Complete Notes (PDF) (Print Version)

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No. 11/20 MSU Denver will host No. 13/8 Colorado School of Mines on Friday and Colorado Christian on Saturday. Both games will start at 7 p.m.

Notes:
RECENT NOTES
•    Mitch McCarron (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College) was named RMAC offensive player of the week on Jan. 19 after averaging 29.5 points, 6.0 assists and 6.0 rebounds in wins over Adams State and Fort Lewis.
•    Sam Porter (Arvada, Colo./Arvada West H.S.) led MSU Denver to a 51-50 win at Colorado Mesa on Jan. 23, scoring a career-high and team-high 14 points and coming up with a steal with two seconds left to secure the win.
•    The Roadrunners currently rank third in Division II and lead the RMAC in scoring defense and fewest turnovers per game.
•    McCarron sunk two free throws with 6.5 seconds left and then blocked a 3-point attempt as time expired to give MSU Denver a 61-59 win at Colorado Christian on Jan. 9.
•    McCarron again had late-game heroics on Jan. 31, going coast-to-coast for a layup at time expired to send the game into a second overtime in a 73-71 win at Black Hills State.
•    MSU Denver's three losses have all come on the road to top-10 teams by an average of 3.3 points.
•    MSU Denver's 85-41 win vs. Western New Mexico on Jan. 3 was the largest margin of victory (+44) since a 106-47 (+59) win vs. Johnson & Wales on Dec. 20, 2005.
•    Western New Mexico's .241 field goal percentage was the lowest for an opponent since 12/2/01 when the Roadrunners held Rocky Mountain to a .217 field goal percentage.
•    MSU Denver's eight blocked shots vs. Chadron State on Dec. 20 were the most since March 8 last season vs. UCCS.
•    The matchup between No. 5/15 UCCS and No. 7/5 MSU Denver on Dec. 12 was the first top-10 matchup between two RMAC teams since No. 1 MSU Denver defeated No. 7 Nebraska-Kearney 79-68 in the 2004 NCAA tournament.
•    MSU Denver's 24-game conference winning streak was snapped in the 69-66 loss at No. 5/15 UCCS on Dec. 12.
•    Nicholas Kay (Tamworth, Australia/Newington College) averaged 30.5 points and shot 63.9 percent from the floor over the first two games of the season, including 33 points on Nov. 15 against Arkansas-Fort Smith and was named RMAC offensive player of the week on Nov. 17.
•    Kay had the team's first double-double on Nov. 22 with 19 points and 12 rebounds against Armstrong State.
•    MSU Denver suffered its first loss of the season on Nov. 29 at No. 6/6 Florida Southern, snapping an 11-game road winning streak.
•    The wins over Rogers State and Arkansas-Fort Smith will be important for postseason rankings as both are in-region opponents from the Heartland Conference.
•    UAFS was picked to win the Heartland Conference this season.

MCCARRON FIRST-EVER THREE-TIME RMAC ACADEMIC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
•    McCarron became the first men's basketball player in RMAC history to earn RMAC academic player of the year three times in his career.
•    He joins former Colorado School of Mines women's soccer player Megan Woodworth (2010-12) as the only RMAC student-athletes to win the award three times.
•    He has a 3.85 GPA, while majoring in sport industry operations.
•    Kay (3.81 GPA, biology) was also named first team academic all-RMAC and Eric Rayer (Colorado Springs/Coronado H.S.) (3.39, business marketing) was named to the honor roll.

RARE NON-CONFERENCE LOSS
•    MSU Denver suffered a rare regular season, non-conference loss on Nov. 29, falling 80-75 at No. 6/6 Florida Southern.
•    The Roadrunners' previous regular season, non-conference loss was Nov. 30 last season in a 72-69 setback at No. 7 Western Washington.
•    The Roadrunners have won 17 consecutive regular season, non-conference games against unranked opponents, and 66 consecutive home regular season, non-conference games (last home regular season, non-conference loss was Feb. 22, 1997, to the University of Denver).

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 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 in '14
•    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
•    The Roadrunners had a team GPA of 3.30 during the fall semester with four players named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll (3.5+ GPA).
•    McCarron (4.0), Robbert Onwuachu (Amsterdam, The Netherlands/Canarius Basketball Academy) (4.0), DeShawn Phenix (Fort Worth, Texas/North Crowley H.S.) (4.0) and Kay (3.75) were the four men's basketball players on the AD Honor Roll in the fall.
•    McCarron became the first men's basketball player in RMAC history to be named RMAC academic player of the year three times in 2015.
•    Former Roadrunner Jesse Wagstaff (2008 and 2009) is the only previous player to win the award two times.
•    McCarron and Kay both were named Capital One second team Academic All-America in 2014, becoming the first teammates to earn that honor in school history.
•    Kay earned his second consecutive RMAC Summit Award in 2014, given to the player at the RMAC championship site (final four teams) with the highest GPA.
•    McCarron won the 2014 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 four straight RMAC academic players of the year and six 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.
•    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
    2014-15, 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.