Colorado State physically overmatched by New Mexico in defeat

FORT COLLINS – With a tougher schedule looming, Colorado State could have used one more home win before visiting upper-echelon Mountain West teams in Fresno State and Utah State next week. But the Rams were dominated Saturday afternoon in an 84-71 losing effort to New Mexico.

Junior guard Elijah Brown, a preseason all-conference selection, gave CSU (11-7, 3-2) fits from the start. The 6-4 Brown scored seven points in the game’s opening five minutes. He would only get hotter the rest of the game.

As has often been the case in the first half of games for CSU, Larry Eustachy’s crew settled for outside shots. The green and gold failed to get the ball inside and had to settle for difficult three-point attempts. CSU took 15 shots from beyond the arc, making just five of them.

“We took some quick shots against, I think, the most talented team in the league,” Eustachy said. “And when you do that, you’re going to pay for it.”

Senior guard Gian Clavell echoed the Rams head coach.

“We got away from our game and we got away from who we are,” said Clavell. “Give credit to New Mexico. They played a really good game. They brought their physicality and they brought it to us.”

Offensively, the Rams got stuck in several ruts, enduring 1-of-8 and 2-of-10 stretches from the field. It wasn’t until toward the end of first half where the Lobos started to widen their lead. Brown, who played a good chunk of the half with two fouls, helped push his team’s lead to as many as 12 points.

CSU went into the locker room trailing 44-34. The Rams shot just 31 percent compared to UNM’s 52 percent. What was more alarming for Eustachy was that he saw his players get outrebounded 26-18 in the opening 20 minutes.

Things only got worse for CSU after the break. Brown continued to say hot from the field while also rebounding and getting his teammates involved. The possible candidate for Mountain West Player of the Year finished with 25 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

“He’s a great player,” Clavell said. “One of the best in the conference. He had a great game. There’s just nothing else you can say.”

Even with a huge lead, things got chippy toward the end of the game when UNM’s Joe Furstinger set a blind screen on J.D. Paige, who hit the floor hard. Prentiss Nixon was hit with a technical foul while two Lobos assistant coaches were ejected for coming onto the floor.

Eustachy said postgame that he was pleased with how his players handled the incident.

“I was very proud of the way our guys handled it,” Eustachy said. “Because I’ve seen some really bad situations handled. We stayed on the bench, nobody left the bench if you noticed. Their coaches got ejected; we didn’t.”

The teams meet for the second time of the regular season Feb. 21 in what will likely involve carryover from the first matchup.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Clavell – He totaled 22 points on 7-of-14 from the field. Clavell also added six rebounds.

BY THE NUMBERS

1:56 – The amount of time the Rams led in the game. There were 10 lead changes, all of which came in the first half. The Lobos were in control mostly from start to finish.

39 – Total rebounds for UNM, while CSU grabbed just 29 boards.

8 – Bench points for CSU. Eustachy chose not to use Devocio Butler, Che Bob or Kimani Jackson in what was their final opportunity to contribute minutes this season before academic ineligibility takes effect.

LASTING IMPACT

For the remainder of the season, Eustachy will only have seven players to work with. Saturday showed that a deep, talented team such as New Mexico can wreak havoc on a depleted Rams team.

WHAT’S NEXT

CSU heads to Fresno State Jan. 18 to play the Bulldogs. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m.