SPEARFISH, S.D. –  Following a tough road trip to Grand Junction and Salt Lake City, the Black Hills State University men's basketball team hopes all they need is a little home cooking as they host a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) foes in New Mexico Highlands University on Friday night at 7:00 PM, followed by CSU Pueblo on Saturday at 6:00 PM.

BHSU has fallen to 7-9 on the season but enter the soft underbelly of their conference schedule. Having faced a nationally ranked foe in three of their four doubleheader weekends this season, the Yellow Jackets face just three teams with a conference record above .500 the rest of the way, with just one of their next eight opponents meeting those criteria.

On Friday we encourage fans to come decked out in green for Green Out Night presented by BHSU SAAC, before we have out Native American Heritage Night and Gold Out Night presented by BHSU SAAC on Saturday.

GAME INFORMATION
Black Hills State (7-9, 5-5 RMAC) vs. New Mexico Highlands (6-10, 4-9 RMAC)
Date: Friday, January 26 // Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Spearfish, S.D. (A2 Arena – Donald E. Young Center)
Watch: rmacnetwork.com // Listen: KDSJ (103.5 FM & 980 AM)

GAME INFORMATION
Black Hills State (7-9, 5-5 RMAC) vs. CSU Pueblo (9-8, 5-6 RMAC)
Date: Saturday, January 27 // Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Spearfish, S.D. (A2 Arena – Donald E. Young Center)
Watch: rmacnetwork.com // Listen: KDSJ (103.5 FM & 980 AM)

FRIDAY vs. NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS
It has been a rough go of it lately for New Mexico Highlands. They opened the new year with a victory against Westminster on the road, but they have dropped five-straight since, plummeting below .500 at 6-10, and to 4-8 in RMAC play.

A team with some depth, the Cowboys do not have many discernable strengths, but they also lack many blatant weaknesses as they rank between fifth and 12th in the conference in most statistical categories as a team. They are stingy defensively, allowing teams to shoot just 42.6% from the field against them, while forcing 14.53 turnovers, acquiring 7.7 steals, and blocking 3.4 shots per contest, all of which are top-five marks in the league. Despite this, they rank just 11th in opponent points per game with a 75.3 mark.

NMHU does not have a double-digit scorer on their roster this season, but that does lead into their biggest strength, their bench. They receive 36.53 points per game, the second-most in the RMAC and 13th most nationally, a number that is led by their leading scorer Kenard Robinson. Robinson has come on in reserve in 12 of the Cowboys 16 games this season and averages 9.9 points per game, although he is not particularly efficient as he owns a .366/.333/.765 shooting line. Kyrie Thomas is behind him in scoring with 9.5 points per contest while distributing a team-best 1.7 assists.  AC Curry and Rodney Mason II contribute 8.9 and 7.5 points respectively and they are also tied for the team lead, grabbing 1.6 steals apiece. New Mexico Highlands' top player is likely Ezichi Kalu. A prototypical rim-runner, Kalu is efficient in his scoring chances, blocks shots, and rebounds at a high level. He owns a .515 field goal percentage although on just 4.25 shot attempts, while he sends back 1.33 shots, and 7.4 boards, 5.13 defensive, and 2.27 offensive, all of which rank in the top-five in the RMAC while his blocks lead the conference.

SATURDAY vs. CSU PUEBLO
CSU Pueblo is enjoying their best season under head coach Matt Hammer as they are off to a 9-8 start, 5-6 in RMAC play, and they are winners of three of their last five games.

The Thunderwolves are an interesting opponent, they knock down the three-ball at a high rate with their 38.3% percentage from range leading the RMAC. When they are on, they can run up the score in a hurry as they have five instances in which they have shot 45% of better from range this season. They are also second in three-point defense limiting their opponents to just 30.4% from deep. So, what is their weakness? Well, for starters, inside the arch. While they own the top shooting percentage from three, they drop to tenth in the RMAC with an overall field goal percentage of 44.9% and they own a pedestrian .711 free throw percentage. CSUP is susceptible on the interior, blocking just 2.2 shots per game and are tenth in rebound margin at -2.8 while allowing opponents to collect 12.2 rebounds on the offensive end per game. The pack are also not a particularly deep team, receiving just 18.71 points per game from their second unit.

