GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Colorado Mesa used two dynamic second halves to collect a pair of wins and extend their RMAC winning streak.

Trailing at halftime in both games, the Mavericks scored 56 second-half points in a 94-82 win over CSU Pueblo and 67 second-half points in a 94-72 win over New Mexico Highlands. The Mavs have now won 16 consecutive RMAC contests dating back to last season.

The Mavs head to Nebraska this weekend, facing Chadron State at 7:30 p.m. this Friday. They will work their way back into the Centennial State with a road game against Colorado Christian on Saturday at 7 p.m. Both contests will be available to stream for free on the RMAC Network with live stats available.

Looking Back
The Mavericks topped 90 points for the fifth and sixth times this season with high-scoring wins over CSU Pueblo and New Mexico Highlands. The Mavs made 33 three-pointers over the course of last week's two games, tying the program's single-game team record with 18 makes from deep in the Highlands game.

RECAPS: CSU Pueblo | New Mexico Highlands

Colorado Mesa had a pair of 20-point scorers in each game, with Mac Riniker scoring 22 and Aidan Kuhl scoring 21 in the win over Pueblo and Owen Koonce going for 22 points while Christopher Speller had 20 in the Highlands win. Speller went a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range during his 20-point game, spearheading CMU's record-tying effort from three. Koonce (22 points, 10 rebounds) and Trevor Baskin (10 points, 13 rebounds) each had double-doubles against New Mexico Highlands.

Offensive POTW
When you score over 90 points five times in a six-game stretch, your offense is bound to get some attention. That's exactly what happened for the Mavs as Owen Koonce captured the team's first RMAC Offensive Player of the Week award of the 2023-24 season from the conference office last Monday.

Player of the Week Release

Koonce joins Mac Riniker, who earned Defensive Player of the Week honors on November 14 and December 4, as CMU players to win RMAC weekly honors this season. The redshirt junior averaged 19 points per game in a four-game stretch that included a career-high 27 points against Simon Fraser and a 22-point, 10-rebound double-double against New Mexico Highlands.

For the season, Koonce ranks third on the team averaging 15 points per game and 4.1 rebounds per game. Koonce is shooting 56.6 percent from the field (fifth in the RMAC), 43.5 percent from three (fourth in the RMAC) and 93.8 percent from the free-throw line.

Defensive Identity
Despite the change in offensive scheme leading to fast-paced, high-scoring play, the Mavericks are still a stout defensive team. The Mavericks lead the RMAC in opposing field goal percentage, holding opponents to 41.2 percent shooting throughout the season.

The Mavs are also forcing the third-most turnovers in the conference at 15.7 per game, blocking the third-most shots in the conference at 3.46 per game and forcing the third-most steals in the conference at 8.38 per game.

While the Mavericks have scored 90 points or more in four of seven RMAC contests, the Mavs have held opponents under 80 points in all but two contests.  

Guess Who's Back
Saturday's game saw the emotional return of Ethan Menzies, a First-Team All-American in 2020-21 who missed over two seasons with multiple knee injuries.

Menzies played in two short stints, one in each half, totaling about five minutes against New Mexico Highlands, logging two rebounds and an assist. The plan will be to slowly ramp up Menzies into game activity and integrate him into the Maverick offense.

Menzies averaged 15.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game during a phenomenal 2020-21 season that saw him win a litany of awards - NABC Division II All-American, NABC First-Team All-Region, First-Team All-RMAC and RMAC Tournament MVP.

Splash Zone
Colorado Mesa tied a school record with 18 made three-pointers against New Mexico Highlands, a record that seems certain to fall this season.

The Mavs tied the school record on a day that they shot 45 percent from three-point range (18-40), which is only the third-most attempts this season (trailing 45 against Simon Fraser and 43 against CSU Pueblo) and the second-highest percentage (trailing a 51.6 percent performance against Regis). All three of CMU's most recent games rank in the top five in program history for most three-point attempts in a single game, with seven of the program's top 10 highest single-game totals taking place this season.
 

Attempts	Game
45	@ Simon Fraser, 12/19/23 (16-45)
43	vs. CSU Pueblo, 1/5/24 (15-43)
41	vs. Fort Lewis, 2/28/15 (14-41)
40	vs. New Mexico Highlands, 1/6/24 (18-40)
40	vs. MSU Denver, 1/14/22 (15-40)
37	@ Adams State, 12/15/23 (11-37)
36	vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville, 11/17/23 (11-36)
35	vs. UCCS, 12/8/23 (7-35)
35	vs. West Texas A&M, 12/18/23 (4-35)

 
The 18 made threes matched an existing record from January 18, 2020 against Fort Lewis, when the Mavs only needed 23 attempts to drain 18. Colorado Mesa has made double-digit three-pointers in 10 of 13 games so far this season. They are shooting 34.3 percent as a team, which only ranks 11^th in the 15-team RMAC.

