Column: With big games looming, CSU hoops has to learn lessons from last week

This week is a steep hill to climb for the Colorado State Rams men’s basketball team.

Sure, they’re 5-1. Yes, their only loss of the year came in the Corpus Christi Classic championship game last Saturday evening to a 6-0 UTEP team.

But, if Larry Eustachy and his team don’t learn from two massive mental mistakes last week, the effects will continue throughout the rest of this 2015-16 season.

What were those mistakes? Overlooking a team and then getting too comfortable with a big lead against another.

Last Tuesday, Abilene Christian came to town and took the Rams to double overtime before Antwan Scott was able to take over and bail the boys out. To start that game, then-undefeated Colorado State was lethargic and allowed the Wildcats to jump out to a 7-2 lead. Eustachy called a quick timeout – as he usually does when the team trails early on – and righted the ship. CSU looked to cruise to a victory, taking a 12-point lead with 3:04 until halftime. Then, Abilene Christian got hot, went on a 12-0 run to tie the contest just after the break and then took the lead, which they held onto for most of the second half.

Abilene Christian kept hanging in the game, kept gaining confidence, kept draining 3-pointers. When Jovan Crnic’s three dropped in at the buzzer to tie the game and send it to overtime, the Wildcats went wild and the Rams couldn’t believe it.

In the first overtime, the teams exchanged buckets, and with the game tied, John Gillon threw up a prayer from downtown which missed. Double overtime and Antwan Scott went off. The redshirt senior guard scored six straight points to take the lead and his Rams won 108-100.

This is no knock on Abilene Christian, but they should’ve never been in the game past the first half. Colorado State had won 20 straight non-conference games and 10 regular season games at Moby Arena in a row; no one beats the green and gold inside The Whale.

CSU should’ve blown out Abilene Christian, or at least cruised to victory, but instead they were taken to double-overtime.

Why? Because, as Eustachy admitted to post-game, they overlooked their opponent.

“It just proves it doesn’t matter what’s on your shirt,” Larry Eustachy said after the game. “I mean, Abilene Christian, OK. There’s these teams everywhere and they’ve been upsetting all these teams everywhere.

“But to sum the game up, I told the team that they feed off me big time,” Eustachy continued. “And I didn’t — never do it — but I didn’t give them (Abilene Christian) enough credit. We were kind of talking about Portland at the same time and it’s a great coaching lesson I learned a long time ago.”

If he learned that lesson a long time ago, why did it almost bite the Rams in the butt in 2015?

Overlooking an opponent is one of the biggest sins a coach, a player, a team can commit; CSU ended up playing 60 minutes that night instead of 40. All the conditioning in the world can prepare the players for longer games, but make a habit of overtime contests and the Rams will wear down as the season drags on.

“Just coming out lethargic,” point guard and leader John Gillon said after the game. “Just being up for a game like Northern Iowa, seeing how good they are…I feel like we can play with anybody…I don’t feel like we came out and gave that same respect to Abilene Christian.”

After overlooking ACU and winning in double-overtime, the Rams handled Portland with ease last Friday, defeating them 90-74 in Corpus Christi, Texas to move to the tournament’s championship game.

And Colorado State looked to be on their way to a tournament victory, jumping to a 47-30 lead over UTEP on Saturday afternoon. That’s when their second mental error occurred.

The Rams were again lackadaisical and that 17-point lead evaporated like a drop of sweat on the blacktop in the summer sun. CSU turned the ball over seven times in their first eight possessions and UTEP made it a seven-point game. The Miners kept chipping away at the lead and tied the game with 23 seconds left to send it to overtime. After one overtime, the game was still tied. That’s when UTEP had more energy and finished the Rams off 99-90 in double-overtime.

From halftime on, CSU was out-scored 69-43; giving up that giant lead by thinking they had the game in the bag was devastating. And, again, they played 60 minutes instead of 40. In one week, Colorado State men’s basketball played four games worth of minutes and participated in only three games.

The Rams allowed those games to go into overtime and then double-overtime because they were too cool, too laid-back and didn’t exhibit a killer instinct. That loss in the tournament’s championship game likely stung and they’ve had five days to think about it all.

Tonight, with a good Long Beach State team in town, Colorado State has a chance to right their wrongs, to prove they have learned the tough lessons from last week.

If the Rams overlook Long Beach State, because the rival Colorado Buffaloes are on the schedule Sunday, CSU could lose. And if Colorado State builds a lead, they have to finish off the 49ers tonight.

Of course, some Moby Madness would help the team. So, why don’t you head down to Moby tonight just before the 7 p.m. MT tip-off? We’ll be there to see how the Rams rebound from their first loss of the year, you should be, too.