PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball team will look to continue its hot play to open the 2024-25 season as the ThunderWolves open its 20-game slate of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games with games at Westminster and Western Colorado.
 
CSU Pueblo opens the road trip to open RMAC play with a 7:30 p.m. game on Thursday, Dec. 5 in Salt Lake City, Utah, against Westminster University, before traveling to Gunnison, Colo., for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday, Dec. 7 at Western Colorado University. These two games this weekend will be just the second and third road games this season for the Pack and their first road games since suffering its lone loss of the season on Nov. 23 at New Mexico Highlands.
 
The Pack comes into this week's first two RMAC games of the 2024-25 season sporting a 5-1 overall record after earning an 87-65 home win over Bethany (Kan.) College on Nov. 26. The win over Bethany improved the Pack's home record this season to 5-0.
 
Before the Pack's 85-63 loss at New Mexico Highlands on Nov. 23, the Pack had opened the season with four consecutive wins as they posted home wins over Cameron (83-64), Midwestern State (80-60), Texas A&M-Kingsville (87-55) and Barclay College (109-50).
 
The 5-1 start to this season is the Pack's best six-game start to a season since also starting 5-1 to open the 2014-15 season. Additionally, the Pack have had five 5-1 starts to a season since 2005-06 as they also started 5-1 in 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2009-10 before this season.
 
ABOUT THE PACK
Leading the way offensively for the ThunderWolves through the first six games of the 2024 season is senior forward De'Shaun Cooper (Poway, Calif./Balboa School), who is averaging 13.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game and is shooting 64 percent from the field, which is fourth-best in the RMAC. Cooper has scored in double figures in four of the Pack's six games, including tallying a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds against Barclay. He comes into the week just 161 points shy of becoming the 28th player in school history to score 1,000 career points.
 
In addition to Cooper, two other Pack players are averaging in double figures on the season as senior guard Armon Muldrew (Perris, Calif./San Bernardino Valley) is second in scoring at 10.8 points per game and is also averaging 3.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game and is shooting 43 percent from the field and 82 percent from the free throw line. Muldrew opened the season with three straight double-digit scoring games, but has been held to less than eight points each in his last three games.
 
The third double-digit scorer is junior forward Victor Lado (Louisville, Ky./Vincennes University) as he is averaging 10.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game and is shooting an RMAC-best 73 percent from the field and tallied a Pack season-high 30 points in the win against Barclay.
 
Two other Pack players are averaging over 8.5 points per game on the season as fifth-year senior guard Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) is averaging 9.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game, while freshman forward Jake Lafferty (Bruner, Mo./Sparta) is averaging 8.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game and is shooting 64 percent from the field.
 
As a team, the Pack, who is coached by sixth-year head coach Matt Hammer, enters this week's action as one of the top scoring teams in the RMAC as they are third in the league in scoring at 84.5 points per game and lead the league in both scoring defense as they are allowing 63.2 points per game and outscoring their foes by nearly 22 points per game. The Pack have scored over 80 points in all five of its wins, including tallying 109 points in a win over Barclay and have allowed only two foes – Bethany and New Mexico Highlands – to score 65 or more points in a game as Bethany scored 65 in an 87-65 loss to the Pack, while Highlands scored 85 in its 85-63 win over the Pack.
 
While being one of the scoring offensive and defensive teams in the RMAC, the Pack come into the week leading the league and ranking in the Top 10 nationally in both field goal percentage defense and three-point field goal defense. The Pack's opponents are shooting just 36.6 percent from the field and 24.8 percent from the 3-point line. The Pack are fifth nationally in field goal defense and ninth nationally in 3-point field goal defense.
 
Another strength for Pack this season has been their ability to shoot the ball effectively from the floor as the Pack is second in the RMAC this week in field goal percentage as they have shot 49.9 percent from the field. The Pack has shot over 50 percent from the field in three games and hasn't shot under 40 percent from the field in a game this season. Four Pack players are shooting over 60 percent from the field as along with Cooper, Lado and Lafferty, junior guard Denim Johnson (Omaha, Neb./Trinity Valley CC) is shooting 60.9 percent from the field.
 
Along with shooting the ball at a 61 percent clip this year, Johnson is also one the league leaders in assists as he is averaging 3.8 assists per game, which is fifth-best in the league. As a team, the Pack has recorded 119 assists this season and has assisted on 61.6 percent of its made field goals. Six players have tallied 10 or more assists on the year.

ABOUT WESTMINSTER
Westminster comes into Thursday's home game with the Pack having won three straight games to push its overall record to 6-2 on the season. The win streak began with a 94-74 home win over Justice College, before winning two home games last weekend over Park (Ariz.). The Griffins defeated Park, 67-60 last Friday and then earned a 93-67 win on Saturday. The Griffins lone losses are against UT-Permian Basin (75-71) and in two overtimes at Simon Fraser (99-94). After splitting its first two games to open the season, the Griffins have won five of its last six games.
 
