CSU displayed great potential in the win over NAU — here's why the Rams are a legitimate threat in the Mountain West

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Colorado State men’s basketball is undefeated on the young season. After beating CSU-Pueblo on Saturday afternoon, the Rams took down the Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona on Monday night.

In the 91-52 win over NAU, the Rams looked great on defense but struggled to find the bottom of the net early. Despite consistently getting open looks from the perimeter, CSU just couldn’t seem to hit jump shots for about the first 18 minutes of the game, and as a result, the Green & Gold only took a 3-point lead into the break. 

The second half, however, was a different story — at least on offense — CSU played with same intensity on defense, if not more. The Rams smothered the Lumberjacks, holding them to just 28 percent shooting from the floor and 20 total points in the half. Even more impressive, though, was the fact that CSU managed to close out the win on a 31-2 run over the final 8:58. 

The usual leaders of the squad shouldered the majority of the points on Monday night. Isaiah Stevens led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting. What’s more, he also totaled a game-high 9 assists and pulled down the third-most rebounds (5) to round out a really complete performance. David Roddy had 14 points and 8 rebounds as well. 

In total, the starters accounted for 60 of the 91 points scored by the Rams on Monday night. The great thing was that CSU also got 31 from the rotational players. 

James Moors pitched in with 12 points in 20 minutes. John Tonje had a crucial 7 points off the bench. And true freshman Isaiah Rivera actually had the second-highest +/- rating of anyone on the team (+36). Rivera scored 6 points on 2-of-4 attempts from the floor but honestly his effort on defense stood out even more. 

If Medved can receive that type of production from essentially everyone in the rotation, while also getting the same kind of lockdown effort on defense, the Rams are going to be pretty difficult to stop on a consistent basis.

Stevens and Roddy are definitely the go-to scorers — primarily because they’re the two dudes that usually run the offense — but also because they’re the best at putting the ball on the floor and getting to the rim. As we saw last season and in the victory Monday night, though, when guys like Kendle Moore and Adam Thistlewood are also hitting open 3’s, CSU becomes lethal in the half court. 

As soon as the defense closes in on Stevens/Roddy, they simply pop the ball out to their veterans on the perimeter, who then make their defenders regret trying to help slow down the other guys. It’s the perfect example of why when building a roster, coaches need to consider not just talent, but also their fit on the floor — and right now Medved and Co. have it just right. Everyone understands their role and everyone is willing to do the dirty work, even if it means they’re not the one stuffing the statsheet.

Moore and Thistlewood each dove for multiple loose balls in the second half — something that Mevded specifically pointed to postgame as plays that stood out to him. Moore also led the game with 4 steals and had 4 assists — which was a big reason why the Rams were able to get out and running on the Lumberjacks down the stretch. While the outcome wasn’t close on Monday night, it’s that type of gritty effort that can really make a difference for a team in a close game and Medved knows it. 

Obviously it’s still way too early to start making plans for the postseason. The Rams haven’t even faced anyone from their league. Plus, while I mean no disrespect to CSU’s first two opponents, they weren’t exactly NCAA Tournament material. But coming into the season, I was confident that this was a top 3 team in the Mountain West — and so far, seeing how this roster works together in person has only reaffirmed those beliefs. 

I still have some questions about CSU’s ability to defend the paint. More specifically, I wonder if teams with great length, like San Diego State, will give the Rams fits down low. With what we’ve seen from Dischon Thomas and James Moors, I have little doubts that the Green & Gold will be able to score in the post, though.

Saturday night at Saint Mary’s will be a great gauge of where this team is at early and where the Rams will need to improve. But I have a feeling that we are going to see this group play in some pretty important games in 2020-21 — potentially even starting this weekend. This team is athletic, unselfish, and there’s legitimately enough talent on the roster to fill out multiple capable starting lineups at the D1 level.

There’s no doubt that this year has been tough on us all but with the way that both the men’s and women’s basketball teams are playing at the moment, it just might be a good winter for the Ram faithful after all.