FORT COLLINS, Colo. — For months I have said that Colorado State men’s basketball is a team on the verge of breaking out. On Wednesday, the Rams proved it with a 105-72 victory of the University of New Mexico at Moby Arena. The 33 point beatdown is the biggest margin of victory by either team in the history of the series.
In the dominant win over the Lobos (15-4, 4-2), the Rams (12-7, 3-3) were physical and aggressive on defense, and they were smooth and methodical on offense. As a result, CSU was able to hold a lead for all but 27 seconds and really never looked all that challenged by the visiting Lobos.
“We just came out and we never looked back,” Niko Medved said postgame. “You don’t get many of those, especially in a conference game against a really good team like New Mexico. What a great effort by our guys.”
After coming into tonight’s contest averaging roughly 24 free throw attempts per game, the fourth most in the country, the Lobos were held to just 11 attempts from the charity stripe on Wednesday.
A big reason why CSU was able to contain UNM, despite being the smaller group, was that the Rams did a nice job of communicating and providing help defense in the post. Paul Weir’s squad is excellent at working the paint, running isolations and driving to the rim. So, when opposing defenses don’t work together and force the Lobos to kick the ball back out, typically UNM just bullies them down low. Tonight, though, the Rams were up for the task.
“I thought we stepped up,” Medved said. “… I thought our guys did a great job of being connected, trying to keep the ball where we wanted it, and then bringing early help. (UNM) is a talented team. They’re big, they’re physical and they can really hurt you in the lane but I thought for the most part, in the half court, our defense was pretty solid.”
Along with completely setting the tone on defense, the Rams knocked down a record-setting 19 3-pointers in the game — surpassing the previous high mark of 17, which was set against Michigan in 2000. CSU’s 19 3’s also ties the season-high for any Division 1 team in a single game in 2019-20.
In total, six different Rams finished the night in double-digit figures, including all five starters. And of the 11 players that saw the floor for CSU, nine made at least one bucket.
“I felt like it was just a matter of time before we were going to make shots,” Medved said of his team’s breakout performance. “I thought we had been shooting the ball well in practice, and guys did a great job of moving the ball and getting open shots.”
Freshman point guard Isaiah Stevens paced the green and gold with 19 points and eight assists. Right behind him was Kendle Moore (17) and Adam Thistlewood (16). Following the game, the sophomores sat side by side and talked about how good it felt to finally break out as a team.
“After CU, I was like we better have one of these games,”Thistlewood said with a smile.
Obviously, the Rams will have to keep their composure moving forward. As exciting as it was to play like contenders for the first time in about three years, the mission is only just beginning. Currently sitting at .500 in league play, with a road trip to Air Force coming up on Saturday and a winnable home matchup against Fresno State next week, CSU is in a good position to potentially extend its winning streak to five games.
The Rams definitely cannot afford to overlook anyone. As Medved talked about tonight, the 2019-20 college basketball season has been filled with weird upsets, especially in the Mountain West. But with the way that CSU seems to be clicking on all fronts right now, there’s no reason to think the Rams are not capable of taking care of business.
Slowly but surely this team has created an identity this season and as the Rams showed Wednesday night, when they play to their potential, there is no team in the league that would want to have to deal with this feisty young group in the MW Tournament.
The key of course will be establishing consistency over the next six weeks or so. But with a staff that actually has a vision and a young core that is gaining confidence by the game, the ceiling for CSU hoops is as high as it’s been in more than a half decade.
Get to Moby Arena, folks. This team is worth it.
