DENVER – Believe it or not, there are gyms other than the Auraria Event Center.
 
The 2021-22 MSU Denver men's basketball team will have that confirmed for the first time in the coming week, as they travel for games Saturday at Western Colorado and Tuesday at Colorado Christian.
 
"I never thought I would say it, but we need to go on the road," MSU Denver coach Michael Bahl said. "It'll be nice to get away from here, get away from the distractions, and go play some road games. I think we're ready for it."
 
The Roadrunners' extended dose of home cooking was the result of a scheduling anomaly.
 
Once every four years, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's opening-weekend challenge with Lone Star Conference schools puts the Roadrunners on their home floor for two games. Then, as rest of the non-conference schedule fell into place, MSU Denver found ready-made opponents popping into place. Finally, the RMAC schedule put the Roadrunners at home for their first two games of league play.
 
"It just so happened that this was our year to host the conference challenge, and we've always had games at home over Thanksgiving with Regis (which plays the same team on opposite nights), and then we were able to piggyback with UCCS and Regis for a couple of other home games against teams that were coming out to play them," Bahl said. "It's sort of an unusual year that way, but we've also been on the road for some of our scrimmages, and it'll be good to go out on the road again."
 
MSU Denver, which plays four of its next five and eight of its next 10 on the road, expects a true road test in its 7 p.m. game Saturday at Western Colorado.
 
"Western is still in school and always has decent crowds," Bahl said. "Their gym is small, so it gets loud. There's a good environment, and our guys are excited to play in that scenario. A lot of team bonding happens when teams get on a bus and go, so we're excited for it."
 
Though just 1-8 overall and 0-3 in the RMAC, the Mountaineers have lost five times by 10 points or less and suffered two losses to national power West Texas A&M. And they also have 6-foot-4 guard Matthew Ragsdale, who scored 53 points in a five-point loss at Black Hills State last Friday.
 
The Roadrunners have spent time planning on how to stop Ragsdale, who averages 22.0 points per game.
 
"I feel confident with our size and length, and our ability to throw multiple different guys at him," Bahl said. "But he's a really good player. Coach (Bradd) Schafer does a great job of getting him the ball, and he's really developed over the three years he's been there. It's a tall task for our guys to play one of the leading scorers in the conference, but I think they're excited for the challenge."
 
Colorado Christian, which plays host to the Roadrunners at 7 p.m. Tuesday, is 3-5 overall and 0-2 in the RMAC, but lost games by five points and three points, respectively, last weekend against Westminster and Colorado Mesa. Westminster beat MSU Denver by 15 points before the Roadrunners bounced back to beat Mesa 73-50 on Sunday.
 
Colorado Christian also has a high-scoring guard on its roster in Ross Williams, averaging 21.8 points per game this season after averaging 19.6 last year for a 4-14 team.
 
"They've improved," Bahl said. "They have more size. They're very dangerous at their place. They played Westminster and Mesa very close and could have won both of those games. And they're much better defensively than they were last year."
 
MSU Denver has shown an ability to get points from multiple sources ranging from guard Ra'Shawn Langston, to wing Miles Gibson, to forward Laolu Oke and now to archer Tyrei Randall, who is averaging 20 points per first half in his last two games. The 6-6 lefty has made 16 of 24 from 3-point range over the last four games.
 
"He really thrives on confidence, and he's playing with a lot of confidence right now," Bahl said. "And he's earned it. And defending and rebounding are what we hang our hats on, and his eight rebounds (against Colorado Mesa) are what I was most pleased about."