CHADRON, Neb. – After a big win against an in-state rival, the Chadron State men's basketball team will move from one rivalry to another as they begin the RMAC season with two games this week, including one in the Chicoine Center. 

The Eagles (3-4, 0-0 RMAC) will face South Dakota Mines (1-8, 1-0 RMAC) at home this Thursday night at 7 p.m. before traveling to Spearfish this Saturday to take on Black Hills State (4-5, 0-1 RMAC) at 3 p.m.

South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State kicked off the conference slate league-wide by facing one another on Tuesday night, with Black Hills defeating the Hardrockers 64-50. Every other RMAC team begins conference play Thursday, like the Eagles.

As a reminder, this season marks a change from previous years as the "traditional" RMAC basketball weekend will feature Thursday and Saturday games, rather than Friday and Saturday like the past several seasons. 

Fans can stream both of this week's games on the RMAC Network. Both contests will be broadcast live on Double Q Country 97.5 FM or doubleqcountry.com, with Dave Collins on the call. Single-game tickets are available for this Thursday's home conference opener.

Looking Back
The Eagles suffered a 76-60 road nonconference loss to Colorado Christian but rebounded in a big way by defeating local rivals Nebraska-Kearney last Saturday at home by an 87-71 score.

RECAPS: Colorado Christian | Nebraska-Kearney

Trey Ballard led the Eagles in scoring against CCU with 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting. Five different Eagles scored in double figures against UNK – Zy Wright, Treyson Neff, Jalen Thomas, Darrius Miles and John Jenkins.
Wright had a well-rounded week, finishing with nine points and six rebounds against CCU and 16 points and six rebounds against UNK. 

"Trey"son
After missing Tuesday's game against CCU, junior guard Treyson Neff emerged in a big way against Nebraska-Kearney over the weekend. 

The junior transfer from College of the Redwoods scored a Division II career-high against the Lopers last Saturday, finishing with 16 points while shooting 5 of 11 from the field, including four made three-pointers. Neff also added a rebound, three assists, a block and a steal.

Prior to the UNK game, Neff was off to an 0-9 start from beyond the arc in his collegiate career, but the Medford, Oregon native has a history of scoring, earning CCCAA All-American honors while averaging over 20 points per game in 2022-23 and also averaging 18.1 points per game last season.

Getting to the Line
Chadron State has shown an ability to earn free throws throughout the year. The Eagles rank second in the RMAC in free throw attempts per game (22.9) and lead the league in made free throws per game (17.3). 

The Eagles had attempted no less than 18 free throws in a game this season and have 20 or more foul shot attempts in five of seven matches. Chadron State ranks sixth in the RMAC with a .756 free-throw percentage, but the Eagles have outshot their opponents at the line in each of CSC's last four games.

The largest disparity of the season so far came at Nebraska-Kearney, when the Eagles made 24 of 29 attempts (.828), nearly doubling up the Lopers, who shot 11 of 15 (.733). 

Zy Wright, a senior transfer from Texas-Permian Basin, leads the Eagles in free throw attempts, making 25 of 32. Wright went 11-for-14 from the line over the past two games.

Rolling Deep
Chadron State has also featured balanced scoring throughout the season. Five different Eagles are averaging more than eight points per game and eight are averaging five or more points per game. 

The Eagles have also seen seven different players take the scoring load on a game-to-game basis in seven games. Trey Ballard (15 against Texas A&M-International, 18 against CCU), Jalen Thomas (16 against Texas A&M-Kingsville, 20 against Sioux Falls), Julio Phipps (18 against Northwest Missouri State), Dalton Peterson (18 against Ottawa), Darrius Miles (18 against Ottawa), Zy Wright (16 against UNK) and Treyson Neff (16 against UNK) have all led or tied for the lead in team points so far this season.

Along those lines, the Eagles are frequently getting contributions from members outside the starting lineup. The Eagles rank 25^th in Division II in bench points per game, getting an average of 34.14 points off the bench per contest. Trey Ballard, the team's second-leading scorer at 11.1 points per game, hasn't started a game this season.

