GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa University men's basketball team begin their journey for a national championship this weekend as they begin play in the NCAA Tournament at the Regional round.
The Mavericks, who are returning to the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time in program history, will take on No. 1 seed of the region, Dallas Baptist University this Saturday for the first round.
The Mavs are the No. 8 seed and were named to the last spot in the region after earning an at large bid this past Sunday during the NCAA Selection Show.
Dallas Baptist will serve as the host of the first three rounds of the South Central Regional with the No. 1 seed hosting until the final eight teams in the field remain.
Saturday's game will take place at 4 p.m. MDT at Burg Center on the campus of DBU with three other regional games also taking place that day.
The Mavs will also have a chance to see a rematch in the semifinals round with either No. 4 Western New Mexico or No. 5 St. Edward's University as they previously fell to both schools this season.
All games will be streamed through NCAA.com with live stats also available to follow along with through cmumavericks.com
SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals (Saturday)
11:00 p.m. Game 1: #6 Black Hills State vs. #3 Lubbock Christian
1:30 p.m. Game 2: #7 St. Mary's vs. #2 Eastern New Mexico
4:00 p.m. Game 3: #8 Colorado Mesa vs. #1 DBU
6:30 p.m. Game 4: #5 St. Edward's vs. #4 Western New Mexico
Semifinals (Sunday)
4:00 p.m. Game #5: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner
6:30 p.m. Game #6: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner
Championship (Tuesday)
6:00 p.m. Game #7: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner
*All games are in Mountain Standard Time
RMAC TOURNAMENT RUN
CMU is coming off a 2-1 run in the RMAC Tournament that saw them win a pair of games by one point before eventually falling in the conference tournament championship.
They won 91-90 in overtime in a quarterfinal home game last Tuesday over No. 7 seed New Mexico Highlands with them then heading to Spearfish, South Dakota for the rest of the tournament.
The Mavs scored the final eight points in a 57-56 semifinal win over No. 3 seed CSU Pueblo on Friday with them reaching the championship game in turn on Saturday.
The Mavs ultimately fell in an 89-77 battle to top-seeded and national poll No. 13 Black Hills State in Saturday's championship game with this being CMU's 13th time in the conference tournament's championship game.
Wes Ball and Clayton Jewell were both named to the RMAC All-Tournament Team following the championship game.
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS
The Mavs will play in their 32nd game of the season this Saturday with them being just one of three teams from the RMAC to play over 30 total.
They will come into this weekend averaging 80.1 points per game while limiting opponents to 75.5. They finished the regular season top five in both categories for RMAC with the Mavs being just one of six schools to average over 80 points per game.
Overall, the Mavs had held opponents to 70 points or less 10 times this season while scoring 90 points or more nine times, including two 100-point games.
They are shooting 48.8 percent from the field with a 38.9 percent mark from three-point range and 81.3 percent from the free throw line.
All three finished first in the conference and are still currently in the top 25 of the nation.
Their free throw percentage has also been No. 1 nationally almost the entire season while they are eighth in the country for three-point percentage. In addition, they were the only team in the conference to own a free throw percentage above 80 percent upon the conclusion of the regular season.
In the rebounding collum, CMU is grabbing 36.4 boards per game and holding opponents to 30.4. They were top five in the RMAC for both with their current margin of six being ranked in the top 25 of the nation.
The Mavs finished the regular season with 1,010 rebounds and were just one of seven RMAC schools to achieve the 1,000-plus rebound feat.
On the individual side, Ty Allred leads the team averaging 18.6 points per game this season while adding 7.2 rebounds. He has scored in double figures in every game but four this season.
Clayton Jewell, Ben Henderson and Harvey White serve as the team's other top offensive scorers with each of them sitting at around 11 points per game. Jewell sits at an even 11 points with Henderson averaging 10.8 and White adding 10.7.
Cohenj Gonzales is the team's fourth leading scorer and sits right behind that group with 10.6 points per game.
Mason Honeyman is averaging 10.5 points but has only appeared in 13 games this season after missing time due to injury.
In total ten different Mavs have recorded double figure scoring performances this season with six of them having at least one 20-point performance as well. Allred and Henderson have combined for the four 30-point performances.
In addition to Allred, both Jewell and Wes Ball have been other players to grab significant boards this season with Jewell owning 7.5 boards per game and Ball is averaging 4.8.
Jewell and Allred also finished top five of the conference in blocks as each of them now sit at 37 on the season.
The duo have combined for 14 double doubles this season with Jewell having eight of them and Allred having six.
Harvey White is the team's assists leader with 110 total to average 3.5 per game and ranked in the top 10 of the RMAC. He also finished in the top five for assist to turnover ratio with him now owning a 2.2 mark.
Following the end of the regular season, the Mavs earned four selections to the All-RMAC Teams due to their performances with Allred being named to the First Team, Jewell being named to the Second Team and the duo of Henderson and White being Honorable Mentions.
COACH'S CORNER
Head Coach Mike Dunlap enters his second season leading the Mavs this year after going 19-10 in his debut season in 2024-25.
In his first year with the program, Dunlap had three players named to All-RMAC including returner Ty Allred, who was named to the First Team.
Allred and Harvey White were also named to the 2025-26 Preseason All-RMAC team after both playing being key contributors in Dunlap's inaugural year with the Mavs.
Despite being new to CMU, Dunlap is no stranger to the RMAC as he is currently a member of the conference's hall of fame with him having coached at MSU Denver for nine years and collecting two national championships.
He is a two-time NABC Division II National Coach of the Year.
2025-26 marks Dunlap's 45th season in the coaching ranks with him coaching all the way from Division III to serving as an NBA Head Coach of the Charlotte Bobcats (now known as the Hornets).
Dunlap is joined by assistants, Skyler Burgess and Eli Scott, with this being Burgess' second season as a part of the staff and as the head assistant. Scott enters his first season with the team and was hired prior to the start of the year. He reunites with Dunlap after having previously played for him at Loyola Marymount University.
IN THE POLLS
The Mavs were picked to finish third in this year's RMAC Preseason Poll with them being voted as a top-3 conference team after finishing third in 2024-25.
They surpassed that voting with them finishing second instead and being just one game away from potentially sharing the conference title.
The Mavs claimed their sixth straight year of finishing top-3 in the conference standings with the second place finish with them also having six 20-win seasons in the last seven years.
In addition to being selected third in the conference, the Mavs also began the year receiving votes in the National American Basketball Coaches Association Preseason Poll.
CMU has faced off with three team's ranked in the NABC poll as well, taking down #3 Dallas Baptist University and falling to #25 Lubbock Christian and Black Hills State.
Black Hills was ranked #21, #14 and #13 the three times they faced off with the Mavs.
The Mavs also defeated Colorado School of Mines who began the season as the #10 ranked team nationally.
ABOUT DALLAS BAPTIST
Coming in as the No. 1 seed of the region, Dallas Baptist enters this weekend with a 27-6 overall record while serving as both the regular season and conference tournament champions of the Lone Star Conference.
They finished with a one-game lead to win the regular season title for the second year in a row while narrowly defeating Eastern New Mexico University by one-point in the tournament championship.
The Patriots are currently on a 12-game winning streak while going 12-2 at home this season.
They were most recently ranked No. # in the final NABC regular season poll while being as high as No. 3 on the season.
Saturday's game will be the second time they face off with the Mavs this season as Colorado Mesa opened up the 2025-26 campaign against the Patriots back on Nov. 14. The Mavs emerged victorious in that meeting with them winning on a buzzer-beater three-pointer to upset the Patriots.
All-time the Patriots own a slim 6-5 advantage over the Mavs with this the 11th year in a row both teams have faced off.
DBU is led by the players of Xavion Brown and TJ Thomas with each of them being major award winners in the LSC. Brown was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season while totaling 78 steals, 68 blocks and 105 defensive rebounds. Thomas was named the conference's Sixth Man of the Year as the other major award winner while averaging 9.8 points and recording 48 steals.
Trevor Frank leads the team averaging 10.4 points while Drew Calderson adds 10.2 as the team's top two offensive options.
Bishop Jones has also seen time in 20 games averaging 11 points to round out the team.
This year is the third year in a row the Patriots have made NCAA Tournament with them having nine total trips in school history.
COLORADO MESA TURNS 100
The CMU Century Celebration stands as the cornerstone of Colorado Mesa University's year-long centennial celebration. This ambitious initiative unites our community in honoring a rich heritage while boldly envisioning the next hundred years of academic excellence.
Led by the Steering Committee and six specialized sub-committees, we're orchestrating a transformative experience that will resonate through generations. Each committee brings unique expertise to create an unforgettable commemoration of our past, present and future.
To learn more about Colorado Mesa's 100-year celebration, visit cmucentury.com
RMAC NETWORK NEWS
The RMAC Network has moved to a pay-per-view model for the 2025-26 season. This season, all RMAC athletic events broadcast by its 15 full-member institutions and associate members will only be available for purchase via a single-game pass or a monthly or annual subscription. Revenue generated by the network will be redistributed to the league's membership to enhance their programs.
RMAC fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them with access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $10, which grants access to a single game for 24 hours.
Additionally, a discounted annual subscription price will be available to students, faculty, and staff of each member institution throughout the year. Purchasing options and pricing for individual RMAC Championships will be announced closer to each event.
UP NEXT
With a win, the Mavericks move on to the Regional Semifinals on Sunday night at 6:30 p.m. MDT from Burg Arena against the winner of St. Edward's and Western New Mexico.
A loss would end the season for the Mavericks.
