#8/10 Mines (21-3, 15-1) at MSU Denver (18-6, 12-4) – Tuesday, 8 p.m. – Denver, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
#8/10 Mines (21-3, 15-1) vs. Regis (15-9, 13-3) – Thursday, 7:30 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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SHORT WEEK
It's a quick turnaround this week for the #8/10 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team as two Denver metro area foes are on deck starting Tuesday night as the Orediggers make the return trip to MSU Denver before hosting Regis Thursday night for the annual Rock The Lock game and Senior Night.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
This week's games 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 launched a new online ticketing platform at tickets.minesathletics.com. With the new portal through Vivenu comes change as well. The biggest change is for Mines faculty, staff, students. Tapping your BlasterCard at the gate will no longer work and tickets must be reserved in advance. To do so, visit tickets.minesathletics.com and click Sign In, then log in with your Mines SSO. Shop for your tickets, and on check out you'll have the option to select either a Mines Student or Mines Fac/Staff ticket. Then scan your ticket at the gate and cheer on the Orediggers! General fans can still purchase tickets in similar fashion as before, just at a new link.
 
ROCK THE LOCK
Thursday night is also the annual Rock The Lock games. Fans will be able to participate in giveaways and compete for epic prizes while food will be available from Woody's Wood Fired Pizza and the first 500 fans in attendance will get a Rock The Lock t-shirt.
 
SENIOR NIGHT
Thursday night six members of the Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team will be celebrated as their collegiate careers come to a conclusion at season's end. Majok Deng, Cade Mankle, Juani Dassie, Reagan Koch, Adam Krasovec, Grant Pressly and Riley Schroeder will be honored in a pre-game ceremony before tip-off against Regis as we highlight their careers and achievements.
 
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 466-230 overall and a mark of 332-156 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.
 
Mines remained in the top 10 in both national polls last week, moving up to #8 in the NABC Division II Coaches Poll while slipping to #10 in the D2 CSC Media rankings. The top four in the coaches poll showed no signs of changes as Washburn, Daemen, Nova Southeastern and Alabama Huntsville held fast with Dallas Baptist rounding out the top five. Missouri S&T, who achieved their first-ever top five ranking last week, stumbled to eighth this week following a Saturday loss to Upper Iowa.
 
As was the case last week, the top four in the media poll remained the same as Washburn, Nova Southeastern, Daemen and Alabama Huntsville were likewise joined in the top five this week by DBU.

WEEK 13 RECAP
The Orediggers made it six in a row on their current winning streak at home over the weekend with 87-77 and 104-77 wins over Black Hills State and Chadron State.
 
Thursday night against the Yellow Jackets, Riley Schroeder went for a season-high 22 points on 7-10 shooting and was a perfect 6-6 at the line while Alex Romack added 14 on 5-10 shooting despite dealing with early foul trouble. Adam Krasovec turned in one of his best outings of the season with 12 points off the bench on a 5-7 night with five rebounds. All 10 players that checked into the game for the Orediggers scored in the winning effort.
 
Saturday against the Eagles, Mines hit the century mark for the fourth time this season with five in double figures once again, led by Majok Deng's 22 points. Romack poured in another 14 and missed a double-double by two rebounds while Cade Mankle, Schroeder and Reagan Koch all added 11 points on a combined 13-24 shooting with 11 rebounds between them. Derek Lamb also had a season-high six points in cleanup time down the stretch as the Oredigger reserves had another big day with 46 points from the bench.
 
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
The postseason picture is starting to take shape with two weeks remaining in the regular season. Mines, Regis and MSU Denver have all secured their spot in the 2024-25 RMAC Men's Basketball Championship as three games separate the teams with the Orediggers leading at 15-1, followed by the Rangers at 13-3 and Roadrunners at 12-4. UCCS, Fort Lewis and Black Hills State are all 10-6 and tied for fourth while 9-7 Colorado Mesa and 8-8 Chadron State hold the final two playoff spots. Westminster and Colorado Christian are the first two teams out at 6-10 followed by Adams State and CSU Pueblo at 5-11. Meanwhile, Western Colorado (4-12), South Dakota Mines (4-12) and New Mexico Highlands (3-13) are looking ahead to the 2025-26 season.
 
