This Week in Rattlers Basketball
Game #25 • Road Game #8 • at Sul Ross State • Thursday, February 19 • 7:30 p.m.
Notes & Connections
•   St. Mary's has won all three meetings between the teams since Sul Ross State joined the Lone Star Conference, and the Rattlers lead the all-time series 18-13.
•   Cameron Roper for SRS hails from nearby Cibolo and went to Steele HS, alongside several StMU student-athletes.
•   Both head coaches are coaching at their alma mater, as Xavier Webb graduated from SRS in 2017, and Bubba Meyer earned his bachelor's degree from StMU in 2001.
•   Freshman Michael Grant scored a career-high 15 points in the first meeting, with a career-high eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.
•   The series dates back to 1936 with the teams playing 12 times from 1936-1939.
On This Date: Feb. 19
•   StMU is 13-12 all-time in games played on Feb. 19, with a 7-8 record on the road.
•   The Lobos and Rattlers have never met on this date.
•   StMU is 3-3 against current LSC teams on the 19th.
•   The Rattlers have won the last three on Feb. 19.
Game #26 • Road Game #9 • at Western New Mexico • Saturday, February 21 • 3 p.m.
Notes & Connections
•   The Rattlers hold an 11-2 advantage in the all-time series that began in 1992. StMU won the meeting back in December 80-76 at Bill Greehey Arena.
•   The Mustangs have two players hailing from the state of Texas, but neither are from the San Antonio area.
•   Eddie McPhee had a double-double in the first meeting with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while WNMU was led by Cortaviaus Seales with 20 points.
•   The Mustangs lead the LSC in blocks (4.5), free throw makes (18.7) and attempts (25.0), and 3-point field goal percentage defense (28.9).
•   The Rattlers have won eight straight against the Mustangs, the longest active streak against Lone Star Conference opponents.
On This Date: Feb. 21
•   StMU is 19-6 all-time in games played on Feb. 21, with an 11-4 record on the road.
•   The Rattlers are 8-3 on the 21st against current LSC teams, with seven of the 11 games against St. Ed's.
•   StMU and WNMU have never met on Feb. 21.
Four Left: St. Mary's Men's Basketball has four games remaining in the regular season, with three of those coming on the road. The trip opens Thursday in Alpine, as the Rattlers rematch with Sul Ross State, before taking on Western New Mexico in Silver City on Saturday in a game that could have seeding implications for the upcoming Lone Star Conference Tournament.
Clinched: The Rattlers have clinched one of the eight spots in the Lone Star Conference Tournament. Even if the team loses all four and either Angelo State or Midwestern State wins out, StMU has the tiebreaker over both squads. The Rattlers are still playing for seeding in the field, however.
Next Win: The next win for St. Mary's will be the 50th for Head Coach Bubba Meyer. Meyer is in his third season at the helm, and ranks sixth in victories, trailing his father Buddy Meyer (530), Ed Messbarger (279), Jim Zeleznak (265), Jim Heiser (87) and Bill Siemer (70) on the wins chart.
Quite a Handful: Senior Sebastian Mendoza became the first Rattler this season to make five three-pointers in a game, going 5-for-5 from beyond the arc in the win over UT Permian Basin on Thursday. Mendoza scored a season-high 17 points in the lopsided win.
Tough Defense: The Rattlers are allowing opponents to score only 63.96 points per game this season. That average would rank 6th 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 .305 opponent three-point field-goal percentage defense also would rank third in school history, and the record is .299 by the 1999-00 squad.
Getting Close: Senior Damani Claxton is now only 31 points shy of the 1,000-point milestone and needs 125 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: St. Mary's has shot 80 percent or better from the free throw line in 11 games this season, and is connecting at a 74.9 percent clip for the season. That percentage ranks third in the Lone Star Conference and 51st 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. Against UT Permian Basin on Thursday, the Rattlers were 8-for-9 from the line, for a season-best 88.9 percent.
Take Two, They're Free: A big reason for the change in free throw percentage are seniors Damani Claxton and Eddie McPhee. Claxton is third the Lone Star and ranks 56th nationally with his 85.7 percent. He also ranks 24th on St. Mary's career free throws made list with 193, which is the sixth-most in the Division II era. McPhee has made 46 of 52 attempts this season for 88.5 percent, but doesn't meet the 2.5 makes minimum to appear in the league stats.Â
First Off the Bench: Junior JJ Walton has been the first player off the bench 11 times this season, while Lawyer Jones has done so 10 times and Wayne Wiggins has come off the bench first in nine 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).
Early Start Important: St. Mary's is 16-2 this season when leading at halftime, and only 1-4 when entering the locker room trailing at the break. The Rattlers are also 15-4 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 scoring defense (64.0), and is second in offensive rebounds per game (13.21), and third in blocked shots (3.8), free throw percentage (74.9), and rebound margin (5.9).
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 83 in the Meyer era and 249 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.
