Colorado State University Athletics
Photo by: CSU Athletics Communications
Rams Host Rebels for State Pride
1/8/2026 8:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Colorado State men’s hoops closes out home stand against UNLV.
FORT COLLINS – Colorado State men's basketball returns to Moby Arena on Friday night at 7 p.m. to host UNLV. It is the program's State Pride game.
Opening Tip
- Colorado State fell to New Mexico on Tuesday night 80-70 to drop to 1-3 in conference play on the year.
- The Rams struggled taking care of the ball with 14 turnovers leading to 21 points for the Lobos.
- New Mexico had a strong second half offensively shooting 65.0% from the field.
- Auggie Kiudulas followed up his strong performance against GCU by scoring 20 points on 70.0% shooting on Tuesday. He his a trio of 3s to lead all scorers in the game.
- Jase Butler scored a career-high 14 points in the game and matched his career-best with five rebounds.
- Brandon Rechsteiner was the only other Ram in double figures scoring with 13 points. He added in a team-leading five assists.
- Big man Nikola Djapa had a career-best three assists in the loss.
- Josh Pascarelli enters Friday night's game just six points shy of 1,000 for his career.
- CSU ranks 77th in the nation and third in the Mountain West in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.47.
- The Rams 16.8 assists per game are the third best in the Mountain West and 62nd in the nation.
- Colorado State is assisting on 62.3% of its made field goals on the year, the 23rd best mark in the nation.
- The Rams are one of 10 programs in the nation shooting over 50.0% overall, 35.0% from behind the arc and 75.0% from the free throw line. They rank 20th, 17th and fifth in the respective categories.
- Colorado State has a pair of Mountain West Players of the Week so far this season in Kyle Jorgensen and Josh Pascarelli.
- Jorgensen's performance over the first week earned him Mountain West Player of the Week honors.
The sophomore averaged 20.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steal in the first two games of the season.
- Pascarelli earned his honor after his performance against Colorado (12/6/25). The junior scored 26 points connecting on eight 3-pointers for the second straight game.
- CSU earned a second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2024-25 and third in four years.
- Colorado State's 26 wins in 2024-25 tied for the second most in program history. They finished one win behind the record of 27 set by the 2014-15 team.
- The Rams welcomed the best transfer portal class in the Mountain West in 2025 ranking 61st in the nation.
- Colorado State has the longest active streak of having a player on the first team All-Mountain West list at seven years. Nico Carvacho (2019-20), David Roddy (2021-22), Isaiah Stevens (2023-24) and Nique Clifford (2025).
- Nique Clifford became the fourth player in program history to be picked in the first round of the NBA Draft in June. Clifford was the 24th pick overall by Oklahoma City with his rights traded to Sacramento.
- Clifford had one of the best seasons in program history his final year. He earned AP All-America honorable mention, was the MVP for the Mountain West Tournament and helped the program earn its first Mountain West title since 2003 by winning the Mountain West Tournament.
Scouting the Rebels
UNLV is led under first-year, veteran head coach Josh Pastner. His team has had its ups and downs in 2025-26 entering Friday at 7-7 overall and 2-1 in Mountain West play.
The Rebels are coming off a 98-66 loss at Wyoming Tuesday night.
Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn leads the Rebels offensively with 16.4 points per game. He likes to get out in transition with a team-high 24 steals this year and can shoot it behind the arc making 35.4% of his 3-point attempts.
While scoring almost 80 points per game, UNLV has struggled at times on the defensive end. Opponents are scoring 77.3 points against them and shooting 43.5%. Five times this year an opponent has scored at least 85 points against them.
What's Ahead
Colorado State hits the road for a pair of games next week, starting with a visit to Fresno State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
Opening Tip
- Colorado State fell to New Mexico on Tuesday night 80-70 to drop to 1-3 in conference play on the year.
- The Rams struggled taking care of the ball with 14 turnovers leading to 21 points for the Lobos.
- New Mexico had a strong second half offensively shooting 65.0% from the field.
- Auggie Kiudulas followed up his strong performance against GCU by scoring 20 points on 70.0% shooting on Tuesday. He his a trio of 3s to lead all scorers in the game.
- Jase Butler scored a career-high 14 points in the game and matched his career-best with five rebounds.
- Brandon Rechsteiner was the only other Ram in double figures scoring with 13 points. He added in a team-leading five assists.
- Big man Nikola Djapa had a career-best three assists in the loss.
- Josh Pascarelli enters Friday night's game just six points shy of 1,000 for his career.
- CSU ranks 77th in the nation and third in the Mountain West in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.47.
- The Rams 16.8 assists per game are the third best in the Mountain West and 62nd in the nation.
- Colorado State is assisting on 62.3% of its made field goals on the year, the 23rd best mark in the nation.
- The Rams are one of 10 programs in the nation shooting over 50.0% overall, 35.0% from behind the arc and 75.0% from the free throw line. They rank 20th, 17th and fifth in the respective categories.
- Colorado State has a pair of Mountain West Players of the Week so far this season in Kyle Jorgensen and Josh Pascarelli.
- Jorgensen's performance over the first week earned him Mountain West Player of the Week honors.
The sophomore averaged 20.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steal in the first two games of the season.
- Pascarelli earned his honor after his performance against Colorado (12/6/25). The junior scored 26 points connecting on eight 3-pointers for the second straight game.
- CSU earned a second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2024-25 and third in four years.
- Colorado State's 26 wins in 2024-25 tied for the second most in program history. They finished one win behind the record of 27 set by the 2014-15 team.
- The Rams welcomed the best transfer portal class in the Mountain West in 2025 ranking 61st in the nation.
- Colorado State has the longest active streak of having a player on the first team All-Mountain West list at seven years. Nico Carvacho (2019-20), David Roddy (2021-22), Isaiah Stevens (2023-24) and Nique Clifford (2025).
- Nique Clifford became the fourth player in program history to be picked in the first round of the NBA Draft in June. Clifford was the 24th pick overall by Oklahoma City with his rights traded to Sacramento.
- Clifford had one of the best seasons in program history his final year. He earned AP All-America honorable mention, was the MVP for the Mountain West Tournament and helped the program earn its first Mountain West title since 2003 by winning the Mountain West Tournament.
Scouting the Rebels
UNLV is led under first-year, veteran head coach Josh Pastner. His team has had its ups and downs in 2025-26 entering Friday at 7-7 overall and 2-1 in Mountain West play.
The Rebels are coming off a 98-66 loss at Wyoming Tuesday night.
Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn leads the Rebels offensively with 16.4 points per game. He likes to get out in transition with a team-high 24 steals this year and can shoot it behind the arc making 35.4% of his 3-point attempts.
While scoring almost 80 points per game, UNLV has struggled at times on the defensive end. Opponents are scoring 77.3 points against them and shooting 43.5%. Five times this year an opponent has scored at least 85 points against them.
What's Ahead
Colorado State hits the road for a pair of games next week, starting with a visit to Fresno State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballColorado State Basketball (M): Ali Farokhmanesh Post-Game (New Mexico)
Tuesday, January 06
Colorado State Basketball (M): Jase Butler (L) & Auggie Kiudulas (R) Post-Game (New Mexico)
Tuesday, January 06
Colorado State Basketball (M): Ali Farkohmanesh Post-Game (Nevada)
Tuesday, December 30
Colorado State Basketball (M): Brandon Rechsteiner (L) & Jevin Muniz (R) Post-Game (Nevada)
Tuesday, December 30