RAPID CITY, S.D. --- The South Dakota School of Mines men's basketball team will kick off the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference season Tuesday in a somewhat familiar venue as the Hardrockers head up to Spearfish, South Dakota, to take on Black Hills State at the Young Center in a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.

 The Hardrockers have already played two non-conference in Spearfish, including a big-time win over Augusta University after narrowly falling to Northern State during the East vs. West Challenge on Nov. 15-16.

SD Mines opened the season in Texas, splitting on that trip in early November. They came up just short to Texas A&M Kingsville, but bounced back nicely in a convincing win over Texas A&M International. Most recently, a 'Rocker rally was quelled in Nebraska when SD Mines lost to University of Nebraska – Kearney, 63-62, this past Friday.

The Yellow Jackets are 1-3 on the season, with their only victory against Tarleton State back on Nov. 10. They have dropped games to University of Arkansas Fort Smith, Augustana University and Northern State.

BHSU is averaging 79.3 points per game while giving up 80 each time out. The team is shooting 53 percent from the field and has a three-point goal percentage of .383. On the flip side, SD Mines is scoring 72.2 points per night and allowing 67.8 --- which is ranked third in the conference.

The Jackets distribute the ball evenly and have four individuals scoring in double digits. Trey Whitley leads the way with 17.3 ppg, Joel Scott contributes with 16.8 ppg, Tyler Oliver is posting 15.0 ppg and Stefan Desnica is putting up 14.3 ppg. Oliver is also leading the squad in rebounding, averaging 8.5 per game.

The 'Rockers are led in scoring by Allec Williams who is cashing in for 11.6 ppg, Mitchell Sueker contributes with 10.4 ppg, Troy Brady is scoring 10.2 ppg and Logan Elers dishes in for 9.6 ppg. Elers also leads the team in rebounding averaging 6 rpg.

In the two games played a year ago, the Yellow Jackets came out on top, including a heartbreaking buzzer-beating overtime win to open the RMAC season last year (57-65).

Since 1994 the Yellow Jackets have a slight 34-25 won-loss advantage.

The game can be viewed on the RMAC Network at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/bhsu/ and livestats will be available at: https://bhsuathletics.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary .