PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball concludes a three-game road trip this coming weekend with two key Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games in the state of South Dakota.
 
The ThunderWolves, who have won three of its last five games, opens the road swing through South Dakota on Friday, Jan. 26 with a 7:30 p.m. game in Rapid City against South Dakota Mines, before concluding the trip about 24 hours later on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. in Spearfish against Black Hills State University.
 
CSU Pueblo comes into this weekend's road trip to Mount Rushmore State sporting a 9-8 overall record and is sitting in a four-way tie for sixth place in the RMAC standings with a 5-6 league mark. The Pack are tied with South Dakota Mines and Regis in the league standings.
 
The Pack has won two of its last three games with the lone loss being a 79-72 setback last Friday at Western Colorado. The loss snapped a two-game win streak for the Pack that began with a 77-62 home win on Jan. 13 against MSU Denver and then collected a 75-55 home win over New Mexico Highlands on Jan. 16.
 
This weekend's two games will mark the eighth and ninth road games of the season for the Pack as they are 2-5 away from home this season, including a 2-3 road mark in RMAC play.
 
ABOUT THE PACK
The Pack enters this weekend's action with five players averaging in double figures on the season as senior guard Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) leads the way offensively as he is fifth in the league in scoring at 17.7 points per game. In addition to averaging 17.7 points per game, Walter, who was a two-time All-RMAC selection while playing the past three years at South Dakota Mines, is also averaging 3.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, and is shooting 41 percent from the field, 35 percent from the 3-point line and is second in the league in free throw shooting at 88 percent. He has scored in double figures in 11 of his last 12 games and is averaging 19.6 points per game in RMAC play and has reached double figures in scoring in 10 of the Pack's 11 league games.
 
In addition to Walter, senior guard Makiah Morris (San Diego, Calif./San Diego City College) is second in scoring at 15.2 points per game and leads the team and is seventh in the RMAC in rebounding at 7.7 boards per game and also fourth in the league in assists (3.6 per game) and second in steals (2.1 per game) and has a 1.45 assist/turnover ratio and is shooting 53 percent from the field, 46 percent from the 3-point line and 82 percent from the free throw line. He has scored in double figures in five straight games, including tallying double-doubles in two of his last three games. In RMAC play, Morris is averaging 17.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game and is shooting 55 percent from the field, 48 percent from the 3-point line and 84 percent at the free throw line.
 
The third double-digit scorer is junior guard Armon Muldrew (Perris, Calif./San Bernardino Valley) as he is averaging 12.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game and is shooting 44 percent from the field and 42 percent from the 3-point line and has scored in double figures in four straight games, including tallying 20 or more points in two of those four games.
 
Junior forward De'Shaun Cooper (Poway, Calif./Balboa School) and junior guard Daeyon James (Stockbridge, Ga./Seward County CC) are the final two double-digit scorers as Cooper is averaging 11.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game and is shooting 59 percent from the field and leads the team in blocked shots with 15 and has scored in double figures in three straight games and tallied his first career double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds against New Mexico Highlands, while James is averaging 10.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game and is shooting 39 percent from the field and 40 percent from the 3-point line and is making 2.7 treys per game, which is third in the RMAC and leads the team and is second in the league in made treys with 45. James has scored in double figures in two straight games and nine times overall on the season.
 
Coming into this weekend's action, the Pack are the RMAC leaders in 3-point shooting as the Pack is shooting a league-best 38.3 percent (153-for-399) from the 3-point line, which is 33rd in NCAA Division II. The Pack have shot over 45 percent from downtown in five games, including two games shooting over 55 percent from the 3-point line as the Pack shot a season-best 61 percent (14-for-23) from the 3-point line at Adams State and shot 58 percent (14-for-24) from downtown at Westminster.
 
In addition to leading the RMAC in 3-point shooting, the Pack are also one of the top teams in the league in defending the 3-point line as they enter the weekend second in the league and 23rd nationally in Division II in 3-point field goal defense as their opponents are shooting 30.4 percent (116-for-381) from long distance on the year. The Pack's opponents are making 6.8 treys per game and have shot over 40 percent from the 3-point line just four times with the most recent occurrence coming from Mines as they were 8-for-18 (44.4 percent) from long distance.
 
Offensively, the Pack are scoring 79.2 points per game and have scored over 70 points in 14 of 17 games, including topping the century mark two times and is shooting 45 percent from the field, 38 percent from the 3-point line and 71 percent from the free throw line. The Pack are getting outrebounded by 2.8 boards per game and are averaging 14.3 assists, 7.4 steals and 2.2 blocks per game.
 
The Pack enter this weekend's action  sixth in the league in field goal percentage defense as their opponents are shooting 43 percent from the field and are fifth in turnovers per game (14.5), fifth in scoring margin (+5.8). In addition, the Pack is third in turnover margin (+2.1) and fourth in fouls per game (16.6).
 
In RMAC play, the Pack are averaging 81.7 points per game and are allowing 82.0 points per game. In addition, the Pack is shooting 45 percent from the field, 36 percent from the 3-point line and 71 percent at the free throw line in conference action.
 
CSU Pueblo is coached by Matt Hammer, who is in his fifth season as the Pack's coach and in his four-plus seasons leading the game, he has compiled a 47-72 overall record and a 33-61 record in RMAC games. Hammer needs one more win this season to lead the Pack to its three straight 10 win campaign.
 
ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA MINES
South Dakota Mines comes into Friday's home game with CSU Pueblo sporting a 7-10 overall record and are in a three-way tie for seventh in the RMAC standings with a 5-6 record after splitting games last weekend as they earned an 84-75 win at Westminster (84-75) and fell 81-56 at No. 8 Colorado Mesa. The Hardrockers have won just two of its last six games since earning its 101-99 overtime win in Pueblo against the ThunderWolves on Dec. 15. The Hardrockers other win during this stretch was an 81-66 home win over Western Colorado.    
 
The Hardrockers have struggled at home this season as they are just 2-7 on its home court, including being 1-4 at home in RMAC play with the lone home conference win coming against Western Colorado on Jan. 12. Prior to that win over Western Colorado, South Dakota Mines had dropped six straight home games.
 
South Dakota Mines, who was tabbed to finish 11th in the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll as they earned 62 points, have two of the Top 5 scorers in the RMAC this season as junior guard Cameron Cohn is third in the league in scoring at 18.9 points per game, while fifth-year senior guard Alejandro Rama is fourth in the league in scoring at 18.0 points per game. In addition to Rama and Cohn, the Hardrockers have two other players averaging in double figures this season as graduate student guard Kolton Frugoli is averaging 11.7 points per game and senior guard Keagan Smith is averaging 11.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.
 
Along with being second on the team in scoring, Rama is also averaging 4.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per game and is shooting 43 percent from the field, 34 percent from the 3-point line and 80 percent from the free throw line, while Cohn is averaging 4.2 rebounds per game and is shooting 43 percent from the field, 36 percent from the 3-point line and 74 percent at the free throw line.
 
As a team, South Dakota Mines is third in the league in 3-pointers made per game (8.9) and are fourth in league in free throw percentage at 73.9 percent and lead the league with fewest turnovers per game as they average just 10.8 turnovers per game.
 
The Hardrockers are coached by Eric Glenn, who is in his sixth season at South Dakota Mines and has posted a 64-87 overall record. Prior to becoming the Hardrockers' head coach, Glenn, who played collegiately at Chadron State, spent 13 seasons as an assistant coach at South Dakota Mines.

Friday's game with South Dakota Mines marks the second meeting this season between the two school as the Hardrockers collected a 101-99 overtime win over the Pack in Massari Arena on Dec. 15. South Dakota Mines leads the all-time series 8-4 and has won seven of the last 10 meetings in the series. The Pack lead the series 4-3 at home, while the Hardrockers hold a 5-0 record on its homecourt over the Pack.
 
ABOUT BLACK HILLS STATE
Black Hills State, who hosts New Mexico Highlands on Friday before facing the Pack on Saturday, comes into the weekend having lost two straight and three of its last four games overall with the lone win being a 69-65 home win over Western Colorado. The Yellow Jackets, who have advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four the past two seasons, is sporting a 7-9 overall record and a 5-5 mark in the league after dropping road games last weekend to No. 8 Colorado Mesa (80-57) and to Westminster (82-69).                 
 
BHSU is 4-4 at home and 3-5 on the road this season and they have posted 3-2 record at home in RMAC play with their home league wins coming against MSU Denver (75-56), Adams State (90-87) and Western Colorado (69-65).
 
Black Hills State, who was tabbed to finish fourth in the preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll as the 'Jackets earned 157 points, has the leading scorer in the league in graduate student guard Matthew Ragsdale, who is averaging 21.6 points per game and he has scored in double figures in 14 games, including nine straight double-digit scoring games and he has also scored 20 or more points in a game 11 times, including two games with 32 points each. He is shooting 50 percent from the field, 36 percent from the 3-point line and 82 percent at the free throw line.
 
In addition to Ragsdale, junior guard Caelin Hearne is also averaging in double figures on the season as he is averaging 10.5 points per game and is fresh off a career-high 22 point outing last time out at Westminster. Hearne is shooting 44 percent from the field and 33 percent from the 3-point line.
 
As a team, BHSU is one of the top defensive teams in the league as they are fifth in field goal percentage defense (42.9 percent) and are seventh in scoring defense as they are allowing 72.8 points per game. On offense, they are averaging 69.9 points per game and shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 34.7 percent from the 3-point line.
 
The Yellow Jackets are coached by Ryan Thompson, who is in his sixth season at Black Hills State and has compiled a 111-50 record and is the fourth coach in school history to reach 100 victories, but was the quickest to reach the milestone.
 
Saturday's game with Black Hills State marks the only meeting between the two schools as the Yellow Jackets hold a 10-8 lead all-time in the series, including collecting a 75-57 win at Massari Arena last season on Jan. 21. Perhaps the biggest win for the Pack came in 2022 as the Pack earned an 82-59 win over the 'Jackets on its home court. BHSU would advance to the NCAA Division II Final Four that season. BHSU leads the series in Pueblo, 7-3, but the Pack hold a 5-3 edge in the series in Spearfish. The Yellow Jackets have won seven of the last 10 games in the series.

UP NEXT
The Pack will return next Friday, Feb. 2 as they open a three-game homestand with a 7:30 p.m. RMAC contest against Regis University. The homestand will then conclude the following weekend (Feb. 9-10) as the Pack host home league games against eighth-ranked Fort Lewis and Adams State. Both contests will tip-off at 7:30 p.m.