#7/6 Mines (14-2, 8-0) vs. #13/11 MSU Denver (14-3, 8-1) – Thursday, 7:30 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
#7/6 Mines (12-2, 6-0) at Regis (9-8, 7-2) – Saturday, 3 p.m. – Denver, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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BIG WEEK AWAITS
This week could go a long way in deciding who comes out on top of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference this season as the #7/6 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team will be keeping local against two of the other top teams in the league starting Thursday with a Top 25 showdown against #13/11 MSU Denver before a short trip down I-70 to Federal Boulevard to take on Regis Saturday.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
This week'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.
 
TICKETS PLEASE!
Mines Athletics has launched a new online ticketing platform in collaboration with Vivenu. The new portal will be a one-stop hub for fans to purchase tickets and get game day information, while also making it easier to find and get seats to all Oredigger athletic events. Click here to learn more about the ticketing system, how it works and to purchase your tickets for this weekend's games and beyond. Mines faculty, staff, and students still get free general admission tickets to every home sporting event (one per student and up to four per employee). Tapping BlasterCards at the gate will no longer work and tickets must be reserved in advance. Fans can still purchase tickets on game day at the venue with cash or credit cards just as before. Friends and family on the pass list and All-Sport Pass and RMAC Pass holders should continue to go to the ticket office as normal to obtain their complimentary tickets. No advance purchase is required.

 
AT THE HELM
The 2024-25 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 459-229 overall and a mark of 325-155 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 this week's Top 25 polls, Mines moved up to #7 in the NABC Division II Coaches Poll and retained their #6 standing in the D2 CSC Media Poll. Four of the five teams in last week's coaches' poll top five remained there this week with minor changes to the order while a new team took their place alongside them. Washburn, Daemen and Nova Southeastern remained 1-2-3 with the Ichabods earning 15 of 16 first place ballots. Alabama Huntsville moved up one spot to fourth following a loss by Ferris State while Findlay jumped up four spots from ninth. MSU Denver was on the move as well, moving up six spots to 13th. There was significant movement up and down as well as in and out of the poll this week with a total of 24 teams seeing some kind of movement while the top three remained the same.
 
In the media poll, the top five teams remained the same with a slight variation in the order. Washburn and Nova Southeastern went 1-2 while Daemen and Ferris State exchanged third and fourth with Alabama Huntsville remaining fifth. MSU Denver soared up to #11 gaining six spots from last week .

WEEK 9 RECAP
The current winning streak for Mines hit six at Lockridge Arena last weekend with a 96-75 win over CSU Pueblo followed by an 85-64 win over Colorado Christian.
 
Thursday night against the ThunderWolves, five players finished in double digits for Mines with Cade Mankle leading the way with 16. Alex Romack, Markus Pastorcic-Straun and Adam Krasovec all turned in big nights off the bench with 15, 14 and 14 respectively while Riley Schroeder scored most of his 13 early and helped set the tone to open the night.
 
Saturday Majok Deng headlined the show for those who braved the cold and snow of the recent polar vortex to watch the Orediggers. The second-year man from Pepperdine went for 18 followed by Mankle and Pastorcic-Straun with 17 and 15 as 11 different players scored in the winning effort while the defense was absolutely clinical for more than 10 minutes in the second half to fuel a 26-5 run that blew open a game which to that point had seen nine ties and five lead changes.
 
FOR ALL TIME
Currently in his 24th 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. On January 20 of last season, 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. Just weeks later in February, 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.
 
RMAC RESET
As alluded to in the lede of today's preview, this week could go a long way in shaping the RMAC title picture. Mines, MSU Denver and Regis are the top three teams in the conference this week and have been for most of the season. The Roadrunners and Rangers tangled Tuesday night in a tightly-contested affair that saw Regis come away with a 78-76 win to deal the Roadrunners their first league setback. With the result, the Orediggers now stand atop the conference at 8-0 followed by MSUD at 8-1 and RU at 7-2. Fort Lewis and Black Hills State are tied for fourth at 5-3 while sixth through eighth are occupied by the 4-4 teams of UCCS, Colorado Mesa and Western Colorado. Westminster, CSU Pueblo and Chadron State are all 3-5 followed by 2-6 Adams State while South Dakota Mines and New Mexico Highlands are each 1-7.
 
BENCH MOB    
Mines' depth has been a massive part of their success this season with their bench being just as good, if not better than, the starting five at times. After Thursday's win over the ThunderWolves, the Orediggers' reserves have now combined to record five 50-point performances this season and tied their season-high with 55 points in the win. When looking at the national rankings, Mines is third nationally in bench points and trails only Coker and Daemen. With the likes of Markus Pastorcic-Straun and Alex Romack leading the way along with the re-emergence of Adam Krasovec in his return to play, the nine players that come off the bench on a nightly basis will continue to play a pivotal role as the race for the RMAC championship heats up over the final weeks of the season.
 
