GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Colorado Mesa men's basketball makes the trek out to the Mount Rushmore State this weekend for a pair of road games, including a renewed rivalry with one of the nation's top teams.
The Mavericks recorded two double-digit victories at home last weekend, defeating Chadron State 73-60 and Colorado Christian 78-58.
Trevor Baskin averaged 15.5 points and 1.5 blocks per game during the two wins. Baskin and
Isaac Jessup each had 14 points to lead the Mavs during Friday's win, while
Blaise Threatt had 18 and Baskin had 17 during the win over CCU.
After holding both of last week's opponents to 60 points or fewer, the Mavericks are allowing only 65.6 points per game in the 2022-23 season, the lowest mark in the RMAC.
RECAPS:
Chadron State |
Colorado Christian
The Mavericks sit in fourth in the conference standings at 7-2. Both of CMU's opponents this week, Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines, as well as next week's opponents Fort Lewis and Westminster, currently rank in the RMAC's top eight alongside CMU.
| School |
RMAC |
Pct. |
Overall |
Pct. |
Streak |
| #3 Black Hills State |
7-0 |
1.000 |
13-0 |
1.000 |
W13 |
| #6 Colorado School of Mines |
8-1 |
.889 |
14-1 |
.933 |
W5 |
| #15 Fort Lewis |
7-1 |
.875 |
13-1 |
.929 |
W3 |
| (RV) Colorado Mesa |
7-2 |
.778 |
12-3 |
.800 |
W7 |
| UCCS |
6-3 |
.667 |
12-4 |
.750 |
W1 |
| Chadron State |
5-4 |
.556 |
8-7 |
.533 |
L3 |
| South Dakota Mines |
4-5 |
.444 |
5-10 |
.333 |
L1 |
| Westminster |
4-5 |
.444 |
5-10 |
.333 |
W2 |
When Black Hills State and Colorado Mesa square off on Friday, it will be a matchup of the two longest active winning streaks in the conference, as the Mavs have won seven straight while BHSU is 13-0.
Friday's game against Black Hills State will tip off at 7 p.m. and Saturday's game against South Dakota Mines will begin at 6 p.m. Both games can be streamed live on the RMAC Network. Friday's game will be broadcast on 1340 AM/101.1 FM The Team while Saturday's will be broadcast on 1100AM KNZZ.
Foot On The Gas
In interviews throughout this week and last, coaches and players have repeatedly articulated a goal to play at a faster pace. The Mavericks rank third in the RMAC with a .485 team field goal percentage and second with a .399 three-point field goal percentage, so CMU will look to capitalize on its efficiency by creating more possessions per game for the team.
D-Fence
While the Mavs are seeking improvement on the offensive end, the methodical early-season pace has helped produce some good defensive stats. The Mavs currently have the best scoring defense in the RMAC, allowing just 65.6 points per game. That average has been steadily falling, as CMU has held its last four opponents to 60 points or fewer.
The defense will have a tough task against No. 3 Black Hills State, which is averaging 81.3 points per game and has four players averaging in double figures. A key will be controlling the glass, which CMU has done exceptionally well up to this point. The Mavs lead the conference in rebounding margin, grabbing 6.9 more rebounds on average than their opponents.
Driven in part by the lower number of possessions caused by a slower offensive pace plus CMU's high shooting percentages, Colorado Mesa is only allowing opponents to collect 27.4 rebounds per game, the fewest in the RMAC by just over three rebounds.
Dynamic Duo
The Mavericks have a pair of stars in redshirt sophomores
Blaise Threatt and
Trevor Baskin. With Threatt ranking seventh in the RMAC at 16.1 points per game and Baskin ranking 10
th at 15.3 points per game, CMU is the only team with multiple players in the conference's top 10.
Threatt and Baskin impact the game in plenty of other areas, as well. Threatt leads the RMAC in steals with 33, averaging 2.2 per game, while Baskin ranks second in the conference with 20 blocked shots for a 1.3 per game average. Baskin ranks eighth in the RMAC with 6.9 rebounds per game with Threatt just behind, ranking 11
th with 6.5 per game.
Threatt and Baskin each have three double-doubles on the season. Colorado Mesa has needed one or both of its stars to show up this year, as no other player on the CMU roster is currently averaging in double figures or over four rebounds per game.
Are We There Yet?
The approximately 10-hour bus ride to this week's games in South Dakota is easily the longest road trip in the RMAC for Colorado Mesa. During the grind of this travel trip in recent years, CMU has had far more signature moments at one of the South Dakota stops than the other.
