Men's Basketball Changes Time in Dallas; Will Play Pair of Patriots This Week

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
at #8/#6 DBU • Thursday, January 9 • 2 p.m. 
St. Mary's (8-4, 5-1)
Head Coach: Bubba Meyer (20-20)
at #8/#6 DBU (14-2, 6-1)
Head Coach: Blake Flickner (355-212)
Broadcast: FloCollege • Play-by-Play: Reagan Ratcliff; Analyst: Jordan McGowen

at UT Tyler • Saturday, January 11 • 3 p.m.
St. Mary's (8-4, 5-1)
Head Coach: Bubba Meyer (20-20)
at UT Tyler (6-7, 3-4)
Head Coach: Tim Moser (9-32)
Broadcast: FloCollege • Play-by-Play: Spencer Pattison

Hitting the Road: St. Mary's begins a four-game road trip at No. 8 DBU on Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. (NOTE THE TIME CHANGE). It will be the second game this season against a nationally-ranked team. The Rattlers close out the weekend at UT Tyler on Saturday at 3 p.m. The following week the team plays the two Oklahoma teams.

History with DBU: The Rattlers are looking to snap a 12-game losing streak to DBU. The Patriots hold a 23-10 lead in the all-time series and are 12-6 in Dallas, winning the last eight inside the Burg Center.

Scouting the Patriots: DBU is 14-2 on the year and 6-1 in Lone Star play, ranking 8th in the NABC poll and 6th in the D2CSC poll. Ricky Lujan leads the team with 16.9 points per game, while Xavion Brown leads with 5.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists,  2.3 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. Both Cameron Kahn (15.1) and Trevor Frank (10.2) also average double digits in points.

History with UT Tyler: St. Mary's holds a slight 4-3 edge in the all-time series with the Patriots and has won the last three, including a 78-68 decision a season ago in Tyler to even the series 2-2 at the Louise Herrington Patriot Center. All seven meetings between the teams have come in Lone Star Conference action.  

Scouting the Patriots: UT Tyler enters the week 6-7 overall and 3-4 in conference action and will face St. Edward's before hosting the Rattlers on Saturday. Mareng Gatkuoth has played in the last four games for UTT with 14.5 points per game. Dontrell Hewlett averages 14.3 points and 3.5 assists, while Sam Phipps leads with 5.7 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game.  Nikolas Gustavson has connected on almost 30% of the Patriot's three-pointers this year, making 23.

Taking Care of the Ball: In the two games last week, the Rattlers turned the ball over only 15 times. The eight on Friday against Texas A&M-Kingsville tied then for the season low, but two days later the team recorded only seven in the win over Texas A&M International. The Rattlers rank third in the Lone Star Conference in fewest turnovers per game, averaging 11.8. StMU also ranks 27th in the nation in turnover margin at 4.4.

Player of the Week: Lachlan Bofinger was named the Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week after recording a pair of double-doubles, and nearly posted a triple-double in the overtime win over Texas A&M-Kingsville with 18 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. Against Texas A&M International, Bofinger missed his career-high in scoring by one, pouring in 28 points with 10 boards. He spurred a huge comeback for the Gold and Blue, scoring 10 of the team's 15 points during a four-minute stretch in the second half. For the week, Bofinger shot .692 (18-26) from the floor and .625 (10-16) from the free throw line. He averaged 23.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.0 blocked shots per game.

Working it Inside: For the third time this season, the Rattlers scored 50 points in the paint, matching the totals from the season opener at Regis (Nov. 8) and against Sul Ross State (Dec. 7) in the win over Texas A&M International on Sunday. StMU also did a good job of turning their 16 offensive rebounds into a season-high tying 20 second chance points. The Rattlers attempted only eight three-pointers in the game, the fewest amount of attempts since they had eight on Dec. 18, 2023 against Dominican (N.Y.).

Going Streaking: Senior Lachlan Bofinger has scored in double figures in eight straight games and has eight or more in 14-straight games, dating back to last season. The stretch of eight straight with 10 or more points is the longest in his career, topping the five-game streak from a season ago. He's averaging 15.6 points and 10.6 rebounds per game during the streak. 

Stead(y)man as a Rock: Malcolm Steadman has scored at least five points in each of the last seven games, including a career-best 13 against Western Washington. He is averaging 6.9 points per game during the stretch and has increased his scoring average 2.0 ppg, up to 5.3 a game. The junior college transfer also has grabbed multiple rebounds in 11 of the 12 contests.

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 seventh nationally with 15.92 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 15th in the nation with 3.58 per game, as well as second in overall rebounds (9.9), while senior Franklin Agu ranks 11th in the league with 2.25 a contest.

Crashing the Boards: Five Rattlers have at least one rebound in every game they've played this season. Franklin Agu, Eddie McPhee, Malcolm Steadman and Wayne Wiggins have all grabbed at least one board, while Lachlan Bofinger has multiple rebounds in each contest.

It's An Honor: Sophomore guard Damani Claxton was named the Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week after the team's wins over WNMU and SRS. He collected nine steals in the two games (4.5 per game) – including a career-best six in the team's lopsided win over Sul Ross State. His six steals tie for the third-highest total in the Rattlers' DII-era history. He also averaged 15.0 points per game with 4.5 assists in helping the Gold and Blue.