No. 13 Men's Basketball Closes 2025 With Non-Conference Game Against Long Time Rival

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
Texas A&M-Kingsville • Saturday, December 20 • 3 p.m.
Notes & Connections
•    Saturday marks the 135th meeting between the two teams, the second-longest series in StMU history behind St. Edward's.
•    The Javelinas have three San Antonio players on their roster in James Livingston (Cole HS), Jarin Hall (Harlan HS) and Marc Eyman (SA Christian HS).
•    Both teams played in the River City Holiday Classic earlier in the week, with St. Mary's going 1-1 and the Javelinas going 0-2.
•    The two teams sport five of the top 12 players in the LSC in FT% in Damani Claxton (1, 90.2), Eddie McPhee (4, 86.2), TJ Ford Jr. (11, 80.6), Justin Britt (T12, 80) and Wayne Wiggins (T12, 80).
•    Last season, Eddie McPhee had five assists and no turnovers in 39:33 against the Javelinas. Allen Singleton for TAMUK scored 19 with six assists and three steals in over 72 minutes a season ago.

On This Date: Dec. 20
•    StMU is 8-15 on December 20 and is looking to snap a nine-game losing streak on this date.
•    The Rattlers are 0-2 against the Javelinas in games played on Dec. 20 and both have been in San Antonio (1961, 2021).

Storylines
Year End: The St. Mary's Men's Basketball team will host Texas A&M-Kingsville in the final game of the 2025 calendar year in a non-conference match-up between the rivals. The contest on Saturday at 3 p.m. marks the 135th meeting between the two teams, with the Rattlers holding a slight 68-66 edge, though the series is tied at 11-11 in Bill Greehey Arena.

Busy Week: The game on Saturday will be the third for each team, as they both competed in the River City Holiday Classic on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Northside ISD Sports Gym. St. Mary's defeated Central Oklahoma, 72-62, before losing to Fort Lewis, 81-68, while Texas A&M-Kingsville lost to Missouri-St. Louis, 61-56, and Rogers State, 87-59.

Double Trouble: Junior Justin Britt became the second player this season to score 20 points in a game (Damani Claxton) and the second to record a double-double (Eddie McPhee) when he had career-highs in both points (25) and rebounds (10) in the team's victory over Central Oklahoma. Britt has scored in double figures in six straight games, and is second on the team averaging 11.2 points per game.

Impressive Start: St. Mary's is 8-2 or better through 10 games for the 15th time in school history and the first time since 2013-14. The 1988-89 NAIA Champion team also begin the year 8-2 en route to a 28-5 record and the lone national championship in StMU MBB history.

Beyond The Arc: On Wednesday against Fort Lewis, the Rattlers attempted 39 three-pointers, tying for the second-most in a single game in school history. On Dec. 4, 2021 against Huston-Tillotson the team took 40 triples for the school record, while on Feb. 20, 2020 against St. Edward's and Nov. 13, 2021 against Regis the team tried 39 from beyond the arc to tie for second on the list. The Rattlers made 10 of their tries on Wednesday, with seniors Damani Claxton and Sebastian Mendoza each draining four. It is the first time since Nov. 15, 2024 at Sul Ross State that the Rattlers have made 10 or more three-pointers in a game.

Early Start Important: St. Mary's is 7-0 this season when leading at halftime, and only 1-2 when entering the locker room trailing at the break. The Rattlers are also 7-0 when out-rebounding the opponent and 1-2 when giving up more boards than they collect. 

Balanced Attack: St. Mary's has had six different players lead in scoring during the 10 games this season. Senior guard Damani Claxton has led the team four times, while Justin Britt has led twice in the last four outings. Michael Grant, Eddie McPhee, Sebastian Mendoza, and JJ Walton have each led the team onces. Ten different Rattlers have scored in double digits at least once this year.

