#21 Mines at Fort Hays State, Saturday, 4 p.m. CST/3 p.m. MST [Live Video][Live Stats]
#21 Mines at Nebraska-Kearney, Sunday, 2 p.m. CST/1 p.m. MST [Live Video][Live Stats]
 

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THE ROAD TRIP
Mines heads into the Great Plains this weekend to visit Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney, renewing rivalries with two former RMAC members.

IN THE RANKINGS
Mines appeared in several preseason polls, showing up at #21 in the NABC preseason poll on Nov. 1. Mines was also #7 in the Sporting News preseason poll in September.

GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION
Mines is out to a 2-0 start to the season after beating St. Mary's, 87-81, and Lubbock Christian, 78-74, last weekend. Against SMU, Gokul Natesan poured in a game-high 23 while Caleb Waitsman shot 8-for-10 for 20 points and Murphy Gershman came off the bench for a career-high 15 points with six boards. Against LCU, the Orediggers were led by Luke Schroepfer's 28 points (including 7-of-11 shooting from the outside) and Natesan's 21 points and eight assists.

OREDIGGERS ARE PRESEASON FAVORITES
Mines was picked as the coaches' favorite to win the RMAC on Oct. 11, as they edged out defending champion Fort Lewis and MSU Denver for the top spot.

PRESEASON RECOGNITION FOR NATESAN, WAITSMAN
Returning seniors Gokul Natesan and Caleb Waitsman proved they were among the RMAC's top players as juniors, and the coaches recognized that by naming both Preseason All-RMAC. Natesan also earned RMAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second straight year after earning the postseason honor in 2015-16.

THE SERIES
Mines and Fort Hays State have not met since 2005-06, and FHSU leads the series 35-5. UNK leads the series with Mines 40-12; the two played in Golden last year with Gokul Natesan's buzzer-beater 3-pointer giving Mines a 67-66 win.

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines will make their home debut on Black Friday, hosting Wayland Baptist at 3 p.m. and Diné College Saturday, Nov. 26 at 5 p.m.