Grand Junction, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa Maverick men's basketball team will have the luxury of playing their next four conference contests in Brownson Arena, starting this weekend as they host Black Hills State and Chadron State, Friday and Saturday. Both games will tip-off at 7:30 p.m.

Last Time Out
Hitting the road for the fourth time this season, the Mavericks headed east to take on a pair of Denver opponents in Colorado Christian and MSU Denver.

Things were kept close throughout the first period against Colorado Christian, with Colorado Mesa trailing up until the final five minutes of the game when a series of free throws opened up a 3-point lead at the break.

From the Start
All five of the Colorado Mesa's opening games have come against opponents who are received national recognition. The Mavericks finished 2-3 in those outings, holding their own in the midst of figuring out a new lineup.

The Mavericks are averaging 81-points per game, and are shooting at a 51-percent clip from the floor.

Defensively, they are outrebounding the competition by a 6.1 margin, and are averaging just under five blocks per game.

CMU's lead would only build in the second period, as they lead by as many as 19.

However, CCU would go on a run of their own closing the gap and ending the night on just a 5-point deficit, 68-63. Reece Johnson led with 14 points, also contributing four rebounds. Trevor Baskin with a team-high seven rebounds, adding eight points in the process.

Night two wrote a different narrative, as the MSU Denver ran away with the game early.
CMU found themselves down by 21 after the first half, but kept the scoring close in the second to try and recover.

Owen Koonce finished 4-for-4 from the foul line, totaling 11-points on the night as the team's leading scorer.

Double Dipping
Blaise Threatt, Mac Riniker and Trevor Baskin are the Mavericks leading scorers, all of which are averaging double-figures. Threatt is averaging 13.4 ppg, followed by Riniker with 11.4 and Baskin at 11.3.

Those three also handle a good chunk of the team's defensive efforts, all three averaging around five rebounds per game, snagging double-figure steals. Riniker also has 14 blocks to his credit, Baskin not far behind with 12 of his own.

Stepping Up
Newcomer, Owen Koonce is settling into the Maverick lineup nicely. The CU Boulder transfer is averaging 9.4 points per game, while shooting at a 52.6 clip from the field.

He also has 11 steals to his credit and eight of the team's total blocks.

No Easy Points
While the offensive presence has been clear thus far for the Mavericks, their defense has kept opponents to a 38.8 shot percentage, and no more than 65 points.

The team also averages 35.8 rebounds, 2.8 more than opponents. Adding to their defensive prowess they average 4.4 blocks per game, already with 48 on the season with multiple blocks in each of the 11 outings.

Scouting the Opponents
Black Hills State Yellowjackets
The Yellowjackets head into this weekend's conference contests on a 2-0 streak with wins over Western Colorado and Fort Lewis in their first RMAC contests. They claimed an 85-80 win over WSCU, then hung on for an 83-81 victory over Fort Lewis for the sweep.

Joel Scott went off, tallying a double-double against the Mountaineers behind a whopping 50m point and 12-rebound performance. He then added another 26-points on night two, earning him RMAC Offensive Player of the Week. The junior out of Monument, Colo. has yet to be held to single-digits this season, with four 20-plus point games. He is averaging a double-double with 23.7 points and 10.9 rebounds, at no surprise considering he spends significant time on the hardwood.

The team closed out the non-conference portion of the schedule on a three-game skid before turning the tables in their RMAC openers, sitting at 4-3 overall.

Chadron State Eagles
At 5-5 overall, the Eagle split their last two contests falling to Fort Lewis, 63-87 before rebounding with a win over Western Colorado, 90-84.

CJ Jenning produced a season high 32-points in the win, and was a rebound shy of a double-double. He is the eagles leading scorer, averaging 15.2 points per game -with four games in double-digits - and is one of the guys handling rebounds, averaging 4.5 a game.

The Yellowjackets dropped the first four games of the season, going on a run to claim the next four to close out their non-conference schedule.

NABC Preseason Poll
Reaching the pinnacle of the program, claiming a No. 1 ranking in the final National Association of Basketball Coaches poll last season, the Mavericks continue to garner national recognition heading into this season, coming in at No. 4 in the preseason poll, and picking up a first-place vote.

Reigning national champions Northwest Missouri State garnered 15 out of the possible 16 first-place votes to take the top-spot. Flagler came in at No. 2, followed by West Texas A&M, Colorado Mesa, and fellow RMAC member Colorado School of Mines at No.5.

RMAC Favorites
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference released their preseason poll, Wednesday as the Mavericks were favored to repeat.

CMU snagged 12 of the 15 first-place votes for 192-points. Colorado School of Mines, Black Hills and Fort Lewis each picked up one of the other three votes, projected to finish 2^nd, 3^rd and 5^th respectively. UCCS garnered 134-points to take the No. 4 spot, completing the top-5.

The Mavericks finished the condensed 2020-21 season with a 21-2 mark, 18-1 in conference play. The team went on an 11-game win streak from the get-go, going on another 10-game streak following their only loss in the loop, which included claiming back-to-back RMAC Tournament titles in a 75-74 overtime thriller over Colorado School of Mines, completing the season with a perfect 6-0 record when pushed into extra time.

With the automatic bid, the team returned to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year, this time as the No. 1 seed in the West Regional.