NCAA Elite Eight - Sanford Pentagon - Sioux Falls, S.D.
#11 Mines vs. #2 Bellarmine, Wednesday, 2:30 p.m. CT/1:30 p.m. MT [Live Video] [Live Stats] [Mines Media Notes] [Bracket]
 

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HOW TO WATCH
Wednesday's game will be streamed live on NCAA.com. Should Mines advance, Thursday's game is on CBS Sports Network (no stream) and Saturday's national final is on CBS (no stream). Mines Activities Council will host a watch party starting at 1 p.m. MT on Wednesday in Ballrooms A and B of the Student Center, open to all students, faculty, and staff.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Colorado School of Mines is making its first trip to the NCAA Elite Eight. Their South Central regional title was the first in program history; the Orediggers had previously been to the Sweet 16 once, in 2011-12. It will also be the first meeting against Bellarmine. With the Elite Eight reseeded, Mines is the fifth seed facing fourth-seeded Bellarmine.

MINES IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
Mines is in its seventh NCAA tournament, going 7-6 all-time in the Dance. The Orediggers have advanced out of the first round in three of those seven tries.

HOW THEY GOT TO SIOUX FALLS
Mines has won six consecutive games through the postseason to reach the Elite Eight. After clinching the RMAC regular-season title outright on the final day of the regular season with a win over archrival Metro State, the Orediggers beat Adams State and won a rematch with Metro to reach the RMAC Tournament final, where they erased a nine-point deficit with 1:22 to play to beat #21 Fort Lewis, 102-98, in overtime. In the NCAA South Central Regional, Mines' toughest game was its opener with a 90-79 win over Heartland Conference champ Ark.-Fort Smith. Another game against #23 Fort Lewis loomed in the second round, but the Orediggers jumped out to a big first-half lead to win 86-67; in the regional final against West Texas A&M, Mines used superb defense to break out early and dominate the Buffs 88-63. Mines is one of only two Elite Eight teams (along with Bellarmine) to win each of its regional games by double digits.

IN THE POLLS
Mines ended the regular season ranked #11 in both the NABC and D2SIDA media polls. Bellarmine is #2 in the NABC and #3 in the D2SIDA polls.

AMONG THE ELITE
Mines men's basketball isn't the only Oredigger team to find NCAA success over the past few years. The women's soccer team advanced to and hosted the Elite Eight this past fall, while the men's soccer team went to their Elite Eight back in 2015. The men's cross country team won the NCAA Division II national title in 2015 - the school's first and only NCAA team title - while finishing third this past fall. This will be Colorado School of Mines' seventh Elite Eight appearance across all sports, with women's soccer holding five of those (including a Final Four appearance in 2014). Over the past two seasons, Mines has had team NCAA appearances by football (2016), volleyball (twice), women's soccer (twice), men's soccer (2015), and women's basketball (2015-16).

NOT BAD FOR A BUNCH OF NERDS
Mines appeared in last week's Learfield Directors' Cup standings in third place, the highest among any of the Elite Eight participants. The Cup measures overall athletic department success based on points accumulated through NCAA Championship participation.

GIVE IT A SHOT
Already an outstanding shooting team (Mines' .488 team clip ranks #29 in D-II), the Orediggers have amped up their play in the postseason. Through the RMAC and NCAA Tournaments, Mines is shooting .526, including .571 in NCAA play. Mines has shot .580 or better in three of six postseason games, and have been .800 or better at the line in four of the six games.

COUPLE OF DIMES
The Mines-Bellarmine game will feature two of the four best assist teams in D-II. Bellarmine leads the nation (648) and Mines is fourth (593); averaging 17.4 assists per game this season, Mines has produced 22.3 in the postseason.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING!
Mines rides a 12-game win streak into the Elite Eight - its longest of the year - and has won 23 of its last 24.

UNCHARTED TERRITORY
Mines' 30 wins are the most ever in a season by the Orediggers, surpassing the 2011-12 team's 29-3 mark with their last victory. Mines has four consecutive 23+ win seasons under Pryor Orser.

SPEAKING OF COACH O...
There will be one Oredigger who is making a return to the Elite Eight - head coach Pryor Orser. As a college player, he helped Eastern Montana College (now MSU-Billings) reach the 1987 NCAA Division II Final Four, where they fell to Gannon.

