SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State men's basketball team (10-10, 7-6 RMAC) continues the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) slate this weekend in the Denver metro area with a pair of games against RMAC top-half teams in #17/22 Colorado School of Mines (19-4, 13-2 RMAC) on Friday and MSU Denver (13-7, 7-7 RMAC) on Saturday.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Black Hills State (10-10, 8-6 RMAC) at Colorado Mines (19-4, 13-2 RMAC)
Date: Friday, February 9 // Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Golden, Colo. (Lockridge Arena)
Watch: rmacnetwork.com // Listen: KDSJ (103.5 FM & 980 AM)
 
Black Hills State (10-10, 8-6 RMAC) at MSU Denver (13-7, 7-7 RMAC)
Date: Saturday, February 10 // Time: 5:30 p.m.
Location: Denver, Colo. (Auraria Event Center)
Watch: rmacnetwork.com // Listen: KDSJ (103.5 FM & 980 AM)


RMAC RANKINGS

• Matthew Ragsdale leads the RMAC in scoring 19 games into the season at 21.2 points per game, being the only RMAC athlete to average 20+ points per game.
• His 2.5 3-pointers per game sits in a three-way tie for second in the conference.
• John Shanklin sits in a tie for third in the league with his 1.1 blocked shots per game and his 19 blocks sitting seventh.
• The Yellow Jackets average the league's second-best mark in defensive rebounds per game (27.5).
• BHSU sits fourth in the RMAC in field goal percentage (47.5%), while sitting third in opponent's field goal percentage (42.4%).

RAGSDALE LEADING THE WAY IN THE RMAC

• Matthew Ragsdale needs just 101 points to reach 1,000 career points as a Yellow Jacket.
• It's believed (per the NCAA), he would become the first-ever MBB player to score 1,000 points at two different schools.
• He is the only RMAC men's basketball player to average 20+ points per game through 20 games this season.
• His RMAC-leading 21.4ppg sits 15^th in all of NCAA Division II.
• Ragsdale has had 12 20+ point games on the year for Black Hills State, notching a season-high 32 points against Adams State (Jan. 5).

HEARNE GETTING MORE INVOLVED

• Caelin Hearne has had double-digit scoring games in eight of his last 11 games for BHSU, starting with 15 points against the Colorado School of Mines (Dec. 9).
• In those 10 games, he's averaged 13.8 points per game, notching a season-high of 22 against Westminster on January 20.
• In the first nine games of the season, he had just two double-digit scoring games and averaged 8.5 points per game.
• He tallied 19 points in the come-from-behind victory against Colorado Christian last time out.
• On the season, the junior guard is averaging 11.4 points per contest, joining Ragsdale as the only Yellow Jacket to be averaging double-digit points per game.

LAST TIME OUT

• Black Hills State moved back to .500 on the season with a comeback victory on the road at Colorado Christian.
• Ragsdale posted a game-high 25 points, while Hearne added 19 in the win.
• BHSU shot 65.4% in the second half to secure the comeback.
• Joel Speckman grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, while John Shanklin had two blocked shots.

SERIES HISTORY – COLORADO MINES

• Mines leads the all-time series 15-7.
• BH is 3-8 with games played in Golden, Colorado.
• CSM won the first meeting this season in Spearfish.

SERIES HISTORY – MSU DENVER

• MSU Denver leads the all-time series 15-9.
• BHSU has won the last six meetings, including the first meeting this season back in December (75-56).
• The Yellow Jackets are 4-8 with games in Denver, but have won the last four in Denver.

Up Next: Black Hills State will return to A2 Arena next weekend, starting with a clash against UCCS (10-11, 6-9 RMAC) at 7:00 p.m.