Despite Black Hills State's current top-3 ranking, last year's Final Four appearance and two RMAC championships in the past three seasons, the Mavericks have won the past two times they have played in Spearfish. The feat is even more impressive considering Black Hills State went 12-2 and 7-3 at home in the two seasons they lost at home to CMU. Interestingly, the Yellow Jackets have had CMU's number elsewhere, defeating them both at Brownson Arena and at a neutral site in the NCAA Tournament last season.
By contrast, CMU has struggled to get results on the road against South Dakota Mines. On the same road trips that they defeated BHSU twice, the Mavs lost 87-78 in 2020 and scrapped together an 82-77 double-overtime victory in 2021. When the two programs played in Grand Junction last season, the Mavericks won by 16.
About Black Hills State
The Mavericks easily face their toughest challenge of the season so far in the Black Hills State Yellow Jackets. Black Hills enters the contest ranked No. 3 in the nation in both the NABC Coaches Poll and the D2SIDA Media Poll. They received one national first-place vote in the Coaches Poll.
Black Hills State is coming off the most successful season in school history in 2021-22. The Yellow Jackets won the RMAC regular season championship by half a game over Colorado Mesa, then defeated Regis for the RMAC Tournament Championship. In the first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, the Yellow Jackets advanced to the Final Four, defeating Colorado Mesa in the Sweet 16 and national No. 1 Nova Southeastern in the Elite Eight before losing to eventual national champions Northwest Missouri State.
The Yellow Jackets have followed that up with a perfect 13-0 start in 2022-23. Its most impressive wins include a one-point neutral site win over No. 20 MSU Moorhead, a 97-38 drubbing of a Montana State Billings team that was receiving votes nationally and an 85-77 overtime win over No. 6/10 Colorado School of Mines, the Orediggers' only loss of the season. In their two games since returning from winter break, they defeated Adams State 84-64 and Western Colorado 78-73.
Black Hills State is led by 2021-22 RMAC Player of the Year and NABC All-American forward Joel Scott. Scott ranks fourth in the conference with 21.4 points per game and leads the RMAC while ranking top-15 nationally with 9.9 rebounds per game. Scott has scored in double figures in every game so far this season and has six double-doubles, including in each of the past four games.
The Yellow Jackets reloaded in a big way with the addition of guard Matthew Ragsdale, who transferred to BHSU from Western Colorado. A high school teammate of Scott's, Ragsdale was the RMAC's second-leading scorer behind Scott in 2021-22 at 21.5 points per game and joined Black Hills State just a season after scoring 53 points against them as a member of the Mountaineers. Ragsdale is averaging 13.6 points per game in 2022-23.
Other key contributors include PJ Hayes, who is averaging 12.8 points per game and leads the RMAC with a 51 percent three-point percentage, and Adam Moussa, who is averaging 11.8 points per game and leads the conference with 5.7 assists per game.
Head Coach Ryan Thompson is in his fifth year at the helm after spending three years as an assistant. Thompson is a two-time RMAC Coach of the Year. Under his leadership, BHSU is the only RMAC program to finish in the top four of the conference standings in each of the past four seasons. He won Black Hills State University's first RMAC regular season title in any sport in 2019-20 before the historic RMAC regular season/tournament sweep and run to the NCAA Final Four in 2021-22.
About South Dakota Mines
The Hardrockers of South Dakota Mines are 5-10 overall but a very competitive 4-5 against RMAC competition. Among the five conference losses, three were by three points or less and the other two were to nationally ranked opponents. One of the close losses was SDM's only game last week, an 81-79 road loss to Western Colorado.
Offensively, South Dakota Mines is enjoying a prolific scoring season from redshirt sophomore guard Brevin Walter. After breaking out and averaging 16.9 points per game in 2021-22, Walter ranks third in the RMAC and within the top 10 nationally with 22.4 points per game.
Walter has scored in double figures in 14 consecutive games, going for over 20 points eight times and over 30 points on three occasions. On December 10 against MSU Denver, Walter scored 45 points on 11 of 19 from the field, 5 of 9 from three-point range and 18 of 22 from the free-throw line. He scored 34 points in a win over CSU Pueblo and scored 30 points on 10 of 19 shooting the last time he was on the court against Western Colorado last Saturday.
Junior guard Alejandro Rama, a two-time honorable mention All-RMAC player, missed the start of this season but has played the last five games and is averaging 18.5 points per game with a high of 29 points in his second appearance of the year against New Mexico Highlands on December 17.