Kuhl Kustomer
Sophomore Aidan Kuhl has been a new addition to the CMU starting five, cracking the starting lineup for both of last week's games.

The two matches marked the first two starts of Kuhl's collegiate career after previously appearing off the bench in 20 games last season with Division I North Alabama and 10 earlier this year with CMU. The Fort Collins native has seen his role slowly expand with the Mavs since transferring ahead of this season.

Against CSU Pueblo, Kuhl played a career-high 31 minutes and scored a career-high 21 points. Kuhl shot 7-for-12 from the field and went 5-for-10 from three-point range. The Mavericks wasted no time getting Kuhl involved in the offensive attack during his opening stint with the first unit, as the sophomore scored five of CMU's first eight points in the win over the Pack.

Last Ones Standing
Friday's game will feature a match-up between Mavericks forward Trevor Baskin and Eagles forward Josh Robinson. Baskin and Robinson were both RMAC First Team All-Conference players in 2022-23 and are the only two players out of last year's 10 honorees to return to the conference this season.

Last season was a generational year for RMAC men's basketball, with four teams ranked in the nation's top 16 entering postseason play, and the talent playing in the RMAC last season has expanded across the NCAA and even the globe. The other eight first-teamers from last year are out of the RMAC, either graduating (two) or playing elsewhere (six) at the collegiate or professional level.
 

Player	2022-23 Team	2023-24 Team
Joel Scott (RMAC Player of the Year)	Black Hills State	Colorado State (Division I, Mountain West)
Josh Robinson	Chadron State	Chadron State
Trevor Baskin	Colorado Mesa	Colorado Mesa
Blaise Threatt	Colorado Mesa	Weber State (Division I, Big Sky)
Brendan Sullivan	Colorado School of Mines	Graduated
Adam Thistlewood	Colorado School of Mines	Graduated
Akuel Kot	Fort Lewis	Wyoming (Division I, Mountain West)
JaQuaylon Mays	Fort Lewis	Cafeteros (Professional, Colombia)
Dante Moses	New Mexico Highlands	Graduated/Inter Bratislava (Professional, Slovakia)
Trey Farrer	Westminster	Angelo State (Division II, Lone Star)

 
Three of last year's first-team players moved up to the NCAA Division I level. Blaise Threatt, last season's leading scorer for CMU, now plays for Weber State University in the Big Sky conference of Division I. Threatt is the third-leading scorer for the 11-4 Wildcats, averaging 10.6 points per game while starting eight of 15 contests. Threatt is also averaging 3.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and a steal per game.

Joel Scott, the reigning RMAC and Division II Player of the Year, has started every game for Colorado State, the No. 17-ranked team in NCAA Division I. Scott averages 11.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and a block per game in 27.3 minutes per contest. Scott is joined in the Mountain West Conference by former Fort Lewis standout Akuel Kot. Kot, a first-team Division II All-American last year, has also started every game for Wyoming, ranking second on the team with 14.9 points per game. Kot nailed a buzzer-beating jump shot to defeat San Jose State 75-73 on January 2.

Players who left the RMAC but stayed in Division II are excelling, as well. Former Westminster forward Trey Farrer now plays for Angelo State, the 10^th-ranked team in the country in Division II. Farrer averages 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for the Rams, averaging over a block per game as well. Farrer currently ranks fifth in the Lone Star Conference in rebounds per game.

In the Polls
At 11-2, Colorado Mesa rose to No. 11 in the most recent NABC Coaches Poll, rising three spots from No. 14 last week. Both of Colorado Mesa's losses are to teams ranked above them in the poll – No. 4 West Texas A&M and No. 6 Dallas Baptist. The Mavs are currently the highest-ranked two-loss team in the country, with all 10 teams above them currently having zero losses or one loss.

The South Central region dominates the top part of the national poll, with five of the region's teams occupying spots in the top 11. Behind WTA&M and DBU, No. 9 Fort Lewis, No. 10 Angelo State and No. 11 CMU are also highly ranked, with No. 23 Colorado School of Mines giving the region a sixth nationally ranked team.

