This Week in Rattlers Basketball
Game #23 • Home Game #14 • UT Permian Basin • Thursday, February 12 • 7:30 p.m.
Notes & Connections
•   Thursday marks the 30th meeting between the two teams, with StMU holding a 17-12 lead, including 10-4 at Bill Greehey Arena.
•   Both StMU's Freddie Cooper and UTPB's Kyle McElroy played HS ball in Chicago.
•   Head Coaches Kyle Tolin and Bubba Meyer each played collegiately for their fathers, as Kyle's father, Doug was the head coach at Oklahoma Baptist, while Bubba played for his dad, Buddy at StMU.
•   Thursday will be the third time this season UTPB has played at Bill Greehey Arena, as they played twice in December for the River City Classic, defeating Pitt State before losing to Arkansas-Fort Smith.
•   Tash Lunday leads the Lone Star, playing 35:58 minutes per game, while Sharrod Taylor is shooting a league-best 41.7 from the three-point line.
On This Date: Feb. 12
•   StMU is 19-10 in games played on Feb. 12, with a 15-4 mark at home.
•   The Rattlers & Falcons have never met on this date.
•   StMU is 4-2 against current LSC teams on the 12th and five of the six are against St. Edward's.
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Game #24 • Home Game #15 • Angelo State • Saturday, February 14 • 3 p.m.
Notes & Connections
•   The Rattlers snapped a five-game losing streak to the Rams last season but still leads 25-20 in the all-time series.
•   Associate Head Coach David Lewis was an assistant coach at Angelo State for seven seasons.
•   Both teams played Colorado School of Mines and Fort Lewis in the non-conference slate. Both teams beat the Orediggers, while ASU won by one over FLC and the Rattlers lost 81-68.
•   The series started in 1966 and the teams played every year until 1978, then took 26 years off, not facing each other again until 2004.
•   The two benches average almost identical numbers, with ASU's bench players averaging 21.72 per game, while StMU's garner 21.68 per game.
On This Date: Feb. 14
•   StMU is 22-5 in games on Valentine's Day with an 8-2 record at home.
•   The Rattlers are 5-0 against current Lone Star teams, but have never faced Angelo State on the 14th.
•   The last time StMU played was 2019.
Busy Week: After playing three games in five days, the schedule returns to the regular Thursday-Saturday this week, as the St. Mary's Men's Basketball team hosts UT Permian Basin on Thursday for Faculty Appreciation Night, while Angelo State comes to town on Saturday for Senior Day.
Oh, So Close: The Rattlers have lost each of the last two games by two points, falling 67-65 at Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday and 73-71 to No. 19 St. Edward's on Monday. St. Mary's had a shot waved off in the final four seconds, which would have given them a win in Austin. Each of the last four losses for St. Mary's this season have been by three or fewer points.
Tough Defense: The Rattlers are allowing opponents to score only 65.27 points per game this season. That average would rank 9th on the St. Mary's single-season list. The 2000-01 team holds the record for lowest opponent scoring average at 62.14 points per game. The .313 opponent three-point field-goal percentage defense also would rank seventh in school history, and the record is .299 by the 1999-00 squad.
Scoring Leader: In each of the last three games, the Rattlers' leading scorer has scored 17 points in the game and the team has been led by three different players as senior Olaverr Camacho scored a career-high 17 in the win at Texas A&M International on Thursday, while senior Damani Claxton scored 17 at Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday and sophomore Lawyer Jones scored a career-best 17 at St. Edward's on Monday. Nine different Rattlers have led or tied for the team lead in scoring at least once during the year.
Getting Close: Senior Damani Claxton is now only 55 points shy of the 1,000-point milestone and needs 149 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.
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 10 games this season, and is connecting at a 74.6 percent clip for the season. That percentage ranks fourth in the Lone Star Conference and 59th 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 is second the Lone Star and ranks 61st nationally with his 85.7 percent. He also ranks 24th on St. Mary's career free throws made list with 187, which is the sixth-most in the Division II era. McPhee has made 45 of 49 attempts this season for 91.8 percent, but doesn't meet the 2.5 makes minimum to appear in the league stats. McPhee has sunk 33 consecutive at the line.
First Off the Bench: Junior JJ Walton has been the first player off the bench 10 times this season, while both Lawyer Jones and Wayne Wiggins have come off the bench first in eight 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).
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 12 games, playing the last 92:56without a turnover. In his 135:43, Vargas has three miscues, dishing out seven assists.
Early Start Important: St. Mary's is 14-2 this season when leading at halftime, and only 1-4 when entering the locker room trailing at the break. The Rattlers are also 13-4 when out-rebounding the opponent and 2-2 when giving up more boards than they collect.Â
LSC Leading: St. Mary's leads the Lone Star Conference in offensive rebounds per game (13.64), scoring defense (65.3), and is second in blocked shots per game (3.8).Â
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 81 in the Meyer era and 247 consecutive, dating back to Jan. 14, 2017 in an overtime loss to Texas A&M International.Â
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. Claxton was the LSC Newcomer of the Year and a First-Team All-Conference selection in 2024-25, averaging 17.1 points per game.
