Mines (4-8, 2-2 RMAC) vs. MSU Billings (10-2, 1-0 GNAC) – Saturday, 8:15 p.m. PT – Las Vegas, Nev. [Live Stats] [FloCollege PPV]
Mines (4-8, 2-2 RMAC) at Rollins (6-4, 1-3 SSC) – Sunday, 6 p.m. PT – Las Vegas, Nev. [Live Stats] [FloCollege PPV]

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HOLIDAY HOOPIN'
Just two games remain in in the 2025 calendar year for the Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team as they look to gain some momentum heading into the holiday break with a return trip the DII Holiday Hoops Classic as the South Point Hotel Casino in Las Vegas against #RV MSU Billings and Rollins.

LIVE COVERAGE
This weekend's games are available to watch with a subscription to FloCollege. Free live stats will be available as well. Links for video and stats can be found on minesathletics.com.

AT THE HELM
The 2025-26 season will be the 25th 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 478-240 overall and a mark of 337-159 in league play. Under Orser, Mines has won six RMAC regular-season championships and three RMAC Tournament titles and qualified for 14 NCAA Tournaments including two Elite Eight trips. 
 
IN THE POLLS
Mines was picked to finish second in the RMAC this season in the preseason coaches poll announced in late October. Black Hills State was the favorite to win while the top five behind Mines included Colorado Mesa, UCCS and Fort Lewis.
 
The latest national poll saw significant shakeups with Washburn taking over the top spot followed by Daemen. Southern Nazarene moved up to #3 followed by West Texas A&M and Nova Southeastern to round out the top five.

WEEK 6 RECAP
After sweeping the first weekend of RMAC play, the Orediggers found themselves on the wrong end of a sweep last weekend as they fell to Westminster and Colorado Mesa 87-70 and 81-73. Against the Griffins, Mines found themselves unable to match a hot-shooting Griffins team while also committing 19 turnovers. Markus Pastorcic-Straun led three in double figures with 15 while Kellon Johnson was back in double figures with 12. Derek Lamb had a career night with 11 off the bench while Jonathan Moore just missed joining them with nine points. Against the Mavericks, Mines led early before falling behind late in the first half and nearly overcame a 20-point deficit in the second half but just ran out of time. Alex Romack recorded another double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds as one of five in double figures. Pastorcic-Straun came back with 15 once again while Moore added 13 and seven rebounds. Cooper Mroczek and Braydon Jacob each shined off the bench as well, scoring 12 and 10 points each.
 
HELLO THERE
A total of nine newcomers join the Orediggers this season as the defending champs look to reload for 2025-26. Get to know Jackson Brennan, Will Essman, Shelton Henton, Kellon Johnson, Kasen Lehman, Trent Minter, Cooper Mroczek, Ryan Pramenko and Gil Schayes here.
 
NEW-LOOK OREDIGGERS
With the departure of seven players from last year's championship-winning squad, the Orediggers will look significantly different heading into the 2025-26 season. Alex Romack and Jonathan Moore each started at different times throughout the season while Markus Pastorcic-Straun came off the bench to post a breakout season as a sophomore. That core trio is joined by returners Caleb Clark, Dom Girish, Silas McCurnin and Derek Lamb who will all look to take on larger roles this fall. A trio of young bucks who redshirted last fall are also eager to make an impact this season as Braydon Jacob, Matija Jordovic and Will Cordonnier will play a role in the rotation as well. Combined with the nine newcomers listed above, Mines isn't looking to rebuild this season, but rather reload for another run at the top of the RMAC.
 
RMAC ROUNDUP
With two weekends of league action in the books before the holiday break, Black Hills State and Fort Lewis lead the way in the RMAC with 4-0 records. A trio of 3-1 teams follow as UCCS along with upstarts Western Colorado and South Dakota Mines are off the strong starts as well. Colorado Mesa is 2-1 in sixth followed by a quartet of 2-2 teams from seventh to 10th in CSU Pueblo, Mines, MSU Denver and New Mexico Highlands. Westminster and Adams State are next at 1-3, while 0-3 Regis and 0-4 Colorado Christian and Chadron State are still looking for their first league wins.
 
LAST YEAR'S EVENT
Last season the Orediggers made their first trip to the DII Holiday Hoops Classic and squared off against West Liberty and Angelo State. Mines went 1-1 with a shootout loss to the Hilltoppers 92-87 before rebounding with a 71-54 win over the Rams. Against WLU, Markus Pastorcic-Straun led the way with 24 points off the bench on 10-11 shooting while Riley Schroeder went for 13. Juani Dassie also added 12 off the bench as nine different players scored in the game. Against ASU, Schroeder led the way with 20 points behind 6-7 shooting from three-point land. Pastorcic-Straun chipped in 14 off the bench while Cade Mankle added 11 behind 4-8 shooting as another nine players scored.
 
