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MSU Denver Athletics

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hunter
Cos Lindstrom-Furutani
Jourdon Hunter

Men's Basketball by Andy Schlichting

Men's basketball: Game notes

Complete Notes (PDF) (Print Version)

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No. 3 MSU Denver will host Rogers State (Okla.) on Friday and Arkansas-Fort Smith on Saturday. Both games start at 7 p.m.

Notes:
RECENT NOTES
•    MSU Denver has made more NCAA tournament appearances over the past 17 years than any other Division II school (16).
•    MSU Denver's eight Elite Eight appearances since 1998 are more than any other school (Kentucky Wesleyan is second with five).
•    MSU Denver's six Final Four appearances since 1998 are more than any other school (Kentucky Wesleyan is second with five).
•    MSU Denver is 14-0 all-time in NCAA tournament games on its home floor.
•    Mitch McCarron (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College) scored a career-high 29 points on 11-of-14 shooting in a win over Western State on Jan. 25.
•    He was named RMAC defensive player of the week on Nov. 18 and Feb. 3 after having five steals on Jan. 31 vs. Chadron State and two steals on Feb. 1 vs. Black Hills State.
•    Nicholas Kay (Tamworth, Australia/Newington College) was named RMAC defensive player of the week on Dec. 23 after seven steals and two blocks at BHSU and CSC.
•    Kay also won the award on Dec. 2.
•    Kay scored a season-low three points on March 15 in the first round of the NCAA tournament after averaging 21.5 points and 8.0 rebounds, while shooting 60.5 percent from the floor over the previous six games.
•    Kay was named RMAC Shootout most valuable player.
•    MSU Denver played its first home game of the season on Dec. 13 vs. UC-Colorado Springs after five regular season and four exhibition games on the road.

JEFFERSON NAMED NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
•    Brandon Jefferson (Flower Mound, Texas/Lewisville H.S.) became the second player in school history to earn national player of the year honors.
•    Mark Worthington was the first in 2005.
•    Jefferson is the first player to win the award from all three publications (NABC, Daktronics and Division II Bulletin)

BEST WINNING PERCENTAGE IN HISTORY
•    MSU Denver's .941 winning percentage in 2013-14 was the best in school history, topping the previous mark of .914 (2003-04 and 2012-13).

THIRD STRAIGHT REGIONAL TITLE
•    MSU Denver won its third consecutive regional championship.
•    The Roadrunners won the Central Region in 2012 and the South Central Region in 2013 and 2014.
•    Brandon Jefferson (Flower Mound, Texas/Lewisville H.S.) was named the tournament's most outstanding player after averaging 27.3 points and 3.7 steals, and making 31-of-32 free throws, including a 37-point performance in a first-round win over UC-Colorado Springs.
•    Mitch McCarron (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College) (17.0 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 4.0 APG) and Nicholas Kay (Tamworth, Australia/Newington College) (10.7 PPG, 8.3 RPG) were also named to the regional all-tournament team.

another 30-win season
•    MSU Denver reached 30 wins for the fourth time in school history in 2013-14 and second year in a row.
    Year    Record    Pct.    Postseason
    1999-00    33-4    .892    National champions
    2003-04    32-3    .914    Final Four
    2012-13    32-3    .914    National runners-up
    2013-14    32-2    .941    Final Four

THIRD PERFECT RMAC SEASON EVER
•    MSU Denver became the third team in the 42-year history of RMAC men's basketball to go undefeated in conference play.
•    The Roadrunners finished 22-0.
•    Fort Hays State (1996, 16-0 record) was the first team to do so and MSU Denver (2004, 19-0) was the second team.
•    MSU Denver also set the RMAC record for conference wins in a season with 22, breaking the previous record of 20 set by MSU Denver in 2012-13 and Colorado Mines in 2011-12.

CLARK FASTEST TO 100
•    Derrick Clark reached 100 wins in his career faster than any head coach in school history, doing so in 119 games.
•    Only three coaches have reached 100 wins in school history.
    Number of games to 100:
    Name    Games    Record*    100th Win
    Derrick Clark    119    100-19    2/15/14 Regis
    Mike Dunlap    121    100-21    2/6/01 at Colorado Mines
    Bob Hull    148    100-48    12/17/90 MSU-Billings
    *record at 100th win
•    Dunlap finished his nine-year career at MSU Denver with a 248-50 (.832) record; Hull finished his eight-year career at MSU with a 149-78 (.656) mark

KAY NAMED RMAC SHOOTOUT MVP
•    Nicholas Kay (Tamworth, Australia/Newington College) was named RMAC Shootout most valuable player after averaging 21.0 points and 7.3 rebounds in three tournament games.
•    Kay had a team-high 22 points and hit 10-of-12 at the line in the championship game.
•    Brandon Jefferson (Flower Mound, Texas/Lewisville H.S.) (18.7 PPG) and Mitch McCarron (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College) (17.3 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 5.3 APG) were named to the all-tournament team.

