No. 23 MBB Faces a Pair of Ranked Foes This Week

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
Game #14 • Road Game #2 • #19 Eastern New Mexico • Saturday, January 8 • 8:30 p.m. (CT)/7:30 p.m. (MT)
Notes & Connections
•    ENMU holds a 4-3 edge in the series, but it is all tied up at 2-2 since the Rattlers joined the LSC.
•    Each team has one game on each floor in the previous four meetings.
•    This is the first meeting where either team has been nationally-ranked.
•    Both Damani Claxton for StMU and Jaden Clarke for ENMU hail from the Bronx and played for high schools in the PSAL. 
•    The Rattlers and Greyhounds are 4-1 and 3-1 against common opponents this season, as both have wins over MSU Denver, Sul Ross State (StMU twice) and Western New Mexico and a loss to Fort Lewis.
•    ENMU leads the league in fastbreak points (19.4), field goal percentage (.502) and are second behind StMU in offensive rebounds (13.15).

On This Date: Jan. 8
•    StMU is 24-6 in games played on Jan. 8 with a 9-4 record on the road.
•    The Rattlers and Greyhounds have never played on Jan. 8, but StMU is 10-1 in conference games.
•    StMU has won 16 of the last 17 games on this date.

Game #15 • Road Game #3 • #20 West Texas A&M • Saturday, January 10 • 3 p.m.
Notes & Connections
•    West Texas A&M has a commanding 20-2 lead in the series that dates back to 1936.
•    This is the first game in the series where both teams are appearing in the top-25.
•    StMU is 3-1, while WT is 2-1 against common opponents in 2025-26. StMU has two wins over Sul Ross and one over WNMU with a loss to Fort Lewis, while WT has wins over SRS and FLC with and OT loss to the Mustangs last Friday.
•    The Buffs lead the LSC in free throw percentage (.788), scoring offense (89.1) and three-pointers per game (10.9).
•    WT freshman Camden Cowgill played at Brennan HS in San Antonio.

On This Date: Jan. 10
•    StMU is 26-8 in games played on Jan. 10 and have won the last two. They are 14-6 on the road.
•    This will be the first meeting between the Rattlers and Buffaloes on Jan. 10.
•    StMU is 3-2 on 1/10 against current LSC schools.

STORYLINES

Tough Road Trip: The St. Mary's Men's Basketball team hits the road for only the second time this season, and will take on a pair of nationally-ranked opponents in No. 19 Eastern New Mexico on Thursday and No. 20 West Texas A&M on Saturday. The Lone Star Conference has five teams ranked within the top-25, while DBU is also receiving votes.

It's a First: For the first time in the DII era at St. Mary's, the Rattlers are playing three straight nationally-ranked opponents. In 2016-17, St. Mary's had a four-game stretch with three appearing in the top-25. StMU won at #20 Midwestern State (72-70) on Nov. 19, lost at No. 16 Angelo State (65-83) on Nov. 25, and then dropped an overtime rematch with the Rams (87-89) on Dec. 1, with a contest against Texas A&M-Kingsville sandwiched between on Nov. 29 (L, 64-79). 

Wiggins Finding a Way: Senior guard Wayne Wiggins led the team in scoring in both games last week, scoring in double figures in back-to-back games for the first time this season. He tied his career-high with 17 points in the win over Midwestern State, and answered with a team-high 13 points against Lubbock Christian.

Cleaning the Glass: St. Mary's leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks 12th nationally with 15.69 offensive rebounds per game. The Rattlers topped the 20-rebound milestone for the first time against Midwestern State on Friday and then exploded for 27 offensive rebounds against Lubbock Christian on Sunday. The 27 is the most in a game since StMU had 29 in an overtime loss at Midwestern State back on Nov. 18, 2023. Senior Olaverr Camacho leads the Rattlers and ranks third in the Lone Star Conference and 25th nationally with 3.54 o-boards a night.

Early Start Important: St. Mary's is 9-0 this season when leading at halftime, and only 1-3 when entering the locker room trailing at the break. The Rattlers are also 9-1 when out-rebounding the opponent and 1-2 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 Texas A&M-Kingsville, senior Damani Claxton scored both the 800th point of his career and his 700th point in the Gold & Blue. He is now only 178 points shy of the 1,000-point milestone and needs 272 to hit the mark as a Rattler. 

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. 

Ranked Nationally: In the Jan. 6 NABC poll, the St. Mary's team dropped three places to No. 23. 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 offensive rebounds per game (15.69) and scoring defense (65.3). The 74.8 free throw percentage also ranks 55th nationally and 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 72 in the Meyer era and 238 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.