Tuesday, December 12 • Cameron • 3:00 p.m.
Cameron (5-3)
Head Coach: Kevin O'Connor (9-27)
at St. Mary's (4-3)
Head Coach: Bubba Meyer (4-3)
Arena: Bill Greehey Arena
Opening Tip
• The St. Mary's Men's Basketball team wraps up the home portion of the 2023 calendar year, hosting Cameron at 3 p.m. on Tuesday. The game will be streamed on the Lone Star Conference Network and Dan Hawkins will handle the broadcast.
• The Rattlers have won three-straight against Cameron and hold a 7-2 advantage in the all-time series. StMU hopes to continue the success against the Aggies at home as they are 3-0 since the series started in 1976.
• Senior transfer Lachlan Bofinger added his fourth double-double of the year, tying his career-highs in both categories with 14 points and 14 rebounds against Midwestern State. Bofinger is tied for 12th in the NCAA with four double-doubles and is the only player on the list without a start this year to his name.
• After scoring only two points in each of the first two games, senior Keith Dinwiddie has scored in double digits in the last five, including leading the team in the scoring column in three of those games. In league contests, Dinwiddie leads the team with 16.0 per game.
• In the three conference games, five Rattlers are making more than half of their shots. Senior Diego Gonzalez leads the team with a 69.2 field goal percentage, while Edward Manuel (.565), Seny N'Diaye (.563), Lachlan Bofinger (.526) and Keith Dinwiddie (.516) are all shooting better than 50 percent.
• Nine different players have scored 10 or more points in a game this season for the Rattlers. Jalon Johnson has hit double digits in points five times, while Davion Coleman leads the team with 15.4 points per game.
• The Rattlers have the best bench scoring in the Lone Star Conference, as the team averages 33.14 points from the non-starters.
• St. Mary's currently leads the Lone Star and ranks eighth in the nation with 19.4 free throws made per game. The Rattlers are also sixth with 27.1 attempts per game.
• The 16.14 offensive rebounds per game this season rank sixth in the nation and lead the Lone Star Conference. The team also leads the league and is 19th nationally in rebounds per game with 41.86.
• Lachlan Bofinger leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks 11th nationally with 3.86 offensive rebounds per game. He is also third in the Lone Star with 8.3 total rebounds a contest.
• Senior Jalon Johnson ranks second in the Lone Star Conference and 20th nationally with a 3.20 assist-to-turnover ratio and he's third in the league with 4.6 assists and fourth with 2.29 steals per game.
• Senior Tyler Caron hit two three-pointers last week, moving him into sole possession of seventh in St. Mary's history with 123. He is nine shy of tying former teammate Kobe Magee (2019-22) for sixth all-time with 132 triples.
• Five Rattlers scored in double figures at Eastern New Mexico. The last time the team had five score 10 or more was Feb. 11, 2023 in an 83-67 win against Arkansas-Fort Smith.
• In the overtime loss at Midwestern State, the Rattlers collected a school record 29 offensive rebounds (Division II era), breaking the previous record of 28 against Huston-Tillotson on Dec. 1, 2009. St. Mary's out-rebounded the Mustangs 62-to-33 in the game.
• Senior Edward Manuel tied the team's season-high for steals when he swiped five at Eastern New Mexico, knotting the five Diego Gonzalez collected in the win over College of Biblical Studies. They are the only two on the current roster with five steals in a game and Gonzalez has done it twice.
• The 17 steals for the Rattlers against CBS ties for the seventh most in St. Mary's history and is the most in a game since they had 19 against Regis on Nov. 14, 2015.
• Senior transfer Davion Coleman earned the first-ever Lone Star Offensive Player of the Week honors for the Rattlers after helping lead the team to a 2-0 start. Coleman averaged 25.5 points, scoring a career-best 29 in the win over Regis.
• St. Mary's has made at least one three-pointer in 169 consecutive games, dating back to Jan. 14, 2017. A year ago, the Rattlers averaged 6.1 triples per game.
• Several Rattlers are closing in or recently accomplished career milestones:
Lachlan Bofinger: 100th offensive rebound vs MSU (107); 27 rebounds shy of 300
Tyler Caron: 14 assists shy of 100; 23 points shy of 850
Davion Coleman: 11 rebounds shy of 100
Diego Gonzalez: 12 points shy of 100
Jalon Johnson: 9 points shy of 300; 10 steals shy of 50; 7 defensive rebounds shy of 100
Ed Manuel: 100th rebound vs MSU (100); 150th point vs MSU (150)
Seny N'Diaye: 4 blocks shy of 50; 14 points shy of 100
• Head Coach Bubba Meyer did something neither his father, legendary coach Buddy Meyer, or his mentor, Jim Zeleznak was able to do in winning his first game at the helm of the Rattlers. In fact, the 2-0 start for St. Mary's was the best since the 2012-13 season when the Rattlers reached the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
• The 2023-24 season is the 90th season of men's basketball at St. Mary's. The team is 1392-933 all-time.
