UCCS (17-10, 14-7 RMAC) at Colorado School of Mines (23-4, 20-1 RMAC) | Friday, March 1 | 8 p.m. | Live Stats | Video
 
THIS WEEK
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball team will head North to Golden, Colo. on Friday, March 1 when they play the final game of the regular season against Colorado School of Mines.  Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.
 
In the conference opener back on Dec. 1, 2018 in Gallogly Events Center, the Mountain Lions fell by five points to Mines, 87-82.

ABOUT THE MOUNTAIN LIONS
Heading into the final game of the regular season, the Mountain Lions are 17-10 overall and 14-7 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.  UCCS is tied with Black Hills State University for fourth place in the league standings.  A win over the Orediggers could potentially propel UCCS to a No. 2 seed in the tournament, but a loss could move them to as low as a No. 7 seed.
 
Elijah Ross scored his 1,000^th career point Saturday night at Black Hills State University.  Ross is also the all-time career assists leader for the men's basketball program.
 
The Mountain Lions have the third highest scoring average in the league, netting 82.7 points per game.  From the floor, they are shooting 45.9 percent and 73.2 percent from the free throw line.  UCCS has handed out a league high 16.0 dimes per game, while registering a 1.2 assist-to-turnover ratio, marking the second-best ratio among the 16 teams.
 
Defensively, UCCS is seventh in the RMAC in blocks, stopping 3.0 shots per game while stealing the ball 6.9 times per game.
 
Four active Mountain Lions are averaging double digits offensively.  Padiet Wang leads the team with 13 points per game.  Dalton Walker is scoring 12.7 points per game, followed by Blend Avdili's 11.6 points and DaRaun Clark's 10.5 points per game.

Wang, who is the only Mountain Lion to have started all 27 games for UCCS, also leads the team in steals (51) and rebounds (5.9). 
 
Walker, Clark and Avdili have each nailed at least 40 three-pointers this season.  Walker leads the team with 49 treys.  Clark and Avdili have combined for 82 field goals from behind the arc.  Before Brandon Malone suffered a knee injury, he had sunk 41 treys in just 21 games.
    
LAST TIME OUT
Senior forward Walker and junior guard Wang combined to score 18 points in the final four minutes of action to lead the Mountain Lions to a 74-73 win at South Dakota School of Mines on Friday.  Walker sealed the win with a last second three-pointer.
  
Walker posted 25 points after hitting 7-of-14 field goals, six of which came from behind the arc. He also sank all five free throw attempts and pulled down four rebounds.  Walker scored 11 of his 25 points in the final two minutes and 24 seconds.
 
Wang finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Ed Bourke came off the bench to net eight points and pull down four caroms in 14 minutes of action.  UCCS shot 46.6 percent from the floor (27-of-58), 40 percent from three-point range (10-of-25) and 58.8 percent from the free throw line (10-of-17).
 
On Saturday at Black Hills State, Elijah Ross nailed a three-pointer with 4:27 left in regulation, sinking his 1,000^th career point for the men's basketball program.  The Mountain Lions ran out of time, falling to Black Hills State University, 79-76.
 
Ross led all scorers with 22 points, 17 of which came in the second half.  He netted four three-pointers and added four rebounds.  Walker notched 13 points and four caroms, as Wang chipped in 12 points, three assists and seven rebounds.  UCCS held a 39-32 rebound advantage and edged the Yellow Jackets on second chance points, 12-9.
   
SCOUTING COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
The 2018-19 RMAC Regular Season Champions and the No. 14^th ranked team in Division II, Colorado School of Mines had their 22-game winning streak snapped last Saturday at South Dakota School of Mines.  The Orediggers enter the final weekend of the regular season with a 23-4 overall record (20-1 RMAC).
 
Mines leads the league in scoring margin (+13.9), free throw percentage (77.3 percent), three-point field goal percentage (40.6 percent), blocked shots (4.6) and assists-to-turnover margin (1.4). 
 
Mason Baker is the leading scorer for the Orediggers with 14.9 points per game.  Ben Clare is the top shooter, hitting nearly 60 percent of his shots.

HEAD COACH JEFF CULVER
Jeff Culver, who led UCCS to its first RMAC championship in program history, is in his seventh season as the Head Coach at UCCS in 2018-19. He's coached the only NBA Draft pick and the only All-Americans in program history in the past six years.

Culver was the only four-year head coach to offer Derrick White a scholarship out of high school, and he would become a two-time All-American and the No. 29 pick by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2017 NBA Draft. White played with Alex Welsh, the other All-American in program history, and the two hold the top spots in the UCCS career scoring records.

Culver came to UCCS after a seven-year career at Johnson & Wales, where he also doubled as athletic director for the final six years. As athletic director at Johnson & Wales, Culver led a $7 million renovation to campus athletic facilities.
 
RMAC TOURNAMENT
To find out what seed the Mountain Lions will receive and their quarterfinal opponent, stayed tuned to www.gomountainlions.com for up-to-date RMAC tournament information.