PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball team will play its final two regular season road games this week as they travel to Fort Lewis and Adams State for Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference contests.
 
The ThunderWolves, who remain mathematically alive for a postseason berth in the RMAC Tournament, begin its final road trip with a 7:30 p.m. game in Durango, Colo., on Thursday, Feb. 20 against Fort Lewis College (16-9 overall, 10-6 RMAC), before traveling to Alamosa, Colo., for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 22 against Adams State University (10-14 overall, 5-11 RMAC).  
 
CSU Pueblo enters this week's second to final week of the regular season having lost six straight games and 12 of its last 14 games overall after suffering a 60-47 loss last Tuesday at Colorado Christian and an 80-69 loss at home last Thursday to UCCS. The Pack are sporting a 10-14 overall record and are tied with Adams State for 11th place in the RMAC standings with a 5-11 mark. The top eight teams in the league standings at the end of the regular season earn a spot in the RMAC Tournament. The Pack is currently three games behind eighth place Chadron State, who is 8-8 in league play with two weeks left in the regular season. To secure a postseason berth in the RMAC Tournament, the Pack needs to win its final four games and get some help from the teams ahead of them in the standings.  
 
The Pack are playing its 12th and 13th road games this weekend as the Pack is 2-8 on the road this season, including being 2-6 on the road in RMAC play. After opening the season by winning its first two RMAC road games, the Pack has dropped six straight league games on the road, including being 0-6 on the road in the 2025 calendar year. Last season, the Pack went 6-8 on the road, including a 6-5 mark in the RMAC, including ending the season with four straight regular season road victories.
 
Thursday's game with Fort Lewis will mark the first and only meeting this season between the two schools, while Saturday's game at Adams State will be a rematch from earlier this season as the Pack collected a 92-88 overtime win over the Grizzlies in Massari Arena on Jan. 23. Ironically, that was one of the Pack's two wins in the 2025 calendar year.
 
ABOUT THE PACK
Through 24 games this season, the Pack has three players averaging in double figures with senior guard Armon Muldrew (Perris, Calif./San Bernardino Valley) leading the way as he is averaging 11.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and a team-best 2.8 assists per game. He is shooting 43 percent from the field, 33 percent from the 3-point line and 71 percent from the free throw line and has scored in double figures in six of his last eight games and 16 times overall and leads the team in made treys with 29. In RMAC play, Muldrew is averaging 12.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game and is shooting 42 percent from the field and 35 percent from the 3-point line.
 
In addition to Muldrew, senior forward De'Shaun Cooper (San Diego, Calif./Balboa School) is averaging 11.3 points and a team-best 5.7 rebounds per game and is shooting 62 percent from the field and has scored in double figures in three of his last five games and 16 times on the season and has tallied three double-doubles. Cooper, who became the 28th member of the Pack's 1,000-Point Club after scoring 11 points two weeks ago at Black Hills State, comes into this week's action sitting 25th in career scoring with 1,031 points and he is tied for 16th among active NCAA Division II in field goal percentage at 60.9 percent.
 
The third double-digit scorer for the Pack is fifth-year senior guard Brevin Walter (Las Vegas, Nev./South Dakota Mines) as he is averaging 11.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game and is shooting 36 percent from the field, 27 percent from the 3-point line and a team-best 80.7 percent (71-for-88) from the free throw line, which is 11th best in the RMAC and has scored in double figures in nine of his last 13 games and 16 times overall. Walter enters this week's action as the No. 4 active scorer in Division II with 1,965 points and is one of 42 active NCAA men's basketball players that have scored 1,900 or more career points. He is also just 35 points shy of scoring 2,000 career points.

As a team, the Pack, who is coached by sixth-year head coach Matt Hammer, enters this week's action averaging 71.0 points per game, but has been held under 70 points in 13 of its last 17 games, as they scored 70 points two weeks ago at Black Hills State, scored 92 points four weeks ago against Adams State, while scoring 75 points five weeks ago at Mines and tallying 72 points at home against Colorado Christian nearly six weeks ago. In 16 RMAC games, the Pack is averaging 67.3 points per game. On defense, the Pack is allowing 71.3 points per game, which is sixth in the RMAC and is eighth in the league in scoring margin at -0.3.

