PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball team opens the 2026 calendar year on Saturday, Jan. 3, as the ThunderWolves conclude its non-conference schedule with a 3 p.m. tilt against New Mexico Highlands in Massari Arena.

CSU Pueblo, who hasn't played since concluding the 2025 calendar year with a 61-55 setback at Texas A&M-International on Dec. 20, enters the New Year sporting a 7-4 overall record and a 2-2 mark in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, but the Pack dropped two straight games to close out the 2025 calendar year as along with the loss at Texas A&M-International, the Pack fell 84-77 in overtime at South Dakota Mines on Dec. 13.

Saturday's game with New Mexico Highlands will mark the eighth and final regular season non-conference game for the Pack as they are sporting a 5-2 record in non-conference games with the losses coming at home to Eastern New Mexico (70-63) on Nov. 29 and at Texas A&M-International (61-55) on Dec. 20. It marks the second consecutive season that the Pack has won at least five non-conference games and since the beginning of the 2021-22 season, the Pack is 21-14 in regular season non-conference games.

In addition, Saturday's game will mark the seventh home game this season for the Pack as they are 4-2 at home, including being 3-1 in non-conference home contests. Over the past four-plus seasons, the Pack has posted a 38-30 home record, including a 15-6 record in home non-conference games.

The 7-4 start to the season is the ninth in the program's four-year school history (1963-present) and the first since opening the 2016-17 season, winning seven of its first 11 games. In addition to 2025-26 and 2016-17, the Pack also opened the season 7-4 through 11 games in 1963-64, 1970-71, 1979-80, 1983-84, 1989-90, 1996-97, 2014-15, and 2015-16.

ABOUT THE PACK
CSU Pueblo has built its success in the early going on the defensive end of the floor as it leads the RMAC and ranks 30th nationally in NCAA Division II in scoring defense, allowing just 65.5 points per game. The Pack has held seven of its 11 opponents under 70 points this season and also leads the RMAC in both field goal percentage defense (39.0 percent) and 3-point field goal defense (29.7 percent). Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Pack is 17-2 when holding opponents under 60 points, including a perfect 3-0 mark this season.

In addition, the ThunderWolves, coached by first-year head coach Zach Ruebesam, are second in the league in rebounding as they are averaging 38.2 boards per game and are fourth in the league in rebound margin at +4.3, and are third in the league in scoring margin at +8.6.

Offensively, the Pack is averaging 74.2 points per game and is shooting 43 percent from the field, 32.8 percent from the 3-point line, and is 10th in the league in free throw shooting at 71.1 percent. Additionally, the Pack is sixth in the league in assists per game (14.8), fifth in steals per game (7.7), fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.17), and third in turnover margin (+1.0). Sophomore guard Mac Terry (Castle Pines, Colo./South Dakota Mines) leads the RMAC and is sixth nationally in Division II in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.40 as he has had 34 assists and just 10 turnovers.

As a team, the Pack has shot 20 or more free throws in a game eight times, including a season-high 33 free throws against UT Permian Basin. The Pack has had 20 or more free throw attempts in six of its last seven games heading into this weekend's action. Along with shooting 20 or more free throws in eight games, the Pack has made double-digit free throws in nine of 11 games, including a season-high 24 made free throws against UT Permian Basin. The Pack has also shot 70 percent or better from the line six times, including a season-high 92.9 percent (13-for-14) at the line last time out at Texas A&M-International.

Sophomore guard/forward Jordan Blair (Keller, Texas/Keller Central) and junior guard Jaden Kennis (Windsor, Colo./MSU Denver) lead the ThunderWolves offensively, each averaging 14.3 points per game. Blair paces the Pack on the glass at 7.7 rebounds per contest, which ranks sixth in the RMAC, while Kennis has scored in double figures in 10 of 11 games, including four straight double-digit scoring games.

Junior guard Dylan Sanders (Aurora, Colo./Pearl River CC) and redshirt sophomore forward Ty Adam (Severance, Colo./Severance) provide additional scoring depth as they are averaging 9.3 points and 8.4 points per game, respectively. Adam has scored in double figures in two straight games and is shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 60 percent from the 3-point line.

