GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – After a successful week on the road going 2-0 and looking to make a final push in the conference standings, the Colorado Mesa University Men's Basketball Team returns to Brownson Arena this upcoming Thursday and Saturday when they host a pair of conference foes in South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State University.
This Thursday's game is the highly anticipated Blizzard in Brownson Presented by Coca Cola and will feature the Mavericks taking on South Dakota Mines for the first time this season. Game time is slated for 7:30 P.M. and will follow the women's game. Prizes and games will be featured throughout the night as well.
Following Thursday's night's action, the Mavs will then close their week on Saturday when they take on Black Hills State at 3 P.M. for the pair's second time facing each other this season.
Entering this week the Mavericks are currently sitting in seventh place in the RMAC and can look to jump as high as fourth place with a pair of wins.
LAST WEEK'S GAMES
Concluding last week 2-0, the Mavericks were able to capture two wins on the road with their first coming as a 93-83 win against rival Fort Lewis College and then a closing week victory over New Mexico Highlands, 78-72.
In the win against Fort Lewis the Mavs recorded season-highs in multiple categories as they finished the game with 93 points, a new game-high in points and grabbed 59 rebounds, their most on the year. The game featured 11 lead changes, but a late second half push by Colorado Mesa allowed them to take the lead and never give it back up with less than 10 minutes to play.
Five different players finished with scoring in the double digits against the Skyhawks, with that group being highlighted by Yaak Yaak and Will Mortimore who both recorded double doubles on points and rebounds.
Facing New Mexico Highlands to end the week, the Mavs were able to grab another win as they battled back from an early deficit to top the Cowboys for the second time this season. The Cowboys led by as much as 14 points in the game, but an 18-0 run to end the first half was enough to give the Mavs the lead and hold it throughout the rest of the contest.
Yaak finished the game with yet another double double and was aided by Mason Honeyman in the offense who scored 18 points himself.
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS
The Mavericks are averaging 72.2 points per game and are shooting 45.6% from the field. Both marks that have improved since last week, thanks to a pair of high scoring affairs against opponents.
In addition, the team is also now shooting an improved 32.6% from three-point range and stay steady at the line shooting 74.6% on free throws.
Sticking with their calling card of defense, the Mavs have flourished in three areas this season as they are top five in the conference in rebounds, steals and blocks. They are grabbing 36.5 boards per game (third in the conference), 7.21 steals per game (fifth in the conference) and are averaging four blocks per game to lead the conference.
Yaak Yaak has helped largely in the blocks category being the conference leader with 43 on the season.
Yaak, Ty Allred and Will Mortimore are the top rebounders as each of them are averaging six or more boards per game.
They are also the leading scorers in the team as Allred is averaging 14.9 to lead the team. Mortimore is adding 10.7 points per game to be tied with fellow Aussie Harvey White, while Yaak rounds out the quartet with 10.1 points per game.
In total this season there have been 10 different players who have scored in the double digits for at least one game. Allred leads that bunch with 20 double digit scoring efforts.
ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA MINES
The Hardrockers enter this week having fared a rough season so far as they are sporting a 4-20 record and are 4-12 in the RMAC. They are currently on a five-game losing streak with their most recent game coming as a narrow 72-68 loss to MSU Denver last Saturday.
Their four wins come all against conference opponents, with three of those wins coming in 2025 when they went on a three-game winning streak in January. They sit in 14th place in the conference standings to be one above last place.
The team is averaging 56.0 points per game to be ranked last in the conference but have the best scoring defense in the conference holding opponents to just 67.4 points per game against them.
Two players average scoring in the double digits for the team with Tre Dowdell and Keagen Smith leading the squad at 11.9 and 10.8 points per game respectively. Smith is the team's leader in rebounding grabbing 5.3 boards per game.
Following Thursday's game against Colorado Mesa, the Hardrockers will head to Gunnison to take on Western Colorado on Saturday.
ABOUT BLACK HILLS STATE
Black Hills State enters this week boasting a 14-10 record while playing to 10-6 in the RMAC. They currently are tied for fourth place in the conference standings and are just one game ahead of the Mavs. In the team's most recent game they defeated Regis University 77-62, snapping the Rangers 10-game winning streak.
Last time the Mavs and Yellowjackets met was on Jan. 23 when Colorado Mesa escaped Spearfish in an overtime thriller, winning 79-77.
A team that thrives on the three-ball, Black Hills State is averaging 76.9 points per game this season and are shooting 37.9% from beyond the arc which ranks in the top five in the conference. Like the Mavs, they are also a top five rebounding team in the conference averaging 35.9 boards per game.
Four different players all average scoring in the double digits for them with Caelin Hearne leading the team at 14.9 points per game. Cam Lowe (14.8 ppg), Jaeton Hackley (12.0 ppg) and Tristan Hurdle (10.5 ppg) represent the other three. Lowe is also the team leader in rebounds with 7.8 per game which is third best in the conference.
Prior to Saturday's game, Black Hills will take on Westminster in Utah on Thursday.
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
Streaming for all of this week's games will occur on the RMAC Network free of charge with live stats to follow along with. Both games can also be found on THE TEAM 1340 AM for live broadcasting. Tickets can be purchased online at cmumavericks.com/tickets or in person at the game.
