GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa men's basketball team will open up Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action this weekend when they travel up the road to Gunnison for a matchup with the Western Colorado Mountaineers on Saturday beginning at 7pm in Paul Wright Gym.
 
GARNERING VOTES
Colorado Mesa received nine votes in this week's National Association of Basketball Coaches poll for Division II. The Mavericks are the lone team in the poll from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference that received any votes. Their lone loss of the year came to St. Edward's who is just ahead of them with 11 votes earned.
 
QUALITY SHOTS
High percentage shots usually lead to scoring a lot of points. The Mavericks are averaging 86.7 points per game which ranks third in the RMAC in scoring offenses. But, Colorado Mesa has helped achieve that by their shot selection as they rank No. 1 in all of Division II in field goal percentage, making shots at a 57.1 percent clip including 45.1 percent from beyond the arc which is first in the conference and fifth nationally.
 
Senior Damon Dubots leads the Mavericks in field goal percentage at 69.6 percent which is second in the RMAC and 11^th in Division II.
 
SETTLING IN
Junior Tommy Nuno has played in and started all six games for the Mavericks. The transfer from Fresno CC really started to settle into the system for the first time during the Holiday Inn Thanksgiving Classic.
 
Through the first four games of the season, Nuno was averaging just 7.8 points and four rebounds per game while turning the ball over more than four times a game and had fouled out of two contests. Last weekend, he turned that around as he averaged 11 points, five rebounds, and seven assists per game including a double-double in the win over Fisher College.
 
DISHING IT OUT
The Mavericks field goal percentage could also be attributed to the guys who are a setting up the shot with good passes. Colorado Mesa had 27 assists on 37 made baskets in the win over Fisher College in the Holiday Inn Thanksgiving Classic.
 
CMU leads the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in assists per game at 19.0 which also ranks 16^th nationally. Senior Brandon Hoffer is the conference leader at 6.2 assists per game and ranks 31^st nationally.
 
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
This weekend the Mavericks will have seen the Western Colorado Mountaineers for the third straight weekend but Saturday will mark the first time the rivals will square off with one and other this season. The two competed in each other's non-conference tournament the past two weekends.
 
The Mountaineers rely heavily on the three-point basket, leading the RMAC in both three-point field goal attempts (177) and three-point field goals per game (10.8). Mountaineer Brady Subart leads the RMAC in total threes made with 18 thus far.
 
Last Five Matchups
January 30, 2018: Colorado Mesa 78, @ Western Colorado 76
November 28, 2017: @ Colorado Mesa 86, Western Colorado 85
January 31, 2017: @ Colorado Mesa 99, Western Colorado 97
November 29, 2016: @ Western Colorado 76, Colorado Mesa 75
January 30, 2016: @ Colorado Mesa 89, Western Colorado 62
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Mavericks will return home for their conference opener on Friday evening when they host UCCS at 7:30pm in Brownson Arena. They will also take on Colorado School of Mines on Saturday at 7:30pm to close out the conference home opening weekend.