CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State will conclude its nonconference schedule with a rivalry showdown on Tuesday, facing Nebraska-Kearney on the road in CSC's final game before Christmas break.

The Eagles (2-9, 0-4 RMAC) will face the Lopers (5-5, 0-2 MIAA) at 6:30 p.m. MT (7:30 p.m. CT/local), or after the conclusion of the CSC/UNK women's game. 
 
The game will be live-streamed on the MIAA Network (pay-per-view) while the Tuesday game against Kearney will air on News Channel Nebraska Television. Tuesday's game will also be broadcast live on Double Q Country 97.5 and 105.9 FM and doubleqcountry.com with Dave Collins on the call.
 
Looking Back
Chadron State dropped a pair of home RMAC contests last week, falling 89-74 to CSU Pueblo and 100-74 to UCCS.

RECAPS: CSU Pueblo | UCCS

Thursday's game was an irregular one by Pueblo's standards – the ThunderWolves came in with the lowest scoring defense and opponent field goal percentage in the RMAC, allowed an opponent season-high 74 points to the Eagles, and still win handily by shooting over 55 percent from the field. 

Against UCCS, the Eagles outshot their opponent (48 percent to 47 percent), but a UCCS rebounding advantage (39-28) and turnover advantage (CSC committed 24 while UCCS committed 14) led to the visiting Mountain Lions having 37 more field goal attempts than the Eagles. 

New Standards
The Eagles set several individual and team season-highs during last Saturday's game against UCCS. 
 
CSC's 48.8 percent team shooting percentage was its highest of the season so far. The Eagles also set new season highs with 30 free-throw makes and 41 free-throw attempts, which are the fourth-most and second-most, respectively, in any RMAC game this season.
 
Three players also scored a season-high over the course of last week's action. Against UCCS, forward Blessing Adesipe scored a season-high 16 points while freshman Luka Djurovic had a career-high 17. Redshirt freshman Jackson Schauer scored a career-high 14 points on Thursday against CSU Pueblo.
 
Mix and Match
Head coach Chris Francis has juggled his starting lineup throughout the season, partially due to injury and partially due to trying to unlock the right combination of players. 

Chadron State does not have a player who has started every game this season. Only five players have logged minutes in every game – juniors Mack Keighran and Jadon Cool, redshirt sophomore Ethan Russell, grad student Blessing Adesipe and sophomore Jovan Jovanovic. 

Four players share the team lead with nine starts – Keighran, Cool, Russell and true freshman Luka Djurovic, who leads the team with 28.8 minutes per contest. While Blessing Adesipe (six starts) has been the fifth most common starting five member, five other players have started multiple games for the Eagles – Isaiah Randolph (four), Collin Nick (three), Konnor Kralik (two), Zach Smith (two) and Jovan Jovanovic (two). 

Minutes have been balanced, with no player other 30 but eight players logging over 20 minutes per game. While Djurovic, Cool and Keighran are CSC's leaders, Isaiah Randolph ranks fourth with 23.6 minutes per contest despite coming off the bench six times.

Stat Standouts

• The Eagles are scoring 70.5 points per game and allowing 87.1 points per contest.
• Chadron State is making 74.3 percent of its free throws as a team, which ranks sixth in the RMAC.
• CSC ranks eighth in steals per game (6.45) and 11^th in blocks per game (2.45).
• Isaiah Randolph ranks fourth in the RMAC with an .872 free-throw percentage. 
• Randolph also has a .627 field-goal percentage (42-67), which would rank second in the RMAC if Randolph had enough field goal attempts to qualify. 
• Randolph also ranks fifth in the RMAC with 1.7 steals per game. 
• Freshman Luka Djurovic ranks seventh in the RMAC with 7.6 rebounds per game and is one of only eight RMAC players with over seven rebounds per contest.
• Chadron State has four players averaging nine or more points per game – Isaiah Randolph (13.0), Jadon Cool (12.1), Luka Djuvoric (9.8) and Mack Keighran (9.1). 

In the Polls
Chadron State was picked seventh out of 15 teams in the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll, receiving one first-place vote. 

Black Hills State was picked to win the league, receiving 10 of 15 first place votes, while reigning champs Colorado School of Mines were second, receiving three first-place votes. Colorado Mesa received the final first-place vote and finished third while UCCS and Fort Lewis rounded out the top five. 

The remainder of the RMAC tournament positions were filled by MSU Denver, the Eagles and Colorado Christian. The poll was rounded out by Adams State, Westminster, New Mexico Highlands, CSU Pueblo, Western Colorado, Regis and South Dakota Mines. 

Black Hills State is the only ranked program in the RMAC at No. 19.

Scouting the Opposition
Nebraska Kearney
The Lopers are 5-5 and 0-2 in the MIAA. After dropping two conference games to Washburn and Central Missouri, the Lopers rallied with a 102-62 victory over NAIA opponent Hesston College on Saturday. 

The Lopers have played two South Central region opponents so far, losing 73-62 to Angelo State and beating then-No. 10 Colorado School of Mines 85-76 as part of what was a surprising 0-5 start for the reigning RMAC champion Orediggers. UNK has two ranked wins on its resume – Mines and then-No. 9 Southwest Minnesota State, who the Lopers beat 77-75 at Fort Hays. 

Redshirt senior Ja'Bryant Hill leads the Lopers with 17.1 points and 5.1 assists per game. Hill scored 32 points against Concordia-St. Paul and 23 against Central Missouri, but his only two single-digit scoring performances have come in the last three games. Kendrick Gilbert and Anthony Swift each average 11.1 points per game, with Swift leading the way with 5.9 rebounds per game.

Head Coach Marty Levinson is in his second year with UNK, his alma mater. UNK went 12-16 in year one under Levinson, including an 87-71 loss to Chadron State at the Chicoine Center.

Coach's Corner
Chadron State Head Coach Chris Francis is in his second season leading the Eagle men's basketball program. In his first season, Francis put together a 15-14 overall record with an 11-9 record in RMAC play. The Eagles qualified for the RMAC tournament as the No. 8 seed.

Francis comes to Chadron after serving as the head coach at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (NAIA) where Francis compiled a record of 176-94 in nine seasons. 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.