LEAGUE LEADERS
Surveying the RMAC leaderboards, several Orediggers find themselves at or near the top of the league in several categories. Majok Deng enters the week ninth in scoring at 15.2 PPG and is the best free throw shooter in the RMAC at .899 (62-69). Juani Dassie and Riley Schroeder are second and fourth in three-point percentage at .468 and .424 respectively while Grant Pressly is second in assists and leads the RMAC in assist/turnover ratio at 4.0, the only player above 2.3 in the conference. Jonathan Moore is tied for seventh in blocked shots with 14 while Markus Pastorcic-Straun is just outside the top 10 in steals.
 
As a team, Mines is second in the RMAC in scoring at 85.1 PPG, trailing only Adams State and is one of just four teams scoring more than 80 per game and lead the league in scoring defense at 67.6 PPG. The Orediggers are third in the league with a .505 field goal percentage, tied for first with a .390 three-point percentage and stands alone in first with 164 three-pointers made while ranking sixth and third respectively in opponent field goal and opponent three-point percentage. Mines is six in the RMAC in rebounding average and seventh in total rebounds while showcasing their ability on the offensive glass, ranking fourth in offensive boards. They also lead the league in assist/turnover ratio at 1.57 thanks to a league-leading 318 assists against 203 turnovers. The only team with 270 or more assists in the RMAC so far this season, the Orediggers are also tied for fifth in blocked shots with 51 and are fourth in steals with 128.
 
NATIONAL STATS
The Orediggers can find themselves in several places among the national statistical leaders as team this season. Currently, Mines is sixth in the country in assists per game at 19.8 and third nationally in bench points at 40.9 PPG. Their 17.4 scoring margin is good for ninth and their 10.3 three-pointers per game is enough for 18th. The Orediggers are also 12th in assist/turnover ratio at 1.57 as well as field goal percentage at 50.5% and three-point percentage at 39.0%.
 
MILESTONE MEN
Majok Deng is now on the plus side of 100 three-point field goals in his collegiate career with 122 as well as 222 rebounds and is up to 877 points, with 810 of those coming at Mines. Reagan Koch needs just one more point to reach 400 in his career and 21 rebounds from 200 and is up to 61 steals. Adam Krasovec went over 250 field goals and hit 100 assists last weekend at home while need one more rebound for 350 and five blocks for 50.
 
Cade Mankle eclipsed 500 points in his Mines tenure a few weeks back and has 183 rebounds and 177 assists along with 213 field goals and 45 steals. Grant Pressly is on the plus side of 100 career points and is rolled through the 150 assist mark for his career and while setting his sights on 200 rebounds and 50 steals, needing just four more to attain that mark. Riley Schroeder blew past the 800-point mark in his career recently as well and depending how the rest of the season goes, 1,000 may still be in a possibility. He also carries 367 rebounds, 143 assists, 58 blocks and 55 steals.
 
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
Majok Deng snapped out of a mini-funk by his standards last time out as he returned to double figure scoring to bump his average slightly to 15.2 PPG while shooting .447/.358/.899 and is third on the team in rebounding at 4.0 RPG in addition to 12 steals and 11 assists. Riley Schroeder enters the week at 11.9 PPG on .523/.424/.750 shooting with 27 assists, eight blocks and seven steals while Markus Pastorcic-Straun is up to 10.5 PPG off the bench on .529 shooting and is .778 at the stripe with 49 assists and a team-best 22 steals.
 
Alex Romack is scoring 9.9 per night off the bench on .633 shooting with 4.3 RPG and has 19 dimes, 13 steals and 10 rejections. Juani Dassie snapped a three-game scoreless streak Saturday and is now scoring at an 8.6 clip off the bench behind .516 shooting overall and .468 from three with nine steals and six blocks. Cade Mankle's big weekend raised his average to 7.7 PPG as he's shooting .472 from the floor and is third on the team in assists with 46 along with 16 steals.
 
Reagan Koch is scoring 6.7 per night on .455 shooting including .417 from long range with 20 of his 35 field goals coming from behind the arc along with 29 dimes and 13 steals. Adam Krasovec is scoring 5.5 per night and shooting better than .470 from the floor and from three-point land. Jonathan Moore continues to lead the team with 14 blocks while scoring 4.9 per night with 26 dimes as a .635 shooter. Caleb Clark hit some timely three-pointers over the weekend as now 13 of his 19 makes this season have been from deep. Grant Pressly's 64 assists lead the team by a wide margin and remains one of the top marks in the RMAC while he has 17 steals and is a .556 shooter when he chooses his spots to score.
 
As a team, Mines averages 85.1 PPG and is +17.4 in scoring margin. They are shooting .505/.390/.760 while opponents are shooting .431/.313/.693. They average 35.7 rebounds per night and are +5.4 in rebounding margin while dishing out just shy of 20 assists per game. They turn the ball over just 12.7 times per contest and are +1.4 in TO margin behind an even eight steals and 3.2 blocks per game defensively.
 
