CHADRON, Neb. – After testing themselves against two of the RMAC's top three preseason teams last week, Chadron State men's basketball continues its conference season on the road this upcoming weekend. 

The Eagles (6-8, 2-4 RMAC) will begin the week against Adams State (6-8, 1-5 RMAC) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. before continuing to Las Vegas, New Mexico to face New Mexico Highlands (7-7, 0-6 RMAC) on Saturday at 3 p.m. 

Both games will be streamed on the RMAC Network. A radio broadcast will be available live on Double Q Country 97.5 and 105.9 or doubleqcountry.com, with Dave Collins on the call. Fans can also follow the game via live stats.

Looking Back
Facing teams ranked first and third, respectively, in the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll, Chadron State lost 76-61 to No. 15/13 Colorado School of Mines before dropping a 76-70 contest to Regis.

RECAPS: Colorado School of Mines | Regis

In both games, Chadron State outscored its opponents in points from the field, but the Orediggers went 22-for-23 at the line where Regis was 29-for-31 as a team from the stripe, helping both visiting teams to victories. 

Twenty Pieces
Last Saturday's game at Regis featured a pair of 20-point scorers for the Eagles, marking the first time this season that two CSC players hit that milestone in the same game. 

Against the Rangers, Zy Wright scored 24 points on 8 of 15 shooting, making two three-pointers and sinking 6 of 7 free throw attempts. It was the third time this season that Wright scored exactly 24 points, which is an NCAA career high for the Texas-Permian Basin transfer. 

The other two came in back-to-back games on December 12 and 14 against CSU Pueblo and UCCS, a weekend's worth of performances that helped Wright earn the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week award on December 16. 

Jalen Thomas also got in on the scoring fun with a season-high 23 points against Regis. Thomas was 10 of 15 from the field and 3-for-3 at the line. Saturday was the graduate guard's second 20-point game of the season for Chadron State after Thomas scored an even 20 against Sioux Falls back on November 22. 

Wright (three) and Thomas (two) are the only Eagles so far with multiple 20-point games this season. Darrius Miles scored 22 points against Central Christian on December 16 for CSC's other 20-point game this season. 

More Than Five
The Eagles have been far more than just their starting unit throughout the season. Chadron State ranks second in the RMAC and 32^nd in Division II in bench points per game, receiving 30.5 points per contest from non-starters. 

Chadron State players have been productive even while moving in and out of head coach Chris Francis's lineup. Only two players (John Jenkins and Jalen Thomas) have started every game for the Eagles this season. Two of Chadron State's top five scorers, Julio Phipps (10.5 ppg) and Trey Ballard (9.1 ppg), have combined for one start. 

Across Chadron State's 14 games, no less than eight different Eagles have led the team in scoring during a game this season.

Free Points
Chadron State has been one of the best teams in the league at the free throw line this season. 

The Eagles rank second in the RMAC and 30^th in Division II in free throw percentage, sinking 76.9 percent of their foul shots. Among RMAC teams, Black Hills State leads at 78.9 percent, while MSU Denver (76.1), Adams State (75.6) and Colorado School of Mines (75.5) are also making three-quarters or better from the line. 

Zy Wright is the team's top free throw shooter in terms of volume. Wright leads CSC in free throw makes (49) and attempts (60) for an .817 free-throw percentage, which ranks eighth overall in the RMAC. 

Dalton Petersen (.875), Jalen Thomas (.839), Trey Ballard (.813), John Jenkins (.800), and Zach Smith (.765) are also excelling from the line but don't have enough attempts to qualify for the RMAC leaderboard. 

Stat Snapshots
Chadron State currently ranks ninth in the RMAC in both scoring offense (74.4 points per game) and scoring defense (allowing 72.4 points per game). The Eagles' scoring margin of +2.1 ranks eighth in the league. 

The Eagles are forcing opponents into contested shots from deep, as they are holding opponents to just 29.9 percent shooting from three-point range, the second-best mark in the RMAC. 

Chadron State also ranks second in the RMAC in total team rebounds per game, grabbing 37.3 boards per contest. The Eagles' rebounding margin of +2.3 per game is ninth in the RMAC. Individually, Zy Wright, Jalen Thomas (T-19^th, 5.0 per game) and John Jenkins (T-21^st, 4.9 per game) all rank inside the league's top 25 in rebounding. 

