Jan. 3, 2011

Complete Release in PDF Format

• Schedule/Results
• Season Statistics
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Opening tip
Colorado State returns to Moby Arena Tuesday night, opening Mountain West Conference action against rival Wyoming in the season’s first installment of the basketball “Border War.”
 
The Rams enter the contest on a bit of a hot streak, having won six of their last seven games, including strong showings at a pair of holiday tournaments - the Cancun Governor’s Cup (3-0) and the San Francisco Hilltop Challenge (2-1) - over the past two weeks. 

Tuesday’s contest marks the Rams’ first home game since a Dec. 20 win over Northern Colorado. 

Wyoming has also impressed over the past few weeks, winning five of their last seven games.  The team’s Dec. 31 contest at Houston Baptist was postponed because of a travel complications, so the Cowboys not played since Dec. 28, a 68-55 home victory over Kennesaw State. 

About Wyoming
Wyoming enters Tuesday’s contest with an overall record of 7-7.  The Cowboys have won five of their last seven games after a 2-5 start, most recently collecting a 68-55 home victory over Kennesaw State on Dec. 28.   Six of their last seven games have been played at home, after the team’s Dec. 31 game at Houston Baptist was postponed because of travel complications. 

Sophomore guard Desmar Jackson leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.5 points per game (fifth in the MWC).  Senior forward Djibril Thiam leads the Pokes in rebounding, pulling down 5.9 per contest (sixth in the MWC).  Junior point guard JayDee Luster paces the team with 44 assists (seven in the MWC), and Francisco Cruz, a junior newcomer from Western Nebraska Community College, provides an outside threat, ranking fourth in the MWC with a three-point percentage of .451 (23-for-51). 

As a team, they are eighth in the MWC in scoring offense (69.6 points per game) but rank fourth in scoring defense, allowing just 63.1 points per contest.  They rank eighth in field-goal percentage (.456) and are last in the conference in three-point shooting (.280).

Head coach Heath Schroyer is in his fourth year at helm of the Wyoming program, where he has compiled a record of 48-60 heading into Tuesday’s contest.  Overall he is 83-107 in his seventh season as a head coach.   

The series vs. Wyoming
The Border War versus Wyoming is one of the Rams’ oldest and most fierce rivalries. Dating all the way back to the 1910-11 season, the Rams have faced off against the Cowboys 211 times, more than 50 games more than any other opponent. Since the initial meeting, the two teams have met at least once each season, except for during the 1922-23 season.

Wyoming has the upper hand in the overall series, leading the 128-83, but Colorado State earned a season sweep of the Cowboys during the 2009-10 season, winning 83-73 in their initial meeting of the year at UW’s Arena-Auditorium, and completing the season sweep, 80-64, in their last meeting at Moby Arena. 

In 25 matchups since the formation of the Mountain West Conference in 1999-2000, the Rams trail 15-10, but the series has evened to 8-8 over the last 16 matchups between the bitter rivals. 

Looking ahead
Colorado State will have an early off date in the MWC schedule over the weekend, before traveling to face New Mexico for a game on Jan. 12.