RAPID CITY - After winning two straight regular season games, the South Dakota School of Mines men's basketball team seems to have assembled all the components it needs to be a solid unit.

The Hardrockers now head into the Dakota Athletic Conference schedule tonight against Black Hills State at 7:30 p.m. at the King Center.

The Hardrockers recently posted two convincing wins, defeating Presentation College, 82-72, last Saturday at Aberdeen, and a week before that, Mines posted a win over Dana College, Neb., at the U.S. Bank Thanksgiving Classic at home. The two wins improved the 'Rockers' record to 3-6.

The Hardrockers have also been close in a number of their other games this season, falling by just a handful of points in a majority of those outings.

"We are a better team then we were a month ago. Actually, we are a better team than we were a week ago," Hardrocker head coach Jason Henry said. "That's one of the things when you have a young team. I knew we would keep getting better because of how hard they play. They are coachable kids and they know how to get better. It's a good combination."

Black Hills State has followed a similar path, only they have come out ahead on a couple of close games. The Yellow Jackets (5-4) also have a well-rounded, balanced team. Most recently, BHSU defeated NCAA Division II Chadron State, 78-67, this past Saturday.

The Jackets come into today night's game with six national category rankings, including one top 10 mark. BHSU is currently ninth in the NAIA in 3-point field goals made per game at 9.56.

"They shoot a lot of 3s. They shoot around 24 three's a game which is an absolute ton," Henry said. "But they also have two or three of the best post guys around (freshman Will John Johnson and junior Randy Herman)."

The Hardrockers have earned two national rankings thus far, ranked 28th in the NAIA in field goal percentage - right at 50 percent - and also ranked 45th in total defensive rebounds, averaging 33.33 a game.

Looking at the season stats, South Dakota Mines also appears to have a balanced offense with five players averaging more than 10 points a game.

"As a group, we have five guys scoring in double figures. We have a lot of guys that can step it up scoring wise," Henry said. "Defensively, we still have to work on some things. We have done well in halves but we haven't put together a full game yet this year."

Sophomore Robbie Fedor leads the Hardrockers with an average of nearly 15 points a game, while freshman A.J. Trennepohl is second, putting up 12 points each time out.

Trennepohl has had a stellar last couple of games. He was Mines' scoring leader in the past two regular season games as well as in an exhibition game played with Chadron State last Wednesday. In the three outings, he has 71 points and has lit it up from the perimeter. Against Dana College, the 6-foot-1 guard was 10-10 from the field including a seven-of-seven performance from behind the arc.

"It was just a matter of him hitting shots. He's capable of doing that. He did it last year in practice as a redshirt against a pretty good (Mines) squad," Henry said. "It just took a few games like it takes all the freshmen. Hopefully he keeps it up."

Mines junior forward Brandon Smith is also making his presence known in the paint, putting up 11.6 a game.

"Brandon is just getting some playing time. He was capable of doing it last year too, but he had some pretty good players playing in front of him. He has definitely been a leader for us since Day 1."

Mines' Michael Ross and Donny DeGooyer are both averaging more than 10 markers a game.

The Yellow Jackets are a good perimeter team, with freshman Cain Atkinson scoring an average of 16.6 points a game.

The Jackets are also getting good production out of Belle Fourche native Randy Herman. The 6-foot-7 junior is averaging 11.6 points a game and currently rated No. 49th in 3-pointer made per game (2.44).

Both Mines and BHSU have fairly inexperienced rosters each listing eight freshman on their respective teams. Henry said the key to tonight's game will be the play of those freshmen.

"In a game like this, you just don't know how a freshman will react because he's never been in this situation at a college level," Henry said. "Inexperience is definitely going to be here in this game.

"Whatever freshman steps up in this game I think will be the difference."