FORT COLLINS — Try and keep up with Ali Farokhmanesh’s offense if you can.

After grabbing a pair of important nonconference wins over Wichita State and South Florida last week at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas, Colorado State sits at 6-2 ahead of Saturday’s matchup (3 p.m. via CBS Sports Network) against in-state rival Colorado (8-0). It’s all thanks to a high-powered offense that is clicking on all cylinders, despite so many new faces on the Rams roster.

Through eight games, Farokhmanesh’s squad currently ranks first in the country in 3-point percentage, second in effective field goal percentage, third in free throw percentage, and top 20 in assists per game, not to mention it is the only Mountain West team in the top 50 in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted offensive efficiency rankings (currently 19th nationally).

CSU has a pair of veteran guards in Josh Pascarelli and Brandon Rechsteiner capable of lighting it up from beyond the arc in any given game. Down low, sophomore Kyle Jorgensen and junior Carey Booth are in the midst of breakout campaigns. The team also has a deep bench consisting of four to five players capable of scoring in double figures.

At the center of it all, though, is the only senior on the roster, Jevin Muniz.

After two seasons as Delaware State and one at Florida Gulf Coast, the Bethlehem, Pa. native came to Fort Collins looking to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his college career.

Farokhmanesh has talked to the team about sacrificing being the key to getting to meaningful games in March – and no one on the Rams roster has taken that to heart more than the oldest player.

“If I gotta score this night, if I gotta pass this night, if I gotta rebound, if I gotta guard, whatever it takes to win, that’s what I’m willing to do,” Muniz said.

It’s a high bar, but Farokhmanesh and the CSU staff expect Muniz to contribute in a similar way to what Nique Clifford did in his first season with the program. The Rams don’t need Muniz to be the superstar that carries them to March – they just need him to be a reliable, 30-minute-per-game player that surveys the game and does what’s missing.

“I think that’s what Jevin provides,” Farokhmanesh said. “Whatever the game needs, he has the capability of impacting it and I think that’s what’s special about him. He doesn’t force anything. He can score the ball, but that’s not what he’s looking for first.” 

“He’s just trying to make the right play and it’s been fun seeing what we thought he could be in our offense and how we could play him. It’s really starting to blossom more and more,” he said.

Last week in the Bahamas, that ability was on full display. 

Muniz didn’t score more than seven points in any of the three games, but averaged nearly seven assists and nearly six rebounds across the three days of action. He’s taking by far the fewest number of shots per game of his career and his points per game mark is only slightly above what he averaged as a freshman. But if it means CSU keeps winning, he’ll keep dishing out 10 assists a game like he did last time out against South Florida.

“We just ran our base offense and put him in specific spots and he made the right read most of the night,” Farokhmanesh said. “That’s what’s special with Jevin. He makes the right play over and over and over again. That’s kind of the player he is. It’s not super flashy, by any means. But, at the end of the day in the box score, you realize how much of an impact he’s made.”

With Muniz as the conductor, the Rams are hoping their explosive offense carries them to an important rivalry win over the Buffaloes.

It’s anyone’s best guess who leads the way Saturday afternoon.

“I haven’t really played on a team like this before,” sophomore guard Jase Butler said. “Even down to the guys on the bench that don’t really play right now, we all can score the ball and that was a big strength coming into the season. It’s fun to see that be utilized.”