WINNING IN THE CLASSROOM
•    Mitch McCarron (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College) became the second men's basketball player in RMAC history to repeat as the RMAC academic player of the year.
•    Former Roadrunner Jesse Wagstaff (2008 and 2009) was the only previous player to win the award two times.
•    McCarron and Nicholas Kay (Tamworth, Australia/Newington College) both were named Capital One second team Academic All-America, becoming the first teammates to earn that honor in school history.
•    Kay earned his second consecutive RMAC Summit Award, given to the player at the RMAC championship site (final four teams) with the highest GPA.
•    McCarron won this year's NCAA Elite 89 Award, given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA at the championship site.
•    Kay won the award in 2013 and MSU Denver is the only school to win the Elite 89 Award in consecutive years in men's basketball.
•    Current assistant coach and former player Jonathan Morse won the award in 2012, giving MSU Denver three straight RMAC academic players of the year and five in the eight-year history of the award.
•    Wagstaff and Morse were both two-time Academic All-Americans, the only players besides McCarron and Kay to earn Academic All-America in school history.
•    Kay joined McCarron as first team academic all-RMAC and Eric Rayer (Colorado Springs/Coronado H.S.) was named to the honor roll.
•    McCarron has a 3.87 GPA; Kay has a 3.91 GPA; Rayer is a 3.52 GPA.
•    In addition, McCarron was named RMAC academic player of the year, the fifth time in the award's eight years a MSU Denver player has earned it. Here is a listing of the RMAC academic player of the year each season:
    2006-07: Patrick Hannaway, UC-Colorado Springs
    2007-08: Jesse Wagstaff, MSU Denver
    2008-09: Jesse Wagstaff, MSU Denver
    2009-10: Josiah Parker, Nebraska-Kearney
    2010-11: Matt Morris, Fort Lewis
    2011-12: Jonathan Morse, MSU Denver
    2012-13: Mitch McCarron (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College), MSU Denver
    2013-14, Mitch McCarron (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College), MSU Denver

MSU Denver MAKES HISTORY IN NIT SEASON TIP-OFF in 2013-14
•    MSU Denver was one of two NCAA Division II teams (Stillman the other) selected for the NIT Season Tip-Off.
•    Last season, Alabama-Huntsville was the first-ever Division II team to play in the NIT Season Tip-Off.
•    UAH upset North Texas 78-75 in the first round, but lost 87-26 to Kansas State, 71-69 to Cleveland State and 68-54 to Bowling Green.
•    MSU Denver's four games this season were all exhibitions.
•    MSU Denver went 3-1 against the Division I teams in the NIT Season Tip-Off.
•    The Roadrunners became the first Division II team ever to win two games at the NIT Season Tip-Off, edging host Elon 75-74 on Nov. 25.
•    MSU Denver also earned an 83-69 win over Canisius on Nov. 26 to finish the tournament with three straight wins vs. Division I teams.
•    Through the end of the tournament on Nov. 26, non-Division I teams had a 6-205 (.028) record vs. Division I teams this season (MSU Denver had three of those wins).
•    Mitch McCarron (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College) was the tournament's leader in scoring (27.5), rebounding (9.3), field goal percentage (.727) and field goals (40) in the NIT Season Tip-Off (MSU Denver NIT statistics on Page 40).
•    Had MSU Denver knocked off Rhode Island (66-63 loss) in the first round, it would have faced Arizona in the quarterfinals.

TOP-RANKED TEAM
•    Here is MSU Denver's history of being ranked No. 1:
•    2003-04: Feb. 24, March 2
•    2004-05: Jan. 11, Jan. 18
•    2011-12: Dec. 13, Dec. 21, Jan. 3
•    2012-13: Jan. 22, Jan. 29, Feb. 5, Feb. 12, Feb. 19
•    2013-14: Preseason, Nov. 19, Nov. 26, Feb. 4, Feb. 11, Feb. 18, Feb. 25, March 4

HIGH EXPECTATIONS IN 2014-15
• MSU Denver was ranked No. 3 in the coaches poll and Division II Bulletin, No. 5 by Basketball Times and No. 6 by Sporting News.
• MSU was also the preseason favorite to win the RMAC in the coaches poll and has two preseason all-RMAC players (McCarron and Kay).
•    McCarron was also named preseason All-America by Basketball Times and Sporting News.

IN GOOD COMPANY
•    MSU Denver ranks third all-time among Division I and Division II schools in winning percentage, trailing just Kentucky and North Carolina.
•    MSU Denver is the only Division II school with an all-time winning percentage over .700.
•    Only five Division I schools have an all-time winning percentage over .700.
    D1 and D2 all-time winning percentage
1.    Kentucky    .761
2.    North Carolina    .740
3.    MSU Denver    .730
4.    Kansas    .721
5.    UNLV    .711
6.    Duke    .705
7.    Philadelphia    .697
8.    Syracuse    .694
9.    UCLA    .693
10.    Western Kentucky    .664
(record entering 2014-15 season)
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Players Mentioned

Brandon Jefferson

#3 Brandon Jefferson

G
5' 9"
Senior
Nicholas Kay

#4 Nicholas Kay

C
6' 9"
Senior
Mitch McCarron

#10 Mitch McCarron

G
6' 3"
Senior
Eric Rayer

#15 Eric Rayer

G
6' 1"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Brandon Jefferson

#3 Brandon Jefferson

5' 9"
Senior
G
Nicholas Kay

#4 Nicholas Kay

6' 9"
Senior
C
Mitch McCarron

#10 Mitch McCarron

6' 3"
Senior
G
Eric Rayer

#15 Eric Rayer

6' 1"
Junior
G