GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa men's basketball team will be on the road for the next two weekends and will start their trek on Friday at New Mexico Highlands before a Saturday tilt with the CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves.
 
The Mavericks enter the weekend in a tie for third-place in the RMAC standings with the Cowboys and Regis at matching 5-2 conference marks. Colorado Mesa is tied with Colorado School of Mines and Highlands for the best overall record at 10-3.
 
SCORING MACHINE
Colorado Mesa senior Connor Nichols currently leads the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in scoring at 22.9 points per game. Nichols scored a career-high 37 points in the Mavericks win over previous conference unbeaten Black Hills State last Saturday.
 
The Scottsdale native has scored in double figures in every game this season and ranks second in the conference in field goal percentage, hitting on 58.6 percent of the shots he takes.
 
PERCENTAGE GAME
The Mavericks continue to be one of the nation's most efficient teams when it comes to field goal percentage. They currently lead the conference and rank third nationally with a 53.9 percent field goal percentage, just 2.3 points behind national leader and No. 1 ranked Bellarmine.
 
Colorado Mesa has shot above 50 percent from the field in 11 of their 13 games played this season. The two times they didn't resulted in losses, once to Colorado School of Mines (47.0 percent) and the other to MSU Denver (42.3 percent).
 
Conversely, the Mavericks have allowed just two opponents to shoot 50 percent or above this season, once in the loss to MSU Denver (50 percent) the other in the win over South Dakota Mines (51 percent) last Friday.
 
ON THE ROAD
One thing the Mavericks will have to do this season under first-year head coach Mike DeGeorge is to learn to win on the road. Colorado Mesa is 2-2 this season in true road games with wins coming at Western Colorado and Chadron State while losing to St. Edward's and MSU Denver.
 
In those four road games, the Mavericks are averaging 79 points per game and are allowing 79 points per game.
 
SCOUTING THE COWBOYS
New Mexico Highlands is currently ranked No. 9 in the most recent D2SIDA South Central Regional poll and has the same 5-2 record the Mavericks have entering the weekend. The Cowboys losses have both come on the road with one at Dixie State and one at Regis just this past weekend.
 
The Cowboys boast a two-headed monster when it comes to scoring in Gerad Davis and Raquan Mitchell. Davis, a transfer from Northern Colorado, averages 21.2 points per game and scored a season-high 41 points in their win over Northern New Mexico while Mitchell, a Colorado State transfer, averages 18.5 points a night and had 40 in the Cowboys loss to Regis.
 
Last Five Meetings
February 24, 2018 – New Mexico Highlands 98, Colorado Mesa 84
December 16, 2017 – New Mexico Highlands 99, @ Colorado Mesa 96 OT
February 24, 2017 – New Mexico Highlands 84, @ Colorado Mesa 79
December 17, 2016 – @ New Mexico Highlands 90, Colorado Mesa 78
March 1, 2016 – @ Colorado Mesa 95, New Mexico Highlands 77 OT
 
SCOUTING THE THUNDERWOLVES
CSU-Pueblo enters the weekend with a 4-9 overall record and 2-5 in the conference. While their record doesn't seem that strong, they possess a win over Dixie State on the road in St. George and a win on the road at Colorado Christian.
 
Donovan Oldham leads the ThunderWolves in scoring at 15.5 points per game with a season-high 31 points coming in a win over Wayland Baptist. Jason Anderson is the team's leading rebounder at 5.8 per game and has a pair of double-doubles on his resume from this season.
 
Last Five Meetings
February 23, 2018 – @ CSU-Pueblo 82, Colorado Mesa 69
December 15, 2017 – CSU-Pueblo 88, @ Colorado Mesa 72
February 25, 2017 – @ Colorado Mesa 96, CSU-Pueblo 85
December 16, 2016 – @ CSU-Pueblo 85, Colorado Mesa 75
January 29, 2016 – @ Colorado Mesa 93, CSU-Pueblo 66
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Colorado Mesa will continue its two-weekend road swing next weekend when they head south to take on rivals Fort Lewis and Adams State in Durango and Alamosa respectively. The two teams are at home this weekend taking on UCCS and Colorado School of Mines.