Men's Basketball Heads to Sooner State

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
at Cameron • Thursday, January 16 • 7:30 p.m. 
St. Mary's (10-4, 7-1)
Head Coach: Bubba Meyer (22-20)
at Cameron (6-9, 3-6)
Head Coach: Kevin O'Connor (28-45)
Broadcast: FloCollege • 

at Oklahoma Christian • Saturday, January 18 • 3 p.m.
St. Mary's (10-4, 7-1)
Head Coach: Bubba Meyer (22-20)
at Oklahoma Christian (5-9, 2-7)
Head Coach: Kendre Talley (51-90)
Broadcast: FloCollege • 

 

Sooner State Bound: St. Mary's wraps up a four-game road trip, playing at Cameron on Thursday evening and at Oklahoma Christian on Saturday afternoon. This is the first season the Rattlers and Aggies have been in the same division, as Cameron moved to the East for 2024-25 with the departure of UAFS and addition of Sul Ross State to the league.

History with Cameron: The Rattlers hold a 7-3 advantage in the series that dates back to 1976. St. Mary's has won both meetings in Lawton, including an 81-66 win on Dec. 10, 2022, the last time the two teams played at CU. A season ago, the Aggies beat StMU 92-82 in San Antonio.

Scouting the Aggies: Cameron is 6-9 on the year and 3-6 in Lone Star Conference play. All three of the Aggies wins are against East Division opponents. Cameron has four players who average in double figures in scoring, led by Aaron Jacob with 14.5. Jaxon Ingram averages a double-double with 10.5 points and 10.2 rebounds a night, while Reggie Prudhomme averages a team-best 5.9 assists per game. The Aggies are turnover prone, averaging 15.0 per game and rank 15th in the league with a -3.93 turnover margin.

History with Oklahoma Christian: St. Mary's owns a 12-7 edge in the all-time series with the Eagles that began in 2014 in the Heartland Conference. The two teams are knotted at 4-4 since moving to the Lone Star, and are tied at 5-5 in games played on the OC campus.  

Scouting the Eagles: Oklahoma Christian is 5-9 on the season, 2-7 in LSC play and 1-4 in East Division action. They lost by one in the last game to TAMIU, 71-70. The Eagles also have a quartet that averages double digits in scoring, led by Keyondre Young with 17.1 per game. Bryce Kennedy leads the team with 5.5 boards per game and Javon Grant dishes out 4.7 assists per game.  OC is the on the opposite end of the spectrum from StMU in offensive rebounds, as StMU ranks first with 15.3 per night, while the Eagles are 16th with 8.3.

One of a Kind: Senior forward Lachlan Bofinger has led the team or been tied for the lead in assists in the last five games and is now the only player in Division II to rank in the top-50 in both assist-to-turnover ratio (44th, 2.43) and rebounds per game (20th, 9.8). He's one of only five forwards to appear in the assist-to-turnover top 50 and one of three players in the Lone Star on the list (Najeeb Muhammad, LCU; Pierre Sanders, MSU). Bofinger has averaged 5.6 assists per game over the last five games and has recorded two or more in 10 straight contests. He also leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks 12th nationally with seven double-doubles.

Claxton Collects: Junior guard Damani Claxton scored 20 or more points in both wins on the road last week, giving him a team-best six 20-plus scoring games this season. Claxton leads the Rattlers with 16.7 points per game and he's reached double digits in 10-straight. The 25 points at #8 DBU on Thursday is a new career-high, surpassing the 23 he totaled against Missouri S&T. 

In Search Of: St. Mary's is looking to tie the team's record for consecutive road victories in Lone Star Conference play with a win at Cameron. The Rattlers have won three straight on the road, and with a fourth would tie the 2022-23 team (at UAFS, 1/12; at OC, 1/14; at TAMIU, 1/26; at TAMUK, 1/28) for the most since the team joined the league in 2019-20.

Winning the Close Ones: The four wins in January have all been decided by 10 or fewer points. The Rattlers defeated Texas A&M-Kingsville by two (83-81), Texas A&M International by 10 (72-62), DBU by five (88-83) and UT Tyler by four (57-53).

Working it Inside: For the fourth time this season, the Rattlers scored at least 50 points in the paint, totaling 52 in the 88-83 overtime win at #8 DBU. St. Mary's has also scored 50 in wins over Regis (Nov. 8), Sul Ross State (Dec. 7) and Texas A&M International (Jan. 5). 

Party Time! Excellent!: Since turning the calendar to January, junior transfer Wayne Wiggins has stepped up his game. In the four contests, Wiggins is averaging 11.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.2 steals per game, well above his season averages of 7.5 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.9 steals. The Mansfield, Texas native has provided a spark off the bench, scoring in double figures in three of the four games, and grabbing a career-high eight rebounds in the win at DBU. 

Cleaning the Glass: The Rattlers have had at least 10 offensive rebounds in all but one game this season and currently lead the Lone Star and rank ninth nationally with 15.29 offensive rebounds a game. That number currently ranks third on the St. Mary's single season charts, trailing 20.92 by the 1955-56 team and 19.50 by the 1994-95 squad.  Senior Lachlan Bofinger ranks second in the Lone Star and 27th in the nation with 3.21 per game, while senior Franklin Agu ranks 9th in the league and 114th nationally with 2.43 a contest.

It's An Honor x 2: Junior guard Damani Claxton was named the Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week after the team's wins over WNMU and SRS, while Lachlan Bofinger earned Offensive Player of the Week after the team defeated both Texas A&M-Kingsville and Texas A&M International to start 2025.