Colorado schools in four men’s conferences have emerged among the early-season leaders entering this week’s action.
Northern Colorado (4-0 conference, 12-5 overall) is the Big Sky Conference leader after winning a pair of road games last weekend at Montana State (1-3, 6-11) and Montana (3-1, 10-7).
The Bears are home this week in Greeley to host Portland State (2-1, 10-6) on Thursday and Sacramento State (1-2, 5-11) on Saturday. UNC returns to the road for games at Idaho (2-2, 7-10) on January 23 and at Eastern Washington (2-2,6-11) on January 25
Colorado State (4-1, 10-6) is currently third in the Mountain West Conference behind Utah State (6-0, 16-1) and New Mexico (6-0, 14-3). The Rams’ only setback in league play was a 76-68 decision at home to the Lobos on December 28.
Niko Medved’s Rams play two games on the road this week at San Diego State (3-2, 10-4) on Tuesday and at Wyoming (2-3, 9-7) on Saturday before returning home to play Boise State (4-2, 12-5) on January 22.
Colorado Mines (6-0, 12-2) and MSU Denver (6-0, 12-2) are the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference co-leaders. UC Colorado Springs (4-2, 10-4) and Regis (4-2, 6-8) tied for third.
Mines host CSU Pueblo (3-3, 8-6) and Colorado Christian (3-3, 7-7) on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. MSU Denver is also at home for meetings on Thursday with Colorado Christian and on Saturday versus UC Colorado Springs.
The RMAC co-leaders play twice this season. Mines hosts the Roadrunners on January 23 before playing at MSU Denver on February 18.
In the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, Colorado College (2-2, 6-7) posted league wins in Texas last weekend to climb into fourth place in the Blue Division. The Tigers host Concordia (0-2, 3-8) and McMurry (1-1, 3-8) on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
In the other two conferences, where Centennial State schools play, Colorado (0-4, 9-6) is tied for 15th in the Big 12 with Cincinnati (0-4, 10-5) and plays the Bearcats in Boulder on Wednesday. The Buffs are at Oklahoma State (1-3, 9-6) on Saturday and host BYU (1-3, 10-5) on January 21.
Denver (0-4, 6-13) is tied in the Summit League and plays the conference leaders this week. The Pioneers host Omaha (4-0, 10-9) on Wednesday and travel to Minnesota on Saturday to challenge St. Thomas (4-0, 14-5).
Statistically, CC’s Asher Nofziger, CSU’s Nique Clifford, Fort Lewis’ Biko Johnson, and UNC’s Langston Reynolds and Isaiah Hawthorne are the top players.
Nofziger (Cherry Creek High School) is the top scorer (18.5 points per game) in the Centennial State and second in rebounding (8.9), sixth in blocked shots (0.9), tied for third in double-doubles (5) and 11th in free throw shooting (82.3%).
Clifford (Colorado Springs The Vanguard School) is a rebound shy of averaging a double-double. He is averaging 16.9 points and 9.9 caroms per contest to rank third and first, respectively, among Centennial State players. He is first in double-doubles (7), fifth in assists (3.7), and shoots 51.5 percent from the field.
Johnson is first in Centennial State steals (2.1) and fourth in scoring (16.8). He also averages 3.0 assists per game and makes 75.9 percent of his free throws (66-87).
Reynolds (Denver East High and Colorado Prep) is second in scoring (17.6) in the Centennial State. He is eighth in steals (3.6) and field goal shooting (61.65). Reynolds has two double-doubles and has been named the Big Sky’s player of the week three times.
Hawthorne is fifth in Centennial State scoring (16.5) and third in free throw percentage (88.7%, 55 of 62). He has three double-doubles and is averaging 1.4 steals per game.
