Following a win at the Holiday Inn Thanksgiving Basketball Classic, the Mountaineers hit the road to open their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference slate, taking on Black Hill State University and Chadron State College on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

MOUNTAINEERS HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND | SEASON STATS

• Western will look to build momentum off its win over Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) University into the beginning of the RMAC slate.
• Matthew Ragsdale led a trio of Mountaineers into double figures in the win over the Saints, posting a season-best 38 points. Though Western dropped its game the day before, Ragsdale also led the team in scoring with 20 points against Simon Fraser University.
• Ragsdale enters the weekend averaging 17.8 PPG, fifth highest in the league. Also in the conference's top 10 in scoring is Avery Rembao with a 17.0 PPG average.
• Elijah Davidson is pulling down 6.8 rebounds per game, ranking 10th amongst the league's top rebounders.
• Western is averaging 71.7 PPG while allowing an average of 81.3 PPG by its opponents.
• The Mountaineers are averaging 42 percent from the floor, and 74% from the free throw line.

BLACK HILLS STATE HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND | SEASON STATS

• After opening the 2021-22 season with a pair of wins, the Yellow Jackets have dropped three straight.
• Black Hills State is minus-1.2 in scoring margin, averaging 75.0 PPG while surrendering 76.2 PPG.
• The Yellow Jackets are led in scoring by Joel Scott, whose 18.0 PPG is fourth in the league. Scott is also second in the league in rebounding, average 11.6 per outing.
• Feeding Scott and the rest of the BHSU attack is Adam Moussa with 5.6 assists per game.
• Black Hills State has won four in a row over the Mountaineers, whose most recent win over the Yellow Jackets was a 90-76 home victory on January 27, 2018.

CHADRON STATE HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND | SEASON STATS

• Conversely to BHSU's season start, Chadron lost its first four games of the season but enter the weekend on a four-game win streak, which it will try to extend in Friday night's game against visiting Fort Lewis College (4-2).
• The Eagles are in the middle of the pack in the RMAC in scoring, averaging 79.4 PPG. Opponents are scoring on average 73.9 PPG, allowing the team to enter RMAC play with a plus-5.5 scoring margin.
• Rather than just one go-to player, Chadron is spreading around its scoring attack with three players averaging double digits, and a fourth just one point shy of double figures. CJ Jennings paces the offense at 13.6 PPG, followed by Marcus Jefferson (10.6), Teddy Parham Jr. (10.4) and Mason Hiemstra (9.0).
• The Eagles are last in the league in rebounding (32.6 RPG) but are allowing opponents only 31.8 RPG for a plus-0.9 rebounding margin.
• Chadron won five consecutive games between Dec. 7, 2013 and Jan. 2, 2016, but since then it is 2-3 against the Mountaineers, counting the 2021 Spring season's home victory over Western.