ORSER AND HIS ALMA MATER
For the second time in his career, MSU Billings Hall of Famer Pryor Orser will square off against his alma mater this weekend when the Orediggers and Yellowjackets clash in Las Vegas. For Orser, it is sure to be a matchup he's looking forward to in a season that also saw him return to Billings to open the season at the D2CCA Tipoff Classic at The Trailhead. a 2014 MSU Billings Hall of Fame inductee following his time as a player and coach. A student-athlete for MSUB from 1986-89, Orser helped lead the Yellow Jackets to the Division II Final Four in 1987. At the time of his induction, he held eight career records and is still the program record holder in career three-point percentage at 45.3%. Orser also can be found on the all-time lists for career free-throw percentage, single-season free throw percentage and career three-point field goals. He helped lead MSUD to more than 80 wins during his time on the court with two trips to the NCAA Tournament and earned a pair of All-GNAC honors, including Second Team All-Conference in 1988-89. After transitioning to a coaching role, Orser spent three seasons on staff at MSUB before his path ultimately led him to the head coaching position at Mines.
 
MR. DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Alex Romack's third season in Golden is off to the best start he's had in a Mines uniform. The Hoosier is scoring 12.4 PPG and hauling in 8.5 RPG and through 12 games, already have six double-doubles. That total matches how many he had in his debut season back in 2023-24 and he needs just two more to double his career total through his first two seasons of eight. While not necessarily the most imposing figure in the post at 6'6", Romack's athleticism and gritty mentality allow him to battle in the block and come up with rebounds at an astounding clip. In fact, two more rebounds will get him to 500 in his career which has so far covered 79 games, which comes out to an average of 6.3 per night.
 
BUTKOVICH INDUCTED TO MINES HOF
The first All-American in program history, Joe Butkovich was inducted earlier this fall to the Harry D. Campbell Mines Hall of Fame. A prolific scorer and rebounder in the post, Butkovich was named an all-American as a senior in 1971-72, the Orediggers' first national honoree. Upon the conclusion of his career, Butkovich was Mines' all-time rebounding leader with 891 and third on Mines' all-time scoring list with 1,641 points. More than 50 years after graduating, he still owns Mines' career and season per-game rebounding records of 11.7 and 12.3 (1970-71) rebounds per game, respectively, and he also set the record (since broken) for season scoring average with 24.9 points per game in 1971-72; today he ranks third in that category. That senior season saw him lead the RMAC in scoring and rank among the NCAA and NAIA national leaders in both scoring and rebounding, and his top individual games were a 37-point night against Western New Mexico (the Mines single-game record at the time) and 20 rebounds against UMKC. 

Butkovich earned his degree in engineering from Mines in 1972. His post-collegiate basketball career included tryouts with the Denver Nuggets and Chicago Bulls, and he played professionally in France and Belgium before returning stateside to work as an engineer, spending much of his career dismantling chemical weapons across the United States. 
 
CHECKING THE STATS
Three Orediggers enter the week scoring better than 12 PPG headlined by Markus Pastorcic-Straun at 21.3 PPG on .546/.516/.676 shooting while also averaging 4.6 RPG with a team-leading 46 assists and 11 steals. Jonathan Moore follows at 13.5 PPG and 5.5 RPG on .478/.462/.893 shooting with 11 dimes, eight blocks and five steals. Alex Romack round out the trio at 12.4 PPG and a team-leading 8.5 PPG on .491 shooting and is having a career year in rejections with 15 blocks.
 
Kellon Johnson is scoring 8.3 per night on .514 shooting and is second on the team with 14 three-pointers as well as steals with 12 while also dishing out 16 dimes. Shelton Henton is scoring 6.3 PPG on .393 shooting and is tied for the team lead in three-pointers with Pastorcic-Straun at 16 and also has double digit assists and steals with 15 and 10. Cooper Mroczek is scoring 6.0 PPG off the bench and is shooting .388 from the floor and .355 from three. Braydon Jacob is coming off a strong weekend and is scoring 4.9 PPG with 18 assists with 13 of his 18 field goals coming from behind the arc.
 
