GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Colorado Mesa begins 2020 with a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference road contests in South Dakota. The Mavericks will take on South Dakota Mines (4-7, 1-4 RMAC) on Friday then they will travel the short 30 minutes down the road to take on Black Hills State (6-5, 3-2 RMAC) on Saturday.
 
NATIONAL STATS
The Mavericks are still among the nation's top-20 in two different categories, field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage. They rank 17^th nationally in field goal percentage at 50.7 percent, .2 behind conference leader and this week's opponent Black Hills State.
 
The Mavericks are 11^th nationally in three-point percentage at 41.9 percent, .3 behind Colorado School of Mines for the conference lead.
 
SHOOTER
Junior Kolton Peterson has proven that he is one of the top shooters nationally this year. He is hitting on 52.6 percent of his three-pointers which ranks him third nationally, just behind Kayo Goncalves of Southeastern Oklahoma State who is hitting on 57.1 percent of his threes.
 
Peterson has made a three in every game he has played in this season including a season-high six makes in the win over Chadron State.
 
STANDINGS WATCH
Colorado Mesa is in a tie for second place with Colorado School of Mines, whom is the Mavericks lone RMAC loss. The two schools have matching 4-1 conference marks and are one game behind nationally ranked Dixie State in the standings.
 
Five schools, including Black Hills State, sit just one-game behind at 3-2.
 
SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA MINES
The Hardrockers finished the non-conference portion of their schedule 3-3 with wins over Texas A&M-International, Augustana, and Presentation College. Their three losses were by a combined eight points.
 
South Dakota Mines is 1-4 in RMAC play with their four losses with three of those losses coming by four points or less. The other loss was by eight to 16^th ranked Dixie State in St. George.
 
Allec Williams and Mitchell Sueker make the Hardrockers go. Williams averages 11.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while Sueker averages 11.6 points per game. Sueker, one of the RMAC's best freshman a year ago, has a pair of 17 point games on the year.
 
Last Five Matchups
January 1, 2019 - @ Colorado Mesa 80, South Dakota Mines 71
January 27, 2018 – @ Colorado Mesa 77, South Dakota Mines 71
January 28, 2017 – Colorado Mesa 63, @ South Dakota Mines 60
February 13, 2016 - Colorado Mesa 85, @ South Dakota Mines 66
January 1, 2016 - @ Colorado Mesa 67, South Dakota Mines 48
 
FUN FACT: Dean Peterson is one of the many Hardrocker alums that have invented something. Peterson may have invented something that everyone of us use in our day-to-day lives. He invented the Instamatic Camera for Kodak and the 'point-and-shoot' camera that is now some of the same technology used in today's cell phones.
 
SCOUTING BLACK HILLS STATE
Like South Dakota Mines, the Yellow Jackets also finished the non-conference portion of their schedule 3-3 after securing wins over Tarleton State, Dakota State and Dickinson State. The three losses came by a combined six points including a one-point loss to in-state rival Augustana in the South Dakota East-West Challenge.
 
Over the last three seasons, Black Hills State is 26-7 at home in the Young Center. In their last two RMAC contests, they defeated Adams State and Fort Lewis by an average of 13 points.
 
The Yellow Jackets have four players that average double-digit points with Joel Scott's 17.1 average leading the way. Scott, a true freshman from Lewis-Palmer High School in Colorado Springs, had a season and career-high 25 points in the win over Fort Lewis. He has gone for over 20 points three times this season.
 
Last Five Matchups
March 5, 2019 - @ Black Hills State 73, Colorado Mesa 70
January 5, 2019 – @ Colorado Mesa 78, Black Hills State 74
February 17, 2018 – @ Black Hills State 84, Colorado Mesa 74
January 26, 2018 - @ Colorado Mesa 68, Black Hills State 67
February 18, 2017 – Black Hills State 68, @ Colorado Mesa 66
 
FUN FACT: Among the notable alumni from Black Hills State is Brian Shaw, a leading American strongman. Shaw is a four-time winner of the World's Strongest Man competition and is a three-time winner of the Arnold Strongman Classic. The Fort Lupton, Colo. native played basketball at Otero Junior College and later for the Yellow Jackets.
 
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 have their first home games of 2020 next weekend in Brownson Arena when they host New Mexico Highlands and CSU-Pueblo. Heading into this weekend, the Cowboys are 8-2 while the ThunderWolves currently sit at 4-7.