CSU Pueblo features one of the best guard tandems in the RMAC and is led offensively by a player BHSU got to know well from his four years with South Dakota Mines, Brevan Walter. He ranks fifth in the conference scoring 17.7 points per game with a .406/.349/.875 shooting line while dishing 2.8 assists. Joining him in the backcourt is the dynamic guard, Makiah Morris. Morris is hyper-efficient owning a .525/.458/.817 triple-slash while leading the team with 3.6 assists, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per contest. Beyond Walter and Morris, the pack can deploy a full starting five of double-digit scorers typically with a classic four guard, one center lineup. Armon Muldrew contributes 12.6 as an off-ball guard with some shooting efficiency, making just under 42% of his threes. De'Shaun Cooper is their center scoring 11 points per game at a .591 shooting rate and is their top shot-blocker although he still averages less than one per game. Daeyon James is their final double-digit scorer averaging 10.4 per game. Isaiah Morris is their other potential starter, and he averages 4.2 points but does so with efficiency shooting .488 from the field and .421 from three in limited attempts.

MATCHUP HISTORY
Black Hills State is 10-7 all-time against New Mexico Highlands including 9-2 in the Ryan Thompson-era. Thompson's nine wins against NMHU is tied for the most against any RMAC foe with UCCS and MSU Denver. The Yellow Jackets are 6-2 all-time against the Cowboys on their home floor but are undefeated in five games in Spearfish under Coach Thompson. NMHU won five of the first six matchups on record between the two teams but are 9-2 since and have won each of the last four meetings.

BHSU and CSU Pueblo have met 18 times on record with the Yellow Jackets holding the slight edge all-time, 10-8. Like many teams, the pack won early, winning six of the first nine meetings head-to-head, but Black Hills State has won lately, coming out victorious in seven of the last nine and are 5-2 against CSU Pueblo in the Ryan Thompson-era. Interestingly, the Yellow Jackets' two losses to CSUP under Thompson have come in Spearfish and while it is a small sample, Thompson's .333 (1-2) win percentage against the pack at home is his lowest against any team.

A BHSU WIN WOULD...
VS. NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS: Be Coach Thompson's tenth against NMHU, breaking a tie with UCCS and MSU Denver for the most against any team... Give BHSU the regular season sweep over the Cowboys for the second-straight year and fourth time overall. The Yellow Jackets also swept the regular season series in consecutive seasons in 2018-19 and 2019-20.... Be Black Hills State's fifth-straight win over NMHU, their longest winning streak on record vs. the Cowboys.

VS. CSU PUEBLO: (If paired with a NMHU win) Get BHSU back to the .500 mark... Be BHSU's third-straight victory on their home floor, thus far this season, the Yellow Jackets have not strung together three consecutive wins either at home or on the road… Simply put, keep Black Hills State back in the mix to host an opening round game in the RMAC Tournament as Chadron State faces UCCS and Regis a weekend sweep with a Chadron split over the weekend would give the Yellow Jackets a 0.5 game lead for the fourth-seed… Snap their two-game losing streak at home to the Thunderwolves.

A BHSU LOSS WOULD...
VS. EITHER... Clinch BHSU's first ten-plus loss season for the first time since Coach Thompson's first season (2018-19)... Clinch a losing record for BHSU entering February for the first time since the 2016-17 season.

VS. NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS: Be Coach Thompson's first-ever loss at home to the Cowboys.

VS. CSU PUEBLO: (If paired with a NMHU loss) Be BHSU's first four-game losing streak in over five years, the last time the Yellow Jackets lost four-or-more straight was Jan. 5-Jan. 19, 2019 (five-straight) ... Give BHSU three losses at home against CSU Pueblo under Coach Thompson, tying Colorado Mesa and Colorado Mines for the most against any foe.

GETTING (CAEL)INVOLVED
Despite a two-game lull against Western Colorado and Colorado Mesa, Caelin Hearne has been surging over BHSU's last seven games, scoring double-digits in five of those contests. This is the second time in his career that Hearne has scored ten-plus in five of seven (1/24/23-2/13/23) but his point totals this time around (91) far exceeds his 2023 stretch (67). He is averaging 13.0 points per game in that span (8.6 prior) and 11.1 in RMAC contests (9.5 non-conference). Defensively, Hearne is averaging 0.86 blocks and 1.14 steals in the same seven games.

TALE OF THE TAPE
Ronnail Tape is averaging 4.8 points per game with a .378/.313/.666 shooting line this season as a starter. As a reserve he has thrived, with his numbers rising to 9.7 points on .500/.545/.750 from the field. He has scored more total points as a reserve (58) than he has as a starter (48) despite having ten starts against just six appearances as a reserve.

