GAME NOTES: Off to their best start in school history, the Colorado State Rams shoot for their eighth win in as many tries as they host the Bears of Northern Colorado at Moby Arena on Sunday.

The Rams have had a few close calls in the early going, but the team managed to secure a seventh consecutive victory on Wednesday night when they slipped by visiting UTEP, 65-62. A win on Sunday would be the 50th for head coach Larry Eustachy during his tenure in Fort Collins.

Like Colorado State, the Bears are also off to a 4-0 start in home games this season, but the difference between the programs has UNC losing a pair on the road against the likes of Wyoming and New Mexico State in the middle of last month. Since those back-to-back defeats, the Bears have rattled off three consecutive victories, the latest being a 95-56 blowout of Florida A&M a week ago.

This is the 101st meeting between these schools all-time, with the Rams owning a 65-35 advantage in the series. Colorado State has a 48-13 mark in games played at home in Fort Collins, winning 11 straight versus UNC at Moby Arena dating back to 1986. Meeting every season since 2003-04, the Rams won last season's clash by a 72-65 score.

Against the visiting Rattlers, UNC scored the first points of the meeting and never looked back during the crushing victory in Greeley. A total of 13 players hit the floor for the Bears, all but one of whom scored as the team shot not just 57.6 percent from the field but also 12-of-27 (.444) behind the 3-point line.

Drew Bender came off the bench to knock down four triples as he tallied 14 points, followed by Tim Huskisson and Jordan Wilson with 12 and 11 points, respectively. One the floor for a mere 17 minutes, Dominique Lee made the most of his opportunities as he recorded a double-double consisting of 10 points and 12 rebounds for the hosts.

Thanks to a few weak opponents recently on the schedule, the Bears now find themselves scoring 81.3 ppg, outscoring the competition by 14.3 ppg over the course of six contests. Although he did not score in double figures against Florida A&M, Tevin Svihovec is still the leading scorer overall for the program with his 12.3 ppg, followed by Cameron Michael with 11.6 ppg for a squad hitting an impressive 52.5 percent from the field.

Colorado State led by as many as 15 points in the first half against the Miners, but in the end the hosts had to hold on for a three-point victory as the Rams shot just 10-of-18 at the free-throw line and turned the ball over 16 times. J.J. Avila scored a game-high 20 points, pulled down nine rebounds, handed out four assists and grabbed three steals in order to offset his five miscues. Stanton Kidd came within two boards of a double-double as he tallied 15 points, followed by Gian Clavell with 13 points off the bench.

Through seven games, Avila leads the Rams in both scoring (15.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.9 rpg) as he shoots 54.9 percent from the field, but just 64.3 percent at the charity stripe. Kidd checks in with 13.9 ppg and Daniel Bejarano another 12.9 ppg, leading the program in assists with 24 while shooting better from 3-point range (.469) than he is from the floor overall (.392). However, because of the efforts of Avila and Bejarano (7.3 rpg), the Rams own a rebounding advantage of 7.4 rpg at the moment.

Colorado State may not be a flashy team, but when it comes to putting together solid efforts at both ends of the floor on a consistent basis it is one of the best in the Mountain West Conference this season.