GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa men's basketball team will host their first home conference matchups of the year this weekend in Brownson Arena. The Mavericks will take on MSU Denver (5-3, 1-1 RMAC) on Friday at 7:35pm in a NCAA National Showcase matchup before taking on Chadron State (2-6, 1-1 RMAC) on Saturday at 7pm.
 
HIGH PERCENTAGE PLAY
The Mavericks are still amongst the national leaders in field goal percentage, shooting an astounding 52.5 percent from the field, good enough for seventh nationally. Their best shooting effort came in the win over Pacific Union where they shot 69.8 percent from the field and 9-of-16 from three.
 
Their worst effort came in the one-point loss to Dallas Baptist in the second game of the season where they shot 42.6 percent from the field, 8-of-25 from three.
 
FROM BEYOND THE ARC
Colorado Mesa ranks second nationally in three-point percentage at 43.9 percent just 1.1 percentage points behind national leader Nova Southeastern. They shot 63.2 percent (12-for-19) from behind the arc in the win over Montana Western. In that game, the Mavericks made 9-of-10 from three in the second-half.
 
The Mavericks have made seven or more three-pointers in seven of the eight games they have played in. The only game they didn't accomplish that feat was in the season opening loss to St. Edward's where they made five three-pointers.
 
RAINING THREES
Speaking of three-pointers, Colorado Mesa's Kolton Peterson leads the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in three-point percentage at 52.6 percent. That mark ranks him 12^th nationally behind Nova Southeastern's Nick Smith who is making threes at a 69.2 percent clip.
 
Peterson made a season-high five threes in the loss to DBU and had a low of just one made three twice. He made his only attempt last Saturday in the loss to Colorado School of Mines.
 
BACK-TO-BACK BLACKJACK
Junior Georgie Dancer had his coming out party over the weekend at UCCS and Colorado School of Mines. The Modesto, Calif. native had back-to-back games where he dropped a season-high 21 points on his opponent and is now the Mavericks leading scorer, averaging 15.9 points per game.
 
Dancer has been in double digit scoring in every game this season and has made at least one three-pointer in the last five games
 
STANDINGS WATCH
After the first full weekend of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matchups, Colorado Mesa sits in the middle of the standings at 1-1 along with this week's opponents in MSU Denver and Chadron State.
 
Dixie State and Regis are tied atop the standings at 3-0 and 2-0 respectively. The Trailblazers are the conference's lone unbeaten team overall with an 8-0 mark.
 
SCOUTING MSU DENVER
The Roadrunners have historically been one of the top programs in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. This season they are 5-3 after opening the season with a split at home in RMAC matchups. They dropped a one-point decision to Regis before beating Colorado Christian by five, 81-76. In the non-conference portion of the schedule, the Roadrunners dropped a pair of match-ups to traditionally strong schools in the South Central Region in Tarleton State and Arkansas-Fort Smith.
 
Druce Asah leads MSU Denver in scoring, averaging 14.6 points per game. The senior has been in double-digits every single game this season with a season-high 22 coming in a win over Northern New Mexico.
 
Former Colorado Mesa basketball player Jeremy Johnston (1998-01) is in his second season as the top assistant for the Roadrunners. Johnston was previously the head coach at Northwest Kansas Tech for five seasons where he posted a 90-67 record in his tenure.
 
Last Five Matchups
December 15, 2018 - @ MSU Denver 73, Colorado Mesa 68
January 19, 2018 - @ MSU Denver 80, Colorado Mesa 60
December 30, 2017 - MSU Denver 81, @ Colorado Mesa 78
January 20, 2017 - @ Colorado Mesa 69, MSU Denver 67
December 30, 2016 - @ MSU Denver 98, Colorado Mesa 89
 
FUN FACT: MSU Denver won the 2001-02 NCAA National Championship under the direction of Mike Dunlap. Following his tenure with the Roadrunners, he was an assistant for the Denver Nuggets and had stops with Arizona, Oregon, St. John's before becoming the head coach with the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats (now the Hornets). He is currently the head coach for Loyola Marymount of the West Coast Conference.
 
SCOUTING CHADRON STATE
Chadron State had a rough early patch of the season but have won two of their past three matchups for a 2-6 mark. The Eagles defeated Presentation College 83-53 over the Thanksgiving weekend and rolled that into RMAC opening win over Colorado Christian 79-60 last Friday in Nebraska.
 
Phoenix native Brian Rodriguez-Flores is Chadron State's scoring and rebounding leader at 18.1 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game. He scored 25 or more points in two games with his season-high coming against Colorado Christian where he had 26 points.
 
Former Maverick Taylor Shaffer is in his first season as one of the assistants for the Eagles. Shaffer was at Colorado Mesa for two seasons before becoming the head women's coach at Otero Junior College.
 
Last Five Matchups
December 16, 2018 – Colorado Mesa 79, @ Chadron State 69
January 5, 2018 – Colorado Mesa 90, @ Chadron State 71
January 6, 2017 - @ Colorado Mesa 94, Chadron State 49
February 19, 2016 - @ Colorado Mesa 88, Chadron State 66
January 23, 2016 – Colorado Mesa 85, Chadron State 72
 
FUN FACT: Chadron State head coach Houston Reed played two seasons at Otero Junior College where he holds the single-game scoring record with 46 points. After his time with the Rattlers, he transferred to Northern State, in South Dakota, where he played for the legendary Don Meyer who leads the NCAA in all-time wins.
 
COACHING STAFF
Head coach Mike DeGeorge enters his second season at the helm of the Mavericks. DeGeorge led the Mavericks to a 19-10 record in his first season, an eight-win improvement from the previous season, and included a win over nationally-ranked DBU.
 
Kyle Bossier and Dutch Johnson both return to the bench as a part of the coaching staff. Bossier is in his second season while Johnson is in his sixth season as an assistant coach.
 
New to the staff this year is former Maverick Russ Gregory and graduate assistant Sean Lynch.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Mavericks will play one final Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game before the winter break as they will host West Slope rival Western Colorado at 7pm on December 20. The two teams have seen each other quite a bit this year as both competed in each other's tournaments in the non-conference portion of the schedule. The Mavericks competed at the Comfort Inn Classic in Gunnison while the Mountaineers competed in the Holiday Inn Thanksgiving Classic in Brownson Arena.