This Week's Matchup
UCCS Men's Basketball (14-6, 9-5 RMAC) finishes up their four-game road series this weekend by visiting Western Colorado University on Friday, Feb. 4 and Fort Lewis College on Saturday, Feb. 5. Friday's tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. against the Mountaineers with Saturday's game at FLC scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
Game Coverage
Live Stream: https://www.rmacnetwork.com/gomountainlions/
Live Stats at WCU: https://gomountaineers.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Live Stats at FLC: https://gorockers.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
 
Last Time Out

• UCCS extended their win streak to five games last week after claiming road wins over both New Mexico Highlands University and South Dakota School of Mines.
• In Las Vegas, N.M., UCCS outlasted NMHU 82-78 with five different Mountain Lions reaching double-digit points, including William Becker who scored a team high 17 points off a perfect 7-of-7 from the field. As a team, UCCS outshot NMHU 48.1-46.2 percent from the field, 37-17.6 percent from three-point, and 80-75 percent from the free throw line.
• On Saturday night, the Mountain Lions handed the Hardrockers of South Dakota Mines a 69-61 loss as UCCS' starting five combined to score 55 points. As a team, the Mountain Lions were responsible for 17 second chance points as they came to out-rebound the Hardrockers 37-31 in the game.

RMAC Records/Standings

• Fresh off a conference road sweep, the Mountain Lions continue to climb the RMAC Standings by moving up to No. 4 with a 9-5 RMAC record.
• Black Hills State University remains at No. 1 (14-4, 12-1 RMAC) in the standings as Regis University takes up the No. 2 spot (16-2, 11-1 RMAC) and Colorado Mesa University sliding in at No. 3 (16-8, 10-5 RMAC).

The Series

• Since Head Coach Jeff Culver's first season at UCCS in 2012-13, the Mountain Lions own an impressive 10-1 record and have won the last four meetings against the Mountaineers, including a thrilling 99-97 overtime win on Feb. 4 inside the Gallogly Events Center.
• Against FLC, Culver and the Mountain Lions are 5-8 with the Skyhawks winning the last matchup 83-64 in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Feb. 6, 2021.

Scouting Western Colorado

• Western Colorado (5-14, 4-9 RMAC) split their road slate this past weekend by defeating Westminster College 76-67 and falling to CMU 72-81 as they sit in 13^th in the RMAC Standings.
• The Mountaineers have struggled in keeping opposing offenses in check by allowing the most points per game in the conference (83.3) while scoring 76.9 per game for a scoring margin of -6.3.
• WCU is also shooting 44.1 percent from the field and 34.9 percent from three-point as they average the fifth most three-pointers per game in the league with 8.6.
• Sophomore guard Matthew Ragsdale serves as the only Mountaineer to start in all 19 games as the RMAC's second leading scorer is averaging 22.2 points per game and averaging the league's third most threes per game at 2.5. Ragsdale has also been solid from both the field and the free throw line with shooting percentages of 45.3 and 85.7, respectively.
• From long range, Jaelan McCloud boasts the highest three-point shooting percentage in the conference with the sophomore going 38-of-83 for 45.8 percent.
• On the other end of the floor, freshman Elijah Davidson sits top-5 in the RMAC with a team high 111 total rebounds. Davidson has also posted 21 blocks on the season with his 1.2 blocks per game average ranking as the third highest among the RMAC. Offensively, Davidson has given out a team high 38 assists and is averaging 7.3 points per game off a shooting percentage of 51.2 percent from the field.

