Mines (6-9, 2-2 RMAC) vs. Chadron State (2-10, 0-4 RMAC) – Thursday, 7 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network PPV] [Tickets]
Mines (6-9, 2-2 RMAC) vs. South Dakota Mines (6-6, 3-1 RMAC) – Saturday, 3 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network PPV] [Tickets]

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RMAC PLAY THE REST OF THE WAY
With non-conference action officially concluded, it will be all conference games the rest of the way as the Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team continues their title defense from Lockridge Arena this weekend against Chadron State and South Dakota Mines on Thursday and Saturday.

LIVE COVERAGE
This weekend's games will be available for purchase on the RMAC Network and feature Miles Dunklin on the call. Free live stats will be available as well. Links for video and stats can be found on minesathletics.com.
 
RMAC NETWORK CHANGES
As was announced on June 30, this fall the RMAC Network is moving to a pay-per-view model for all events beginning with the 2025-26 season.
 
RMAC fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $10, which grants access to a single game for 24 hours. For technical support questions, fans may submit a support ticket with Hudl Support or email the RMAC directly (rmac@rmacsports.org). For further support, fans can visit the RMAC Network Help page.

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 480-241 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 8 RECAP
Mines had their hands full with an upstart Northern New Mexico team on Saturday, but still came away with the win by virtue of a 92-84 result. Markus Pastorcic-Straun led four in double figures with 23 points on 8-16 shooting along with seven boards, three dimes, two steals and a block. Shelton Henton had his best day of the season, going for 21 off the bench on the strength of 5-10 from downtown with four assists, while Alex Romack recorded his eighth double-double with 17 points and 14 boards (including eight on the offensive glass) while shooting 7-11 and adding two blocks and a steal down the stretch. Jonathan Moore rounded things out with 13 points and seven boards on 3-6 from the floor and 6-6 from the stripe with two blocks and a steal of his own defensively, while Trent Minter hauled in a season-best 11 rebounds. As a team, Mines collected 23 offensive rebounds, their most in a game since 2008.
 
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 RESET
With the resumption of league action this weekend, it's worth a check of the conference standings to survey the RMAC. Black Hills State leads the way at 4-0 along with Fort Lewis followed by Colorado Mesa, South Dakota Mines and Western Colorado at 3-1. UCCS is 3-2 ahead of CSU Pueblo, Mines, MSU Denver and New Mexico Highlands are next at 2-2 followed by Adams State and Westminster at 1-3. Colorado Christian picked up their first win of league play Tuesday over UCCS to improve to 1-4, while Chadron State and Regis round out the field at 0-4 as they are seeking their first league wins of the season as action resumes.
 
WEEKLY AWARD WINNER
Following his efforts in the Orediggers' 92-84 win over Northern New Mexico on Saturday, junior forward Alex Romack was named RMAC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in his career and first time since December of 2023. Read more about Romack's award-winning performance here.
 
BOARD MAN
In the first game of the weekend in Las Vegas at the DII Holiday Hoops Classic, Alex Romack's second rebound of the night gave him 500 for his Mines career. The 2023-24 RMAC Freshman of the Year and an Honorable Mention All-RMAC nod last season, Romack has long since established himself as of the top post players in the conference with his quickness and strength. In his first 82 games, the Hoosier has done his home state proud with his performance on the boards, pulling down 6.4 rebounds per game in his career led by his career-best mark of 8.7 this season. That's more than 3.5 rebounds better than last year and nearly two full rebounds better than his FOTY numbers. He's also on pace to set a new career high in total rebounds in a season, needing just 95 to tie his mark of 225 from his debut season.
 
TWIN TOWERS
The dynamic junior duo of Alex Romack and Jonathan Moore in the post has been something to appreciate this season for Mines fans. Though Moore hasn't played in enough games to qualify among league leaders, his 13 blocks would rank tied for sixth in the league while Romack's 18 are tied for second. Thanks in large part the efforts of those two, the Orediggers lead the RMAC with 63 blocks and would be just one of three teams with multiple players in the top 10 in the conference in denials. For Romack, he's up to 64 blocks in his career while Moore has got 37 and is pacing to set a new career high in that category by season's end.
 
