost at home since their last loss in the series, an 84-76 decision back on March 2, 2013.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Following this week's games, Mines will be back on the road next week when they first head south, then west to take on CSU Pueblo Friday night January 12 before squaring off with New Mexico Highlands on January 13.

Fans can keep up with Mines men's basketball on X and Instagram at @minesmbb. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, X and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.