Wednesday, March 12th, 2:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Thomas & Mack Center (18,500) -- Las Vegas, Nevada. Television: Local. Home Record: CSU 3-10, Wyoming 8-6. Away Record: CSU 0-14, Wyoming 3-10. Neutral Record: CSU 3-0, Wyoming 1-1. Conference Record: CSU 0-16, Wyoming 5-11. Series Record: Wyoming leads, 127-80.

GAME NOTES: Colorado State won just three games away from home during the regular season and all were on neutral floors, so perhaps this is the perfect setting for the Rams to snap a lengthy skid in the opening round of the ninth annual Mountain West Conference Tournament against Wyoming in Las Vegas. The Rams, who took home the 2003 tournament title with a won over UNLV, have lost 17 games in a row and 21 of the last 22 outings overall and worse yet, failed to beat a single foe from the MWC along the way. As for the Cowboys, they are still two games under .500 in this event and are still waiting to celebrate their first crown. Wyoming didn't play all that well on the road this season either, taking just three of 13 games. With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood, Wyoming leads the Rams by a count of 127-80 after sweeping the regular-season set. The winner of this game heads right back out on the floor tomorrow afternoon to challenge top seed and nationally-ranked BYU in the quarterfinals.

For the longest time it was Marcus Walker and little else when it came to the Colorado State offense, but in the last couple of weeks there have been different players taking the wheel and steering the Rams right off the road over and over. Four different players have led the team in scoring in each of the last four games, outings that resulted in double-digit losses each time. A starter in all 30 games this season, Walker led the program with his 17.2 ppg, but while he elevated his scoring to 18.1 ppg versus the rest of the MWC, his 29.3 percent shooting beyond the arc in those 16 games was less than impressive. Center Stuart Creason has been trying to fight his way back from injury, and while his 12.0 ppg and 58 percent shooting from the field has been a positive response, his mere six assists in seven league games has not. CSU placed eighth in the conference both in scoring offense (64.0 ppg) and scoring defense (72.2 ppg), so it wasn't hard to see how the squad was left with a minus-8.2 ppg scoring margin.

Except for five games this season, the Cowboys had a leading scorer with a last name that was not Ewing or Jones, which tells you just how important the guard pair is to the Pokes. Ewing was one of the top scorers in the conference this season with his 16.8 ppg, thanks in large part to his 120-of-148 effort at the free-throw line. More than just a scorer, Ewing also handed out a team- high 120 assists, which was just ahead of Jones (104) who tried to do a little bit of everything for the group. Jones was responsible for 12.2 ppg and 5.4 rpg, yet those numbers still didn't make up for his mere 38.5 percent shooting from the field. Wyoming finished the regular season as the MWC team with the weakest scoring defense, one that was giving up 72.5 ppg, which meant the Cowboys were the only other team in the league other than CSU with a negative scoring margin at 3.3 ppg.

Given that Colorado State has been in a tailspin for a couple of months now, expect to see Ewing and Jones take control and guide the Cowboys to the next round.

Predicted Outcome

Wyoming 67, Colorado State 61