GO2KUL
Mines senior Gokul Natesan will end his career this weekend as an all-timer for the Orediggers. Natesan became the fourth player in program history to reach 2,000 points in the NCAA South Central final against West Texas A&M, hitting a pair of late free throws to enter the Elite Eight exactly on 2,000 points. He is also Mines' career steals leader (246) and moved into second on the assists list (420) during the WTAM game. Natesan is a .451 career shooter and .819 (567-692) at the line, and he has sank 283 career three-pointers, which ranks second at Mines.

A HELPING HAND
While Natesan's scoring is impressive, his best work with the ball during the South Central regional was his passing. Natesan averages 4.1 apg this season, but dished out a gaudy 7.2 per game in the postseason and 9.0 per game in the NCAA regional. That included a career-high 12 vs. West Texas A&M that gave him his second career double-double (and first since his freshman year).

THE BEST OFFENSE...
But then there's Natesan's defense. The 2016 RMAC Defensive Player of the Year, Natesan was absolutely shut-down during the NCAA South Central regional going against three of the nation's most prolific scorers. Against UAFS, he limited D2CCA Second-Team All-Region selection Seth Youngblood to only 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting, and against Fort Lewis, he shut down First-Team All-Region guard and RMAC Player of the Year Joshua Blaylock to the tune of a 5-for-14 day (Blaylock will play in Friday's Reese's Senior All-Star Game). His finest performance came against West Texas A&M when he limited First-Team All-Region guard David Chavlovich to only two points in the first half and 10 overall on a 4-for-9 night. His marks shot .333 in the South Central regional.

HOT HAND LUKE
The nation's best three-point shooter belongs to the Orediggers in redshirt junior Luke Schroepfer. The Washington, Mo. native has made 94 of 188 outside attempts to shoot an even .500, leading NCAA Division II. Schroepfer shoots .516 overall and is an .830 foul shooter; his 94 trifects are second-most in a season at Mines behind Mike Ziegler's 125 in 1987-88.

GO INSIDE
Mines made a change to its starting lineup in the NCAA Second Round that has paid off over the last two games. The Orediggers inserted Adam Laine (6.5 ppg/3.3 rpg) in the starting role, giving them Ben Clare (8.8 ppg/5.9 rpg) off the bench. The result? Both men exceeded their season scoring averages as Laine scored 8.5 per game with 6.5 rebounds and Clare went for 12.0 points and 4.0 boards. They also forced opposing bigs into early foul trouble in both games.

POINT PEOPLE
Mines has two outstanding options at point guard with starter Ben Sonnefeld and Kaan Korkmaz. Sonnefeld has started every game at the point since his redshirt freshman debut last year (save this year's senior night), and dishes 3.0 assists per game. While not relied on to score, Sonnefeld can certainly do so if needed, including a career-high 18 in the RMAC Tournament final against Fort Lewis and 10 against West Texas A&M last week. Korkmaz is a high-energy spark off the bench, able to run the offense and possessing Mines' quickest first step with an ability to slash to the basket. Korkmaz averages 5.4 points per game, but has been well exceeding that in the postseason with double-digit scoring in three of the last four games to average 9.5 ppg and shoot .600 off the bench in that span.

FILLING IN FOR THE FOUR
The only real question mark at any position for Mines this year has been at power forward, where First-Team All-RMAC selection Caleb Waitsman missed seven games in January and February and one game in the RMAC Tournament due to injury. Waitsman averages 10.8 points and a team-best 6.5 rebounds per game, providing Mines with an athletic inside option. Mines went 6-1 in his absence, however, thanks to the work of senior Murphy Gershman. The 26-year-old senior, a former NJCCA All-American at Pima CC (Ariz.), has 11 starts this year and scored 5.9 points with 5.3 rebounds per game.

ELEVATING THEIR GAME
Mines plays home games at 5,815 feet above sea level at Lockridge Arena in Golden, Colo., where there is approximately 18% less oxygen than at sea level. The Orediggers have not played a game below 2,000' in elevation this season (lowest: at Nebraska-Kearney, 2,152') and played 26 of their 34 games at 4,000' or above. At 1,470', Sioux Falls will be the closest Mines gets to the ocean this year.