AUSTIN, Texas — After a 2-1 start in Hawaii, St. Edward's men's basketball returned home to the Hilltop to iron out wrinkles in its newly constructed roster, hosting St. Thomas for a Homecoming exhibition and Trinity for its home opener.
The Hilltoppers left the week with two wins and a clearer picture of how their pieces fit together, defeating St. Thomas 84-72 before putting up 27 assists on 36 made field goals in a 100-78 win over Trinity.
Now, St. Edward's (3-1) takes that progress on the road for the South Central Regional Crossover, facing Colorado Mesa on Friday and Colorado Christian on Saturday in a weekend of unfamiliar opponents undergoing significant transformations of their own.
Both Colorado programs enter the season with new head coaches and substantial roster turnover, making their identities hard to pin down based on past statistics. For St. Edward's, the challenge is whether the continuity of head coach Andre Cook's system can provide an advantage against talented but newly assembled teams still learning to play together.
The Hilltoppers have begun finding a rhythm through their ball-and-body movement, assisting on 47 of 60 made baskets across their two home games. Against Trinity, five players scored in double figures, led by
SEAN ELKINTON with 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists.
PARKER HANNAH added 20 points and five assists, while
ROBERT CONRAD scored 16 and
CONOR MCMANUS added 13.
NOLAN BARKLEY has emerged as an important connector, keeping the ball moving between teammates and linking actions without dominating possession. He recorded 10 assists without a turnover against Trinity, helping St. Edward's repeatedly turn an initial advantage into an open shot.
Barkley, Conrad, Hannah, McManus, and Elkinton have outscored opponents 202-157 in about 82 minutes together across the first five games, including exhibitions. The group has provided a reliable foundation as Cook continues exploring different bench combinations.
The challenge is translating that offensive rhythm against Division II competition while maintaining defensive consistency. St. Edward's struggled to contain Hawaii Pacific's perimeter shooting in its season opener but responded by limiting Winona State to 65 points, including just 32 after halftime. The Hilltoppers have also shown they can turn defensive pressure into offense, scoring 25 points off turnovers against Hawaii Pacific and 22 against Adelphi.
Colorado Mesa (0-0) presents the weekend's most dramatic transformation, returning just two players from last year's 21-11 team that finished 15-5 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play and reached the conference tournament championship game.
First-year head coach Ken DeWeese, previously an assistant at Colorado State, inherits a program with a recent history of offensive efficiency and strong rebounding but almost none of the personnel responsible for it.
The Mavericks return only 4.7 percent of last season's scoring and 6.9 percent of their minutes, with Jaylen Pitman and 7-foot center Ben Kaye the lone holdovers who appeared in games. Pitman averaged 4.9 points in 22 appearances, shooting 52.6 percent from the field and making 11-of-20 from three.
DeWeese has replenished the roster with nine transfers and five freshmen, assembling a group with experience and production from several different levels of college basketball.
Tait Spencer arrives from Panola College after averaging 15.3 points and 4.2 rebounds, while Alfonso Medina contributed 12.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists at College of the Redwoods. CJ Willenborg averaged 11.3 points at West Valley College, and Aidan Triplet, a 6-foot-8 forward, produced 10.2 points and 5.3 rebounds at Yuba College.
The Mavericks also added 6-foot-7 Drew Larson, who averaged 15.4 points and 8.6 rebounds while shooting 44 percent from three in his final junior college season before transferring to Niagara. Six-foot-10 Ryan Weber adds another interior option, averaging 11.1 points and 5.9 rebounds at Santiago Canyon.
The individual credentials suggest Colorado Mesa has built a talented, versatile roster, but the collective picture remains largely unknown.
St. Edward's constant movement will test how quickly DeWeese can establish roles and defensive communication, while the Mavericks' size and collection of experienced transfers will challenge the Hilltoppers on the glass and in the paint.
Colorado Christian (0-1) offers a more familiar foundation, returning several rotation players from last season's 13-15 team while introducing new head coach Liam Simmons.
The Cougars lost their top scorer in Pierce Bazil, who averaged 17.9 points last season, along with Joshua Reid (10.0 points, 6.0 rebounds) and Schafer Reichart (6.7 points, 2.6 assists). Together, the three accounted for nearly half of Colorado Christian's scoring, leaving significant opportunities for returning players and newcomers.
Porter Bazil is the most established returning option after averaging 11.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists last season. The 6-foot-7 forward shot 37.6 percent from three and led the team with 30 blocked shots, giving the Cougars an experienced inside-outside presence.
Zachary Reed added perimeter shooting, making 41.2 percent of his 3-point attempts last season, while Jimmy House connected on 24 triples. Both offer floor spacing around a frontcourt that added 6-foot-9 Joel Speckman, a transfer from Black Hills State.
Colorado Christian's season opener offered an early look at how those pieces might fit, though the results were uneven. The Cougars fell 79-55 at Concordia Irvine, committing 24 turnovers, recording just six assists, and losing the rebounding battle 36-25.
Gavin Carter, a transfer from UCCS, led Colorado Christian with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while Speckman added 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Returning guard Jared Lloyd Jr. contributed seven points and a team-high eight rebounds.
The Cougars trailed 50-26 at halftime before matching Concordia Irvine's 29 points in the second half, offering a glimpse of both their early struggles and ability to stabilize.
Ball security will be a particular concern against St. Edward's defensive pressure, though Colorado Christian's perimeter shooting and versatile forwards could challenge the Hilltoppers' defensive rotations. The Cougars will face Dallas Baptist on Friday before meeting St. Edward's on Saturday, giving Simmons another chance to evaluate his evolving roster.
Both opponents have assembled intriguing collections of talent, but neither has an established body of work with its current personnel. Colorado Mesa is starting almost entirely from scratch, while Colorado Christian blends experienced returners with new contributors under a new coaching staff.
St. Edward's is navigating its own personnel changes, but Cook's offensive principles have remained consistent. The Hilltoppers' early success has come from moving the ball, sharing responsibility, and letting advantages develop collectively rather than relying on one player to manufacture them.
Whether that familiarity gives them an edge against two teams still establishing their identities will be the weekend's central question.
St. Edward's opens the South Central Regional Crossover against Colorado Mesa on Friday at 8 p.m. Central before facing Colorado Christian on Saturday.
