This Week's Matchup
UCCS Men's Basketball opens up conference play on the road as the Mountain Lions travel to Colorado State University Pueblo on Friday and Adams State University on Saturday for a pair of 7:30 p.m. tip-off times.
 
Game Coverage
Live Stream: https://www.rmacnetwork.com/gomountainlions/
Live Stats vs. CSU Pueblo: https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=csup
Live Stats vs. ASU: https://asugrizzlies.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
 
Last Time Out

• The Mountain Lions had a busy week after going 2-1 and breaking a handful of program records to closeout non-conference play.
• UCCS started their three-game stretch by tying the program record for most points scored in a single game after defeating Southwestern Assemblies of God University American Indian College 118-67 at home on Wednesday. The Mountain Lions also registered their best shooting percentage in over decade by notching 67.1 percent from the field (49-of-73) against the Warriors.
• A quick road trip to Pueblo, Colo. led to a win and loss in CSU Pueblo's Thanksgiving Classic as UCCS moved to a 5-1 record on the year. Another strong shooting performance (53.4 percent from the field) gave the Mountain Lions their fifth straight win after beating Kansas Christian College 97-58. On Saturday, an in-region opponent in Texas A&M International gave UCCS their first loss of the year after late free throws resulted in a 72-77result.

RMAC Records/Standings

• Metropolitan State University of Denver sits atop the RMAC Standings with a perfect 6-0 record as UCCS, New Mexico Highlands University, and Regis University are all tied for second with a 5-1 record.
• Regis and Colorado School of Mines will start off the conference season on Tuesday, Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m.

The Series

• UCCS and CSUP will play in their 56^th all-time matchup with the ThunderWolves leading the series 42-13 as the Mountain Lions have won the two previous games.
• For the Mountain Lions and Grizzlies, Saturday's game will mark the 53^rd game between the two teams as ASU leads with 32-20 record.

Scouting CSU Pueblo

• CSU Pueblo (3-3, 0-0 RMAC) is currently registering the RMAC's ninth best scoring margin of 7.1 by scoring 78.3 points per game while allowing 71.2. In total, the ThunderWolves are shooting 47.8 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from beyond the arc.
• Freshman guard Lian Ramiro leads the Pack in scoring with 13.5 points per game and holds a team leading 23 assists through six games. From long range, Ramiro is shooting 42.1 percent (16-of-38) with Isaiah Thompson registering a team high field goal percentage of 64.7 percent (22-of-24).
• Forward Elijah Moleon has been the team's leading rebounder and is third in the conference with 10.8 rebounds per game as he adds 10 blocks to his stat line.

Scouting Adams State

• ASU is fifth in the RMAC Standings with a 4-2 record and holds a four-game win streak after grabbing a pair of wins in Puerto Rico against University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras and Universidad Del Sagrado Corazon last week.
• The Grizzlies are shooting the RMAC's best field goal percentage at 54.4 percent as they also currently rank fifth in Division II in that category. ASU's scoring margin sits at 11.1 as they allow 75.7 points per game while scoring 86.8 points per game.
• On the defensive side of the ball, the Grizzlies have bagged the second most steals in the conference (56) and have forced 18.33 turnovers per game for the RMAC's second best average.
• Junior guard Rylan O'Brien is tied for the third most three-pointers in the conference at 15 as he holds a 40.5 three-point percentage. His 15 three-pointers help fuel a team leading 15.5 points per game average as he ranks second on the team with nine steals.
• Senior guard Cole Arcenaux leads the Grizzlies with 10 steals and has dished out a team high 21 assists.
• Six different Grizzlies are shooting over 60 percent from the field with Jordan Notch making 24-of-29 for an 82.8 percent.

Hot Takes

• The Mountain Lions (5-1, 0-0 RMAC) are off to their best start in seven years.
• As a team, the Mountain Lions rank top-10 in Division II in scoring margin (28.7, fifth), rebound margin (17.7, second), assists per game (22.5, fourth), defensive rebounds per game (33.00, fourth), blocked shots per game (5.8, tied fourth), total assists (135, sixth), total blocks (35, third), and total rebounds per game (46.33, fourth).
• UCCS has been exceptional from the field with the RMAC's second best field-goal percentage at 53.7 percent which also ranks as the ninth best percentage in DII.
• Johnnie Jones III is leading the RMAC in blocked shots per game (1.83) as William Becker is tied for the conference lead in blocks at 12.
• Off the bench, Parker Gaddis is the RMAC leader in assists per game (5.8) and total assists (35).
• Averaging 21.2 points per game, sophomore Alijah Comithier posts the second-best average in the RMAC behind a 61.5 percent shooting percentage.
• Australia native Jezza McKenzie paces the Mountain Lions with 11 offensive rebounds, 29 defensive rebounds, and a 6.7 rebounds per game average. McKenzie is third in the RMAC in three-point percentage (45. 5 percent, 15-of-33) after registering his first and second career double-double last week.
• McKenzie, Jon'il Fugett, and Geoff Kelly are the only three Mountain Lions to start all six games this season with Fugett recording a team high seven steals and the team's second best scoring average (10.2) and second most assists (21).

UCCS Under Head Coach Jeff Culver

• Jeff Culver, who led UCCS to its first RMAC championship in program history, is in his 10th season as the Head Coach of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball program in 2021-22. He's coached the only NBA Draft pick and the only All-Americans in program history in the past eight years.
• In 10 seasons as head coach, Culver holds a .559 winning percentage with a 143-112 overall record that includes, seven RMAC Tournament appearances, one RMAC Tournament Championship, a 5-6 RMAC Tournament record, two NCAA Tournament appearances, and a 1-2 NCAA Tournament record.

Upcoming Games

• UCCS Men's Basketball will play their home conference opener on Saturday, Dec. 11 as the Mountain Lions host Colorado School of Mines at 7:30 p.m. inside Gallogly Events Center.

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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 16 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.