GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – After a 1-1 start on the road, Colorado Mesa men's basketball will play at Brownson Arena for the first time this weekend with two more games against significant regional opponents.
The first weekend of the Maverick season showcased a new-look up-tempo offense which scored 84 and 89 points in its first two games of the 2023 season with CMU's familiar suffocating defense which has 23 steals through two contests.
The Mavs will face Texas A&M-Kingsville on Friday at 7 p.m. before battling Texas A&M International on Saturday at 7 p.m. Both games will be streamed on the RMAC Network and can be followed via live stats.
Mac Attack
Reigning RMAC Defensive Player of the Year
Mac Riniker showed right away that he will remain a terror on the defensive end for the 2023-24 season, taking home the year's first RMAC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Player of the Week Release
Riniker averaged a block and four steals per game against DBU and St. Edward's. As impressive as those numbers are, it's exactly what Riniker was averaging at this point last season after two games against the same two opponents.
During last season's D2 Conference Challenge hosted by CMU, Riniker racked up five steals and two blocks against St. Edward's before adding three steals against DBU. Riniker also produced in 2022 against this week's upcoming opponents, too, finishing with three blocks and two steals against TA&M-K and a block and a steal apiece against TAMIU.
Despite taking home Defensive Player of the Year honors last season, Riniker has only been named the Defensive Player of the Week once in his career, last season on November 15. Riniker was the first of three Mavericks to win RMAC Player of the Week honors last season (
Trevor Baskin and
Blaise Threatt were the others).
Making Adjustments
In both outings last week, Colorado Mesa dominated the game after halftime. The main difference was how big of a hole the Mavs had to climb out of after the first 30 minutes.
Against DBU, the Mavs outscored the Patriots 51-39 in the second half, but a 17-point halftime deficit meant that the Mavericks came up short despite a valiant comeback attempt. In the St. Edward's game, the Mavericks trailed by three at the half but ran away with it after the break, outscoring the Hilltoppers 50-31.
The Rotation
For the first two games, CMU utilized a starting lineup of
Christopher Speller,
Isaac Jessup,
Owen Koonce,
Trevor Baskin and
Mac Riniker.
Reece Johnson filled a significant role off the bench, logging 19 minutes against DBU and 28 minutes against St. Edward's.
Christian Speller logged 15 minutes against DBU, equaling his total from the entire 2022-23 season, and added 14 minutes against St. Edward's.
Christian Speller shot 3-for-6 from the field, 2-for-3 from three-point range and 2-for-3 from the line along with two rebounds in his season debut against DBU.
Michael McCurry averaged six points and 1.5 rebounds in 14 minutes per game and
Aidan Kuhl played 11 minutes while shooting 2-for-3 from the field and making his only three pointer in his CMU debut after transferring from North Alabama.
Sam Goulet also averaged 5.5 minutes per game after appearing in just eight games in 2022-23.
Schedule Highlights
The 2023-24 version of the Mavericks' men's basketball schedule features an assortment of high-profile showdowns. The Mavs are currently scheduled to play five games against teams ranked in the NABC Preseason Top 25, with three at Brownson Arena.
While none of the three are nationally-ranked, the Mavs open the 2023-24 season by playing three of the Lone Star's top six preseason teams right off the bat. The Mavericks open with a neutral site game against DBU, which was picked fifth in the Lone Star, then have a true road game against St. Edward's, who was picked third in the Lone Star and received one first place vote (out of 45). CMU's home opener comes on November 17 against a Texas A&M-Kingsville team who, like CMU, lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season. The Javelinas were picked sixth in the Lone Star.
Perhaps the marquee game on the schedule is a neutral site clash on December 18 against West Texas A&M. The Buffs swept the Lone Star regular season and tournament titles last year and secured the No. 1 seed in last year's South Central Regional, eventually losing in the NCAA Sweet 16 to Black Hills State.
West Texas A&M is picked to win the Lone Star once again this season, receiving 34 of 45 first-place votes in the Lone Star poll, and the Buffs are the top-ranked South Central region team in the NABC poll with a preseason No. 7 ranking. The contest against WTA&M, along with a game against Simon Fraser the following day, will take place at Desert Oasis High School in Las Vegas, Nevada.