MATHEW RAGSDALE NOTES
Is this getting redundant yet? Matthew Ragsdale just keeps scoring 20 or more points in six of eight, 25+ in five of those games, and two games eclipsing 30 points. He has been the Yellow Jackets' leading scorer in 13 of 16 games this season, and when he has been the overall leading scorer it is more likely than now that the Yellow Jackets will win the game as he has done so nine times with the Yellow Jackets going 6-3 in those games. When Ragsdale eclipses 20 points, BHSU is 6-6 in conference play against 1-3 when it does not.

After opening conference play with a slow weekend, Ragsdale is averaging 25.0 points per game with a .490/.354/.875 shooting line while adding 2.6 assists with a 21/18 assist-to-turnover ratio over his last eight games. His 200 total points is the most he's scored in any eight-game stretch as a Yellow Jacket.

Ragsdale has a chance to score 1000 points in his Yellow Jackets career. If he does so, it is believed that he will be the first to do so at the DII level all time. (Per NCAA)

POINTS UNTIL 1000 AT BHSU: 183

RECENT TRENDS
-For Matthew Ragsdale and Caelin Hearne; See Above

-Blake Volmer has provided a boost off the bench averaging 6.0 points per game over his last three games, shooting .571 (8-14) from the field and .333 (2-6) from three and adding 2.3 rebounds in that stretch.

-Deegan Williams has an 11/2 assist/turnover ratio over his last five games, recording multiple assists in all but one of those games while averaging 2.2.

-Black Hills State has posted double-digit assists in each of their last six games (15.3 average), they had just five such games in the ten games prior (9.1 average)

-Black Hills State is averaging 10.7 STOCKS (Steals+Blocks) across their last four games, with four games of ten or more in that span. BHSU had just four such games prior and were averaging 6.7 per game.

AGAINST NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS
-In their first matchup this season against New Mexico Highlands, BHSU saw a trio of double-digit scorers, led by Ragsdale's 21, Hoku Fisher matched his career-high with 18 while Hearne scored 14 in his lone appearance as a reserve this season. As a team, BHSU took a season-high 37 threes, matching their season-best with 13 makes.

-Hoku Fisher averages 10.5 points on .571 shooting from the field and .400 from three across two career appearances vs. NMHU. His points per game and shooting percentage are his best against any RMAC foe while his 4.5 rebounds per game is tied for his second-best mark.

-Matthew Ragsdale averages 18.8 points on .459/.425/.900 shooting from the field across five career appearances against NMHU. His 5.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game are his best against any RMAC foe.

AGAINST CSU PUEBLO
-BHSU faced CSUP once last season, in that contest Ragsdale led Yellow Jacket returners with 11 points, adding five rebounds and three assists. Hearne had eight points, and five rebounds (career-best three offensive). Fisher played 11 scoreless minutes with two rebounds and an assist. John Shanklin had ten minutes, with two rebounds (one offensive) and a block.

-In five career starts against CSU Pueblo, Ragsdale averages 29.6 points per game, his highest mark against any RMAC foe. He has four 30+ scoring performances in those games, more than he has against any other team. Additionally, his 0.8 steals rank second, 2.0 assists are tied for third, and his 4.8 rebounds rank fourth on a per start basis among RMAC opponents.

COACHES
Head coach Ryan Thompson is entering his sixth season leading the Yellow Jackets, having taken the program to back-to-back NCAA DII Final Fours, and the RMAC tournament each of the last five years.

Mike Dominguez is in his fifth season at the helm of the Cowboys men's basketball program, entering this year with a career record or 44-41. He was an assistant for NMHU prior to being elevated to head coach in 2019. Dominguez played his college ball at RMAC rival Colorado Mesa where he was an RMAC Player of the Year, DII All-American, and led the Mavericks to the NCAA Tournament in 2010. He spent 6 seasons at CMU as an assistant coach before moving on to NMHU.

Matt Hammer is in his fifth season as the bench boss and entered the season with a 38-64 record leading the Pack. Prior to his time at CSUP, Hammer led Sheridan college (NJCAA) where he compiled a 118-43 record across five seasons.
He was an assistant coach at Saginaw Valley State University and a Graduate assistant coach at his alma mater, Northern State University before going to Sheridan. A South Dakota native, he was named Mr. Basketball 2002 while at Elkton High School.

Up Next: Black Hills State will have their first mid-week game since November when they will head down to Rapid City and battle South Dakota Mines (7-10, 5-6 RMAC) for a Wednesday night rivalry clash at the King Center on January 31^st beginning at 7:00 PM.