UNLV vs Colorado State Prediction 2/22/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Colorado State Rams and the UNLV Rebels meet Saturday in college basketball action from Thomas & Mack Center. Here’s a UNLV vs Colorado State prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best UNLV vs Colorado State pick.

Colorado State Rams Betting Preview

The Rams posted a pretty middling record over their first 13 games, but since then they’re doing better. Colorado State hit a 7-6 run in that opening stretch, taking out North Dakota, Tennessee State, Denver, TCU, Loyola Marymount, Radford and Nevada during that time. Since then the Rams have been on a 10-3 run with losses to San Diego State, New Mexico and Utah State. The wins otherwise have come courtesy of San Jose State, Fresno State, UNLV, Wyoming, Boise State, Fresno State, Air Force, San Diego State, Wyoming and Nevada in succession. Overall that gives the Rams a 17-9 record through their first 26 games so far.

In the Nevada home matchup on Tuesday, the Rams came out of the locker room sporting a 36-33 deficit on the scoreboard. Colorado State woke up after that, taking a 46-35 run to the finish line in a 79-71 comeback win. Leading team scorer Nique Clifford put up 22 points with nine rebounds and five assists with one steal and one block. Jalen Lake had 14 points with five assists and two boards, while Rashaan Mbemba doubled up with 12 points, 10 rebounds and one block in 27 minutes. Bowen Born and Ethan Morton each had five points off the bench.

UNLV Rebels Betting Preview

Over on the Rebels’ side, they’ve been a mixed bag this year but so far they’ve been able to keep their heads above the .500 mark in the record column. UNLV went 5-5 over their first 10 outings, beating Alabama State, Omaha, Pepperdine, New Mexico State and Pacific in that time. A 6-2 run came next with losses to Boise State and Colorado State among wins over UC Riverside, Fresno State, Air Force, San Jose State, Utah State and San Diego State. Following losses to Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah State, Nevada and Boise State in the next five, the Rebels took out Wyoming, Air Force and Fresno State in a three-game stretch. In total that gives UNLV a 14-12 record across the first 26 games of the year.

Matched up against Fresno State in their last outing, UNLV was up by eight points going into the second half. The Rebels had to scramble from there but still managed to pull off the road win 52-51 in the end. Jaden Henley led the starters with his 13 points, nine rebounds and two steals in 35 minutes on the floor. Jailen Bedford had 13 bench points with six rebounds and one steal in 25 minutes. Julian Rishwain chipped in with eight points and four boards as well.

Why the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels will win

• The home team has won each of Colorado State’s last six games.
• Colorado State has lost four of its last five night games following a home win.
• UNLV has won the first half in each of its last five night games against Colorado State.

Why the Colorado State Rams will win

• UNLV has lost five of its last six night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Colorado State has won four of its last five games when playing with a rest disadvantage.
• UNLV has lost the first half in five of its last six night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

UNLV vs Colorado State Prediction

I’ll take a stab on UNLV here. The Rebels were less than impressive versus a struggling Fresno State team in their last game though, so we’ll need to see a return to form on Saturday. In their latest win UNLV shot just 33.8 percent from the field with 13 turnovers for 11 Bulldogs points. The Rebels did post a 45-40 rebounding advantage though, and held Fresno State to just 30.4 percent shooting on the other side. That makes three straight wins for UNLV, but they’ve been below 69 points in two of those.

The Rebels took an 84-62 blowout road loss the last time these teams saw each other back on January 11. UNLV shot just 41.7 percent from the field in that one while giving up 56.6 percent to the Rams. The 10 turnovers for 15 Colorado State points didn’t help either. I like the home environment to serve UNLV here, and I think they can power out a cover if all goes well.