FROM DOWNTOWN
Mines also finds themselves tops in the RMAC as a team with 125 field goals of the three-point variety and with good reason. Seven Orediggers have made 10 or more treys this season, lead by freshman Shelton Henton's 23. Second-year freshman Braydon Jacob is next with 18 followed by Jonathan Moore with 17 and Markus Pastorcic-Straun and Kellon Johnson with 16. Cooper Mroczek has got 15 while Will Cordonnier rounds out the group with 10. If Mines wants to make some noise in the second half of the season in the RMAC, they'll need to keep up their three-point shooting prowess over the final 16 games of the season.
 
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
Markus Pastorcic-Straun started off the year strong and is averaging 19.9 PPG as one of the RMAC scoring leaders and has shot .529/.471/.635 this season with 4.4 RPG, a team-best 49 assists and 13 steals. Jonathan Moore is second in scoring at 13.1 per night with 5.9 RPG and is one of the best in the RMAC in blocked shots with 15 while shooting .479/.500/.912. Alex Romack has been a double-double machine so far, recording eight in the first 15 games and is averaging 12.9 points and 8.7 boards per night while being tops on the team in blocks with 18 and steals with 20 to go with 32 dimes.
 
Freshman Kellon Johnson is scoring 8.3 per night on .495/.314/.625 shooting in his debut season with 26 assists, 14 steals and five blocks. Shelton Henton has proved to be lethal from long range and is coming off a game with five triples to raise his numbers to 6.8 PPG on .395/3960/.733 shooting with 23 of his 34 field goals being of the three-point variety. Cooper Mroczek will look to keep it going as he averages 6.3 PPG on .435 shooting with 16 assists and six steals while Braydon Jacob has been a long-range threat as well, shooting .300 from three with 18 of his 24 field goals coming from deep to go with 27 dimes and nine steals. Will Cordonnier has been a force defensively with seven blocks and six steals while adding 4.1 PPG the other way, while Trent Minter and Derek Lamb have combined for 12 steals and 10 rejections with the former hauling in 3.7 RPG with 22 dimes and the latter shooting .474 from the floor.
 
As RMAC play resumes, Mines is averaging 77.7 PPG and is -0.3 in scoring margin. They have shot .439/.334/.685 so far against .450/.323/.731 by opponents. They average 38.7 RPG and are +3.1 in rebounding margin while dishing out 15.9 assists per game. The Orediggers turn it over 13.3 times per game and are -2.7 in TO margin while scoring 12.7 PPG off turnovers. Defensively, they pocket 6.8 steals per game and reject 4.2 shots per night.
 
SCOUTING CHADRON STATE
The Eagles will look to turn the corner heading into the new year and put a 2-10 start to the season behind them. Thursday night be the first action of 2026 for Chadron State, who is looking to snap a six-game losing streak stretching back to November 30, during which they've lost by margins of four (twice), 23, 15, 26 and most recently five on December 16 against Nebraska Kearney. Against RMAC opponents, CSC is -17.0 in scoring margin.
 
A team that returned just two players from last season, CSC is led in scoring by JUCO transfer Jadon Cool at 14.3 PPG behind .430/.377/.702 shooting. Cool leads the team with 23 three-pointers and is second in steals with 13 and blocks with five while also dishing 18 assists. Well-traveled veteran Isaiah Randolph is second in scoring at 12.5 PPG and leads the team with 20 steals while also dishing 20 assists and shooting .605 from the floor and .875 from the line with a team-high 42 made free throws. 6'8" freshman Luka Djurovic is having a strong debut season, scoring 9.5 PPG and leading CSC with 7.9 RPG while shooting .459 from the field.
 