Colorado Mesa ranks 20^th in the D2CSC Media Poll. The Mavericks are also fifth regionally in that poll, trailing No. 5 West Texas A&M, No. 9 DBU, No. 12 Angelo State and No. 16 Fort Lewis.
The Mavericks were picked to win the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in a preseason poll of the conference's head coaches. The Mavericks received eight of a possible 15 first-place votes and finished with 186 points to top the poll. Fort Lewis, who shared the regular season title with CMU and won the RMAC Tournament last year, got four first-place votes and 177 points. Colorado School of Mines received three first-place votes and 169 points while Black Hills State and Chadron State rounded out the top five.

About Chadron State
Chadron State was the RMAC's biggest surprise last season, finishing in fifth after being picked 14^th in the preseason poll. The Eagles got preseason plaudits this time around, being picked fifth in the 2023-24 preseason poll, and Chadron is off to an 8-5 start with a 5-2 record in RMAC play thus far.

In the RMAC, Chadron has wins over CSU Pueblo, Western Colorado, Colorado Christian, Regis and UCCS with losses to New Mexico Highlands and MSU Denver. The Eagles have two more common opponents with Colorado Mesa, as Chadron lost to Texas A&M International 80-78 before beating Texas A&M-Kingsville 109-70. Chadron State has made its home gym, the Chicoine Center, a tough place to play. The Eagles are 7-1 at home this season, compared to 1-4 on the road. Home-court advantage played a big role in the Eagles' fifth-place finish last year, as CSC went 11-2 at home compared to 6-8 on the road in 2022-23.

Chadron State has the highest team field goal percentage in the RMAC, shooting 48.9 percent as a team. Colorado Mesa and Chadron State are tied for the most rebounds per game in the conference, grabbing 38.8 boards per game as a team.

The Eagles are led by 2022-23 Second Team All-RMAC guard Bryce Latimer and First Team All-RMAC forward Josh Robinson. Latimer is currently third in the RMAC averaging 20.2 points per game. He has scored in double figures in every game this season and has scored 20 points or more seven times, although just two of those 20-point games have come against RMAC opponents. Robinson averages 14.9 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game, the second-highest total in the conference. Robinson has five double-doubles this season and ranks fourth in the RMAC with a 57.5 percent field goal percentage.

Head Coach Shane Paben is in his fourth year at Chadron State. In his first year in 2020-21, Paben led Chadron State to the RMAC Tournament for the first time since 2011-12. He went 10-17 in his second year. Prior to taking over the Eagles, Paben turned Bellevue University in Bellevue, Nebraska into an NAIA powerhouse, taking the Bruins to 10 straight NAIA national tournaments. He reached the NAIA Sweet 16 on seven occasions and the NAIA Final Four (known as the Fab Four) twice.

The Mavericks are 39-11 all-time against Chadron State. Colorado Mesa has won 11 consecutive games in the series, including a 73-60 win in Grand Junction last season. When Chadron does win, however, it's typically in Nebraska – the Eagles are 10-12 at home in the series compared to 1-26 in Grand Junction.

About Colorado Christian
The Colorado Christian Cougars are 6-7 overall with a 2-5 record in the RMAC. The Cougars were picked 13^th in the RMAC Preseason Poll.

The Cougars are CMU's RMAC partner for the annual D2CCA Conference Crossover, so CCU also faced St. Edward's (losing 91-85) and DBU (losing 114-75) alongside the Mavs during the first weekend of the regular season. In the RMAC, CCU has beaten Western Colorado and UCCS while losing to New Mexico Highlands, CSU Pueblo, Chadron State, Regis, and Colorado School of Mines.

This matchup with the Mavericks could be high scoring. CCU has the sixth-ranked scoring offense in the RMAC, averaging 77.9 points per game, but have the 14^th-ranked scoring defense, giving up 78.4 points per game.

Junior guard Noah Kon leads the Cougars offensively, averaging 16.3 points per game. Kon erupted for 32 points against Chadron State on December 12, shooting 13-for-19 from the field, but was held to just two points in CCU's most recent RMAC game vs. Colorado School of Mines on January 6. Graduate guard Brenden Patrick averages 10.2 points per game while shooting 53.7 percent from the field.

Liam Simmons is in his fourth season as the CCU head coach. He will enter the weekend with a 28-59 career record. Although Colorado Christian is his first collegiate head coaching job, Simmons has assistant coaching experience at Division I UC Riverside and Division II Southwest Baptist. A native of Australia, Simmons most recently coached the Franklin Bulls in New Zealand's National Basketball League. He is the half brother of NBA All-Star, former No. 1 overall draft pick and current Brooklyn Nets forward Ben Simmons.

The Mavs are 26-10 all-time vs. CCU and also have an extended winning streak in that series, winning the last 10 meetings. The Mavericks won 78-58 in Grand Junction last season and won 101-66 the year before that.