3 takeaways: Rams continue to reign over the Falcons

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Colorado State men’s basketball has owned Air Force in recent years. On Saturday, the dominance continued as the Rams defeated the Falcons 78-65 at Clune Arena.

Here is a recap of what went down in Colorado Springs as well as three takeaways from the Rams’ fourth consecutive conference victory.

Quick hitters

Overall, CSU has won 15 of the last 17 matchups against Air Force and currently leads the all-time series 81-33.

In the road win, five different Rams finished with double-digit scoring figures, including four of the five starters. Pacing the Rams, though, was Kris Martin, who finished with 19 points in a big game off the bench.

Along with Martin, Kendle Moore and David Roddy each scored 13 points apiece. Just behind them was the freshman point guard, Isaiah Stevens, who added 11 points. Finally, Nico Carvacho recorded the 43rd double-double of his career with 10 points and 13 rebounds, despite having to sit 17 minutes with foul trouble.

In total, the Rams shot 48 percent from the field in the road victory (26-of-54). While they did not have the same kind of record-setting performance from beyond the arc that they had in Wednesday’s win over New Mexico, the Rams were able to knock down enough shots from the perimeter to help keep their lead throughout the second half.

When it was all said and done, CSU finished 11-of-30 from 3-point land (36.7 percent). Comparatively, the Falcons came into Saturday’s matchup shooting 44 percent from 3-point range at Clune Arena but only managed to knock down 6-of-24 (25 percent) shots from the perimeter in the loss.

K-Mart comes up clutch

It’s no secret that guys would rather be in the starting lineup than come off the bench but every hoops fan knows that it takes more than five to win a game. On Saturday, we found just how valuable it is to have a senior guard to turn to down the stretch.

Kris Martin, who began the season as a starter, exploded for 19 points as CSU’s sixth man in the win over the Falcons. The Oral Roberts transfer hit multiple 3’s in the second half and provided a huge spark for the Rams when the team needed him most. Without Martin’s offensive boost, the Falcons very well may have found a way to come back and steal the game.

Considering the way that the season has played out for Martin, it would have been easy for the veteran to mentally check out, especially after struggling to score at times and ultimately losing his spot in the starting lineup to a true freshman.

Instead, Martin stayed committed to his teammates and focused on playing quality defense in the minutes he did receive. And when his number called on today, the senior made the most of his opportunity.

Nico Carvacho shows why he’s the leader

Despite finishing the game with 10 points and 13 rebounds, it was a relatively quiet day for Nico Carvacho. The senior center picked up his second personal foul early in the first half and had to sit much of the opening 20 minutes because of it.

After coming back in and making an immediate impact on the glass, Carvacho missed significant time in the second half with foul trouble as well and only ended up seeing 23 minutes of action in the win. As a result, the Falcons (40) were able to finish with 10 more rebounds than the Rams (30), even in a losing effort.

Even though Carvacho was not always making an impact on the floor, he proved why his presence is so valuable for this young team with the way he carried himself in the win. The entire time Carvacho was out of the game, he could be seen communicating with his teammates and shouting out words of encouragement from the sidelines.

At one point, even the TV broadcasters mentioned how active the big man was on the bench, and said that he looked more like a coach than a player.

Considering Carvacho used to have some troubles dealing with his emotions in the heat of battle, seeing the way he continued to support his teammates after getting called for a couple of questionable calls was definitely an encouraging sign.

The staff has done a lot of work with the big man to help him improve his interactions with referees and it has genuinely made a difference with the way that he’s been officiated this season. Even so, though, it’s definitely not easy to stay locked into a game when you have to sit 5+ minutes at a time and are used to being a workhorse. Kudos to Carvacho for stepping up and leading by example for his young teammates during a tough situation.

John Tonje continues to provide a spark

Coming into Saturday’s tilt with the Falcons, Niko Medved talked about how John Tonje has really started to improve defensively, and because of this, the staff has gotten more and comfortable giving him an expanded role in the rotation.

With how different the schemes are at the collegiate level, Medved explained that the speed of the game is still coming to the freshman point guard from Omaha, Nebraska. Overall, though, Medved has liked the growth that he’s seen from the 6-foot-5 athletic guard.

“Players are faster and there are so many moving parts — I think that part is starting to slow down for him,” Medved said. “I’ve said all along that the better and more consistent he gets on defense and taking care of the ball, his minutes will come because he’s a guy that can put the ball in the basket.”

On Saturday, Tonje only played 12 minutes but he made the most of them by knocking down a pair of huge 3’s. In total, Tonje finished with 7 points on 2-of-2 shooting from the floor. However, the box score does not indicate just how timely Tonje’s shots from the perimeter were.

Obviously, Tonje needs to continue to improve on the defensive end but with the way that he can impact the game offensively, it would not be surprising if the first-year player was able to steal some of Hyron Edwards’ minutes in the future.

Edwards has been a consistent defender and can really create opportunities for his teammates in transition but he has also really struggled to find the bottom of the net for most of the season. If Tonje keeps making big plays, Medved may decide that his offensive prowess is just too valuable to play him behind Edwards.

Next Up

CSU (13-7, 4-3) will host Fresno State (6-12, 2-5) at Moby Arena on Wednesday. The Bulldogs have primarily struggled this season but have played just about everyone tough. Most recently, FSU defeated Wyoming 65-50.