RAPID CITY, S.D. – The South Dakota Mines men's basketball team is back at home this weekend as they continue to fight for playoff seeding.
 
Currently the eight seed, South Dakota Mines is looking to pick up a pair of wins to improve on that and get closer to a postseason berth.

GAME INFORMATION

Regis
Date/Time: Feb. 16 / 7:30 p.m. MT
Site: Rapid City, S.D.
Arena: King Center
Series Overall: Regis leads 11-6.
Streak: South Dakota Mines Won 3
Series at South Dakota Mines: Regis leads 5-2 (Since 2015).
Streak at South Dakota Mines: South Dakota Mines Won 1
Last Meeting: South Dakota Mines won in Denver, 82-64 (12/2/23).
Watch Live: RMAC Network | www.rmacnetwork.com/sdmines/
 
UCCS
Date/Time: Feb. 17 / 6:00 p.m. MT
Site: Rapid City, S.D.
Arena: King Center
Series Overall: UCCS leads 10-8.
Streak: South Dakota Mines Won 2
Series at South Dakota Mines: UCCS leads 5-3 (Since 2016).
Streak at South Dakota Mines: UCCS Won 2
Last Meeting: South Dakota Mines won in Colorado Springs, 70-68 (12/1/23).
Watch Live: RMAC Network | www.rmacnetwork.com/sdmines/
 
OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT
Cameron Cohn and Alejandro Rama continue to be two of the top scorers in the conference, averaging 18.6 points per game and 17.4 points per game to sit in third and fifth in the RMAC. Both players are also near the top of the conference leaderboard in field goal percentage, three-point percentage and three-pointers made per game.  
 
RECORD BOOK RAMA
Alejandro Rama has scored 1,403 points for his career, 12th in school history. He is just four points shy of Hugh Boyle for 11th and around 50 points shy of Chuck Neller for 10th place.  

DOUBLE-DIGIT MACHINE
Keagen Smith is having the best year of his career thus far and has been strong especially as of late, becoming a lock for nightly double digit scoring as he has done it in five straight games and seven of the past eight. He has upped his average to 12.3 points per game, averaging 15.7 over that stretch. He is hitting nearly 40% of his three-point attempts on the season.
 
ARChitects
The Hardrockers are strong from both sides of the three-point arc, allowing opponents to hit just 29.2%, the best in the RMAC and making 8.6 per game, second most in the league.  
 
VALUE POSSESSION
As the season has progressed, the Hardrockers have continued to a great job, taking care of the ball, turning it over just 10.7 times per game for the least in the conference. They don't force a ton, but their margin of +2.95 is second best in the RMAC.
 
PLAYOFF PUSH
South Dakota Mines is in the thick of the RMAC playoff race, currently sitting in eight, the last qualifying spot, but with just 2 games separating fourth from eighth, there is the potential to move up with some wins. Regis and UCCS are also in the mix, leaving two important games this weekend.
 
SCOUTING REGIS
Regis has been strong at home, but not as strong on the road. Overall, they are 12-11 with a 9-8 RMAC mark and are 4-5 on the road.
 
Leading the Rangers is the duo of Chase Mayo Harmon and Eddy Egun, averaging 16.5 and 12 points per game.
 
Each of them shoots is at a high rate, hitting over 40% of their three-point shots, while Egun his 56% from inside the arc and Mayo Harmon hits 44.5% from two-point range.
 
Defensively, Regis allows 73 points per game to their opponents and also outscores opponents by 1.8 points per game on average.
 
This particular game will likely be decided by which team will play to their strength in regards to turnovers as Regis forces 14.9 turnovers per game, second most in the RMAC and the Hardrockers as previously mentioned do not turn it over much.
 
SCOUTING UCCS
Currently, the UCCS Mountain Lions sit just below South Dakota Mines in the standings at 7-10 in the RMAC, while the Hardrockers are 7-9. Overall, UCCS is 11-12 but the Mountain Lions have also struggled to a 3-7 record away from home.
 
Four players lead the Mountain Lions in scoring in Xavier Martinez, Jesse Iweze, Hannes Saar and Mac Stodart.
 
UCCS has been missing the presence of William Becker who has not played in over two months. He is one of the better rebounders in the league, averaging 8.9 per game. Now that has been left in the hands of Iweze as he averages 6.9. He can also be quite the rim protector as he averages 1.1 blocks per game, fifth in the league.
 
Martinez is a playmaker, averaging 4.3 assists per game, third in the league.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
After the pair at home this weekend, the Hardrockers are back on the road next weekend at Adams State and Fort Lewis.
 
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 Hardrocker 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.