DENVER, Colo. – The No. 21 University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball team will travel back to the Auraria Event Center for the second time in less than a week for the semifinal round of the 2015 RMAC Shootout. The Mountain Lions (24-5) face Adams State University (19-8) at 5 p.m., in downtown Denver.
The two teams split their regular season meetings with both teams winning at home. UCCS advanced to the semifinals for the second straight season with an 82-71 victory against Colorado Mesa on Tuesday night. The Grizzlies earned the 7/2 upset against Colorado School of Mines in a 94-91 decision in Golden.
Friday will be matchup of the top two scoring offenses in the league with Adams State's 87.1 points per game and UCCS' 86.8 points per game. The Grizzlies have the best rebounding margin in the conference at +7.4 and hold opponents to an RMAC-best 27.9 rebounds per game. UCCS is second in the league with 36.5 rebounds per game and has held a rebounding advantage against opponents in the last four games.
Derrick White became the first Mountain Lion to surpass 700 points in a season with 25 points against the Mavericks on Tuesday. He also became the first Mountain Lion to reach 150 assists in a season with his third points-assists double-double of the year. White holds the UCCS career records in both categories with 1,773 points and 322 assists.
Alex Welsh can move into sixth in UCCS season scoring records with six points tonight after his seventh 20-point game of the season on Tuesday. He has 479 points this season and 1,201 in his career, and can tie for third in career records with 10 points tonight. Welsh is seventh in record books with 209 rebounds, one rebound ahead of White this season.
Juwan Buchanan leads the Grizzlies with 17.3 points per game and is the defending RMAC Offensive Player of the Week. Adams State has shot 50 percent or better from the three-point line in the last two games and 50 percent or better from the field in seven of the last nine games. The Grizzlies are 11-4 when scoring more than 80 points this season.
UCCS will cover the admission price for UCCS students who present their ID at the Auraria Event Center tonight. Fans can also watch the men's and women's semifinal games at Clyde's, located on the lower level of the University Center, and the men's game on Comcast Entertainment Television channels 105 and 900. Free live stats and live audio will also be available. Fans who are not xfinity subscribers or who can't make it to Clyde's can watch the game for $9 online.