Senior forward Kolten Mortensen also averages in double figures at 14.1 points per game and ranks second in the RMAC with a 51 percent three-point shooting percentage (78-153). Junior point guard Kolton Frugoli ranks sixth in the conference with 3.6 assists per game.
South Dakota Mines has had trouble on the defensive end, ranking second to last in scoring defense by allowing 79.1 points per game. The team also ranks second to last in rebounding, pulling down 32.1 per game. The Hardrockers have had only 10 players appear in a game this season and have five players averaging over 30 minutes per game.
Head Coach Eric Glenn is in his fifth season with the Hardrockers. Glenn compiled a 48-58 record in his first four years, qualifying for two RMAC tournaments. His first head coaching experience came at Missouri Valley College from 2000-2003, but Glenn has a decorated assistant coaching career with stops at Chadron State, the University of Wyoming, Black Hills State and 13 years at South Dakota Mines before earning the head job.
Series History
Colorado Mesa is 10-9 all-time against Black Hills State, with several classic matchups in recent years as BHSU has risen into a national power.
Since the 2018-19 season, when current head coaches
Mike DeGeorge and Ryan Thompson each began their tenures, the two teams have split six regular-season meetings. The Mavericks defeated Black Hills State 75-70 on December 11, 2020 as part of that season's 14-game season-opening win streak.
The following season, the Yellow Jackets broke CMU's 16-game home win streak by topping the Mavs 75-73 in overtime at Brownson Arena. The Mavericks returned the favor in South Dakota, however, handing the Yellow Jackets their first RMAC loss behind 33 points from
Trevor Baskin, which is still a career-high for the forward.
Black Hills State got the finishing punch when the two teams met in the Sweet 16 of last year's NCAA Tournament, which was the first time either program had reached that stage of the national tourney. The Yellow Jackets won 72-62, with Joel Scott accumulating a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double.
The Mavericks have fared much better against South Dakota Mines, leading that all-time series 7-1. CMU has struggled in recent years at the King Center in Rapid City. The Mavs' lone loss to SDM came in the 2019-20 season on the road, and CMU needed double overtime to beat the Hardrockers in the last time they played, escaping with an 82-77 victory in February 2021. Colorado Mesa won 70-54 over SDM last season, but that game was played at Brownson Arena.
In the Polls
Colorado Mesa is currently receiving votes in both the NABC Coaches Poll and D2SIDA National Media Poll. Among teams in the receiving votes category just outside the top 25, CMU had the fifth-most votes in the Coaches Poll and the second-most votes in the Media Poll.
Three RMAC teams are nationally ranked. Black Hills State is ranked No. 3 in both polls, Colorado School of Mines is No. 6 in the Coaches Poll and No. 10 in the Media Poll and Fort Lewis is No. 15 in the Coaches Poll and No. 17 in the Media Poll.
Colorado Mesa moved up a spot to No. 4 in the D2SIDA South Central regional rankings, which ranks the teams in the RMAC and Lone Star conferences. The RMAC is currently dominating the rankings, with Black Hills State, Mines, Fort Lewis and CMU occupying the top four spots with UCCS at No. 6. The Mavs have wins over the No. 6 (UCCS) and No. 8 (Texas A&M-Kingsville) teams in the rankings, as well as a team receiving votes (St. Edward's).
Colorado Mesa finished second in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, trailing only Black Hills State, who received 14 of 15 first-place votes. Colorado School of Mines got the final first-place vote and came third, followed by Fort Lewis and UCCS.
Coach's Corner
Mike DeGeorge has taken the Colorado Mesa program to unprecedented heights since arriving ahead of the 2018-19 season.
He improved the Mavericks from 11 to 19 wins in his first season and crossed the 20-win barrier in 2019-20, leading CMU to an RMAC Tournament Championship from the No. 4 seed. That clinched what would have been the Mavs' first NCAA Tournament Appearance since 2011, but the NCAA Tournament was canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2020-21 campaign saw the Mavericks start the season with 14 consecutive wins on the way to the RMAC Regular Season and Tournament Championships and finishing the regular season ranked No. 1 in the nation. DeGeorge was named RMAC and NCAA West Region Coach of the Year.
In 2021-22, DeGeorge led the Mavericks to within half a game of a regular-season conference championship before leading the team to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for the first time in program history, a run that included a win over regional No. 1 seed Lubbock Christian.
Prior to CMU, DeGeorge was the head coach at Eureka College in Eureka, Ill. from 2000-04, Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa from 2004-09 and Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn. for eight seasons from 2010-2018.