SCOUTING MSU DENVER
MSU Denver saw their five-game winning streak come to an end Tuesday night in a prime time thriller against Regis by a tally of 78-76 despite a quartet of double figure performances highlighted by a 20-ball from Division I transfer Logan Threatt.
 
Brayden Carter, a well-traveled RMAC veteran who played two seasons at Regis before joining Fort Lewis in 2023-24, returned to his native Denver this season and leads the team in scoring at 15.1 PPG and is second in rebounding at 7.1 RPG while shooting .658 with 18 assists, 11 steals and five blocks. Caleb McGill is second in scoring at 14.9 PPG and top in rebounding at 7.8 RPG as well as blocks with 21 at a .572/.479/.820 shooter with 24 assists and 13 steals.
 
Jamil Safieddine, who most recently played at South Dakota is another transfer and one who is attending his fourth college since 2019, is next at 9.9 PPG off the bench and is shooting .418/.371/.846 with 42 assists, good for second on the team. Quave Propst-Allison and the aforementioned Threatt are right behind him at 9.8 and 9.7 PPG each with the former shooting .509 from the floor, 40 assists and 11 steals with the latter shooting .500 from the floor and .476 from three with 36 assists.
 
Sufyan Elkannan, also on his fourth school since 2019, averages 8.3 PPG off the bench and leads the Roadrunners in three-point field goals with 32 while KJ Garrett's 47 assists lead the team, averaging over 4.7 per game while scoring 5.7 per night. Ryan Maslow (5.7 PPG) is also one to watch as a .439 shooter with 33 assists and 12 steals along with Caden Holmes (.316 FG%, 7 BLK).
 
For the season, MSU Denver averages 80.2 PPG and is +11.2 in scoring margin. They shoot .506/.382/.775 as a unit while opponents shoot .422/.342/.695. They are +7.0 in rebounding margin at 36.9 and average 15.1 assists per night. One area of deficiency is turnovers where the Roadrunners are -1.7 in TO margin, averaging 12.9 turnovers per game. Defensively, they average 5.2 steals and 2.6 blocks per game.
 
SCOUTING REGIS
Regis dealt MSU Denver their first RMAC loss of the season Tuesday with a 78-76 thriller in downtown with four players going for double digits with 27 from Chase Mayo Harmon leading the effort. The Rangers have now won four straight games heading into Saturday's game with the Orediggers.
 
Mayo Harmon leads RU in scoring at 16.4 PPG as well as field goals (88) and three-point field goals (41) and is shooting .447/.390/.847 with 36 assists and 15 steals. Jalen Brown has been a spark off the bench, scoring nearly 13 PPG on shooting .472 with 3.5 RPG along with 28 assists and 14 steals. Eddy Egun is the third of three Rangers with a double figure scoring average at 11.8 PPG on .574/.444/.792 shooting and leads the team with 21 steaks and is second with nine blocks.
 
Kobe Sanders isn't too far behind that group at 9.7 PPG with better than half of his 57 field goals this season being the three-point variety and leads the RMAC in assists with 74. Trey Bryant averages 8.7 per game splitting time as a starter and a reserve and is a .510 shooter who leads the team with 11 blocks to go with 18 steals on the defensive end. Chi Achara scores 5.3 per night on .491 shooting with a team-best 4.3 RPG, while Jalen Page (2.6 PPG, .472 FG%) has eight blocks and six steals as another big piece on defense.
 
The Rangers average 74.9 PPG and are -1.9 in scoring margin while posting a line of .472/.361/.749. Opponents have shot .467/.365/.717 this season. They are -1.8 in rebounding margin at 31.2 per night and average 13.9 assists per game. RU finds themselves -1.6 in turnover margin, giving the ball away 12.9 times per game while defensively they average 6.0 steals and close to three blocks per night.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Orediggers are 49-36 all-time against the Roadrunners and enter Thursday winners of the last 11 meetings. Mines swept both matchups last year, posting a 78-67 win on the road in December before fending off MSU Denver in a hard-fought 67-65 contest in January at Lockridge Arena. The Orediggers are 28-17 when playing at home in the series and have won the last four games in Golden, with their last loss in the series coming in the 2017 season at The Lock by a tally of 67-60.
 
Following a sweep of all three matchups last season, Mines improved to 71-70 all-time against Regis and 42-30 when playing at home. The Orediggers took both regular season matches last year, first a 93-79 non-conference decision in Denver before posting a 79-61 win in Golden just two weeks later. In the RMAC Tournament quarterfinals, it was a 90-71 win in early March. Mines is 8-2 over the last 10 meetings with four straight wins, with their last two losses both coming in the 2021-22 season when the Rangers swept both meetings by scores of 66-62 in Golden and 66-64 in Denver.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Mines returns to Lockridge Arena for a full weekend of action to close out January and start February as they take on Fort Lewis Thursday night January 30 before hosting Adams State in the second of two meetings this season Saturday February 1.

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.