Men's Basketball Heads South to Begin Busy Stretch

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
Game #20 • Road Game #5 • at Texas A&M International • Thursday, February 5 • 7:30 p.m.
Notes & Connections
•    The Rattlers hold a commanding 27-14 lead in the all-time series and enters Thursday on a two game winning-streak over the Dustdevils.
•    StMU starting forward Olaverr Camacho spent three seasons at Texas A&M International (playing two) before becoming a Rattler. In 2023 he was named to the LSC All-Defensive team for TAMIU.
•    TAMIU soph. Aaron Perez was in the same graduating class at Klein Collins HS as StMU WBB star Christin Callens.
•    The Rattlers and Dustdevils both defeated MSU Denver in the preseason. TAMIU won 107-96 in Denver, while the Rattlers won 75-59 at home.
•    Caylen Goff Brown ranks fifth in the LSC with 2.40 three-point makes per game, making over 43% of the team's shots from behind the arc.
On This Date: Feb. 5
•    StMU is 15-13 in games played on Feb. 5, with an 11-9 record on the road.
•    The Rattlers and Dustdevils have never met on the 5th.
•    StMU is 3-3 against current LSC foes on this date.

Game #21 • Road Game #6 • at Texas A&M-Kingsville • Saturday, February 7 • 3 p.m.
Notes & Connections
•    StMU stretched the lead to three games over the Javelinas with a 74-56 win on December 20, and now lead 69-66 in the second-longest series in school history.
•    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).
•    In the non-conference season, both teams defeated MSU Denver, while the Rattlers beat Southeastern Oklahoma State, and the Javelinas lost.
•    The Javelinas are getting 33.20 points from their bench this season, second-best in the LSC and 17th in the nation.
•    StMU senior Damani Claxton scored 25 points in the first meeting, while TAMUK was led by KC Udolisa with 11 points.
On This Date: Feb. 7
•    StMU is 19-9 in games played on Feb. 7, with a 6-2 record on the road.
•    The Rattlers and Javelinas have never played on the 7th.
•    StMU is 5-7 against current LSC foes on this date.

STORYLINES
Final Month: The St. Mary's Men's Basketball team has nine games remaining in the regular season, and will play those nine contests in a 24 day stretch, including three in five days on the road. The Rattlers begin the trip at Texas A&M International on Thursday at 7:30, followed by a Saturday at 3 p.m. game against Texas A&M-Kingsville before taking on St. Edward's in a rescheduled affair on Monday, Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m.

Back In: After not receiving any votes in the NABC poll last week, the Rattlers are back in for the week of Feb. 3. The Rattlers received five votes in the poll, along with DBU. Western New Mexico is also getting respect, while Lubbock Christian (7), Eastern New Mexico (11) and St. Edward's (19) are all nationally ranked.

Pounding the Paint: St. Mary's scored 50 points in the paint for the second time this season when they scored 50 of its 81 points down low against UT Dallas on Saturday. The Rattlers also scored 50 in the paint in their 85-44 victory over Sul Ross State on Nov. 26.

Turning Up the Heat: After making only one of their first three shots in the game against UT Dallas on Saturday, the Rattlers made 16-of-24 the remainder of the first half, with six of the eight misses coming from behind the three-point line. The 63% (17-for-27) is the highest first-half percentage this season and the second-highest overall (.696, 16-23, Sul Ross State, Dec. 6) this season. St. Mary's has shot 50% or better in 12 halves this season.

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 75.6 percent clip for the season. That percentage ranks third in the Lone Star Conference and 36th 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 41st nationally with his 87.7 percent. He also ranks eighth on the St. Mary's Division II era list with 179 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 10 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).

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 10 games, playing the last 82:41 without a turnover. In his 125:28, Vargas has three miscues, dishing out seven assists.

Wiggins Finding a Way: Senior guard Wayne Wiggins has scored in double figures in six of the last eight games, increasing his scoring from 6.6 to 8.9 points per game, and scored his 400th StMU career point on Saturday.

Early Start Important: St. Mary's is 13-2 this season when leading at halftime, and only 1-3 when entering the locker room trailing at the break. The Rattlers are also 12-3 when out-rebounding the opponent and 2-2 when giving up more boards than they collect. 

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 86 points shy of the 1,000-point milestone and needs 180 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.

LSC Leading: St. Mary's leads the Lone Star Conference in offensive rebounds per game (13.84), scoring defense (65.4), and is second in blocked shots per game (4.0). The 75.6 free throw percentage, which is third in the LSC and 36th 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.

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 78 in the Meyer era and 244 consecutive, dating back to Jan. 14, 2017 in an overtime loss to Texas A&M International.