Colorado Mesa University (CMU) was one of the few schools in the country to qualify both their men’s and women’s basketball teams for their respective field of 64 NCAA tournaments. The women advanced to the round of 32 while the men made it to the sweet 16 for the second time in program history.
The Division II tournament works almost exactly the same as the Division I March Madness tournament. The only difference is that the top-seeded regional school gets to host the beginning of the tournament, and each team begins the tourney playing within their region, whereas the DI version takes place exclusively at neutral site games and teams play each other regardless of the location. Thus, the both CMU teams headed to Texas with Texas Women’s University and West Texas A&M hosting.
The 2-seeded CMU women came into nationals after an upset loss in the first round of the RMAC Tournament, but bounced back with a win over regional foe Lubbock Christian University (LCU) 68-61. The south-central region is made up of the RMAC and the Lone Star Conference. With the Mavericks’ win against LCU, it ended a seven-game losing streak between the two conferences in women’s basketball.
In her first tournament game in her career, forward Olivia Reed put the country on notice. The Honorable Mention All-American sophomore put up a 30 point and 16 rebound double-double while missing just three shots.
However, Reed and the Mavericks couldn’t put up the same performance in the second round, losing 68-56 to 6-seed University of Texas at Tyler (UT-Tyler).
Things looked good early as CMU held a double digit lead and kept it just a 4-point deficit before halftime. As the game went on though, UT-Tyler applied heavier defensive pressure and forced the Mavericks into committing a ghastly 18 turnovers. In total, CMU was outscored 57-40 after the first quarter.
The Mavericks look ahead to next year where they will lose just one senior. Their team is youthful, with Reed and freshman Mason Rowland leading the show, and they are destined to be back in this position next year as a perennial powerhouse. The CMU women have recorded a winning season in 10 out of the last 11 years under Head Coach Taylor Wagner.
The 3-seeded Mavericks men’s team started their tournament with a 95-77 win over 6-seed Eastern New Mexico University, thanks to a huge second half surge. At the break, CMU led by four, but went nuclear the final 10 minutes, going on a 28-13 run to secure the win.
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In the second round, CMU got some sweet revenge and beat 2-seed and rival Fort Lewis College 85-80. Fort Lewis handed the Mavericks their only two home losses, both on eventful nights for Mesa (the Blizzard in Brownson game and RMAC Championship game). Ultimately, the Mavericks would get the last laugh.
The game featured two teams ranked in the top-six of the national coaches polls, and the game played just like it with 19 lead changes and four ties. Guard Isaac Jessup was the difference-maker in the win for CMU. The redshirt junior hit two threes in the final three minutes, with the latter being a dramatic go-ahead shot with 30 seconds left to ultimately give the Mavericks the win.
With a chance to go to the elite eight for the first time in program history, CMU fell to 1-seed West Texas A&M 76-88, playing at their arena.
This time, it was CMU’s opposition who had the big second half against them. Mesa led by eight at half, but were outscored by 20 points in the second half, losing by 12. It was the second time this year CMU has lost to West Texas A&M, who is off to the elite eight for the second year in a row.
Like the women’s team, the men’s team for CMU returns almost everybody. Two-time RMAC defensive player of the year forward Mac Riniker missed the final 12 games with injury, but seems to be coming back for his sixth-year next season. Almost all of the fourth year players are using their extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19, and also will be back next year.
The player to monitor is star forward Trevor Baskin. The fourth year player was RMAC player of the year, and is on the top-25 list for the Bevo Francis Award (best player in all of DII, DIII, Junior College, NAIA). The forward is weighing pro and DI options, but also has one more year of eligibility at CMU. If Baskin returns to Mesa, he could become the program’s all time leading scorer, surpassing his father Jon Baskin. Trevor Baskin is 972 points away from the record (2,227 points).