This Week's Matchup
UCCS Men's Basketball claimed the No. 4 seed in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Tournament to extend their play into the postseason. The Mountain Lions await No. 5 seed Colorado School of Mines with the RMAC Quarterfinal game slated for 7 p.m. tipoff at the Gallogly Events Center tonight.
 
Game Coverage
Live Stream: https://www.rmacnetwork.com/gomountainlions/
Live Stats: https://gomountainlions.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
 
Last Time Out

• The Mountain Lions split their home conference contests last week after falling to New Mexico Highlands University, 96-100, but bouncing back to take the 80-61 win over South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
• UCCS suffered a four-point loss to the Cowboys with the lead changing hands 15 times through the course of the game as NMHU grabbed the lead with 2:21 left and held on to win off a 95.7 percent free throw percentage and 52.3 percent field-goal percentage. UCCS shot 45.7 from the field and recorded an 80.80 free throw percentage in the game with 73 points coming from the UCCS' starting five. Jon'il Fugett paced the Mountain Lions with 25 points 9-of-14 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range.
• Coming back from tough loss to posting 19-point victory on Thursday, the Mountain Lions came to post a 41.9 percent shooting percentage from beyond the arc with Fugett, Wyatt Dolberry, and Mac Stodart all sinking three treys. Alijah Comithier, Dolberry, and Fugett all reached the double-digit mark in the win as Comithier went 7-of-12 from the field for 15 points to help drive a team field-goal percentage of 50.80 percent.

 
RMAC Tournament

• As the No. 4 seed, the Mountain Lions will host No. 5 seed Colorado School Mines (16-10, 14-8 RMAC) on Tuesday, Mar. 1 at 7 p.m. inside Gallogly Events Center. The winner of Sunday's match will move on to face the winner between RMAC Regular Season Champs Black Hills State University and No. 8 seed New Mexico Highlands State University with the highest seed remaining slated to host the RMAC Semifinal.
• Colorado Mesa University secures the No. 2 seed and plays host to No. 7 seed Metropolitan State University of Denver in Grand Junction. Colo. as Fort Lewis College (No. 3 seed) welcomes Regis University (No. 6 seed) in Durango, Colo.

 
The Series

• Since Head Coach Jeff Culver's first season at UCCS in 2012-13, the Mountain Lions trail the Orediggers 4-13 in the series with the most recent matchup resulting in a 75-70 CSM win inside Gallogly Events Center on Dec. 11, 2021.

 
Scouting Colorado School of Mines

• The Orediggers (16-10, 14-8 RMAC) finished the conference regular season with two wins over Adams State University and Colorado State University Pueblo last weekend to claim the No. 5 seed ahead of Regis.
• CSM strung together an eight-game win streak from Jan. 15 to Feb. 4 before finishing 3-3 to end the season.
• Mines has been at the bottom of the pack when it comes to scoring offense as the Orediggers are averaging an even 73.0 points per game. But the Orediggers make that up with the best defense in the conference as they allow a league low 65.4 points per game.
• Opponents' average field-goal percentages dips down to 41.8 percent and 31.3 percent from long range for the lowest field-goal and three-point percentage defense in the conference.
• The Orediggers are causing 11.3 turnovers per game but overshadow that by giving up the second most turnovers in the conference at 11.7.
• RMAC Academic Player of the Year Brendan Sullivan leads the offensive charge for CSM at 15.5 PPG on 51.4 shooting from the field and 39.1 percent from three-point while being responsible for a team high 34 steals and 4.9 rebounds per game.
• Senior Ben Boone serves as the team's best three-point shooter with 117 made on the year for a long range percentage of 42.7 percent as he represents the second Oredigger with double-digit points at 12.8. Boone also paces the team with 74 assists and helped Mines boast the second most assist per game average in the RMAC at 14.2 per game.

 
Hot Takes

• UCCS and Mines have only faced each other twice in the conference tournament as both teams split the series at one all.
• Tuesday will be the first time the Mountain Lions' have hosted an RMAC Quarterfinal since Mar. 3, 2015 when they defeated CMU, 82-71, and went on to win the program's first RMAC Tournament Championship.
• The Mountain Lions have won 11 of their last 13 games and are currently shooting 48.2 percent from the field to contribute towards 83.1 PPG. On the other end, UCCS is holding opponents to 70.9 PPG for a positive 12.3 scoring margin.
• UCCS continues to consistently out-rebound their opponent with Division II's seventh best rebounding margin (+8.2) that is supported by the most offensive rebounds per game (11.39) in the RMAC and the 13^th most defensive rebounds in the country (28.89).
• At 20.7 PPG, Alijah Comithier is shooting an impressive 54.5 percent as he's posted 15 or more points in six straight games.
• Jon'il Fugett heads into the RMAC Tournament recently scoring a season high 25 points against New Mexico Highlands a week ago to help fuel a scoring average of 13.5 PPG.
• UCCS' two losses in the last 13 games saw 20 more personal fouls as they hold a flawless 14-0 record when committing 17 or loess fouls.
• Wyatt Dolberry has played in all 28 games for the Mountain Lions this season and is coming off his eighth double-digit performance that included 12 points and shooting 3-of-5 from three-point against the Hardrockers.

 
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 158-119 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.

 
Admission at UCCS Home Events

• General admission tickets will be available one hour before game time (cash only).
• The first 500 UCCS Students will receive free admission into Tuesday's RMAC Quarterfinal game.
• Ticket Prices:
  • Adults (Ages 23 and Up):  $10.00
  • Seniors (Ages 65 and Up): $5.00
  • Students (w/ valid I.D.): $5.00
  • Children (Ages 6-12): $5.00
• Masks are required at all times indoors.

 
Face Coverings

• Per campus policy, all students, faculty, staff and visitors on the UCCS campus are REQUIRED to wear a face covering while indoors, regardless of vaccination status.

 
Upcoming Games

• The winner of Sunday's match will move on to face the winner between RMAC Regular Season Champs Black Hills State University and No. 8 seed New Mexico Highlands State University with the highest seed remaining slated to host the RMAC Semifinal.

 
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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.