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. 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 against CSU Pueblo last month. When looking at the national rankings, Mines is fourth nationally in bench points at 39.17 per game. Headlined by Markus Pastorcic-Straun 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 fourth in scoring at 16.0 PPG, 10th in field goal percentage at .469 and is the best free throw shooter in the RMAC at .887 (94-106). Juani Dassie is second in three-point percentage at .449 (44-98) while Grant Pressly is fourth in assists at 91 and leads the RMAC in assist/turnover ratio at 2.9, the only player above 2.2 in the conference. Jonathan Moore is now tied for ninth in blocked shots with 18 while Pressly and Cade Mankle are just outside the top 20 in steals.
 
As a team, Mines is second in the RMAC in scoring at 84.2 PPG, trailing only Adams State and is one of just two teams scoring more than 80 per game while boasting the fourth-best scoring defense at 69.7 PPG. The Orediggers are tops in the league with a .505 field goal percentage and are fourth in three-point percentage at .382. Their 226 three-pointers are second in the league while defensively Mines is sixth and third in opponent field goal and opponent three-point percentage. The Orediggers are sixth 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 1.42 thanks to a league-leading 454 assists against 311 turnovers. The only team with 400 or more assists in the RMAC so far this season, the Orediggers are also tied for third in blocked shots with 77 and are fourth in steals with 194.
 
NATIONAL STATS
The Orediggers can find themselves in several places among the national statistical leaders as team this season. Currently, Mines is ninth in the country in assists per game at 19.0 and fourth nationally in bench points at 39.17 PPG while their 14.0 scoring margin is good for eighth. The Orediggers are also 25th in assist/turnover ratio at 1.43 as well, 12th in field goal percentage at 50.3% and 23rd in three-point percentage at 38.2%.
 
MILESTONE MEN
Caleb Clark needs just three more points to get to 100 in his career and went over 50 rebounds on last weekend's road trip. Juani Dassie is over 100 career field goals and needs 16 more three-pointers to get to the century mark as well.
 
Majok Deng is over 1,000 points in his collegiate career and with another 50 he'll be a 1,000-point scorer as an Oredigger. He's now over 300 field goals and now has 254 rebounds. Reagan Koch needs eight assists to get to 150 as he went over 450 points this weekend and is 19 treys back of 100 blowing past 200 rebounds in his career.
 
Adam Krasovec is seven points away from 700 in his career while three more assists will see Cade Mankle hit the 200 mark in his career to go with 56 steals on the defensive end. Grant Pressly got 12 rebounds of the weekend and now has 200 in his career while his next eight points will put him at 150. He also has a chance to hit 200 assists as well, currently residing at 183.
 
Alex Romack went over 500 points last time out against Westminster while Riley Schroeder's march to 1,000 continues at 946. Schroeder also has 397 rebounds and his last steal was his 60th.
 
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
Three Orediggers enter this week scoring double figures headlined by Majok Deng's clip of 16.0 PPG as a .469/.357/.887 shooter with 26 steals and 15 assists. Riley Schroeder follows at 12.1 PPG on .531/.407/.816 shooting to compliment 44 dimes, 12 steals and 12 blocks. Markus Pastorcic-Straun is netting 10.5 per night off the bench as a .531 shooter with 67 assists and 27 steals to tie for the team lead.
 
Alex Romack hasn't missed a beat since returning to the starting lineup the last few weeks and is scoring 9.8 PPG with 4.5 RPG on .607 from the floor with 28 assists, 21 steals and 12 blocks. Cade Mankle and Juani Dassie are both averaging 7.0 PPG with the former shooting .446 from the floor with 66 assists and 27 steals and the latter shooting .491 from the floor and .449 from three with 18 assists, 10 steals and six blocks.
 
Reagan Koch is right behind at 6.9 PPG on .495 shooting including .484 from three and is also .829 at the line with 43 dimes and 18 steals. Jonathan Moore's 18 blocks leads the team as he scores 5.3 per night now coming off the bench with 3.2 RPG as a .645 shooter. Adam Krasovec is netting 5.2 per night off the bench while Caleb Clark has been delivering timely three-pointers in recent weeks at a .383 shooter from long range. Grant Pressly remains a .455 shooter when he lets it fly, but is focused on facilitating the offense with 91 dimes along with 27 steals on the defensive end.
 
For the season, Mines is scoring 84.2 PPG and is +14.5 in scoring margin while shooting .505/.382/.759 from the floor compared to .440/.312/.714 for opponents. They average 35.3 rebounds per game and are +5.0 in rebounding margin while netting 18.9 assists per game. Mines turns it over 13.0 times per game and is +0.8 in TO margin, but scores 17.3 PPG off turnovers. Defensively, they pocket 8.1 steals and tally 3.2 blocks per game.
 
