CANYON, Texas – A historic season for the Colorado Mesa men's basketball program came to an end Tuesday with a loss to West Texas A&M in the third round of the NCAA tournament.

The Mavericks, ranked No. 6 in the NABC Coaches Poll and seeded No. 3 in the South Central regional, were outscored by 20 points in the second half of an 88-76 loss to West Texas A&M, the national No. 9 team, South Central No. 1 seed and tournament host.

With the loss, Colorado Mesa finishes the 2023-24 season with a 29-5 record. The Mavericks set a single-season program record for wins and tied their longest-ever NCAA Tournament run with a trip to the Sweet 16, but the Mavericks will have to wait a little longer for the program's first regional championship and trip to the Elite Eight.

RMAC Player of the Year Trevor Baskin put a bow on his phenomenal season with 18 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four blocks. Over CMU's three NCAA tournament games, Baskin averaged 21.7 points and 10.7 rebounds per contest and earned a spot on the NCAA's South Central Regional All-Tournament team.

Christopher Speller also scored 18 points for the Mavericks, as he and Baskin both finished the night shooting 8 of 14 from the field. Ethan Menzies finished with a season-high 14 points, 11 of which came in the first half, to go with five rebounds. Isaac Jessup had 11 points to ensure he scored in double figures during every game of the NCAA Tournament for CMU.

Colorado Mesa shot 54 percent from the field (30-56) and 40 percent from three-point range (8-20), as the Mavericks had their third-lowest total of three-point attempts in a game this season. The Mavericks struggled from the free throw line, only making 8 of 15 attempts from the stripe.

The game began with several runs, as two of the most talented teams in the country traded waves of momentum. After West Texas hit a three for the game's first bucket, Colorado Mesa had an early 12-0 run to take a nine-point lead just six minutes into the game. The Buffs immediately responded with a 13-4 run to tie the game at 16-16 with 10:17 left in the first half, but Mesa ripped off another 10-0 run featuring six points from Ethan Menzies to take a 26-16 lead with just under seven minutes to go in the half.

Menzies, making just his third start of the season, proved to be a matchup masterstroke by head coach Mike DeGeorge. With West Texas looking to deny CMU shot opportunities from behind the arc, Menzies' inclusion in the lineup gave Colorado Mesa two post players alongside Baskin. In the first half alone, Menzies made 5 of 6 shot attempts for 11 points and three rebounds, contributing heavily to the Mavs outscoring the Buffs in the paint 22-14 in the first half and 44-36 for the game.

Menzies finished with a season-high 14 points and achieved his first game scoring in double figures since March 2021 during his NABC All-American campaign, a crowning end to Menzies' comeback this season from the knee injuries which cost him two-and-a-half seasons on the court.

Baskin was a problem down low, closing out the first half with three blocks in a 90-second span of game time. Owen Koonce and Isaac Jessup both went 2-for-2 from the line for the only points of the first half's final two minutes and Colorado Mesa went to the locker room with a 35-27 lead at the break.

Although Colorado Mesa made West Texas's offense look entirely out of sorts for the first 20 minutes, the Buffs did what CMU has done to teams all season long – consistently find the best possible shot and create a tidal wave of efficient offense in the second half.

The Buffaloes shot 59 percent as a team in the second half, after only shooting 36 percent in the first half, to go with a 64 percent performance from deep (7-11) and a 100 percent performance from the free throw line (14-14) after halftime.

West Texas A&M guard Larry Wise, the D2CCA Regional Player of the Year and NCAA Regional Tournament MVP, scored 23 of his 29 points in the second half while Zach Toussiant had 14 of his 17 after the break. Foul trouble for Owen Koonce (who fouled out), Isaac Jessup (who picked up his fourth with 15:05 to go) and Menzies meant the Buffaloes could be more aggressive in going right at the Maverick defense.

West Texas A&M also dominated possession in the second half. The Buffaloes outrebounded Colorado Mesa 18-13 in the second half (after CMU had two more boards in the first half) and tightened up on taking care of the basketball, with only two of WT's 10 turnovers coming after halftime. The Mavericks, who finished with 13 total turnovers (still well under their season average), had seven in the second half.

Colorado Mesa's season comes to an end after Tuesday's loss, but the 2023-24 Maverick season still features plenty of highlights. The Mavericks went 29-5 and a sparkling 21-1 in conference play, winning their third RMAC regular season championship in four seasons and hosting the RMAC Tournament at Brownson Arena for the second consecutive season. The Mavericks advanced to the finals of that RMAC Tournament and then won back-to-back games at the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history.

This season also featured five all-conference honorees (Trevor Baskin, Mac Riniker, Isaac Jessup, Owen Koonce, Christopher Speller), the program's fourth-ever RMAC Player of the Year in Baskin, and the program's first-ever repeat award winner when Riniker repeated as the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year. As a team, the Mavericks set an NCAA record for all divisions by making 58 consecutive free throws over a two-and-a-half game span from February 16-23. Head Coach Mike DeGeorge won his third career RMAC Coach of the Year award, all of which have come over the last four seasons.

More awards will be announced in the coming weeks, with the NABC All-Region teams and All-American and Academic All-American honors due to be announced within the next week-and-a-half. For all the latest news and updates surrounding the CMU men's basketball program and all Colorado Mesa University sports, keep monitoring cmumavericks.com.