DENVER – Many of the statistics that are examined to show the quality of a basketball team are favorable to the MSU Denver men.
 
The Roadrunners are second in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 42.2 percent from the field in 19 league games. Metropolitan State University of Denver is also second in defending the 3-point shot, limiting foes to 32.6 percent accuracy.
 
Rebounding? Check. The Roadrunners are tied for second in the league with an average of 37.7 per game, including third in the league in offensive rebounds (10.2 per game) and second in defensive boards (27.5).
 
And, though scoring defense is sometimes merely a measure of the pace that a team plays at, MSU Denver doesn't mind getting up and down the floor and yet is still third in the league in allowing just 69.9 points per game.
 
Yet, despite the positive metrics, the Roadrunners have known for a while that they'll almost certainly have to win out just to have a chance to reach the eight-team RMAC tournament.
 
That includes road games this weekend at New Mexico Highlands (Friday at 7 p.m.) and Colorado State University-Pueblo (Saturday, 7:30 p.m.).
 
"Our record doesn't speak to how good we actually are, in my opinion," MSU Denver coach Michael Bahl said. "We want to hang our hat on our defense, and we've given ourselves a chance. That's why we've played close in these games. Offense is something that takes time, and hopefully we're starting to click. We had a brand-new team this year and these guys were trying to fit into a new system.
 
"I'm really proud of how we're playing defensively and how we've rebounded."
 
MSU Denver (10-13 overall, 8-11 RMAC) beat CSU-Pueblo (6-19, 4-15) 71-64 at the Auraria Event Center on Jan. 18, before enduring one of its multiple near-misses the following night, when Highlands (16-9, 11-8) rallied and claimed an 83-81, double-overtime victory.
 
"It's exciting to on the road and play at a place where they've only lost twice," Bahl said of Highlands, which is 9-2 at the John A. Wilson Complex. "Highlands is really good at home, and obviously we feel like we let one slip away against them at our place. I think it's going to be a really good opportunity to play a top RMAC team at their place. We're still trying to get better. The season isn't over. We still have a lot to play for."
 
MSU Denver enters the weekend tied for 10^th place, two games out of eighth, with three to play. The Roadrunners picked up big home wins last weekend against teams (Black Hills State and South Dakota School of Mines & Technology) they had lost to on the road.                                                           
The first meetings with this weekend's opponents were part of a stretch in which MSU Denver lost 9 of 11 games. But eight of those losses were by six points or less and three of them were one-possession games. Six were on the road, where the Roadrunners have struggled to find wins.
 
"We're 1-8 on the road this year, and that win came in our third road game of the season," Bahl said. "So we haven't won on the road in almost three months. It's a good test to see where we are and we can definitely build off it – whether it's for the rest of this season or for the future. Because if we do make the RMAC tournament, we're going to be on the road – so we're going to have to do it on the road."