ABOUT NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS
New Mexico Highlands enters the New Year sporting a 4-10 overall record and is 2-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Cowboys ended the 2025 calendar year winning three of its final four games with the lone loss being an 80-63 home setback to Colorado Christian on Dec. 20. Before the loss to CCU, the Cowboys earned a home RMAC win over Adams State (86-85), a non-conference road win at Western Colorado (78-70) and a home win over Cameron (83-70). NMHU's other win this season came at Regis (72-57) to open RMAC play. Since opening the season by losing its first seven games, New Mexico Highlands has posted a 4-3 overall record.

The Cowboys have played 10 of their first 14 games this season on the road as NMHU has posted a 2-8 record away from home, including a 2-5 mark on opponents' home courts. NMHU and CSU Pueblo have played two common opponents this season - Eastern New Mexico and Cameron. The Pack is 1-1 against those opponents this season, while NMHU is 1-2 against those same opponents, as they are 1-1 against Cameron and 0-1 against Eastern New Mexico.

New Mexico Highlands, which was tabbed to finish 11th in the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll as they earned 74 points from the league's head coaches, has two double-digit scorers and three other players averaging over eight points per game. The Cowboys have played 19 different players this season.

Leading the way offensively for the Cowboys was senior guard Marcus Pierce, as he is averaging 13.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game and is shooting 53 percent from the field, 42 percent from the 3-point line, and 84 percent at the free throw line. Pierce has scored in double figures in eight games, including a season-high 19 points against Central Missouri.

In addition to Pierce, senior guard Dontae Walker is averaging 10.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game and is shooting 44 percent from the field and 71 percent at the free throw line and has tallied nine games with 10 or more points, including scoring 23 points at Fort Lewis.

Three other Cowboys are averaging between 8.3 and 9.3 points per game this season as junior forward Nikk Williams is averaging 9.3 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and is shooting 52.7 percent from the field and has tallied three double-doubles, while junior forward Ibrahima Sacko is averaging 9.0 points and 2.5 rebounds per game and is shooting 61.3 percent from the field and senior guard Ramiah Adedigba is averaging 8.3 points per game and is shooting 55.2 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from the 3-point line.

As a team, New Mexico Highlands is averaging 71.3 points per game and is allowing 77.9 points per game. The Cowboys are fifth in the RMAC in field goal percentage as they are shooting 45.8 percent from the field, while shooting 31 percent from the 3-point line and 66.6 percent from the free throw line. Defensively, NMHU is among the top teams in the RMAC in 3-point field goal percentage defense (33.4 percent), turnovers forced per game (15.36), and steals per game (8.7). In addition, NMHU is fourth in the league in free throw attempts per game (24.1) and is third in the league in bench points per game (30.6). 

New Mexico Highlands is coached by first-year head coach Zach Settembre. Settembre, who is 4-10 with the Cowboys, came to New Mexico Highlands after spending the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Tarleton State University. Along with coaching at Tarleton State, Settembre was the head coach at Tallahassee Community College for two seasons (2019-21) and also served as an assistant coach at Coastal Carolina and New Mexico State. Settembre, who is a 2012 graduate of Syracuse University, was a student manager at Syracuse Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim. The Louisville, Ky., native graduated from St. Xavier High School in 2009.

Saturday's game marks the first of two meetings this season and the 102nd all-time on the hardwood between the two schools. The Pack holds a 67-34 all-time lead in the series as they lead the series, 39-11 at home, and 27-23 in Las Vegas, N.M. The Cowboys, though, have won six of the last 10 games in the series. Last season, the teams split their two meetings, with the Cowboys collecting an 85-63 win on their home court on Nov. 23 and the Pack picking up a 69-63 win in Massari Arena on Jan. 25.

In the home win over the Cowboys last season, the Pack held NMHU to 39 percent shooting from the field and 26 percent from the 3-point line, forcing 19 turnovers that led to 18 points. The Pack, who trailed 32-28 at the half, outscored the Cowboys, 41-31, in the second half. Armon Muldrew paced the Pack offense with 24 points, while Brevin Walter added 15 points off the bench in the win.

UP NEXT
Following this Saturday's game against New Mexico Highlands, the Pack will return to RMAC action on Thursday, Jan. 8, with a 7 p.m. contest in Colorado Springs, Colo., at UCCS (7-4 overall, 3-1 RMAC), before returning home for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday, Jan. 10, in Massari Arena against Colorado Christian (4-7 overall, 0-4 RMAC).