Ranked Nationally: In the December 16 NABC poll, the St. Mary's team dropped six places to No. 13. It is the second time this year the Rattlers have held down the 13th place in the coaches poll (Week 1). In Week 3, the Rattlers were ranked seventh, the team's highest-ever ranking during the NCAA Division II era. In 1969-70, the Rattlers earned a high ranking of No. 4 and were inside the top-10 for the final eight weeks of the season at NAIA. The 1974-75 team also spent the final seven weeks in the top-10. 

LSC Leading: St. Mary's leads the Lone Star Conference in blocks per game (3.9), free throw percentage (78.8) and offensive rebounds per game (14.00). The 78.8 free throw percentage also ranks 11th nationally and would rank second in single season history behind the 79.1 percent by the 1952-53 team. The school's Division II era record is 75.8 percent by the 2021-22 squad.

LSC Leading, Part II: Seniors Damani Claxton and Eddie McPhee currently rank first and fourth, respectively in the LSC in free throw percentage. Claxton ranks 26th nationally with his 90.2 percent (37-for-41), while McPhee is 73rd in the nation, shooting 86.2 percent (25-for-29) at the line. Claxton's percentage is on pace for the third-best in single-season school history, while McPhee would tie for 13th. Claxton also ranks 41st on the NCAA Division II career active list, shooting 82.6 over his two seasons.

Not Only A Stopper: Sebastian Mendoza scored the 500th point of his career at DBU, leading the team with 14 points. Mendoza now has 525 points, second-most among active players on the Rattlers' roster (Damani Claxton, 776). A total of 264 of his 525 points have come with the Gold & Blue (6.9 points/game).

Double, Double: Eddie McPhee became the 50th Rattler in the Division II era to record a double-double with his game-high 17 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Western New Mexico on Dec. 4. The 11 rebounds are a career-high for the senior, while the 17 points are one off his career-best of 18 from earlier this season against Regis.

They're Free: The 29 free throws made against Sul Ross State on Dec. 6 are a season-high, bettering the 25 the team sank on Dec. 4 against Western New Mexico. The Rattlers lead the Lone Star Conference with an 78.8 free throw percentage, quite a change from last year where the Rattlers ranked 285th out of 290 teams with a 62.7 percentage.

Pouring It In: The 57 points scored by the Rattlers in the second half against Sul Ross State on Dec. 6 are the most scored in either half in the Bubba Meyer era. The previous high was 56 in the second half against the Lobos on Dec. 7, 2024.

Unblemished November: For the seventh time in school history, the Rattlers were undefeated in the month of November (minimum two games played). The 5-0 start matches the 1982-83 team for most wins in the 11th month of the year.

Triple Threat: Michael Grant became the first true freshman to hit three three-pointers in a game since Jaron Presley hit four on both Dec. 14, 2019 and Feb. 29, 2020 in his first season. Grant scored a career-best 15 points in the win over Sul Ross State on Wednesday, sinking 3-of-7 from the three-point line.

Every Game: St. Mary's has hit at least one three-pointer in every game that Bubba Meyer has been the head coach. The streak is 69 in the Meyer era and 235 consecutive, dating back to Jan. 14, 2017 in an overtime loss to Texas A&M International. 

Preseason Honor: Senior Damani Claxton was honored before the first ball even tipped in the air, as he was named the Lone Star Conference Preseason Player of the Year in a vote by the league's head coaches, media, and sports information personnel. Claxton is averaging 18.0 points per game this season and has scored at least a dozen in all four contests. The guard is also a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line and is one of 33 (min. 2.5 made/game) to remain unblemished on the year. 

Picked Second: St. Mary's was chosen to finish second in the 2025-26 Lone Star Conference race. DBU totaled 850 points and collected 42 of the possible 51 first-place votes to be the favorite in the poll. The Rattlers received 724 points and two first-place votes for second, while Lubbock Christian (4, 720) is third, St. Edward's (0, 669) and West Texas A&M (2, 654) round out the top five. It is the highest-ever predicted finish for the Rattlers since joining the LSC in 2019-20.