#14/21 Mines (3-1) vs. UCCS (4-1) – Tuesday, 7 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

---

 
BACK TO WORK
After being idle since their road trip to Texas more than a week ago, the #14/21 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team returns to action Tuesday night for one final non-conference contest ahead of their RMAC opener next weekend as they welcome UCCS to Lockridge Arena at 7 p.m.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Tuesday's game will be streamed free of charge on the RMAC Network. Free live stats will also be available. Links for video and stats can be found on minesathletics.com.
 
FAN INFORMATION
Fans are encouraged to utilize the parking garage on Maple Street or Lot D directly across from Lockridge Arena. Fans as are not allowed to park in the neighborhoods surrounding the Mines campus, as the City of Golden's street parking requires a permit seven days a week.
 
BLASTER'S BASKET
Admissions to Tuesday's game against UCCS will be free, but fans are encouraged to bring a donation item or consider a cash donation to Blaster's Basket. Blaster's Basket is the food pantry on campus that provides non-perishable food, toiletries and basic school supplies to Orediggers in need.
 
AT THE HELM
The 2024-24 season will be the 24th for the Orediggers under the guidance of head coach Pryor Orser. The winningest coach in the history of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Orser's record stands at 448-228 overall and a mark of 317-155 in league play. Under Orser, Mines has won five RMAC regular-season championships and two RMAC Tournament titles and qualified for 13 NCAA Tournaments including two Elite Eight trips. 
 
IN THE POLLS
The Orediggers were tabbed the preseason favorites to win the RMAC this season, earning 11 of 14 first place ballots and compiling 191 points. MSU Denver was picked to finish second followed by Regis, Black Hills State and Colorado Mesa.
 
In the latest Top 25 polls announced last week, the Orediggers remained in the Top 25 in both the NABC Coaches and D2CSC Media Polls at #14 and #21 respectively. The top five in the coaches poll doesn't look dramatically different although preseason #1 Minnesota State dropped out of the rankings entirely this week, allowing Nova Southeastern to ascend to #1 followed by West Texas A&M and MSU Moorhead who each advanced one position. California (Pa.) broke into the top five in fourth after gaining two places while Washburn jumped up five spots from 10th to fifth.
 
Around the RMAC, preseason ranked teams Colorado Mesa (#21) and Fort Lewis (#22) dropped out while MSU Denver surged into the rankings this week at #19 while CSU Pueblo received votes.
 
Meanwhile, in the media rankings, NSU, WTAMU and MSUM also appear in order as the top three followed by West Liberty at #4 and Cal State San Bernardino at #5. Meanwhile the Roadrunners and Skyhawks earned votes in the poll.

WEEK 2 RECAP
Mines got their first road tests of the new season out of the way back on November 15 and 16 as they headed to Texas for matchups with UT Tyler and UT Dallas. Against the Patriots, the Orediggers started the night strong and led by 12 at the intermission before the game devolved into a back-and-forth slugfest in the second half that saw UTT tie the score at 64 in the closing seconds of regulation to force overtime. In the extra frame, Texan Cade Mankle came up big, scoring five of 11 points by the Orediggers in the five-minute stanza to finish with a team-best 14 points on 6-11 shooting with four boards and three assists. He was joined in double figures by Majok Deng who just missed a double-double with 13 points and eight boards while Juani Dassie assed 11 big ones off the bench on 4-6 shooting including 3-4 from deep. Riley Schroeder made his season debut in the match and went 3-4 from long range in timely manner when the Orediggers needed it most while Reagan Koch also netted nine off the bench in a 75-71 win.
 
The following night against Division II newcomer UT Dallas, the Orediggers trailed for less than four minutes on their way to a 90-55 win in which they shot .517 from the floor and .467 from three-point range. Dassie led 13 different players in the scoring column in the game as he went for 13 off the bench on 4-6 shooting again and 3-5 from three with three steals while Schroeder added a dozen with five assists. Markus Pastorcic-Straun netted 11 on 4-7 shooting with a career-high six dimes along with three steals and two boards. Silas McCurnin also netted his first career points at the collegiate level, knocking down a three-pointer in the closing minutes.
 
FOR ALL TIME
Currently in his 23rd season leading the Orediggers, head coach Pryor Orser has seen a thing or two and is subsequently no stranger to milestone moments and record-setting success. Back on January 20 against UCCS, the legendary coach added another to his list of accomplishments, becoming the winningest coach in terms of conference wins in the history of the RMAC with 310 and counting. On Saturday, Orser broke another conference record, this time for the most overall wins by a head coach in league history with a 74-56 win over Chadron State, giving him 442 for his career to again pass the great Bob Hofman who made a mark on RMAC history at Fort Lewis and Western Colorado over his 24 seasons between the two institutions. With seemingly no plans to hang it up anytime soon and enjoying another successful season this year, Orser has the potential to set a record that could stand for just as long, if not longer, than the previous mark as another point on an already remarkable resume in a coaching career matched by only a few.
 
SPREADING IT OUT
13 different players have scored this season for the Orediggers as part of a new-look rotation that through the first four games has seen plenty of straight up line changes with five players subbing on and off at most opportunities. Of those 13 players 10 are scoring at least 4.3 PPG with an 11th, Grant Pressly, is just shy of 4.0 PPG but has 13 assists and three steals. Delving deeper, eight of the 10 players previously mentioned are scoring better than 6.0 PPG. As the season goes on, it will be interesting to see if Mines is able to sustain their balanced attack that has been on display in the early going or if more individuals will start to separate themselves from the crowd.
 
