DENVER – After playing four of its first six Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games against teams that are currently in the top six of the standings, the MSU Denver men's basketball team faces two teams this weekend who aren't that far off.
 
In fact, both New Mexico Highlands and CSU Pueblo are good teams, playing at home.
 
"Two things make this league so tough," MSU Denver coach Dan Ficke said. "One is the travel, and the distance you have to travel between games on the road sometimes. And the other is that there is no easy night where maybe you can let your guard down."
 
MSU Denver, 9-3 overall and trying to claw its way back toward the top at 3-3 in league games, plays Friday at 7 p.m. at Highlands (7-6, 4-4) before traveling again for Saturday's 6 p.m. game against CSU Pueblo (7-6, 3-4).
 
The Roadrunners are coming off their best league win, a convincing 84-63 decision over fourth-place Chadron State (8-5, 5-2). Now they'll venture out on the road for the first time in more than a month.
 
"We have a chance to build on what we did Saturday, but we have to do it on the road, and we didn't do such a great job for our first (RMAC) road trip, at Black Hills State (a loss) and South Dakota Mines (a close win)," Ficke said.
 
Highlands is the only team to beat Angelo State (Texas), now ranked in the national top 15 this season, and has also beaten Chadron State. The Cowboys have three players averaging just over 10 points per game, and another who averages eight rebounds.
 
"That's a team that, if we give them confidence early, it could be a long night," Ficke said. "They have a lot of guys capable of scoring, they let it fly, and they have the green light. We have to make them take tough shots, play up-tempo, and clean up the boards like we did Saturday."
 
If not for two overtime losses and another two-point decision, CSU Pueblo could be bringing a 10-3 record into the weekend – the Thunderwolves play host to Colorado School of Mines on Friday – and they've got a talented transfer guard in Brevin Walter, who set an MSU Denver opponent record by scoring 45 points against the Roadrunners last year while with South Dakota Mines.
 
"Walter is a guy we know very well from last year, and Makiah Morris (14.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.3 steals) is a very good player," Ficke said. "They have good size and they play hard.
 
"That second game of the weekend is always about who wants it more and playing through the fatigue from the night before. We'll have to be ready to play our 'A' game both nights."