FORT COLLINS, CO. — In a battle between a pair of up-and-coming teams in the Mountain West Conference, Colorado State 4-1, 1-0) opened up the league portion of the schedule with a 75-53 victory over Fresno State (2-1, 0-1) Monday night.
While the game was certainly sloppy — both teams really struggled with turnovers and wild passes in general — the defensive effort from Niko Medved’s squad was once again extremely solid.
The Rams held the Bulldogs to just 17 percent shooting from deep and 41 percent from the floor; and a big reason why was that CSU consistently did a great job of contesting looks in the half court. Whether Fresno State worked the ball around the perimeter or tried to feed it down low, CSU constantly had a man creating pressure and making things difficult on the ball handlers. Additionally, the communication between CSU defenders was rock solid, so the Rams really did a nice job of rotating and/or sending help when necessary — which in turn made things that much harder on Justin Hutson’s young Bulldogs squad.
Of the nine players that saw the floor for Fresno State, starting forward Orlando Robinson was really the only player that made his presence felt throughout the game. Robinson paced the Bulldogs with 14 points on an efficient 5-of-8 performance from the floor and pulled down 9 rebounds as well. Aside from him and starting guard Isaiah Hill, though, none of the road players were able to get much going offensively — and CSU’s stout defense was a big reason why.
Offensively the Rams were a bit streaky themselves in the victory. At times CSU still struggled to knock down open jump shots. And as mentioned above, there were definitely way too many easy turnovers gifted to the Bulldogs. In total, CSU recorded 15 turnovers, resulting in 12 points the other way — which is something that must be cleaned up in future contests.
However, if there’s a silver lining, it’s that while the offense is still not up to standard, there have been flashes of the potential this team possesses on that end — particularly when the Rams have been able to attack in transition.
Ultimately the fans would like to see CSU be able to light it up from the floor at home — and they should have high expectations for a team this talented — but as Medved has said on multiple occasions, the offense is going to come as they get more games under their belt. What’s encouraging is that effort has not been an issue for this group at all, even when the shots aren’t falling. Whether it’s drawing charges, helping a big man down low or diving for loose balls, this Rams team has displayed a willingness to do the dirty work.
Leading the way for CSU from a scoring standpoint was the usual trio of David Roddy (19 points), Isaiah Stevens (16 points) and Kendle Moore (14). The Rams also picked up an important 8 points from Adam Thistlewood as he went 1-of-1 from the floor and 5-of-5 from the charity stripe. While the performance was far from perfect, it was definitely another step in the right direction — a common theme for this group in the early stages of the 2020-21 campaign.
Next up: Fresno State in Game 2 on Wednesday afternoon.
