Thursday, January 4 • at Texas A&M Kingsville • 7:30 p.m.
St. Mary's (5-5, 1-3)
Head Coach: Bubba Meyer (5-5)
at Texas A&M Kingsville (2-8, 0-5)
Head Coach: Omar Gonzalez (2-8)
Arena: Gil E. Steinke Physical Education Center
Saturday, January 6 • at Texas A&M International • 3 p.m.
St. Mary's (5-5, 1-3)
Head Coach: Bubba Meyer (5-5)
at Texas A&M International (6-5, 2-3)
Head Coach: Mac McConnell (51-84)
Arena: TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Building
Opening Tip
• St. Mary's Men's Basketball returns to Lone Star Conference play after a 16-day layoff for the holidays. The Rattlers play at Texas A&M Kingsville on Thursday before facing Texas A&M International on Saturday afternoon.
• The series with the Javelinas is all tied at 65 games each after Texas A&M Kingsville won an overtime thriller in the quarterfinals of the Lone Star Conference Championship a season ago. The two teams split the regular season, with each winning the road contest. The 130 games in the second-longest series in school history, trailing only the rivalry with St. Edward's (169 games).
• St. Mary's holds a commanding 25-12 lead in the series with Texas A&M International and the Rattlers have won the last five games in Laredo. The two teams split the regular season a year ago, with each winning on the other's home court.
• Both Keith Dinwiddie and Jalon Johnson hit the 20-point scoring milestones for the first time at the Daytona Beach Shootout. Dinwiddie came off the bench to lead all scorers with a career-high 20 points against Montana State-Billings, while Johnson scored a career-high 22 to help lift the Rattlers over Dominican.
• A season ago, the Rattlers scored over 75 a total of eight times. This season, the team has scored over 75 in nine of the first 10 games of the year.
• Lachlan Bofinger ranks third in the Lone Star Conference (and 10th in the nation) in offensive rebounds and the top three are separated by 0.03 as Sean Elkington from SEU leads with 3.83, Lathaniel Bastian from UTPB is second with 3.82 and Bofinger is third with 3.80 per game.
• Lachlan Bofinger also ranks second in the Lone Star and ninth in the nation with six double-doubles, trailing only Bastian's eight. In conference games, Bofinger is averaging a double-double with 10.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.
• The 15.20 offensive rebounds per game this season ranks fifth in the nation and leads the Lone Star Conference. The team also leads the league and is 14th nationally in rebounds per game with 41.50.
• The Rattlers have the second-best bench scoring in the Lone Star Conference, as the team averages 31.60 points from the non-starters. Midwestern State is getting 31.73 points per game off the bench.
• Both games at the Daytona Beach Shootout were decided by nine points as the team went 1-1 before the holiday break. Four of the team's five victories have been by nine or more points.
• Senior Tyler Caron sank another four three-pointers last week, and he remains seventh in St. Mary's history with 129. He is three shy of tying former teammate Kobe Magee (2019-22) for sixth all-time with 132 triples.
• 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 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 172 consecutive games, dating back to Jan. 14, 2017. The Rattlers are averaging 6.5 triples a contest and eight different players have made at least one this year.
• Several Rattlers are closing in or recently accomplished career milestones:
Lachlan Bofinger: 300th rebound vs Dominican (304); 300th point vs Dominican (300)
Tyler Caron: 8 assists shy of 100; 42 points shy of 900
Davion Coleman: 100th rebound vs Dominican (103); 5 points shy of 300
Keith Dinwiddie: 32 points shy of 300
Diego Gonzalez: 10 points shy of 100
Jalon Johnson: 9 steals shy of 50; 6 assists shy of 150; 100th defensive rebound vs Dominican (102)
Seny N'Diaye: 1 blocks shy of 50; 14 points shy of 100; 4 rebounds shy of 150
• 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 1393-935 all-time.