In the Polls
Colorado School of Mines is the only RMAC school ranked in both the NABC Coaches Poll (No. 13) and the D2CSC Media Poll (No. 18). MSU Denver is receiving votes in both polls. Regionally, the Lone Star conference features the nation's No. 2 team in West Texas A&M and the No. 5 team in Dallas Baptist. 

With a new coaching staff and predominantly new players, Chadron State men's basketball was picked 15^thin the preseason RMAC Coaches Poll for the 2024-25 campaign. 

Colorado School of Mines, who finished third in the league last season, were picked first for this year, receiving 11 of 15 first-place votes. MSU Denver received two first-place votes to come second, followed by Regis in third, which received one first-place vote. 

Black Hills State was fourth in the poll, while Colorado Mesa received the final first-place vote and finished fifth. The rest of the poll includes CSU Pueblo, UCCS and New Mexico Highlands in the final RMAC Tournament positions, followed by Fort Lewis, South Dakota Mines, Western Colorado, Westminster, Adams State, Colorado Christian, and the Eagles. 

Scouting the Hardrockers
South Dakota Mines began the season 0-8, all in nonconference play, but earned their first win of the season in the RMAC opener Tuesday by defeating Black Hills State 58-50. 

Defense has been SDM's calling card all season, as the Hardrockers are allowing just 64.8 points per game, the second-best mark in the RMAC. While the Hardrockers have only been scoring 52.9 points per game, Tuesday's result showed that their defense is good enough to bring opposing teams down to that 50-point level, as well.

Senior forward Keagen Smith is South Dakota Mines's top scorer at 10.6 points per game while redshirt sophomore Abel Hutchison (8.1 ppg) led the way with 17 against Black Hills. The Hardrockers have four players (Smith, Hutchison, Gavin Soukup and Cameron Cohn) averaging over a steal per game.

Hardrocker Head Coach Eric Glenn has been the head man since the 2018-19 season but spent 13 seasons prior to that as an assistant under Jason Henry. He has led the Hardrocker to the only two RMAC Tournaments in program history. 

Since 1994-95, South Dakota Mines and Chadron State are dead-even, 21-21, in the all-time series. Chadron State has rallied to win the past four matchups, with two wins in each of the past two seasons.

Scouting the Yellow Jackets
Black Hills State is 4-5 overall with an 0-1 RMAC record after losing to South Dakota Mines this Tuesday. The Yellow Jackets have lost to several competitive programs, including then No. 3 MSU Moorhead. Crucially, BHSU defeated Sioux Falls 89-70 on November 23, a team that defeated the Eagles at home in Chadron.

The Yellow Jackets are reloading from a golden era that saw the program go to back-to-back NCAA Final Fours in 2021-22 and 2022-23, led by two-time RMAC Player of the Year, D2CCA National Player of the Year and eventual Colorado State University standout Joel Scott.

Senior guard Caelin Hearne, a remaining member of those Final Four rosters, leads this year's Yellow Jackets and ranks fourth in the RMAC with 16.7 points per game. Hearne has scored in double digits in every game this season and put up 30 against Sioux Falls. Cam Lowe (12.4 points per game) and Jaeton Hackley (10.9) also average in double figures. 

Head Coach Ryan Thompson is in his seventh season at Black Hills State. He is a two-time RMAC Coach of the Year and was at the helm for two Final Four appearances. Since 2003, Chadron is 10-20 against Black Hills State, though the Eagles won the most recent match in Chadron.

Coach's Corner
Chadron State Head Coach Chris Francis is in his first season leading the Eagle men's basketball program. Francis comes to Chadron after serving as the head coach at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (NAIA) since 2015. 

At USAO, Francis put together a career record of 176-94. Francis led the Drovers to five NAIA National Tourney appearances, a Sooner Athletic Conference Championship, and a Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Championship, also taking USAO to an NAIA Elite Eight. Francis is a two-time Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, winning the award in 2017 and 2022. 

A former student-athlete, Francis was a starting guard and captain of the men's basketball team at Rogers State University. In 2011, he helped lead Rogers State to the NAIA Elite Eight and a 30-2 record. Following that season, Francis was named the Sooner Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He was recently inducted into the Rogers State Athletic Hall of Fame.