PUBELO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball team concludes its three-game road trip to open the 2023 calendar year on Tuesday, Jan. 10 with a 7 p.m. Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference match-up in Las Vegas, N.M., against New Mexico Highlands.
CSU Pueblo comes into its third straight road game sporting a 7-8 overall record and a 3-6 mark in the RMAC, while New Mexico Highlands comes into the game with a 6-10 overall record and a 4-6 mark in the league.
The Pack will look to snap a two-game losing skid on Tuesday as the ThunderWolves have opened its current three-game road trip with losses this past Friday at seventh-ranked Colorado School of Mines (97-62) and on Saturday at MSU Denver (69-63). In fact, CSU Pueblo has lost five of its last six games overall with the lone win being a 70-66 home win on New Year's Eve against Westminster.
Following Tuesday's game, the Pack will return home to host Western Colorado for a 7:30 p.m. RMAC contest on Saturday, Jan. 14.
Tuesday's road game will mark the sixth road game this season for the Pack as the ThunderWolves are 1-4 away from home on the season with all those road contests coming in RMAC play. The team's lone road win this season was a 68-55 victory at Colorado Christian on Dec. 3.
ABOUT CSU PUEBLO
The Thunderwolves, who have lost five of its eight games by seven or fewer points, have four players averaging in double figures on the season as sophomore guard
Lian Ramiro (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) leads the way as he is averaging 12.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game and is shooting 37 percent from the field and 84 percent at the free throw line. He has scored in double figures in 10 games and is coming off a 12-point effort in Saturday's setback at MSU Denver.
In addition to Ramiro, senior guard/forward
Meekness Payne (Phoenix, Ariz./New Hampshire) is averaging 11.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game and is shooting 50 percent from the field, 43 percent from the 3-point line and 73 percent from the free throw line. Payne has reached double figures in scoring in 10 games, including tallying 14 points and six rebounds last time out at MSU Denver.
The other two double-digit scorers for CSU Pueblo are junior guard
Makiah Morris (San Diego, Calif./San Diego City College) and sophomore forward
Isaiah Thompson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Fountain-Fort Carson).
Morris is averaging 11.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game and leads the team in steals with 22 and made 3-pointers with 21. He is shooting 42 percent from the field, 36 percent from the 3-point line and 76 percent from the free throw line and has scored in double figures in eight games, while Thompson is averaging 10.0 points and a team-leading 9.1 rebounds per game and is shooting 49 percent from the field and 73 percent at the free throw line and has posted double-doubles in two of his last three games as he had 13 points and 10 rebounds last time out at MSU Denver and had 14 points and 14 rebounds against Westminster. Thompson has had four double-doubles on the season.
As a team, CSU Pueblo is fifth in the league in three-point field goal percentage defense as their foes are shooting 33.0 percent from long distance. In addition, the Pack are fourth in the league in scoring defense (68.6), steals (7.2), rebound margin (+4.3) and turnover margin (-0.1) and are fifth in the league in field goal percentage (47.0 percent).
The Pack are averaging 74.3 points per game and are allowing 68.6 points per game and in RMAC play, they are averaging 68 points per game and are allowing 71.2 points per game. CSU Pueblo has scored 70 or more points in eight games, including topping the century mark in back-to-back games earlier this season against Spurgeon and Bacone College.
CSU Pueblo is coached by
Matt Hammer, who is in his fourth season as the Pack's men's basketball coach. In his three-plus seasons leading the Pack, Hammer has compiled a 33-56 overall record and is 24-47 mark in RMAC games.
ABOUT NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS
The Cowboys comes into Tuesday's action having dropped three straight games, including suffering back-to-back road losses this past weekend at MSU Denver (73-66) and at seventh-ranked Mines (76-56). The other loss for NMHU was an 84-53 home setback on New Year's Eve to Colorado Mesa. Prior to the loss to Mesa, NMHU had won two straight games against South Dakota School of Mines (82-80) and Westminster (77-73).
Highlands is one of the top shot blocking teams in the league as they have blocked 65 shots in 16 games and are second in league in blocks per game as they are averaging 4.1 per game. Two Cowboys – junior forward Ezichi Kalu and junior forward Tyler Rodgers – have recorded 25 and 16 blocks respectively on the year. Additionally, NMHU is fourth in the league in field goal percentage defense (42.3 percent) and is sixth in the league in both three-point field goal percentage defense (33.2 percent) and turnover margin (-0.4).
Leading the way offensively for the Cowboys is senior guard Dante Moses, who is the third leading scorer in the RMAC as he is averaging 22.1 points per game and is also pulling down 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game and is shooting 56 percent from the field and 76 percent from the free throw line. He has scored in double figures in all 15 games this season, including eight games with 20 or more points. He scored an RMAC individual season high 48 points against South Dakota School of Mines. In RMAC play, Moses is averaging 25.1 points per game.
In addition to Moses, sophomore guard Jalen Munn is averaging 8.0 points per game and is shooting 40 percent from the field and 41 percent from the 3-point line.
NMHU is coached by Mike Dominguez, who has been with the Cowboys since the beginning of the 2019-20 season. In his time with the Cowboys, Rodriguez has posted a 39-34 overall record and a 27-27 mark in RMAC games. He led the team to 18 wins his first season in 2019-20. He was the program's associate head coach for two seasons before becoming the program's head coach.
Tuesday's game will mark the 33rd all-time game in the series with Highlands holding an 18-14 all-time lead. The Pack has lost seven of the last eight meetings in the series with the lone win being a 68-65 win at Massari Arena on Dec. 4, 2021. The series is tied 8-8 in Pueblo, while Highlands holds a 10-6 win on their home court. Last season, the Pack fell 94-84 to the Cowboys in Las Vegas, N.M., on Feb. 9, 2022.