Thursday's game with the Pack will be the fifth at home this season for the Griffins as they are sporting a 4-0 home record and are just 1-1 on the road and 1-1 on a neutral court.
 
Westminster, who was tabbed to finish 12th in the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll as they earned 48 points from the league's head coaches, has three players averaging in double figures as senior guard Chase Potter leads the way with 17.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game and is shooting 51 percent from the field, 44 percent from the 3-point line and 82 percent at the free throw line. He has scored in double figures in seven of eight games, including tallying 30 points in the double overtime loss to Simon Fraser.
 
In addition to Potter, junior forward Simon Akena is averaging 14.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game and is shooting 50 percent from the field, 60 percent from the 3-point line and 88 percent from the free throw line and has scored in double figures in five games, including two games with 20 or more points, while fifth-year senior guard Donaval Avila is averaging 11.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game and is shooting 57 percent from the field, 42 percent from the 3-point line and 86 percent at the free throw line.
                  
As a team, Westminster is averaging 81.0 points per game and is allowing 67.9 points per game. The Griffins are shooting 51 percent from the field, an RMAC-leading 41 percent from the 3-point line and 78 percent from the free throw line and are turning the ball over 15.0 times per contest. Westminster has scored over 80 points in five of eight games and is 4-1 this season when scoring 80 or more points and ranks in the Top 5 in the league in field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and free throw percentage.
 
The Griffins are coached by Norm Parrish, who is in his 10th season at Westminster and has compiled a 125-118 overall record with the Griffins.

Thursday's game with Westminster marks the first of two meetings this season between the two schools as the Pack will host Westminster at Massari Arena on Feb. 1. Thursday's game marks the 17th all-time meeting between the two schools with CSU Pueblo holding a slight 9-7 edge in the series. The Pack has won two straight games in the series and is 6-4 in the last 10 games against the Griffins. The Pack won 93-78 last season in Salt Lake City and also collected a 66-52 home win over the Griffins.
 
ABOUT WESTERN COLORADO
Western Colorado, who hosts Colorado Christian on Thursday before facing the Pack on Saturday, comes into this week's action sporting a 1-4 overall record with its lone win being a 72-48 victory over Justice College on Nov. 22 in its lone home game of the season. The Mountaineers and the Pack have played three common opponents - Cameron, Midwestern State and New Mexico Highlands. The Pack went 2-1 against those three schools with two of them at home, while Western Colorado went 0-3 against those three same schools on the road.
 
The Mountaineers have played only one game at home this season prior to this week's action and is 1-0 at home on the season. Last season, WCU won 11 total games with seven of those wins coming at home as they were 7-6 at home.
 
Western Colorado, who was tabbed to finish 11th in the Preseason RMAC Coaches' poll as they earned 74 points from the league's head coaches, has three players averaging in double figures led by senior guard Kade Juelfs. Juelfs is averaging 14.0 points per game and is shooting 39 percent from the field, 42 percent from the 3-point line and 83 percent at the free throw line. He has scored in double figures twice, including tallying 31 points in a 94-86 loss at New Mexico Highlands.
 
In addition to Juelfs, sophomore forward Tyler Halligan is averaging 13.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game and is shooting 50 percent from the field, while senior guard Amar Rivers is averaging 10.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game and is shooting 43 percent from the field and 86 percent at the free throw line.
 
As a team, Western Colorado is averaging 72.0 points per game and is allowing 75.8 points per game. The Mountaineers are shooting 46 percent from the field, 28 percent from the 3-point line and an RMAC-worst 58.2 percent from the free throw line. They have +1.6 turnover margin and are fifth in the league in steals as they average 7.0 per game.
 
The Mountaineers are coached by Zac Claus, who is in his second season at WCU and has compiled a 12-22 record in Gunninson and is 40-110 in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach as he spent four seasons as the head coach at Idaho before coming to Western Colorado.
 
Saturday's game marks the only meeting this season between the two schools as the Pack leads the all-time series 10-7, but lost to the Mountaineers last season in Gunnison, 79-72, to snap a two-game winning streak in the series. The Pack is just 3-5 all-time in Gunnison and has lost three straight games on the Mountaineers home court since picking up a 79-71 win on Jan. 10, 2020.

UP NEXT
Following this weekend's two games, the Pack will return home next weekend to host Chadron State and South Dakota Mines for back-to-back RMAC home contests in Massari Arena on Thursday, Dec. 12, and Saturday, Dec. 14. The Pack will host Chadron State at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 12 and face South Dakota Mines at 3 p.m. on Dec. 14.