GOLDEN, Colo. – National top 10 Colorado School of Mines jumped out to an early lead Saturday night and never allowed MSU Denver to get into the game while cruising to a 106-70 victory.
 
Mines (10-1 overall, 4-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) led 14-1 just over five minutes into the game, 24-5 after 9 ½ minutes and 39-9 after 15 minutes.
 
"The last game before Christmas is always tough," MSU Denver coach Dan Ficke said. "Either you want to compete or you want to fold. They came out and punched us in the mouth and that was it.
 
"We'll regroup and recover. We just finished finals and we've got a lot of basketball left to play. We'll do a better job as coaches to get them ready."
 
Nos. 10 and 9 Colorado School of Mines shot 66.7 percent from the field in the first half (20 of 30) and held MSU Denver to 18.2 percent (6 of 33) while taking a 52-22 lead at the break.
 
Caleb McGill led MSU Denver (4-7, 1-4) with 13 points, while Brayden Maldonado chipped in with 11 and Jaden Kennis scored nine.
 
MSU Denver shot 56.3 percent from the field (18 of 32) in the second half, but Mines made 7 of 16 from 3s while shooting 50 percent overall (18 of 36) to outscore the Roadrunners 54-48.
 
"We got a couple of good looks early in the game and they didn't fall, and it was one of those nights where it just snowballs," Ficke said. "We've got to get back to defending. They shot 66 percent the first half and 50 percent the second half. If we want to be a good team, we have to decide to defend."