PUEBLO, Colo. (Jan. 15, 2021) – The Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball team hosts I-25 rival University of Colorado Colorado Springs Saturday in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game beginning at 7:30 p.m.
 
No fans will be allowed in Massari Arena. A free video stream and live stats will be available. Audio will be available on AM1350 Fox Sports Pueblo, online or on the iHeart app. Play-by-play will come from Jim Brooks, the Voice of the ThunderWolves.  
 
VERSUS THE OPPONENT
 
• The ThunderWolves (2-4, 2-4 RMAC) suffered an 83-67 loss at the hands of the Mountain Lions (1-3, 1-3 RMAC) on Dec. 10 in Colorado Springs. The Pack are 1-3 against UCCS in the last four meetings, but have won six straight at home against the Mountain Lions. In the loss earlier this season, Tre Brown led the Pack in scoring with 20 points. CSU Pueblo was outrebounded 43-22 with UCCS gathering 13 offensive rebounds, which equated 19 second chance points. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The guard play from the ThunderWolves guided the Pack to a 97-88 RMAC home victory against Adams State, Jan. 6 at Massari Arena.
 
The Pack collected their second win in a row by shooting 58.2 percent from the field and knocking down 27-of-31 (87.1%) from the line. The Grizzlies were equally impressive from the field with a 55.2 percentage. The ThunderWolves totaled 22 points off the bench to ASU's five. 
 
Two of the starting guards, David Simental and Lian Ramiro, combined for 49 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Simental led all scorers with 28 points on 10-of-13 (76.9%) shooting from the field and hit 8-for-8 from the line. Ramiro added 21 points and five dimes. 
 
Guard Tristan Hurdle hit three from long range and scored 13 points and guard Eric Williams totaled 12 points off the bench and brought down four rebounds.
 
The lead changed eight times and the contest was tied on five occasions. 
 
The Grizzlies had the lead, 36-29, with 4:42 remaining in the first half, but the ThunderWolves rattled off a 14-4 run to close the frame and hold a 43-40 at the break. 
  
The Grizzlies tied the game for the second time in the second half at 65-65 with 10:39 to play. After trading buckets, the Pack led 78-77 with 4:26 remaining. A Hurdle dagger from downtown jump started a 9-2 run, which opened up an 87-79 advantage with 2:34 left. 
 
The lead was just four at 88-84 with two minutes to play, but back-to-back layups by Simental on the next two Pack possessions had the lead back to eight, which proved to be out of reach for the visiting Grizzlies, as the ThunderWolves posted the nine-point win, 97-88. 
 
THE PACK
 
• Junior Tre Brown leads the team with 15.2 points per game. Brown is shooting 83.9 percent from the free throw line to sit ninth in the league. 
 
•  In the last two games, junior David Simental has totaled 42 points and is shooting 14-for-19 (73.7%) from the field. This season he is averaging 13.0 points per game and shooting 59.6 percent from the field to rank sixth in the league. His 86.4 percent effort from the free throw line is seventh in the conference. 
 
• Freshman Lian Ramiro leads the RMAC with a 2.9 assist/turnover ratio. He guides the team with 20 assists, a 3.3 assists per game average that ranks eighth in the league. Ramiro adds 11.7 points per game and ties for the team lead with 25 rebounds. 
 
• Freshman De'Shaun Cooper adds 10.5 points per game and is shooting 75.7 percent from the field to lead the RMAC. His 1.0 blocks per game (6 total) is tied for seventh in the conference. He is one of three players to lead the team with 4.2 rebounds per game. 
 
• Freshman Tristan Hurdle has a team-best 15 3-pointers, which are 2.5 3-pointers per game that ranks tied for third in the RMAC. His 42.9 percent effort from long range is good for fifth in the league. He has 10.2 points per game, while he is in the three-way tie for the rebounding lead with 25 boards. 
 
• In the RMAC, the team is sixth in free throw percentage (74.4%), sixth in points per game (74.8 ppg) and sixth in field goal percentage (47.3%).
 
• Head Coach Matt Hammer is in his second season as head coach. 
 
• CSU Pueblo returned four players from last year's roster, while only three saw the floor. The rest of the 14-player roster is made up of four transfers and seven freshmen. 
 
THE MOUNTAIN LIONS
 
• The Mountain Lions are 1-3 overall and 1-3 in league play with their three losses coming to three of the four top teams in the RMAC standings. UCCS has played once since Dec. 12, as they battled with then-No. 10 Colorado Mesa to a 60-56 loss in Grand Junction on Jan. 9.
 
• UCCS leads the RMAC in rebounding margin (+14), 3-point field goal defense (19.5%) and free throw shooting (80.7%). 
 
• Alijah Comithier leads the team with 16.8 points per game and is shooting 63.4 percent from the field. He is eighth in the RMAC in scoring and third in field goal percentage. DaRaun Clark adds 13.3 points per game and has a team-high seven 3-pointers. William Becker guides the squad with 8.8 rebounds per game to rank tied for second in the league. His 1.8 blocks per game is second in the RMAC.
 
-- PACK --