GOLDEN – The No. 10 Colorado School of Mines men's basketball team will open up postseason play on Tuesday with a 7 p.m. matchup against Colorado Christian in the first round of the RMAC Tournament at Lockridge Arena.
Mines (23-3), the second seed in the tournament, will be facing the Cougars (15-11), the seventh seed in the tournament for the third time this season. Mines defeated CCU by a 119-97 final on Dec. 21 in Golden in the first matchup and later defeated the Cougars 110-69 on Saturday evening in Lakewood in the regular season finale.
In two games this season against the Cougars, Mines is averaging wins by scores of 114.5-83. The Orediggers have posted six games with over 100 points this season with two of them coming in wins over CCU.
Senior Luke Meisch is averaging 20.0 points per game this year against CCU while shooting 81.3 percent from the field and 85.7 percent from the foul line. Fellow senior Trevor Wages is averaging 16.5 points and 10 rebounds per game as well over the two contests.
Freshman Gokul Natesan is averaging 15.5 points per game against CCU, including an 8-of-10 mark from the perimeter. Senior Brett Green averages 15.0 points and Brian Muller averages 12.0 points per game against CCU as well.
Wages leads the team in all games with an average of 13.5 points per game, just one more point ahead of Green, who is second with 13.5 points per game. Muller is fourth with 13.3 and Meisch closes out four Orediggers averaging in double figures with 13.2 points per contest. The top four scorers are separated by nine total points on the season (Wages – 351, Green – 350, Muller – 345, Meisch – 342).
Wages also leads the team and the RMAC in rebounding with an average of 9.4 per game. His 68.4 field goal percentage on the year places him third in the country, while his 13 double-doubles place him 14th in the nation. He now needs just eight rebounds to become the third player in program history with 1,000 rebounds. He would also become the third player in program history with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, joining Joe Butkovich (1968-1972, 1,641 points, 1,042 rebounds) and Jeff Rhodes (1978-1982, 1,252 points, 1,129 rebounds).
Colorado Christian had its four-game winning streak snapped in Saturday's 110-69 loss. Kyle Weaver leads the team with an average of 18.9 points per contest. Most of his damage has come at the perimeter, where he is shooting 43.9 percent (68-of-155) on the year.
He is followed by Avery Redmond with 18.0 points per game. Like Weaver, Redmond does most of his damage in the perimeter with a 41.0 percentage (64-of-156) on the year. Tony Black leads the front line with an average of 5.3 rebounds per game.
Tickets for Tuesday's men's basketball home game will be $10 for adults and $5 for students. All current Mines students with valid BlasterCards will have their admission paid for by the Colorado School of Mines Department of Student Life. This will not be an excused absence for missing any class or common exams.
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