SCOUTING MSU DENVER
The Roadrunners are on a three-game winning streak coming into play Tuesday but just barely as their 73-71 win over Chadron State last Thursday was the result of an overturned half-court heave at the buzzer that originally appeared to give the Eagles the 74-71 win, while Saturday was necessitated a second half comeback for a four-point 72-68 win over South Dakota Mines after trailing by eight at halftime.
 
Brayden Carter is one of two Roadrunners scoring in double figures per game at 14.9 PPG with 8.4 RPG on .650 shooting from the floor with 14 steals and 24 assists. His running mate in the post Caleb McGill is averaging 14.8 PPG and shooting .580 from the floor and .493 from three with 7.5 rebounds per game and leads the team with 27 blocks to go with 39 assists. Both men are shooting above .751 from the free throw line.
 
Quave Propst-Allison is one of three Roadrunners scoring between nine and 10 points per night at 9.8 PPG on .500 shooting with 55 assists and 20 steals while Logan Threatt is scoring 9.6 per game on .494 from the floor with 52 assists. Jamil Safieddine is scoring 9.4 per night off the bench on .401 shooting with 49 assists and 12 steals. The trio all have at least 28 made three-pointers this season.
 
Sufyan Elkannan (8.5 PPG, .402 FG%) is one to watch as well along with KJ Garrett (5.5 PPG, .400 FG%) is tops on the team with 81 assists while Ryan Maslow (5.0 PPG, .457 FG%) has netted 17 steals and posted five blocks defensively.
 
As a team, MSUD averages 78.8 PPG and is +8.8 in scoring margin. They are a .497/.391/.748 shooting team compared to .425/.340/.701 by opponents. They average 36.5 rebounds per game and are +5.2 in rebounding margin and dish out 15.2 assists per game. They commit 13.2 turnovers per game and are -2.1 in TO margin, scoring just 12 PPG off turnovers. Defensively they average 5.2 steals and 2.6 blocks per game.
 
SCOUTING REGIS
The Rangers' 10-game winning streak came to an end at the hands of Black Hills State last time out as the Yellow Jackets posted a 77-62 winner Saturday afternoon. RU will have their full week of rest ahead of them before making the trip to Golden Thursday night.
 
Chase Mayo Harman leads RU as one of four players in double figures at 16.3 PPG as a .446/.369/.850 shooter with 51 assists and 16 steals. Jalen Brown Is scoring 12.6 per night nearly exclusively off the bench and shooting .478 from the floor with 34 dimes and 16 steals of his own. Eddy Egun nets 12.3 PPG and is shooting .560/.478/.796 with 47 assists and is tied for the team lead in steals with 29. Kobe Sanders, who torched the Orediggers 28 in the first meeting of the season, is scoring an even 12 PPG and shooting .451/.445/.722 with a team-high 61 three-pointers, 101 assists and 10 steals.
 
Trey Bryant averages 9.1 PPG on .510/.500/.800 shooting and is tied with Egun atop the leaderboard in steals with 29 along with 14 blocks and 51 assists while pulling down a team-best 4.7 RPG. Scoring averages drop precipitously behind him, but the rest of the Regis rotation still contributes in other areas. Jalen Page (3.1 PPG, .509 FG%) leads the team with 16 blocks and has 14 steals on defense, while Ty Cox (4.0 PPG, .404 FG%) has got 19 assists and averages 4.0 rebounds per game.
 
For the season, Regis is scoring 75.8 PPG and is -0.2 in scoring margin. They are a .479/.384/.757 shooting team compared to opponents at .468/.360/.737. RU averages 30.9 rebounds per game and is -1.5 in rebounding margin. They turn the ball over 12.3 times per game and are -1.3 in TO margin and score 13.4 PPG off turnovers. Defensively they average 5.9 steals and 3.0 blocks per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Orediggers are 50-36 all-time against the Roadrunners and enter Tuesday night winners of 12 straight in the all-time series going back to 2018. However all-time on the road Mines is just 19-18 against MSU Denver. The last meeting between the teams in Denver came on December 13, 2023 and resulted in a 78-77 Mines win. The Orediggers have won nine in a row away from home in the series, with their last loss in Denver coming on February 6, 2015.
 
After January's loss to Regis the all-time series is now tied at 71-71. The home team in the series does possess an advantage when playing on their court, as Mines is 42-30 when playing at Lockridge Arena. The Orediggers have won the last two meetings at home by scores of 79-61 and 90-71 as RU last won in Golden on November 30, 2021.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
The Orediggers hit the road for the final time in the 2024-25 regular season next week with trips to UCCS and CSU Pueblo February 27 and March 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.