GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa men's basketball team will conclude the regular season home schedule with a pair of games in Brownson Arena. They will play host to Colorado Christian (4-19, 4-13 RMAC) on Friday followed by a Saturday tilt with Regis (14-9, 9-8 RMAC) both at 7:30pm.
OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY
The Mavericks remain among the conference's best when it comes to offensive output. They are the No. 1 team in the league and No. 6 nationally in field goal percentage at 52.1 percent.
Ethan Menzies is tops on the team in field goal percentage at 68.1 percent followed by
Ethan Richardson (66.7) and
Michael Skinner (60.8).
Three-point shooting has also been outstanding, ranking tops in the conference and No. 5 nationally at 41.9 percent.
Kolton Peterson is hitting on 49.1 percent of his threes of players that qualify followed by
Jared Small at 48.1 percent.
Tommy Nuno has made 50 percent of his attempts but doesn't qualify nationally.
SENIORS
Colorado Mesa has three seniors on this year's team that will be playing in their final regular season home game on Saturday against Regis.
Tommy Nuno and
Jess Spivey each spent two years at Colorado Mesa while
Michael Skinner wore the Maroon and Gold for three seasons.
STANDINGS WATCH
The Mavericks are in the hunt for a top four seed in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament which begins at the end of the month. They are currently in fifth-place just a game behind fourth-place UCCS whom the Mavericks hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over.
Dixie State and Black Hills State are deadlocked atop the standings with matching 14-3 records. The Trailblazers hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with the win early in the season in St. George.
Colorado School of Mines is in third-place, two games back of the top spot.
SCOUTING COLORADO CHRISTIAN
The Cougars are arguably the hottest team in the RMAC right now. They are winners of three of their past four games including a weekend sweep of Fort Lewis and Adams State last weekend. Their lone loss in the streak happened to come against Colorado Mesa two weeks ago.
Reigning RMAC offensive player of the week Spencer Hoffman paces the Cougars. Hoffman had his third double-double of the season against Adams State when he had 26 points and 12 rebounds in the win. For the season he averages 15 points and has a field goal percentage of 61.8, tops in the RMAC.
Last Five Matchups
February 1, 2020 – Colorado Mesa 90, @ Colorado Christian 70
February 15, 2019 – Colorado Mesa 69, @ Colorado Christian 58
February 2, 2019 – @ Colorado Mesa 94, Colorado Christian 63
January 13, 2018 – @ Colorado Mesa 85, Colorado Christian 70
January 14, 2017 – @ Colorado Christian 76, Colorado Mesa 72
FUN FACT: The Colorado Christian men's basketball claimed a Division I Championship in 2015 when they won the National Christian College Athletic Association Championship with a 77-71 win over Dallas Baptist.
SCOUTING REGIS
The Rangers may be just as hot as CCU as they have won four of their last five contests. Their lone loss came to the travel partner of the Mavericks in Western Colorado on the back end of that road trip.
Senior Christian Little continues to lead the team in nearly every major statistical category. The senior scored 29 points and hit on 72 percent of the shots he took in the last meeting between Regis and Colorado Mesa. For the seasons, Little is averaging 16.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
Last Five Matchups
January 31, 2020 – @ Regis 91, Colorado Mesa 89
February 16, 2019 – Colorado Mesa 75, @ Regis 71
February 1, 2019 – Regis 78, @ Colorado Mesa 75
January 6, 2018 – @ Regis 103, Colorado Mesa 82
January 7, 2017 – Regis 74, @ Colorado Mesa 72
FUN FACT: According to Wikipedia, in 1877, a group of exiled Italian Jesuits established a small college in Las Vegas, New Mexico. The Jesuits named this institution Las Vegas College which would ultimately become known as Regis University.
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 be on the road for the final three games of the regular season. Up first, will be a trip to RMAC rival Fort Lewis on Friday followed by a matchup with Adams State in Alamosa. They swept the two schools when they came to Grand Junction a month ago.
