LAS VEGAS -- Robert Upshaw is not here, with Fresno State's 7-foot center suspended for a second time this season.

That only adds to the intrigue for the seventh-seeded Bulldogs in their 2:30 p.m. game today at the Mountain West Conference tournament against second-seeded Colorado State. Fresno State played the Rams tight twice during the season without many productive minutes from the freshman, now out after violating athletic department policy and team rules.

(Read more about how the Bulldogs plan to use Kevin Olekaibe in the offense at sports.fresnobeehive.com)

Fresno State was within seven of Colorado State with 1:57 remaining before losing 74-63 on Jan. 26 at the Save Mart Center, a game Upshaw played 18 minutes without taking a shot while grabbing three rebounds and committing four fouls.

The Bulldogs were within four with 8 minutes remaining before falling 74-67 on Feb. 27 at Moby Arena, with Upshaw failing to get a shot or a rebound before fouling out after just 10 minutes on the floor.

"You want to go into every game with your full complement of guys, but we've faced this type of adversity this year and this team has responded well to it," coach Rodney Terry said. "It gives someone else an opportunity to step up. We just keep on moving."

More definitely will fall to freshman forwards Tanner Giddings and Braeden Anderson, playing against a team that is leading Division I in rebounding margin at a plus-12.4 per game.

And how they deal with Colton Iverson and Pierce Hornung, first and third in the conference in rebounding, will go a long way in determining whether the Bulldogs can even stay close.

Fresno State last won a conference tournament game in 2009 -- beating Hawaii in the first round when they were in the Western Athletic Conference -- and is a 9 1/2-point underdog today.

Giddings and Anderson both should be better prepared. It is the third time around against the Rams for Giddings and the second for Anderson, not yet eligible when the teams played in Fresno.

"Braeden didn't get a chance to play against them the first time, so it was a high-level big-man game for him the last time around," Terry said.

"It really opened his eyes to a guy (Iverson) who is going to have a chance to play at the next level. He learned from it. He learned from it from one half to the next half. He was much better in the second half than he was in the first half. Playing against an older team, an older guy who has done this for a while, it makes you have to play harder and better."

But the overall approach at both ends of the floor is no different -- and the Bulldogs feel they have a better grasp of it, particularly offensively, having won three of their final five games of the regular season -- including a victory over No. 6 seed Air Force and third-seeded UNLV.

In both of the previous matchups against Colorado State, a poor stretch crushed the Bulldogs' chances.

In that first game, Fresno State forced a miss at the defensive end, but failed to get the rebound and the Rams' Daniel Bejarano hit a 3-pointer that effectively ended the Bulldogs' hopes.

In the second, they could come up with only two points over a stretch of more than 4 minutes and Colorado State was able to push a 55-51 lead to 64-53.

"We just have to play through it," guard Tyler Johnson said. "Understand what's at stake. Understand that we're in a good position. We have as much momentum as anybody going into this tournament.

"We've started to get the results that we wanted going into the tournament and we understand if we don't get it this time, we don't get another chance. There were a couple of other times earlier in the season, we had these lapses, but we had another game after. You make these types of mistakes now, you go home ... you go home for a long time and you have to watch everybody else."

Let the Madness begin

MOUNTAIN WEST TOURNAMENT

Men: No. 7 Fresno State (11-18) vs. No. 2 Colorado State (24-7), 2:30 p.m. today (CBSSN)

Women: No. 2 Fresno State (21-8) vs. No. 7 Boise State (11-18), 6 p.m. Thursday

Venue: Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas