Colorado State is winless in two Mountain West road games this season and now faces another obstacle Wednesday night when it travels to Reno to take on Nevada.
The Wolfpack (15-4, 2-3 Mountain West) are 9-1 at home, which means the No. 24 Rams will face another tough road challenge.
“We know every night is gonna be a battle,” Colorado State forward Joel Scott said. “It’s not like we’re coming into any game and thinking it’s gonna be an easy one.
“I mean, every night is going to be hard fought and we’re going to have to grit it out and tough it out every time. It’s a fun league to be a part of and I’m glad we’re here.”
Colorado State (15-3, 3-2) dropped back-to-back road games at Utah State and Boise State earlier this month to fall out of the national rankings.
The Rams got back in the Top 25 after beating Air Force 78-69 in overtime and UNLV 78-75 last week.
Colorado State trailed UNLV on Saturday by five points with under five minutes remaining before using a stellar finishing kick. Star guard Isaiah Stevens put the Rams ahead to stay with a 3-pointer with 2:35 left.
Stevens made four treys and supplied 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists. He leads Colorado State in scoring (17.2 points per game), assists (7.2 per game), 3-point baskets (32) and steals (26).
“We’ve been talking so much about finding our rhythm and finding our groove, trusting the offense, trusting the flow, and I felt like we did that for all 40 minutes, outside of a few possessions here and there, but that’s basketball,” Stevens said.
Scott, who ranks fourth on the team in scoring at 11.5 points, said he is always amazed with Stevens.
“He comes in and does what he needs to do on offense and defense,” Scott said. “He’s always in the right spot doing what he needs to do, making plays for others. So it’s really fun to be a part of and to be his teammate.”
Nevada enters the contest on a three-game losing skid after falling 98-93 at Wyoming on Saturday.
The slide began with that lone home loss, coming against Boise State, and continued on the road against San Diego State.
Wolfpack coach Steve Alford has been concerned about his team’s recent rebounding issues.
Boise State had a 43-24 advantage and San Diego State following with a 44-25 edge, including 20 on the offensive glass. It was more even against Wyoming with the Cowboys holding a 35-34 edge.
“The effort on the glass is hurting us right now,” Alford said. “We’ve got to figure that out. We’re giving up way too much on the offensive blackboard.”
Defense was the problem against Wyoming as the Wolfpack gave up their most points this season and allowed the Cowboys to make 57.7 percent of their shots, including 13 of 23 from 3-point range.
Tre Coleman scored a career-high 23 for Nevada and is averaging 19.5 over the past two games to raise his season average to 8.9. Coleman made four treys in each game.
Jarod Lucas scored 20 to increase his team-best average to 17.1. Kenan Blackshear (15.9) is second on the Wolf Pack.
Nevada was won 10 of the past 13 meetings.
–Field Level Media