The Mavericks have the potential to make a run for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament Championship.
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) has a 18-8 record, and they are 12-5 against RMAC opponents. They lost just two games all season last year, and they went 21-10 in the 2019-20 season.
They won the RMAC Championship in both those years, and most of the core from last season’s RMAC Championship is back this season. Redshirt sophomore forward Ethan Menzies has missed the season with a knee injury and the Mavericks won’t have him come tournament time either.
While the Mavericks have missed him all season long, we have seen redshirt freshman forward Trevor Baskin and redshirt freshman guard Mac Riniker give opposing defenses all year long.
Baskin has been catching fire lately on offense, but he has become a force on the interior. He has recorded a conference and team-high 38 blocks this year, and he has displayed just how good he can be. He is already ninth in CMU history for the most blocked shots in a season, and he can move quickly up the list as he is just 11 blocks behind Jarred Perry who is second on the list.
Baskin has scored 20 or more points in five different games this year and he recorded his career-high of 33 points in CMU’s win against Black Hills State University. He has the fifth highest shooting percentage in the RMAC as he is shooting 56.9% from the field.
Despite not having the same size as some of the other big men in the RMAC, Riniker can disrupt any big in the conference. He matches up in the post because he is stronger than most of the big men in the RMAC, and if the Mavericks make a run in the postseason, Riniker will be a big part of it.
They are currently sitting in third in the RMAC Standings behind Black Hills State University and Regis University. CMU beat both of those teams this year in January and both wins came on the road. The Mavericks will match up with Regis University one more time on Feb. 18 in Brownson Arena.
CMU has been playing up and down for the entire month of January as they went 5-3 in that period. In their wins, they looked dominant on both ends of the floor, and they were in rhythm while shooting. When they dropped games, they were rushing their shots and they seemed to be taking punches rather than delivering them.
We’ve seen two different teams in that stretch and if the Mavericks can find the balance before the RMAC Tournament, they are going to be a deadly team to run up against in the post-season.
We all remember his game-winner against Colorado School of Mines in last year’s RMAC Championship to secure the back-to-back titles. Redshirt senior guard Jared Small continues to step up and be one of the go-to guys that has stepped up late in games for CMU.
He has done a similar thing this year as he has been in rhythm from beyond the three-point arc all season long. He has made the most three-pointers for CMU this year, and when he is playing in rhythm, the Mavericks play in rhythm.
The only other senior on the team, guard Georgie Dancer, has gotten back into a great flow offensively after getting off to a rocky start without Menzies. The Mavericks run a ball screen dominant offense, and the initial pick and roll was how CMU started each possession.
Without Menzies, the Mavericks had to recalibrate offensively, and since then, Dancer has been the facilitator for the offense and has the Mavericks rolling. Dancer has found his offensive flow as he averages 9.2 points per game, but he has compiled the fifth-most assists in the RMAC with 93.
Dancer can step up on any night and be the leading scorer for the Mavericks, but if he is the driving force behind the offense, the Mavericks can compete with and beat anyone.
The Maverick’s next game is Friday, February 11 at 7:30 p.m. against Adams State University in Alamosa, Colo.
