PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball team opens the final month of the regular season by playing host to Regis University for a 7:30 p.m. Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tilt on Friday, Feb. 2 at Massari Arena.
 
Friday's game with Regis is the first of three straight at home for the ThunderWolves as they will conclude the homestand next weekend (Feb. 9-10) with contests against No. 8 ranked Fort Lewis and Adams State. In fact, the Pack will play five of its final games of the 2023-24 regular season at home.
 
CSU Pueblo comes into Friday's action reeling as they have lost three straight games since picking up home wins over MSU Denver (77-62) and New Mexico Highlands (75-55) on Jan. 13 and Jan. 16 in their most recent homestand. That homestand began with an 85-79 overtime loss to then 23rd-ranked Colorado School of Mines.
 
The Pack's current three game losing skid has dropped their overall record to 9-10 and moved their league record to 5-8. The Pack has dropped to 10th place in the league standings with nine games to play but is just two games out of fourth place. The top eight teams at the end of the regular season advance to the RMAC Tournament.
 
CSU Pueblo's current three-game losing skid started with a 79-72 loss two weeks ago at Western Colorado and then continued last weekend in South Dakota with back-to-back road defeats at South Dakota Mines (86-80) and Black Hills State (84-69).
 
This weekend's home game with Regis will mark the 11th home contest of the season for the Pack as they are 7-3 at home, including being 3-3 at home in RMAC games.
 
ABOUT THE PACK
The Pack enters Friday's lone game of the weekend with four 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 sixth in the league in scoring at 16.7 points per game. In addition to averaging 16.7 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 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, and is shooting 40 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 12 of his last 14 games and is averaging 18.2 points per game in RMAC play and has reached double figures in scoring in 11 of the Pack's 13 league games.
 
In addition to Walter, senior guard Makiah Morris (San Diego, Calif./San Diego City College) is second in scoring at 15.3 points per game and leads the team and is sixth in the RMAC in rebounding at 7.0 boards per game and also sixth in the league in assists (3.4 per game) and third in steals (2.1 per game) and has a 1.38 assist/turnover ratio and is shooting 52 percent from the field, 43 percent from the 3-point line and 83 percent from the free throw line. He has scored in double figures in seven straight games, including tallying double-doubles in two of his last five games. In RMAC play, Morris is averaging 17.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game and is shooting 54 percent from the field, 44 percent from the 3-point line and 85 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 12.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game and is shooting 44 percent from the field and 39 percent from the 3-point line and has scored in double figures in five of his last six games. In RMAC play, Muldrew is averaging 13.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game and is shooting 45 percent from the floor and 36 percent from the 3-point line.
 
Junior forward De'Shaun Cooper (Poway, Calif./Balboa School) is the fourth double-digit scorer on the season for the Pack as he is averaging 11.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game and is shooting 58 percent from the field and leads the team in blocked shots with 15. He has scored in double figures in four of his last five games, including recording his first career double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds against New Mexico Highlands. In RMAC play, Cooper is averaging 12.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game and is shooting 62 percent from the field.
 
Coming into play on Friday, the Pack are second in the league in 3-point shooting as they are shooting 37 percent (160-for-432) from the 3-point line. 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 being second in the RMAC in 3-point shooting, the Pack are also second in the league in both free throws made and free throw attempts per game as they are making 16.5 free throws per game and are attempting 23.1 free throws per game. As a team, the Pack is shooting 71.5 percent from the free throw line.
 
Offensively, the Pack are scoring 78.7 points per game and have scored over 70 points in 15 of 19 games, including topping the century mark two times and is shooting 45 percent from the field and 37 percent from the 3-point line. The Pack are getting outrebounded by 3.2 boards per game and are averaging 13.2 assists, 7.1 steals and 2.1 blocks per game.
 
The Pack enter this week's action seventh in the league in field goal percentage defense as their opponents are shooting 44 percent from the field and are sixth in turnovers per game (14.3), fifth in scoring margin (+4.1). In addition, the Pack is third in turnover margin (+2.2) and third in fouls per game (16.3).
 
In RMAC play, the Pack are averaging 80.6 points per game and are allowing 82.5 points per game. In addition, the Pack is shooting 46 percent from the field, 34 percent from the 3-point line and 73 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 Pack, he has compiled a 47-74 overall record and a 33-63 record in RMAC games. Hammer needs one more win this season to lead the Pack to its three straight 10 win campaign.
 
ABOUT REGIS
Regis comes into this weekend's action sporting a 10-9 overall record and are in a four-way tie for fourth place in the RMAC with a 7-6 record. The Rangers have won two straight games as they picked up home wins last weekend against Colorado Christian (71-63) and Chadron State (86-55). The current two-game streak followed a three-game losing skid for the Rangers as they fell to Fort Lewis (81-80), Mines (79-61) and MSU Denver (75-59).
 
The Rangers have struggled on the road this season as they are just 2-6 away from home, including being 2-4 on the road in RMAC play. Regis has lost two straight road games in RMAC play as they lone road wins in league play have come at Westminster (92-83) and at Colorado Christian (75-62).
 
Regis, who was tabbed to finish eighth in the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll as they earned 98 points, feature one of the top scorers in the league as sophomore guard Chase Mayo Harmon is averaging 16.4 points per game and is also averaging 2.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 steals per game and is shooting 44 percent from the field, 41 percent from the 3-point line and 86 percent from the free throw line. He has scored in double figures in 10 straight games and 16 games overall and has had five games of scoring 20 or more points. In RMAC play, he is averaging 15.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
 
In addition to Mayo Harmon, redshirt junior guard Eddy Egun is also averaging in double figures as he is averaging 11.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game and is shooting 57 percent from the field, 39 percent from the 3-point line and 73 percent at the free throw line. He has scored in double figures in five straight games and 11 times overall on the season. In RMAC play, Egun is averaging 12.0 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
 
As team, Regis is one of the top defensive teams in the league as they are third in blocks per game (3.5), steals per game (7.9), second in turnovers forced per game (14.8) and fourth in turnover margin (+1.1).
 
On offense, Regis is scoring 73.6 points per game and is shooting 43 percent from the field, 32 percent from the 3-point line and 75 percent from the free throw line, which is second-best in the league. On defense, the Rangers are allowing 72.1 points per game and their foes are shooting 46 percent from the field, 34 percent from the 3-point line and 64 percent at the free throw line.
 
Regis is coached by Brady Bergeson, who in his ninth season at the helm of the Rangers men's basketball program, has compiled a 141-102 record. Prior to arriving at Regis in 2015, Bergeson spent four seasons as the head coach at Western Oregon where he led the program to a 69-45 overall record. Bergeson also served as an assistant at Metro State for six seasons before becoming an assistant at Sacramento State for three seasons.

Friday's game with Regis marks the first of two meetings this season between the two schools as the Pack holds a 45-29 all-time lead in the series, including ending the 2022-23 season with a 77-62 home win over the Rangers. Prior to that win at home last season against Regis, the Pack had lost two straight home games to Rangers.

UP NEXT
The Pack will remain at home next weekend (Feb. 9-10) as they host No. 8 Fort Lewis at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 9 and then hosts Adams State at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 10. The Pack suffered a 97-64 loss in Durango, Colo., against Fort Lewis on Dec. 9, while the Pack collected a 103-97 win in Alamosa, Colo., against the Grizzlies on Dec. 8.