Julio Phipps (14 blocks in 14 games) is one of only six RMAC players averaging a block per game or more. Phipps's field-goal percentage of .630 would rank fifth in the RMAC if the New York native had enough shot attempts to qualify for the RMAC leaderboard.

Lights Out
Chadron State had historical offensive output on December 16 in their 107-50 win over Central Christian.  

The Eagles made 43 of 64 field goal attempts (.672) and were even better, percentage-wise, from three-point land, sinking 16 of 23 attempts for a .696 percentage, which is the best single-game percentage by an RMAC team this season. 

Chadron State's 16 made three-pointers are just two off the single-game school record of 18, set on November 21, 2021 against Haskell Indian Nations. That game also featured the single-game program record for assists (35). 

The 57-point margin of victory is the second highest in school history, trailing only a 103-45 CSC win over South Dakota Mines in November of 1998. Ironically, the Hardrockers had defeated Chadron State by 10 points just 11 days before that 58-point blowout. 

In the Polls
Each of Division II's predominant ranking polls – the NABC Coaches Poll and the D2CSC Media Poll – feature two nationally-ranked RMAC teams in Colorado School of Mines and MSU Denver. 
The NABC poll features Mines at No. 12 and MSU Denver at No. 19. The media has both teams rated higher, with Mines at No. 6 and MSU Denver at No. 17.

The D2CSC South Central regional rankings have three RMAC teams among the region's top 10. Colorado School of Mines is the unanimous No. 1 team in the region, while MSU Denver is No. 2 and UCCS is No. 10. 

Lone Star Conference teams (Dallas Baptist, Midwestern State, Lubbock Christian, St. Mary's, UTPB, West Texas A&M and Eastern New Mexico) populate No. 3-No. 9. Dallas Baptist is the only nationally-ranked team in the LSC, coming in at No. 16 in the Coaches Poll and No. 18 (behind MSU Denver) in the media poll.

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 Grizzlies
Picked 13^th in the preseason poll, Adams State is 6-8 overall with a 1-5 mark in RMAC play. Adams State's only RMAC win came over New Mexico Highlands on December 14. Last week, the Grizzlies fell to Westminster 107-95 and Colorado Mesa 89-74. 

Adams State has played several of the Lone Star's top teams. The Grizzlies defeated UTPB 95-88 on November 10, lost by five to Midwestern State and suffered a lopsided loss to then-No. 1 West Texas A&M. 

The Grizzlies have four double-figure scorers, led by two-time RMAC Player of the Week Jude Tapia, who averages 16.1 points per game to rank fourth in the RMAC. Tapia won the first two weekly awards after his first four games of the season included 21, 28 and 36-point nights. Since then, Tapia has a pair of 20-point outings in ASU's last 10 games.

Ta'Veus Randle (14.1 points per game), Jaylen Alexander (12.5) and Luke Williams (10.8) also chip in scoring. Alexander is shooting 65.7 percent from the floor (67-102). Adams State has played in some high-scoring games this season, as the Grizzlies have the top-scoring defense (88.2 points per game) but the worst scoring defense (89.1 points per game) in the league. 

Adams State is coached by Kenny Tripp, who is in his second season in Alamosa. No stranger to the RMAC, Tripp was previously an assistant at MSU Denver and Regis as well as the University of Idaho (DI). 

Scouting the Cowboys
It's been a tale of two seasons for New Mexico Highlands, who currently sits with a 7-7 overall records. The Cowboys raced off to a 6-1 start, beating traditional Lone Star power Angelo State and knocking off CSU Pueblo in a nonconference game. 

New Mexico Highlands has struggled in RMAC play, however, as they are still searching for their first conference win after losses to Colorado Mesa (89-77) and Western Colorado (89-75) last week dropped the Cowboys to 0-6 in RMAC play. 

Like Adams State, New Mexico Highlands has scored a lot and given up a lot. The Cowboys average 81.4 points per game but are allowing 82.6 points per game. Highlands is making 44.7 percent of its shots while opponents are landing 51.8 percent. 

The Cowboys feature the current leading scorer in the RMAC in senior forward and Casper College transfer Kenard Richardson, who is putting 17.4 points per game. Richardson scored 34 points in the season-opening win against Angelo State and scored 22 in NMHU's most recent game against Western Colorado.

New Mexico Highlands is coached by Mike Dominguez, who is in his sixth season. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at NMHU and Colorado Mesa University, where he was an Division II All-American as a player for the Mavericks.

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.