The Pack enters this week's action sitting third in the league and are 38th in Division II in 3-point field goal percentage defense as the Pack's opponents are shooting 31.1 percent (156-for-501) from the 3-point line and those opponents are shooting 43.3 percent (626-for-1,447) from the field. Fifteen of the Pack's 24 opponents have shot better than 40 percent from the field, while 12 of the Pack's 24 opponents haven't shot better than 28 percent from the 3-point line, but nine of its last 14 opponents have shot better than 30 percent or better from downtown, including Chadron State shooting 55.6 percent (10-for-18) from the 3-point line on Feb. 8.
 
One of the areas the Pack has struggled with this season is shooting the 3-point shot as the Pack are shooting an RMAC-worst 29.8 percent (131-for-439) from long distance and are making 5.5 treys per game, which is 14th in the RMAC. In RMAC play, the Pack is shooting 30.1 percent from the 3-point line and are averaging 5.4 made treys per game. Last season, the Pack was one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the league as they shot 37.1 percent from long distance, which was third-best in the RMAC. The Pack averaged 8.3 made treys per game last season.
 
Despite shooting 70.1 percent from the free throw line, which is 13th in the RMAC, the Pack is averaging 20.0 free throw attempts per game, which is sixth-best in the league and they have shot double-digit free throws in 22 of its 24 games and have made 20 or more free throws in a game four times, including a season-high 24 made free throws at Mines. The Pack have shot 60 more free throws than their opponents (479-419) and have made 34 more free throws than their opponents (336-302).
 
Once again, the Pack are among the top assist teams in the RMAC this season as they enter this week's action fifth in the RMAC in assists per game as they are averaging 14.8 per game. The Pack has recorded 354 assists this season and has assisted on 57.3 percent of its 618 made field goals on the year. The Pack has recorded 10 or more assists 19 times in 24 games. Last season, the Pack finished third in the RMAC in assists as they averaged 14.4 per game. On the season, the Pack had four players record 50 or more assists and had six games with 20 or more assists. The Pack recorded an assist on nearly 52 percent of its made field goals.
 
ABOUT FORT LEWIS
Fort Lewis, who has advanced to the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons and captured the RMAC Tournament title the past two seasons, comes into Thursday's action having lost two of its last three games with the lone win being a 76-61 home victory this past Sunday over Western Colorado. The Skyhawks are sporting a 16-9 overall record and are sitting in a three-way tie for fourth place in the RMAC standings with a 10-6 record. Since the beginning of the 2025 calendar year, FLC has posted an 8-4 record with its losses coming in three overtimes at Westminster (113-108), at Mines (82-79), at New Mexico Highlands (84-77) and at home last Thursday to Colorado Mesa (93-83). In the loss to Colorado Mesa, Fort Lewis made 15 3-pointers and was 22-for-41 at the free throw line and forced the Mavericks into 29 turnovers that led to 34 points, while Mesa made just six treys and was 23-for-28 from the free throw line and held a 59-23 advantage on the boards. FLC has posted a 93-26 overall record since the beginning of 2021-22.
 
The Skyhawks have been strong at home this season as they are sporting a 9-4 record in Whalen Gymnasium and have a 5-3 record in home RMAC games. The CMU loss last Thursday snapped a five-game home court win streak for the Skyhawks. Meanwhile, FLC has posted a 7-5 road record, including a 5-3 road mark in RMAC play.
 
FLC, who was tabbed to finish ninth in the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll with 87 points, has three players averaging in double figures as senior guard Biko Johnson leads the way as he is averaging 16.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game and is shooting 40 percent from the field and 37 percent from the 3-point line and has scored in double figures in 22 games, including eight games with 20 or more points.
 
In addition to Johnson, senior forward Choul Deng is averaging 13.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game and is shooting 41 percent from the field, 33 percent from the 3-point line and has recorded seven double-doubles, while fifth-year senior guard Tru Allen is averaging 12.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game and is shooting 36 percent from the field. 
 
Redshirt freshman guard Stewart Erhart, who has earned three RMAC Defensive Player of the Week accolades this season, is averaging 7.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and an RMAC-best 2.5 steals per game. Erhart has had three or more steals in a game 13 times, including tallying 10 steals over his last two games. He is also shooting 41 percent from the field and 89.2 percent from the free throw line.
 
As a team, FLC is averaging 78.6 points per game and is allowing 73.0 points per game. The Skyhawks are shooting 42 percent from the field, 33 percent from the 3-point line and 69 percent from the free throw line. The Skyhawks lead NCAA Division II in steals per game (12.8) and rank third nationally in turnovers forced per game (20.2) and are fourth nationally in turnover margin at +7.5. Defensively, FLC's foes are shooting 46 percent from the field and 37 percent from downtown. 
 
FLC is coached by first-year head coach Jordan Mast. Mast, who came to FLC after spending the past five seasons as the coach at Antelope Valley, where he led the NAIA program to a 99-26 record.
 
Thursday's game with Fort Lewis is the first and only meeting this season between the two schools as the Skyhawks lead the all-time series 30-10 and have won eight straight games in the series, including earning three wins last season against the Pack. In the most recent meeting, the Pack fell 102-96 to the Skyhawks in the first round of the 2024 RMAC Tournament on FLC's home court. FLC leads the series, 17-4 on its home court and also leads 13-6 in Pueblo.
 
ABOUT ADAMS STATE
Adams State, who hosts UCCS on Thursday before hosting the Pack on Saturday, comes into this week's action sporting a 10-14 overall record and is tied with the Pack for 11th in the RMAC with a 5-11 league record. ASU has won two of its last three games but had a two-game win streak snapped with a 103-98 loss at home last Saturday to Westminster. Since its 92-88 overtime loss at CSU Pueblo on Jan. 23, ASU has posted a 3-4 record with the wins coming at CCU (80-75) and at home against New Mexico Highlands (104-92) and Western Colorado (90-81).  
 
The Grizzlies have been strong at home this season as they are sporting a 7-5 home record, but it's just 3-5 at home in RMAC play. The Grizzlies had its three-game home win streak snapped with its 103-98 loss last Saturday to Westminster. 
 
Adams State, who was tabbed to finish 13th in the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll with 41 points, has a balanced offensive attack as six players are averaging double figures on the year. Leading the way is junior guard Jude Tapia, who is averaging 16.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game and is shooting 45 percent from the field, 43 percent from the 3-point line and 83 percent from the free throw line. His 79 made treys (3.3 per game) leads the RMAC.
 
In addition to Tapia, junior guard Ta'Veus Randle is averaging 13.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game and is shooting 38 percent from the field, 33 percent from the 3-point line and 84 percent at the free throw line, while redshirt senior forward John Harge is averaging 11.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game and is shooting 58 percent from the field, 40 percent from the 3-point line and 86 percent at the free throw line.
The other double-digit scorers are junior guard Luke Williams (11.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg), junior forward Jaylen Alexander (10.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg) and junior forward Wyatt Helming (10.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg).  
 
As a team, ASU is the top scoring team in the league as they are averaging 87.7 points per game and have scored 90 or more points in nine games. Along with scoring 87.7 points per game, the Grizzlies are shooting 48 percent from the field and are sixth in the league in 3-point field goal percentage at 37.1 and lead the RMAC in made treys per game (9.5). ASU is third in RMAC in both steals (8.7 per game) and fourth in the RMAC in assists (15.1 per game). ASU's opponents are averaging 88.8 points per game and are shooting 47 percent from the field and 35 percent from the 3-point line.   
 
ASU is coached by Kenny Tripp, who is in his second season with the Grizzlies and has compiled an 18-34 overall record.
 
Saturday's game with Adams State is the second of two matches this season between the two schools as the Pack picked up a 92-88 overtime win in Massari Arena on Jan. 23. The Pack holds a 23-14 edge in the all-time series and have won six of the last 10 games in the series. The Pack leads the series, 12-7 at home and also leads 11-7 in Alamosa. Last season, the teams split their two meetings as the Pack won 103-97 at Adams State and the Grizzlies returned the favor with a 91-90 win in Pueblo.
 
UP NEXT FOR THE PACK
Following this week's games on the road at Fort Lewis and Adams State, the Pack will close out the regular seasons with home games in Massari Arena on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. against MSU Denver and then host Mines for a 6 p.m. game on Saturday, March 1. Before the Mines game, the Pack will honor its three-member senior class in a pregame ceremony.