Colorado State dominates San Jose State on the road

DENVER — In the first matchup against a Tim Miles-coached team since he left Fort Collins back in 2012, the Colorado State Rams beat down the San Jose State Spartans 78-42 at the Provident Credit Union Event Center on Saturday afternoon. The blowout victory over SJSU improves CSU’s 2021-22 record to 13-1 overall and 3-1 against the Mountain West. The Rams are now 23-0 all-time against the Spartans as well. 

SJSU got the scoring started in this one with a 3-pointer from Trey Anderson on the opening possession. The Spartans came into the game shooting 39.8 percent from deep, so one might have wondered if they were going to have one of those games like Northern Colorado back in December, when an inferior opponent shoots lights out from 3-point range and keeps things tight as a result. But that’s not what happened. The Rams immediately responded with a 10-0 run and SJSU ended up going 7-of-32 from deep (21.9 percent). 

By halftime the Rams were leading by 18 points (35-17). And then CSU just poured it on from there, as they opened the second half with a 16-0 run and held SJSU scoreless for the first 7 minutes of the final period. It was just one of those games where the disparity in talent and depth was too much for Miles’ Spartans to keep up. 

Individually it was standout day for both Dischon Thomas (14 points, 7 rebounds) and Isaiah Rivera (12 points, 4 rebounds). Those guys were able to really light it up despite not playing more than 15 minutes apiece. But honestly this was a beatdown in which everyone made an impact play for CSU at one point or another. 

Isaiah Stevens had 10 points, James Moors and Jalen Lake each scored 8 apiece, John Tonje (7) and Chandler Jacobs (6) gave CSU a combined 13 points off the bench as well.

David Roddy ended up finishing with a season-low 6 points in the 36 point throttling of SJSU, but Niko Medved credited his rebounding efforts (11 total) and praised his passing postgame. Roddy recorded six assists and might have come close to a double-double if a few more guys had heated up earlier. Alas, it was still a quality showing and impactful performance, even without scoring the way he typically does. It’s why he finished a game-high +34 in 30 minutes on the floor, while scoring 14 points less than he does on average.

When it was all said and done, CSU had nine different players record at least one field goal. The ball movement was excellent throughout too, as CSU had 17 assists and just five turnovers. And ultimately CSU’s depth just completely overwhelmed SJSU over the course of the 40 minute game. While the Spartans’ reserves recorded 13 points in the loss, CSU’s bench guys exploded for 41. Their production alone was nearly enough to win on Saturday.

Finally, in addition to just having much more talent, the Rams played with tremendous heart and it showed on the glass where CSU finished +18 in the victory. CSU absolutely owned the paint as well (40 points).

While a win over a less-than-average Spartans team won’t do much in terms of earning the Rams back some of the respect they lost nationally in their own blowout loss at San Diego State a week ago, it does keep the positive momentum rolling after a solid win over Utah State on Wednesday. CSU will look to increase its winning streak to three when New Mexico comes to Moby Arena on Wednesday night.