DENVER – The MSU Denver men's basketball program wants to be one of Division II's elite again.
 
And the Roadrunners will get a get a chance to run with some of the big dogs this week.
 
They'll play Thursday at 4 p.m. MST at Lone Star Conference favorite West Texas A&M, ranked No. 7 in the preseason Division II coaches poll and No. 4 in this week's D2SIDA poll. Then they'll return to the Auraria Event Center for a noon game Sunday against Fort Hays State (Kan.), ranked tied for 16^th in the D2SIDA poll.
 
"Win or lose, we've talked about wanting to make a statement to the league (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference), and the Lone Star (Conference), the region, that we're on our way back," MSU Denver coach Dan Ficke said. "We're not where we need to be yet, but we're trending in the right direction. Now it's putting in the work to get to that level."
 
West Texas A&M is 3-0 this season after going 27-7 a year ago, including 20-2 in the Lone Star. The Buffaloes were beaten in the regional final on their home court, denying them a trip to the national quarterfinals. Over the past seven seasons, they are 198-35.
 
"We're going down there compete, and if we play the way I know we're capable of doing, we'll be better as a result," Ficke said. "We want to play games like this. We want to embrace the pressure, and the challenge. That's what's fun, preparing for games like these. These are NCAA Tournament-level games. We have a chance to show everybody that maybe weren't not there, but we're getting back to where we want to be."
 
MSU Denver still has the fifth-best all-time winning percentage in Division II history at .693 and a pedigree that includes two national championships and four trips to the national semifinals.
 
But the Roadrunners were just 94-94 over the past seven seasons before starting this year 2-0.
 
While their opponents are in national rankings, the Roadrunners are just starting to make some noise regionally, having been ranked No. 7 in the South Central Region by the D2SIDA.
 
"If we can play well this week, then those regional rankings are more realistic," Ficke said. "We have to follow it up now. That's our mindset."
 
Forward Caleb McGill earned RMAC Offensive Player of the Week honors after averaging 22.5 points while knocking down 5 of 8 from 3-point range and shooting 53.6 percent from the field (15 of 28). The 6-8 forward was also 10 of 13 at the free throw line (76.9 percent) and averaged 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots per game as the Roadrunners defeated Arkansas-Fort Smith and Oklahoma Christian.
 
Guard Brayden Maldonado followed up on his RMAC Co-Freshman of the Year honors with a huge weekend as well, averaging 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.0 steals while shooting 50.0 percent from the field (9 of 18) and making all 15 of his free throws.
 
As good as those numbers are, they came against two teams expected to finish in the bottom half of the Lone Star.
 
West Texas A&M, the regional tournament host last year as the No. 1 seed, is the preseason pick to win it.
 
"It's a big regional test for us," Ficke said. "And we scheduled it for that reason, to go down there and see where stack up against one of the best teams in the region, a preseason top 10 team. They're good. They've got an unbelievable scorer (Larry Wise) and a really good freshman class. They're big and physical. We're excited to test ourselves and see where we need to improve to get to where we want to go."
 
Then, finally, is the Roadrunners' first home game of the season on Sunday against 2-0 Fort Hays State, picked to third in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, just ahead of a Central Oklahoma team that is now ranked No. 3 in the D2SIDA poll.
 
Last year in Hays, MSU Denver had multiple chances to tie or take the lead in the final minute in a 68-66 defeat.
 
"We're excited to finally get home," Ficke said. "Scheduling games like this is what we need to do to get back to where we want to be. We're not looking for cupcakes. This could be another NCAA Tournament team. Hays is a very good team with Kaleb Hammeke, and they brought in some good transfers. That was one of the games we felt we gave away last year, even though we played well."