RAPID CITY, S.D. – South Dakota Mines' men's basketball team is in action for a rare mid-week contest as they renew the long-standing rivalry with Black Hills State University.
The King Center is expected to be rocking for this one and many fans adorned in white as a whiteout is being promoted for the games. It will be an electric atmosphere for the 7:30 p.m. men's tip-off.
GAME INFORMATION
Black Hills State
Date/Time: Jan. 31/ 7:30 p.m. MT
Site: Rapid City, S.D.
Arena: King Center
Series Overall: Black Hills State leads 110-90.
Streak: South Dakota Mines Won 1
Series at South Dakota Mines: Black Hills State leads 18-11 (since 1994).
Streak at South Dakota Mines: Black Hills State Won 2
Last Meeting: South Dakota Mines Won in Spearfish, 77-69 (11/27/2003).
Watch Live: RMAC Network | www.rmacnetwork.com/sdmines/
TOP 5 SCORERS
Cameron Cohn and Alejandro Rama continue to be near the top of the conference in scoring, averaging 19 and 18 points per game to sit in second and fourth in the RMAC.
MOVIN' ON UP
Alejandro Rama continues to move up the South Dakota Mines scoring leaderboard. Currently, his 1,345 points rank 12th in school history. He is around 100 points shy of moving into the top 10 in all-time scoring as a Hardrocker.
STRONG SHOOTERS
Keagen Smith, Kolton Frugoli, Cameron Cohn and Alejandro Rama do damage from beyond the three-point arc. Smith leads the team, hitting 43.8% of his three-point shots, while Frugoli hits 38.2% and Cohn and Rama are in the top 10 in the RMAC (among qualifiers), hitting 37.2% and 34.1% respectively.
NOT A ONE-TRICK PONY
Alejandro Rama can do much more on the floor than just score. He has been a defensive menace this season as he averages 1.0 blocks per game and 1.9 steals per game, numbers that rank him ninth and fourth in the RMAC. In addition, he averages 3.2 dimes per game, seventh-best in the league. If that wasn't enough, Rama brings down 4.8 rebounds per game. In the most recent contest, Rama showed off his skillset, scoring 18 points, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out eight assists.
FROM DOWNTOWN
As a team, the Hardrockers are strong from behind the three-point arc on both sides of the floor, coming in second in the RMAC in opponent three-point percentage (30.5%), sixth in made percentage (35.2%) and are second in makes, hitting 9.1 per game.
HIGH IQ BASKETBALL
South Dakota Mines takes great care of the ball, turning it over just 10.9 times per game to lead the RMAC and come in the top 40 in NCAA Division II. In turnover margin, the Hardrockers sport a number of +2.39, second in the league.
STELLAR SMITH
Keagen Smith stepped up in the Hardrockers' most recent game, a victory over CSU Pueblo, scoring 23 points to tie a career-high and bring down 10 rebounds, his second double-double of the season.
LAST TIME THEY MET
Earlier this season when the two teams met, the Hardrockers emerged with a 77-69 road victory in the non-conference matchup. The Hardrockers got contributions from all over the board in that one, including from some unusual suspects, including Jasper Reinalda who scored 7 points, including a clutch three-point play late and grabbed five rebounds in 15 minutes of play. Then, there were the usual suspects, Alejandro Rama and Cameron Cohn who scored 22 and 19 points, while grabbing nine and seven rebounds. Rama also dished six assists.
SCOUTING BLACK HILLS STATE
Black Hills State is just a touch ahead of South Dakota Mines in the record columns, sitting at 9-9 overall and a game ahead of the Hardrockers in conference play at 7-5.
Mathew Ragsdale is a tough cover for the Yellow Jackets as their leading scorer and the top scorer in the RMAC. Ragsdale is averaging 20.8 points per game which also places him 15th in NCAA Division II. Ragsdale also does it with efficiency, hitting 49.3% of his shots and 34.1% from three-point range.
Joel Speckman leads the team in rebounding, averaging over 5 per game to sit just outside the top 10 in the RMAC.
As a team, Black Hills State shoots well and forces opponents to miss their shots as they are third in team field goal percentage (47.7%) and fourth in opponent field goal percentage (42.8%). They are also fifth in three-point field goal percentage and makes, hitting 35.4% of their attempts and 8.3 per game.
LOOKING AHEAD
Following the mid-week contest, South Dakota Mines has a few days off before heading to Nebraska to take on Chadron State on Saturday afternoon for a game at the Chicoine Center, scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. tip-off.
Fans can find the latest on South Dakota Mines men's basketball all year long on X and Instagram (@hardrockermbb), while also following on Facebook at South Dakota Mines Men's Basketball. The latest on South Dakota Mines athletics can be found by following us on X at @GoHardrockers, hardrockerathletics on Instagram and Hardrocker Athletics on Facebook.
ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA MINES
South Dakota Mines is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and NCAA Division II offering 13 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic programs. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 members, as well as four associate members, located in the states of California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah.
