THE GAME - Colorado School of Mines

• The Yellow Jackets and Orediggers clashed just once last season with CSM prevailing 88-63 in Golden, Colorado. In that game, Nick Ongarato and Tate Hilgenkamp scored 18 points apiece for the Yellow Jackets.
• Colorado Mines enters 7-1 overall and a perfect 2-0 in the RMAC, where they were picked as the league favorites. CSM prevailed 78-66 over Chadron State and 81-69 over Regis last weekend.
• Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Gokul Natesan leads the team with 19.8 points per game while tallying just over a steal a game. In all, five Orediggers average double-digit points.

THE GAME - Colorado Christian

• The two squads battled in late January last year as CCU prevailed 72-68 in Lakewood, Colorado. In the game, then Cougar Zach McLemore tallied seven points and three assists.
• CCU is led by a tri of double-digit scorers including Dimitri Saliba at 19.5 points and Ty McGee at 18.6 points per game. The Cougars picked up victories over Regis and Chadron State last weekend.
• Colorado Christian was picked to finish one spot behind the Yellow Jackets in the preseason poll. BHSU was 10th and CCU 11th.

THE COACHES

• Jeff Trumbauer enters his third season with the Yellow Jackets and owns a 22-38 record at BHSU. Overall, he owns a 119-125 record in his ninth season as a head coach. Trumbauer coached the first First Team All-RMAC performer from BHSU in Nick Ongarato last season.
• Pryor Orser is in his 16th season at the helm of the Orediggers and helped guide CSM to six NCAA Tournament Appearances.
• Kevin Lubbers is in his fifth season at Colorado Christian and guided the Cougars to the NCCAA Championship in 2015.

Krogman Out for Season
Redshirt junior Wyatt Krogman has been sidelined since the Northern State game when he sustained an injury. Krogman will now be out for the season meaning the RMAC will have a new assist leader this year. Last season, the White River, South Dakota, native led the conference with 4.5 assists per game, a total of 113 over 25 games.
 
Suit Up!
Connor O'Hearn and Hoyt Nicholas originally expected to take a redshirt year in 2016-17, however due to injuries and different scenarios, the two will now suit up and be part of the active roster for the season. Nicholas received his first action of his career at UCCS
 
1,000-point watch
Although he won't join the Yellow Jacket 1,000-point club until he reaches the milestone in a Yellow Jacket uniform, Zach McLemore has a chance to reach 1,000 post high school points as he tallied 787 points at Colorado Christian, including 441 points as a sophomore. Through six games with BHSU, McLemore has tallied a career total of 896 points.
 
What is in a Uniform?
Black Hills State is sporting two new uniforms this year, a home White and a road Green. The Yellow Jackets are currently 3-0 in their White uniforms, winning be an average margin of of 21.6 points. When wearing the Green uniforms, the Yellow Jackets are 0-3 with a margin of -17.3.
 
Shoot 45% or Better, Get the Win
One common trait as the Yellow Jackets tallied three-straight wins recently was a shooting percentage better than 45 percent. In all three victories, the Yellow Jackets have shot 49.1 percent, 49.1 percent and 48.3 percent. The losses have shown the Yellow Jackets shooting 40.9 percent, 42.9 percent and 35.2 percent.