Men's Hoops Face Comets for First Time

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
Game #20 • Home Game #13 • UT Dallas • Saturday, January 31 • 3 p.m.
Notes & Connections
•    Saturday will be the first-ever meeting between St. Mary's and UT Dallas.
•    UT Dallas freshman guard KJ Williams attended Harlan HS in San Antonio.
•    Both head coaches are coaching for their alma maters, as UTD coach Jared Fleming played for the Comets in 2006-10 and StMU coach Bubba Meyer played 1998-01 for the Rattlers. Both are also in their third seasons as the head coach after serving as assistant coach for several years.
•    Both teams faced Colorado School of Mines and Regis in the non-conference season. The Rattlers won both, while the Comets lost both.
•    UT Dallas leads the league in blocked shots (4.35), while StMU is second (4.00). The Comets also lead in assists (18.2), while the Rattlers lead in o-rebounds (14.1), and scoring defense (65.6).
On This Date: Jan. 31
•    StMU is 17-8 all-time in games played on Jan. 31, with a 10-2 record at home.
•    The Rattlers are 3-2 against teams currently in the Lone Star.
•    StMU won its last game, in 2022 against Cameron.

STORYLINES

Back in Action: The St. Mary's Men's Basketball team returns to the court after an unscheduled break due to Mother Nature. The Rattlers will face UT Dallas for the first time in school history on Saturday at 3 p.m. StMU had two games postponed and will play at St. Edward's on Feb. 9 and will now close the regular season at Cameron on Feb. 28.

Making them Count: The Rattlers shot a season-best 86.7 percent from the free throw line at Oklahoma Christian on Jan. 22, sinking 13-of-15. St. Mary's has shot 80 percent or better in nine games this season, and is connecting at a 75.3 percent clip for the season. That percentage ranks third in the Lone Star Conference and 45th in the nation, quite a change from last season's squad that shot only 62.7 percent and ranked 285th out of 290 teams in Division II.

Take Two, They're Free: A big reason for the change in free throw percentage are seniors Damani Claxton and Eddie McPhee. Claxton leads the Lone Star and ranks 39th nationally with his 88.1 percent. He also ranks eighth on the St. Mary's Division II era list with 174 made free throws, and is 10 makes shy of appearing in the top 25 all-time. McPhee has made 42 of 46 attempts this season for 91.3 percent, but doesn't meet the 2.5 makes minimum to appear in the league stats. McPhee has sunk 29 consecutive at the line.

First Off the Bench: Junior JJ Walton has been the first player off the bench nine times this season, while both Lawyer Jones and Wayne Wiggins have come off the bench first in seven games. Several times two of the three, or all three have entered the game at the same point.

Francis Watch List: For the first time in St. Mary's history, a Rattler has made the top-100 Watch List for the prestigious Bevo Francis Award, presented to the top player in small college athletics, as senior guard Damani Claxton appears on the list. The award is in its ninth season. Amondo Miller and Antonio Pusateri from Lubbock Christian, and Fontaine Williams from West Texas A&M are also among the top 100.

It's a First: For the first time in the DII era at St. Mary's, the Rattlers played four straight nationally-ranked opponents. In 2016-17, St. Mary's had a four-game stretch with three appearing in the top-25. This season, the Rattlers lost to then-No. 8 Lubbock Christian (66-58), defeated then-No. 19 Eastern New Mexico (63-54) and dropped a double overtime heartbreaker at then-No. 20 West Texas A&M (84-81) before wrapping up with a last-second win over DBU (66-64).

Double Trouble: Senior Olaverr Camacho (Nacho) recorded three-straight double-doubles with 11 points and 11 rebounds in the win at ENMU, 14 points and 10 rebounds in the double overtime loss at WT, and 11 points and 10 rebounds in the victory over DBU. Camacho currently ranks second in the league and 18th in the nation with 3.61 offensive rebounds per game, and is sixth overall with 7.1 total boards a contest.

Handling the Rock: True freshman Raken Vargas continues to see increased time on the court, and one of the main reasons is how he handles the basketball. Vargas has not turned the ball over in his last nine games, playing the last 80:42 without a turnover. In his 123:29, Vargas has three miscues, dishing out seven assists.

Wiggins Finding a Way: Senior guard Wayne Wiggins has scored in double figures in five of the last seven games, increasing his scoring from 6.6 to 8.8 points per game, and now is only 10 points shy of 400 for his St. Mary's career. Wiggins has also nailed at least one three-pointer in those seven contests.

Early Start Important: St. Mary's is 12-2 this season when leading at halftime, and only 1-3 when entering the locker room trailing at the break. The Rattlers are also 11-3 when out-rebounding the opponent and 2-2 when giving up more boards than they collect. 

Non-Conference Wrap-up: St. Mary's finished the non-conference season with a 7-1 record after the 74-56 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville on Dec. 20. It is the most non-conference wins since the 2018-19 team was 8-4 in the preseason.

Crashing the Boards: The 52 rebounds against Lubbock Christian are the most recorded by the Rattlers this season. It ties for the third-highest total in the Lone Star Conference this year and the most for the Rattlers since Feb. 6, 2025 when the team brought down 54 in the double overtime win over UT Tyler.

The Watch Is On: Against Oklahoma Christian last week, senior Damani Claxton scored both the 900th point of his career and his 800th point in the Gold & Blue. He is now only 95 points shy of the 1,000-point milestone and needs 189 to hit the mark as a Rattler. Claxton has scored 20 or more points seven times this season and 17 times in his two years with the Rattlers.

Beyond The Arc: 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. 

LSC Leading: St. Mary's leads the Lone Star Conference in offensive rebounds per game (14.11), scoring defense (65.6), and blocked shots per game (4.0). The 75.3 free throw percentage, which is third in the LSC and 42nd nationally would rank third 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.

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.

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 77 in the Meyer era and 243 consecutive, dating back to Jan. 14, 2017 in an overtime loss to Texas A&M International.