With four preseason top-18 teams in the RMAC, there will be no shortage of nationally-ranked showdowns in conference play. Last season, Colorado Mesa had three road games against the conference's top four, including unreturned trips to Black Hills State and Fort Lewis. This year, the tables turn with the Mavericks hosting all three of the conference's top four.
CMU is scheduled to play at Colorado School of Mines to open up the RMAC season on Friday, December 1, with a home game against the Orediggers on Friday, February 16. Black Hills State will come to Grand Junction on Friday, January 19, while the following week on January 26 will see Fort Lewis enter Brownson Arena for the first time since taking down the RMAC Tournament championship last March. The Fort Lewis game will also be the annual Blizzard in Brownson, presented by Coca-Cola.
Other Brownson highlights from the RMAC season include a Saturday, January 6 matchup against New Mexico Highlands, coached by former CMU All-American Mike Dominguez, and the home rivalry game against Western Colorado to close out the regular season on Saturday, March 2.
About Texas A&M-Kingsville
Texas A&M-Kingsville is also 1-1 so far this season. They were picked sixth in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll. The Javelinas beat South Dakota Mines 54-49 before losing to Chadron State 109-70. TA&M-K went 21-12 last year and grabbed the eighth regional seed in the NCAA Tournament, losing in the first round to No. 1 seed West Texas A&M.
Senior guard C.J. Smith is leading the Javelinas with 13 points per game. Smith had 12 points, six rebounds and three steals against SD Mines and 14 points against Chadron State while shooting 6 of 12 from the field. Senior forward Kavon Booker is averaging 6.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game and had a eight-point, 10-rebound game against SD Mines.
The Mavericks are 2-0 all-time against Texas A&M-Kingsville, with both previous meetings coming in 2022. The Mavs won in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at a neutral site in Lubbock, Texas in March 2022, part of the Mavericks' run to the first Sweet 16 in school history that season. CMU then pulled out a 71-65 win on the road last November behind a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double and 15 points apiece from
Christopher Speller and
Blaise Threatt.
Texas A&M-Kingsville has a new head coach in Omar Gonzalez after serving the previous five seasons as an assistant coach for former Javelinas head coach Johnny Estelle, who departed for an assistant coaching job at the University of North Texas. Gonzales has also served as a basketball manager as Texas-El Paso and the University of Houston.
About Texas A&M International
The Dustdevils of Texas A&M International are 2-1 on the season, with wins over Chadron State (80-78) and Southwestern Adventist (90-48) and a loss to South Dakota Mines (84-66).
TAMIU was picked 11
th in the preseason poll after going 18-12 last season with an 11-11 mark in the Lone Star Conference. The Dustdevils did, however, upset Colorado Mesa last season after the Mavericks had started the year 3-0 with wins over St. Edward's, DBU and Kingsville.
Junior guard Mathew Okoye leads the Dustdevils with 16 points per game in the early going. Okoye had his best performance in TAMIU's loss, putting up 22 points while going 6 of 13 from the field and 8 of 10 from the line. Senior John Achebe is averaging 10.5 points and a team-high 5.3 boards per game.
Head Coach Rodney "Mac" McConnell is in his fourth season with the Dustdevils. McConnell was previously an assistant coach at former Lone Star school Tarleton State, which has since moved to Division I. Last year's team ended with 18 wins, the most for the program since 2016.
Colorado Mesa is 1-1 all-time against Texas A&M-International, with the loss coming last season. The Mavericks win came back in 2014-15 in Grand Junction by a 69-51 score.
Coach's Corner
In his five seasons in Grand Junction,
Mike DeGeorge has transformed the Mavericks into a perennial national and conference contender, winning two RMAC Coach of the Year awards in the process.
From 2018-19 through 2022-23, DeGeorge has compiled a 112-38 record at the helm of the Mavericks, topping the 20-win plateau in four consecutive seasons. 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.
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's team won a program-record 26 games, advancing 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.
The Mavs won a co-RMAC regular season championship in 2022-23, going 19-3 in the RMAC and 25-6 overall while making their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. The team stepped up in tough environments, going 3-0 on the road against top-15 opponents as DeGeorge nabbed his second RMAC Coach of the Year award.
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. He has over 300 career wins as a head coach.
