Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, February 22
Las Vegas, NV
8:00 PM
Colorado State
at
UNLV
Rams Head to Sin City for the Weekend
2/20/2025 9:42:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Colorado State starts two-game road trip at UNLV
FORT COLLINS  – Colorado State men's basketball heads to Las Vegas for the weekend like many others. Unlike most, it is a business trip for CSU as they take on UNLV at 8 p.m. MT inside the Thomas and Mack Center.
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Opening Tip
- Colorado State used a 31-9 run to open up the second half against Nevada to pull away from the Wolf Pack 79-71 on Tuesday.
- CSU had it's third straight game with 15+ assists finishing the night with 21 on 24 made baskets.
- The Rams rank 19th in the nation with 17.0 assists per game and their assists percentage of 64.2% is fifth in the nation.
- Rasshan Mbemba recorded his first double-double of the year with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
- Nique Clifford once again stuffed the stat sheet with 22 points, nine rebounds, five assists a steal and a block.
- Clifford has recorded a double-double in four of the past six games only missing by a point in one game one rebound in another. He is averaging 20.0 points, 11.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists during that stretch.Â
- The fifth-year has scored 20-plus points in eight of the last nine games averaging 20.8 points.
- He is averaging 18.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game.
- Clifford is one of two Division I players to have 450 points, 260 rebounds and 100 assists along with UAB's Yaxel Lendeborg.
- Clifford is third in the nation with 8.54 defensive rebounds per game and 11th for total rebounds at 10.0.
- He was selected to the preseason All-Mountain West team after earning third team honors last season.
- Jalen Lake found his groove again scoring 14 points including hitting three 3s in the win.
- He is having a strong senior season averaging 11.7 points on 41.5% shooting including 33.6% from behind the arc.
- Kyan Evans has turned a corner in the past 16 games averaging 11.2 points shooting 45.8% from 3-point range with 3.4 assists per game.
- Jaylen Crocker-Johnson is averaging 10.7 points during the past seven games. He has scored in double figures in five of those. Â
- CSU ranks 19th in the nation making 77.8% of its free throw attempts this season.
- Head coach Niko Medved is in his seventh year leading Colorado State. He is 133-84 as the Rams' head coach. He has the second most wins in program history trailing only Jim Williams (1955-80) and his 352.
- He became the fifth coach in program history to reach 100 wins in Fort Collins last year. Medved is the only coach in program history to win 20-plus games four times.
- He picked up his 200th career win in November with the Rams' overtime win over TCU.
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Scouting the Rebels
UNLV will be well rested having not played for a week and coming in on a three-game win streak.
The win streak gives Kevin Kruger's team renewed confidence after being on a five-game losing streak from mid-January to early February.
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Sophomore guard Dedan Thomas Jr. makes UNLV go averaging a team-leading 15.6 points and 4.7 assists.
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What's Ahead
CSU will return to the state of Colorado and take on Air Force next Tuesday in Colorado Springs at 7 p.m. MT.
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Men's basketball returns to Moby Arena on Saturday, March 1 to host Utah State at 2 p.m. MT. Tickets for the game are available at CSURams.com/MBBTickets
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Opening Tip
- Colorado State used a 31-9 run to open up the second half against Nevada to pull away from the Wolf Pack 79-71 on Tuesday.
- CSU had it's third straight game with 15+ assists finishing the night with 21 on 24 made baskets.
- The Rams rank 19th in the nation with 17.0 assists per game and their assists percentage of 64.2% is fifth in the nation.
- Rasshan Mbemba recorded his first double-double of the year with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
- Nique Clifford once again stuffed the stat sheet with 22 points, nine rebounds, five assists a steal and a block.
- Clifford has recorded a double-double in four of the past six games only missing by a point in one game one rebound in another. He is averaging 20.0 points, 11.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists during that stretch.Â
- The fifth-year has scored 20-plus points in eight of the last nine games averaging 20.8 points.
- He is averaging 18.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game.
- Clifford is one of two Division I players to have 450 points, 260 rebounds and 100 assists along with UAB's Yaxel Lendeborg.
- Clifford is third in the nation with 8.54 defensive rebounds per game and 11th for total rebounds at 10.0.
- He was selected to the preseason All-Mountain West team after earning third team honors last season.
- Jalen Lake found his groove again scoring 14 points including hitting three 3s in the win.
- He is having a strong senior season averaging 11.7 points on 41.5% shooting including 33.6% from behind the arc.
- Kyan Evans has turned a corner in the past 16 games averaging 11.2 points shooting 45.8% from 3-point range with 3.4 assists per game.
- Jaylen Crocker-Johnson is averaging 10.7 points during the past seven games. He has scored in double figures in five of those. Â
- CSU ranks 19th in the nation making 77.8% of its free throw attempts this season.
- Head coach Niko Medved is in his seventh year leading Colorado State. He is 133-84 as the Rams' head coach. He has the second most wins in program history trailing only Jim Williams (1955-80) and his 352.
- He became the fifth coach in program history to reach 100 wins in Fort Collins last year. Medved is the only coach in program history to win 20-plus games four times.
- He picked up his 200th career win in November with the Rams' overtime win over TCU.
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Scouting the Rebels
UNLV will be well rested having not played for a week and coming in on a three-game win streak.
The win streak gives Kevin Kruger's team renewed confidence after being on a five-game losing streak from mid-January to early February.
Â
Sophomore guard Dedan Thomas Jr. makes UNLV go averaging a team-leading 15.6 points and 4.7 assists.
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What's Ahead
CSU will return to the state of Colorado and take on Air Force next Tuesday in Colorado Springs at 7 p.m. MT.
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Men's basketball returns to Moby Arena on Saturday, March 1 to host Utah State at 2 p.m. MT. Tickets for the game are available at CSURams.com/MBBTickets
Players Mentioned
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