Aussie Mack Keighran is netting 9.1 PPG on .317 shooting with a team-best 27 assists along with nine steals while Angelo State transfer Blessing Adesipe is scoring 7.7 per night with 5.2 RPG with six blocks splitting time as a starter and a reserve. Northern State transfer Ethan Russell is shooting .410 this season and scoring 5.4 PPG and is tied with Adesipe for the team lead in blocks with six.
 
On the year, Chadron state averages 71.2 PPG and is -15.7 in scoring margin. They have shot .426/.302/.745 as a team compared to .467/.367/.765 by opponents. That average 33.5 RPG and are -5.6 in rebounding margin while generating just 10.6 assists per game. CSC turns the ball over 14.1 times per game and is -3.1 in TO margin while scoring 10.6 PPG off turnovers. Defensively, they pocket 6.4 steals and register 2.5 blocks per game.
 
SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA MINES
Under the direction of first year head coach Michael Iseman, a rejuvenated Hardrockers program enters 2026 winners of their last four games and is already +2 in wins over last season. SDSMT will open the new year Thursday night against MSU Denver before heading up to Golden Saturday. Their last action was an 89-69 win over NAIA Bethany (Kan.) back on December 18 on the heels of an 84-77 overtime win at home over CS Pueblo.
 
Another new-look team in the RMAC with just five returners from last season, South Dakota Mines is led in scoring by JUCO transfer Jason Lee at 19.0 PPG on .411/.353/.792 shooting. Lee has done plenty of damage at the free throw line, converting 76 of 96 tries while also leading the team in steals with 26 and the RMAC in assists with 68. Newcomer Ryan Sweeney is second on the team in scoring at 13.2 PPG thanks to .554 shooting with 3.6 RPG and 21 assists. Transfer Gray Thompson, one of two players to start all 12 games this season, follows at 10.8 PPG and 6.8 RPG with a team-best 13 blocks while shooting .417 from the floor and .882 at the stripe and is second on the team with 19 three-pointers. Returner Gavin Soukup meanwhile is scoring 10.8 PPG off the bench and shooting at a .473/.468/.762 clip as he leads the team with 22 treys.
 
The Hardrockers await the return of Guido Wanschelbaum, who has missed nine games with injury, and his 8.3 PPG and team-leading 9.7 RPG. Another transfer, Darren Wallace is scoring 7.9 PPG on .455 shooting with 17 three-pointers and has six steals and five blocks defensively. Abel Hutchinson, the second players to start every game this season, is averaging 7.1 PPG and 4.3 RPG with 20 assists and 10 steals while shooting .393. Tre Dowdell also looks to add a spark when he returns from injury as well, scoring 6.8 PPG with five assists in just four games of action.
 
For the season, SDSMT is scoring 76.5 PPG and is -2.0 in scoring margin. They have shot .432/.360/.770 compared to .462/.360/.679 by the opposition. They average 34.8 rebounds per night and are +0.5 in rebounding margin while dishing out 12.9 assists per game. The Hardrockers turn it over 14.3 times per night and are -3.4 in TO margin while scoring 13.3 PPG off turnovers. Defensively, they average 5.6 steals and 2.9 blocks per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Heading into action Thursday Mines will look to make it 33 in a row against Chadron State and improve on their 49-44 all-time lead in the series. The Orediggers are 27-14 when playing at home and swept all three meetings with CSC a year ago. The first meeting as a 76-61 win in Chadron followed by 104-77 and 79-74 wins in Golden, the second of which was a quarterfinal win in the RMAC Tournament. Mines last lost in the series all the way back in 2008 in Chadron by a score of 76-74, while their last loss at home was a 73-72 decision in 2003.
 
Against South Dakota Mines, the Orediggers are 23-9 all-time and winners of nine straight dating back to 2020. Mines is 15-1 at home against the Hardrockers, with the lone blemish at Lockridge Arena coming in their last loss in the series by way of a 78-73 result. The teams met just once last season which saw a 72-57 Mines win.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Mines hits the road for the first time in the new year next weekend when they travel to CSU Pueblo and Colorado Christian January 15 and 17.
 
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.