DENVER – Nos. 8 and 11 MSU Denver took care of business in its Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opener on Friday, rolling past Westminster 85-54.
 
Brayden Maldonado had 17 points and seven assists, Ryan Maslow scored 15, Marzouq Ibn Abdur-Razaaq had 11 and Mario Lacy, Jr., had another double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds as the Roadrunners improved to 7-0 for the first time since opening the 2012-13 season 22-0.
 
"We had multiple guys in double figures, and that was the biggest thing for me," MSU Denver coach Dan Ficke said. "Our bench effort was phenomenal, and we needed them to step up with Quave (Propst-Allison) out and Caleb (McGill) out of rhythm after getting in foul trouble."
 
The Roadrunners shot 50.0 percent from 3-point range, and their 13 made 3s were the program's most since a barrage of 16 from long range against CSU Pueblo on Feb. 15, 2021.
 
Maldonado was 4 of 6 from distance, while Jaden Kennis was 3 of 7 in his season debut, Luke Jones made 2 of 3, and Maslow was 2 of 5.
 
MSU Denver trailed 11-4 early, but responded with a 19-5 run to lead 23-16. It was 44-30 at halftime and the Roadrunners weren't challenged in the second half.
 
"We let them throw the first punch, unfortunately, but we regrouped at the first media timeout and ramped up our defense," Ficke said. "I didn't think we rebounded very well in the first half, but we cleaned that up in the second half.
 
"It was nice to get a win to start off conference play and then get the starters out at the end of the game."
 
The rest for the starters could be helpful, because now comes an early-season RMAC showdown against Colorado Mesa, ranked No. 18 by the coaches and receiving votes in the sports information directors' poll, on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
 
It's the first meeting of ranked men's basketball teams at the Auraria Event Center since March 7, 2015, when Derrick White scored 37 points to lead Nos. 21/20 UCCS to an 82-65 victory over Mitch McCarron (27 points) and Nos. 12/10 MSU Denver before a crowd of 2,017 in the RMAC Tournament Championship game – snapping the Roadrunners' 41-game home winning streak.
 
Mesa won 86-79 Friday night at Colorado School of Mines.
 
"We've had that one circled on the schedule, since they ended our season last year and were picked first (in the RMAC) this year," Ficke said. "I'm not worried about the guys being up for this one. We know them well, and we know they'll come to compete.
 
"It's a great test against a ranked opponent, but that's what we came here to play. We want to protect our homecourt."