As a team, the Orediggers are averaging 78.0 PPG on .437/.331/.695 shooting while opponents are also averaging 78.0 PPG behind .460/.309/.728 shooting. Mines averages 38.3 RPG and is +2.8 in rebounding margin while also dishing out 15.5 APG. Turnovers have been a major thorn for Mines this season, as they turn it over 13.5 times per game and are -2.7 in TO margin, but are +1.1 in assist/turnover ration and score just 12.7 PPG off turnovers. Defensively, the Orediggers average 7.1 SPG and 4.0 BPG.
 
SCOUTING MSU BILLINGS
MSU Billings has won three in a row following a three-point loss to Colorado Mesa on November 29. They knocked off NAIA foe Rocky Mountain College in comeback fashion in Monday night's Rimrock Rivalry 99-96 in a thrilling non-conference bout. The Yellowjackets play Dominican (NY) Sunday night to close the weekend.
 
Four players average better than 10 PPG for the Yellowjackets headlined by Seattle Pacific Mason Landdeck who enters the weekend scoring an even 20.0 PPG who leads the team with 28 three-pointers and 61 assists to go along with 22 steals and a .369/.318/.851 shooting line. Monday's hero, Central Methodist transfer Brandon Tchouya, is scoring 13.0 PPG with 5.4 RPG off the bench and has 31 assists with 16 steals while shooting .550. Miles Gurske, formerly of Cameron University, averages 12.4 PPG and is tops on the team with 23 steals while also dishing out 32 assisrs and shooting .442 from the floor. Jonas La Tour, another SPU transfer, is scoring 10.7 PPG game with 13 steals and 13 assists while also connecting 28 times from deep and is shooting .575/.519/.667.
 
Croix Cox leads MSUB in rebounding at 5.9 per game while also scoring 9.4 per night on .712 shooting from inside and has 17 steals along with eight blocks. Jakob Milling leads the team with 12 blocks and also has 13 steals while averaging 6.0 PPG and 4.4 RPG. Others to watch include Regis transfer Ty Cox while scores 4.1 PPG off the bench with 12 assists and seven steals, sharpshooter Pedro Ellery who has 14 three-pointers and is a .452 shooter from deep.
 
MSUB on the season averages 89.8 PPG and is +12.0 in scoring margin. They have shot .479/.350/.725 this season compared to .446/.363/.754 by opponents. MSU Billings averages 38.4 rebounds per game and is +4.9 in rebounding margin while averaging 17.0 assists per game. The Yellowjackets do a good job taking care of the ball, turning it over just 11.6 times per game and are +5.7 in TO margin while posting a +1.5 assist/turnover ratio with better than 21.0 PPG off turnovers. Defensively, MSUB averages 10.3 steals and 2.5 blocks per game.
 
SCOUTING ROLLINS
Rollins snapped a two-game losing streak last Saturday with an 84-78 win over Tampa before rolling to an 85-57 win over South Florida Bible College Monday. The Tars will take on Hawai'i Hilo Saturday before squaring off with Mines Sunday.
 
Mercer transfer Jah Nze leads RC in scoring at 17.8 PPG and steals with 20 while dishing out 26 assists and shooting .448/.414/.778. His 24 three-pointers are second on the team to Omar Figueroa's 31 as the second-year Flagler transfer is averaging 16.0 PPG and leads the team with 30 assists while shooting .519/.500/.739. Big man Marshall Klug comes in averaging 9.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game and is shooting .540 in his first season in Winter Park.
 
Freshman Jackson Gaffney is scoring 8.8 PPG with 4.4 RPG while splitting time as a starter and a reserve in his debut season. Lewis transfer Ryan Renfro leads the Tars with 10 blocks and is averaging 8.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while shooting .508. Another GLVC transplant Mayson Quartlebaum from UMSL leads the team in rebounding at 5.0 per game and is scoring 7.0 PPG off the bench. Ian Hart and Ricky Ghedeni are both also ones to keep an eye on as they both average better than 6.0 PPG.
 
On the season, Rollins averages 87.4 PPG and is +15.1 in scoring margin behind .482/.379/.732 shooting while opponents this season have shot .416/.346/.683. RC averages 43.3 RPG and is +14.3 in rebounding margin while also averaging 18.3 APG. The Tars turn the ball over 13.3 times per game and are -1.3 in turnover margin while posting an assist/turnover ratio of +1.4 and scoring 14.9 PPG off turnovers. Defensively, they average 7.3 steals and 3.1 blocks per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Mines and MSU Billings have met just once all the way back in 2007 in a neutral site game in Nampa, Idaho that resulted in a 114-70 win for the Orediggers.
 
Rollins meanwhile will become the 197th different opponent for the Orediggers on Sunday night.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Mines opens up 2026 at home on January 3 with their final non-conference action against Northern New Mexico at 3 p.m. from Lockridge Arena
 
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.