GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Continuing their stretch of games on the road, the Colorado Mesa Men's Basketball Team will return to action this week when they head to Southern Colorado to face off against opponents CSU Pueblo and UCCS for RMAC competition.
In this week's games the Mavericks will take on the Thunderwolves on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Massari Arena and then get Friday off before facing the Mountain Lions on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Gallogly Events Center.
The Mavs' games this week will have big impacts on seedings at the end of the season as they could help decide the top eight teams that get into the RMAC Tournament. Currently there is a four-way tie for sixth place in the conference standings with the Mavs and each of their opponents this week being three of those teams.
LAST WEEK'S GAMES
In the two games the Mavs played last week they featured a 1-1 record with a large win against Black Hills State in an overtime thriller, before falling to Chadron State in a heartbreaker on Saturday.
In the overtime victory against the Yellowjackets, CMU would come back from a five-point deficit in the final minute of regulation to force the overtime period and come away with a 79-77 win. Leading the way in the win was Ty Allred who scored the five points in the final minute and in total ended the game with 22 points.
Attempting to keep the momentum going, the Mavs would unfortunately see their seven-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday, as they were defeated by Chadron State in another tight affair, losing 69-67. Allred led the team in that game as well with 18 points but was accompanied by Yaak Yaak who had 17 points, for a new career high.
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS
Colorado Mesa is currently 11-7 this season and 5-5 in RMAC play which sits them at a tie for sixth place in the conference standings. Since beginning the 2025 year the team has played to a 5-1 record and have jumped seven spots in the standings after starting conference play 0-4 in 2024. The Mavs are one of eight teams in the conference right now that has 10-plus wins.
As a whole, they are averaging 71.1 points per game and are shooting 45.7% from the field. From beyond the arc the team is only shooting 31.3%, but make up for it from the charity stripe as they are a top-10 free throw shooting team in the conference at 73.2%.
The Mavs are also grabbing 35.6 boards per game which ranks them in the top five for combined team rebounds.
The Mavs' shot blocking ability has been one of the strengths on the defensive side of the floor. They are the league leaders in blocked shots with a total of 74 and are averaging 4.11 per game which is .33 better than the next team. Yaak Yaak has 33 blocks this season to lead the team and sits at second in the conference.
In the individual leaders, the Mavs have three players who are averaging double digit scoring this season with the trio of Allred (15.1 ppg), Harvey White (10.8 ppg) and Will Mortimore (10.7 ppg) leading that group. Allred's 15.1 points per game also marks him with the 11th highest average in the conference.
The pair of Mortimore and Allred are also the team's rebounding leaders with Mortimore averaging 6.7 and Allred grabbing 6.5. The duo are the only two players this season to have started every single game.
White is averaging 3.2 assists per game to lead the team and is marked at seventh in the conference.
ABOUT CSU PUEBLO
Coming into this week, CSU Pueblo is 10-8 on the season and in the RMAC Standings are 5-5. Currently they are one of the four teams that are tied for sixth place in the RMAC.
The Thunderwolves are also riding a two-game winning streak with their most recent victory coming as a 69-63 win over New Mexico Highlands. Prior to that win they captured an overtime win over Adams State University, which ended a six-game losing streak they had endured.
Leading the team are three different players who all average 11.9 points per game, with that group including De'Shaun Cooper, Armon Muldrew and Brevin Walter. Cooper is also grabbing 6.1 boards per game which ranks him in the top-10 in the conference.
Following Thursday's game, the Thunderwolves will host Westminster on Saturday to continue their home stretch.
ABOUT UCCS
Having a very similar season to CMU is UCCS, who is 11-7 overall and is another one of the teams that is 5-5 in the RMAC and in the four-way tie for sixth place.
In the team's most recent game they suffered an 87-84 loss to Fort Lewis College, with their record in their last four games being 1-3. Prior to those four the team was on a five-game winning streak.
This will be the second time this season that CMU and UCCS will meet after the Mavs suffered a 63-58 loss back in December, for each team's first game of conference play.
The Mountain Lions are led by four players who score in double digits with William Becker serving as the team leader at 15.6 ppg. That average marks Becker for eighth best in the conference. The other three to provide offensive assistance are Xavier Martinez (12.2 ppg), Hannes Saar (10.9 ppg) and Jezza McKenzie (10.3 ppg).
Prior to Saturday's game against the Mavs, UCCS will take on Western Colorado on Thursday for their first game of the week.
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
Streaming for all of this week's games will occur on the RMAC Network free of charge with live stats to follow along with. Listening for both games can also be found on THE TEAM 1340 AM.
