Pack opens Mountain West play vs. visiting CSU

Colorado State guard Nique Clifford (10) drives between Colorado’s Assane Diop (35) and RJ Smith (5) in the teams’ game on Dec. 7.

Colorado State guard Nique Clifford (10) drives between Colorado’s Assane Diop (35) and RJ Smith (5) in the teams’ game on Dec. 7.
David Zalubowski | AP

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A look ahead to the Nevada Wolf Pack's men's basketball game against the Colorado State Rams on Saturday at Lawlor Events Center:

 

TIP-OFF: Saturday, 2 p.m., Lawlor Events Center.

RECORDS: Nevada (8-3, 0-0); Colorado State (6-5, 0-0).

HOW TO WATCH, LISTEN: TV: Mountain West Network. Radio: 95.5 FM.

THE RIVALRY: Nevada leads, 19-13 (since 1946-47). The Wolf Pack has won eight of its last nine games at home against the Rams. The Pack has gone 13-9 against Colorado State since the teams were both in the Mountain West (since 2012-13). Much of that advantage is due to an eight-game Pack winning streak from Feb. 28, 2016, to Jan. 1, 2020.

THE LAST MEETING: Colorado State beat the Wolf Pack in last year's Mountain West tournament, 85-78, on March 14, 2024. Isaiah Stevens had 15 points and seven assists for the Rams while Nique Clifford had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Jalen Lake had 16 points and three threes off the bench. The Pack was led by Jarod Lucas (18 points) and Kenan Blackshear (16 points, six assists).

FAMILIAR FOES IN 2024: Saturday's game will be the fourth between the Pack and Rams during the year 2024. This year is the first time the Pack and Rams have met more than twice in any calendar year. Nevada has won two of the first three meetings in 2024 (77-64 in Reno on Jan. 24 and 77-74 on Feb. 27 in Fort Collins, Colo. The Rams beat the Pack 85-78 in the Mountain West tournament in Las Vegas on March 14. The second game this season between the Rams and Wolf Pack will be Feb. 18 in Fort Collins, ending the run of 2024 games.

HEAD COACHES: Steve Alford is in his sixth season at Nevada with a record of 104-62. The 60-year-old Alford is 691-360 in 34 seasons at six schools. Alford is one of just two (with Lefty Driesell) Division I head coaches with 100 or more victories at four different schools (152-106 at Iowa, 155-52 at New Mexico, 124-63 at UCLA, 104-62 at Nevada). Driesell, from 1960 to 2003, was 176-65 at Davidson, 348-159 at Maryland, 159-111 at James Madison and 103-59 at Georgia State. Niko Medved is in his seventh season at Colorado State with a record of 123-80. The 51-year-old has won 20-plus games in four of the past five seasons. Medved also was the head coach at Furman for four seasons (2013-17) with a record of 62-70 and one year at Drake (17-17 in 2017-18).

COLORADO STATE LAST GAME: The Rams beat Radford, 78-68, at home on Tuesday. Rashaan Mbemba and Keyshawn WIlliams led the Rams with 16 points each. Kyan Evana had 15 while Nique Clifford had seven points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

NEVADA LAST GAME: The Wolf Pack rolled over Texas Southern, 105-73, last Saturday at Lawlor Events Center. The Wolf Pack had a school-record 18 3-pointers (on 36 attempts), led by Xavier DuSell (7-of-14 on threes). DuSell had 25 points while Nick Davidson added 21, seven assists and five rebounds.

WOLF PACK AT LAWLOR: Nevada is 6-1 at home this season. The Wolf Pack has gone 35-4 at Lawlor Events Center since the start of the 2022-23 season. The last time Colorado State beat the Wolf Pack at Lawlor was 82-72 on Feb. 8, 2022. Nevada coach Steve Alford is 4-1 against Colorado State at Lawlor since coming to Nevada in 2019-20.

POST-ISAIAH STEVENS ERA: The Rams are trying to adjust to life without point guard Isaiah Stevens this season. Stevens started 152 games over the past five seasons for the Rams, averaging 15.4 points and 5.6 assists a game. Stevens led the Mountain West in assists the past two seasons (6.7 in 2022-23 and 6.8 last year). The 6-foot guard played nine games against the Wolf Pack with a record of 4-5. The Pack also had standout point guards during Stevens' era at Colorado State (Lindsey Drew, Grant Sherfield, Kenan Blackshear) who were able to neutralize him for the most part. Stevens averaged 15.1 points, 4.6 assists, 3.6 rebounds, 2.1 turnovers and 0.7 steals a game against the Pack.

WOLF PACK ADVANTAGE: The Pack, one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the nation, would appear to have a huge edge over the Rams from beyond the arc. The Pack is shooting a Mountain West-best .419 this year on threes while Colorado State is ninth in the 11-team conference at .307. The Wolf Pack defense is also better against the three than Colorado State's defense. The Pack is sixth in the conference, holding opponents to a .330 success rate while the Rams are 10th (.359).

COLORADO STATE LEADERS: Nique Clifford (6-6) leads the Mountain West in rebounding (10.5) and is eighth in scoring (16.4) while handing out 3.3 assists. Jalen Lake (6-4) is averaging 14.6 points, is 21-of-23 from the line and 26-of-71 on threes. New point guard Kyle Evans (6-2) is averaging 7.3 points and 2.6 assists. Keyshawn Williams (6-3) is averaging 7.3 points while Jaylen Crocker-Williams (6-8) is at 7.6 points and 4.3 rebounds. Freshman Kyle Jorgensen (6-9) is at 6.4 points and 2.7 rebounds. Backup point guard Bowen Born (5-11) averages 6.3 points, 2.3 assists. Rashaan Mbemba (6-7) has added 6.5 points, 3.5 rebounds.

NEVADA LEADERS: Kobe Sanders (6-6) leads the Pack in scoring (15.4), slightly ahead of Nick Davidson (6-8) at 15.2 Davidson also adds 6.6 rebounds while Sanders is producing 3.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists. Tre Coleman (6-7) contributes 4.3 assists, 9.0 points and 3.2 rebounds. Xavier DuSell (6-4) is among the top 3-point shooters in the conference (28-of-63) and is averaging 8.8 points a game. Brandon Love (6-9) is adding 8.0 points and 4.3 rebounds. Tyler Rolison comes off the bench to add 6.7 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists.

DUSELL AGAINST THE RAMS: This will be Xavier DuSell's first game against Colorado State as a member of the Wolf Pack. But the Rams are very familiar with him. DuSell, who played three years with Wyoming and one with Fresno State, will be facing the Rams for the eighth time in his career on Saturday. DuSell has averaged 8.3 points a game in his career against the Rams while making 15-of-40 (.375) 3-pointers. His best game against Colorado State was the first time he faced them on Feb. 4, 2021, with 17 points and five threes. DuSell is not the only Pack player with a long history against the Rams. Nick Davidson (8.3 points a game over four games), Tre Coleman (7.1 points a game over seven games) and K.J. Hymes (5.3 points a game over nine games) also have extensive experience in the rivalry.

NEW-LOOK MOUNTAIN WEST: This will be the first of 20 Mountain West games this season for both the Rams and Wolf Pack. The conference has expanded its league schedule this year from 18 to 20 games (home and away against the other 10 teams) after playing 18 games a year since 2013-14, except for 2020-21 when cancellations from COVID-19 restrictions hampered the schedules. Each Mountain West team played 14 conference games from 1999-2000 through 2004-05 and again in 2011-12. Each team played 16 league games a year from 2005-06 through 2010-11 and again in 2012-13.