Scouting Fort Lewis College

• Fort Lewis College (11-6, 7-4 RMAC) is also coming off a weekend road sweep as the Skyhawks rank sixth in the RMAC after tallying a big win over CMU, 83-77, and Westminster College, 67-59.
• Despite scoring their lowest point total of the season against Westminster last weekend, the Skyhawks still lead the conference in scoring offense with 84.8 points per game as they also delve down to 11^th in the RMAC in points allowed at 76.1 per game.
• Shooting an even 49.0 percent from the field, Fort Lewis ranks third in the RMAC and holds on to a top-5 free throw percentage with the Skyhawks shooting 74.8 percent for the fourth highest percentage in the league.
• On the defensive side, FLC has shown production and their ability to cause turnovers with a turnover margin of 2.94 and steals per game average of 7.24 ranking them second and fourth in the conference, respectively.
• Fort Lewis' Riley Ferris has shown his ability to make plays on the offensive end by averaging 19.7 points per game (fourth in RMAC) off 50.4 percent shooting from the field, 39.7 percent from beyond the arc, and 83.7 percent from the charity stripe. Ferris has been a key playmaker for the Skyhawks as he's also leading the team with 5.8 rebounds per game and 14 blocks.
• Sophomore Akuel Kot has served as a long range threat for the Skyhawks with a three-point percentage of 43 percent (third in RMAC) as he sits tied with WCU's Ragsdale for the third most made three-pointers per game at 2.5.
• Both Kot and Brenden Boatwright are in the double-digits for scoring average with 14.4 and 12.8 points, respectively, with Kot shooting 46.7 percent from the field and Boatwright registering a shooting percentage of 60 percent.
• Senior guard JacQuess Hobbs currently paces the Skyhawks in steals (34) and assists (52) as the Louisville, Ky. Native has started all 17 games.

Hot Takes

• UCCS Men's Basketball is currently on their second five-game winning streak of the season.
•  Having out-rebounded their opponents in 18 of 20 games this season, the Mountain Lions have continued to be one of the best in the nation in rebounding by posting the fourth highest rebounding margin in the country at 10.1 as they're registering the eighth most total rebounds in Division II and bringing in 29.30 defensive rebounds per game for the 11^th highest average in the nation.
• At a field-goal percentage of 48.8 percent, the Mountain Lions rank as the fourth best team in the RMAC.
• Holding on to the top spot in scoring margin (13.0) is the Mountain Lions who have the second highest scoring offense (82.1) and fourth lowest scoring average allowed (69.1) in the conference.
• From three-point land, UCCS is averaging 8.7 threes per game for the third most in the RMAC as they flip the court to hold opponents to the second lowest three-point percentage in the RMAC (31.5 percent.
• With averages of 3.95 and 16.75, UCCS notches the second highest blocks per game average and highest assists per game average in the league, respectively.
• Individually, UCCS' Parker Gaddis (68) and Jon'il Fugett (63) each rank top-10 in the RMAC in total assists at seventh and eighth, respectively.
• Fugett has notched at least one steal in each of the last three games and has recorded a steal in 15 of his 20 games played this season for a team leading 30 steals.
• Alijah Comithier leads the Mountain Lions in scoring (20.2 PPG), field-goal percentage (54.5), and free throw percentage (76.9). Comithier ranks third the RMAC for scoring average and seventh in field-goal percentage.
• Even with missing five games this season, William Becker still holds tight onto the RMAC's lead in blocks per game at 2.2 as he totals 33 blocks for the year.
• Bobby Martin has scored in all but one of his 17 games played and has made one or more three-pointers in six straight games.

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 .562 winning percentage with a 152-117 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.

Award Winners

• The RMAC announced the 2021-22 RMAC All-Academic Teams on Jan. 31.  Three total Mountains were named to the conference all-academic team:
  • Geoff Kelly (4.00 GPA, MBA), RMAC All-Academic First Team
  • Noah Baca (3.486 GPA, Exercise Science), RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll
  • Bobby Martin (3.526 GPA, Sociology), RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll

Upcoming Games

• The Mountain Lions are back inside Gallogly Events Center next week as they prepare to host Black Hills State University on Friday, Feb. 11, and Chadron State College on Saturday, Feb. 12 with both games scheduled for 7:30 p.m. tip-off.

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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.