FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Nothing about the early portion of the season has gone to schedule for Colorado State men’s basketball. The first five games were all canceled or postponed — and for three solid weeks, the Rams couldn’t even practice together as a full team (Nov. 17 – Dec. 8) as the group dealt with an outbreak of COVID-19.
Alas, in what will be a wonky season for many programs around the country, the Green & Gold didn’t have time to complain about awkward circumstances. With a pair of home games over a 48-hour span and a trip to Saint Mary’s on the slate for this weekend, the Rams had a short period of time to get back into a groove and compete as best as possible.
After working through some rust and beating CSU-Pueblo at Moby Arena on Saturday afternoon, the Rams faced their first Division 1 opponent of the 2020-21 campaign on Monday night, Northern Arizona University.
The Lumberjacks entered the matchup winless at 0-2 but managed to keep things pretty tight in the first half. In fact, despite being the much more talented team, CSU only led 35-32 at halftime — largely due to an up-and-down shooting performance.
In the opening 20 minutes, the Rams made just 11 percent of their shots from beyond the arc (1-of-9). However, what was encouraging was despite not being able to make many of their attempts, CSU was at least getting open looks from the floor. Some of the shots were probably a little early in the possession, but at the end of the day, if the looks are open, it’s tough to blame the guys for letting them fly.
“I felt like we were getting great looks,” Isaiah Stevens said. “We just weren’t hitting them.”
In the second half, things started to click for the Rams offensively. CSU made seven consecutive 3-point attempts as a team in the first couple of minutes alone. And from there, the Rams were pretty much in control.
Defensively, the effort was rock solid as the Rams were able to force 15 turnovers, leading to 25 points for CSU. What’s more, the Lumberjacks only scored 20 points in the entire second half. And CSU actually closed out the victory on a 31-2 run.
“We just were trying to attack them defensively and get out in transition,” James Moors said.
“That was the difference in the game,” Stevens added.
In total, the Rams outscored the Lumberjacks 56-20 in the second half. Leading the way for the Rams was sophomore guard Isaiah Stevens, who paced the team in scoring (23 points), assists (9), and finished a team-high +44 in 34 minutes on the floor. Right behind Stevens was fellow sophomore, David Roddy, who had 14 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in the win.
After such a dominant effort down the stretch, the Rams will hope to carry some of the momentum into their first true road game of the year on Saturday.
“We’re a team that loves to compete,” Stevens said. “Saint Mary’s is a really good team… we just want to play. Regardless of where it is, who it is, we just want to play.”