600 CLUB
After dropping 567 points in his debut season at Mines, Majok Deng now stands at 618 career points as an Oredigger with an average 16.7 PPG this season. Taking into account his time at Pepperdine, the Tucson native is up to 685 points in his collegiate career and is poised to hit 1,000 by season's end. Adam Krasovec is also now on the northside of 600 as he enters Tuesday with 615 points now as he looks to finish his career out strong as well.
 
MILESTONE WATCH     
Several other Orediggers on the cusp of hitting a few milestones across several statistical categories. Juani Dassie blew past the 200-point mark in his career while in Texas and is now up to 223 while Reagan Koch is two rebounds away from 150 while recording his 50th steal opening weekend. Adam Krasovec is up to 331 rebounds and 43 blocks in his four seasons at Mines, while Cade Mankle is up to 150 rebounds, 147 assists and 439 points in his three seasons. Riley Schroeder returned to play week two and surpassed the 700-point mark in his career, moving to 713, while also boasting 333 rebounds and 49 steals. Fellow big man Alex Romack also rolled through the 300-point mark on opening weekend and is now seven rebounds shy of 250 and 20 blocks from 50 in his young career.
 
GETTING THAT SILVER
Grant Pressly and Reagan Koch each completed their undergraduate degrees in May and collected their silver-plated diplomas as they walked across the stage and are back for more as both have begun graduate programs. Pressly, a fifth-year man out of Plano, Texas earned a Bachelor's degree in Business Engineering and Management Science while Koch needed just three years to graduate with a degree in in Mechanical Engineering. Both men are currently pursuing graduate degrees in Engineering and Technology Management.
 
CHECKING THE STATS
Juani Dassie is the leading man through four games in scoring as he's come off the bench to net 14.3 PPG and shoot .588/.560/1.000 with six steals and five assists. He's followed by Majok Deng who is scoring at a clip of 12.8 PPG while also leading the team with 5.5 RPG to go with five steals and two blocks. Riley Schroeder made his debut last weekend and averaged 10.5 PPG across two games as five of his eight field goals this season have been from downtown.
 
Markus Pastorcic-Straun is scoring 8.5 PPG on .414 shooting with a team-best seven steals and 13 assists while Alex Romack is scoring 7.5 per night on .579 shooting with 4.5 rebounds per night and three blocks. Reagan Koch is averaging 7.0 per game off the bench and is .818 from the stripe with five steals while Cade Mankle leads the team with 16 assists to go with five steals as he's averaging 6.0 PPG.
 
Adam Krasovec (6.5 PPG, .524 FG%), Jonathan Moore (4.3 PPG, 5 BLK) and Caleb Clark (4.3 PPG, .833 FG%) have all played a role as part of the Orediggers' second unit this season as well.
 
Through four games mines is scoring at a rate of 81.5 PPG and is +12.0 in scoring margin, shooting .473/.377/.736 while holding opponents to .425/.356/.761. They average 34.5 rebounds and 19.3 assists per game while only turning it over 13.0 times per game as they find themselves +3.3 in turnover margin. Defensively they average 9.8 steals and 3.0 blocks per game.
 
SCOUTING UCCS
The Mountain Lions are off to a hot start this season and have won their last four games following a 72-63 loss on opening day to Midwestern State. Most recently, UCCS nearly doubled up NCCAA opponent Barclay Saturday night in the Springs by a final of 104-55.
 
Currently five players are scoring 10 or more points per night, though two of those individuals made their season debuts on Saturday as part of five double-digit scorers in the 49-point win. Of the regulars doing the heavy lifting, William Becker leads the team in scoring at 14.0 PPG and is nearly averaging a double-double through five games with 9.4 rebounds per night to go with six assists, a team-high six blocks and four steals while shooting .707 from the floor and .857 at the line. Point guard Xavier Martinez is averaging 10.8 PPG and has 15 assists with seven steals while shooting .404 from the floor and .923 from the stripe while big man Jesse Iweze is averaging 10.3 PPG and 6.0 RPG off the bench with three blocks while shooting .419 on field goals and .737 on free throws.
 
Tre Lucia and Brady Jones each had big days against Barclay last time out, scoring 14 and 10 points off the bench respectively and are worth keeping an eye on to see if they factor into the Mountain Lions' rotation moving ahead this season.
 
Hannes Saar isn't too far behind the aforementioned five players for UCCS in scoring at 9.4 PPG on .533 shooting as he leads the team with 18 assists but is also tied for the team lead with nine turnovers. Santiago Ochoa is coming off a big day scoring the ball last time out and is now averaging 5.2 PPG with six assists, five steals and three blocks as he headlines the second unit. Jayden Washington (4.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG) and Jezza McKenzie (7.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG) have proven themselves adept at pulling down rebounds early in the season while Derek Prenger (8.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG) leads the team with seven three-point field goals and also has three blocks.
 
For the season, UCCS is averaging 78.4 PPG and is +11.4 in scoring margin. Despite a dreadful start shooting the ball from long range this season, they are still shooting .461/.248/.735 as a unit while opponents are shooting .384/.299/.667. They average 43.4 rebounds per game and are +8.6 in rebounding margin while also dishing out 13.4 assists per game. They are even in turnover margin, coughing the ball up 12.2 times per night while defensively registering 6.0 steals and 4.4 blocks per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Mines leads the all-time series 39-13 and sports an 18-5 mark at home against the Mountain Lions. Winners of the last three meetings, the Orediggers swept both meetings last season, taking a non-conference contest in Colorado Springs 66-64 in November before posting a 71-59 win in RMAC play in Golden in late January. January's game was the first contest in Golden between the teams since December of 2020, a product of scheduling arrangements and presets for league play from the RMAC office.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
RMAC play awaits the Orediggers after the Thanksgiving holiday next weekend as they'll hit the road for games against Adams State on Thursday December 5 and New Mexico Highlands Saturday December 7.

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.