Kris Martin, CSU veterans answer the call in Tuesday's victory over DU

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Coming into the 2019-20 season, Kris Martin knew that he would have to step up and be a leader for the Rams.

One of the most experienced players on a roster that is made up of more than 50 percent new faces, Martin, a senior, was well aware that his team needed more from him this year — both on and off of the court — if CSU men’s basketball was going to have any chance of making some noise, the former Oral Roberts guard was going to have to be a legitimate threat.

Obviously, we still have much to learn about Martin’s role and the 2019-20 Rams as a whole, but one game into the season, it seems that he is well onto his way of establishing himself as one of CSU’s most crucial contributors. In Tuesday night’s 74-63 victory over the University of Denver, Martin finished with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Frisco, TX., was smooth with the basketball, made good decisions to create quality shots for him and his teammates and as always, Martin was solid on the defensive end to boot.

“I think I definitely took a step forward tonight with the commitment I made to myself and my teammates — with just being there every night on the offensive and defensive end,” Martin said following CSU’s victory in the home opener.

Martin explained that he still has some things he can work on. For instance, he said that he gambled a few too many times tonight when he did not need to. He also struggled to knock down a couple of open 3-point looks and finished 1-of-6 from deep in the win. But with a smile on his face, Martin said that he did enough tonight to help his team win.

According to head coach Niko Medved, Martin looked great Tuesday night but it was really a solid showing for all of the CSU veterans. The always personable leader of the Rams explained postgame that the seniors played a big role in helping the team build an early lead and ultimately close the game down the stretch as well. Specifically, Medved pointed to senior guard Hyron Edwards Jr. and sophomore forward Adam Thistlewood, who is young in age but probably more mature than most 25-year-olds.

That was awesome to see,” Medved said. “We’re going to need that. The young guys are great but they’ve got to get experience.”

Thistlewood started as the team’s only true forward on the floor as the Rams rolled out an initial lineup featuring three guards, the 6-foot-6 forward from Golden, Colo., and the ‘Big Chile’ at the five. After picking up a pair of early fouls and getting subbed out a few minutes in, Thistlewood was able to return to the floor with 10:59 remaining in the first half.  From there, the local hoopster quietly came up clutch for the Rams all night.

Thistlewood was CSU’s most efficient shooter from beyond the arc (2-of-4) in what was otherwise a rough shooting performance for the Rams from 3-point range (7-of-23). He also got to the line more frequently than anyone on the floor and took full advantage by making 9-of-10 free throw attempts.

Most importantly, though, Thistlewood was a capable rebounder — which is something he put a lot of work into during the offseason. Following the game, Thistlewood said that he took notes on Nico Carvacho and everything that the nation’s leading rebounder from a year ago did to become so dominant in the paint. He explained that although he didn’t know the exact numbers, he knew they were not good enough when it came to defensive rebounding.

“I’m trying to fill a role because we definitely had a lack of rebounding last year,” Thistlewood said. “Plus, when Kawhi Leonard said board man gets paid, I really wanted to say that.”

Edwards, on the other hand, scored 10 points in the victory and looked really comfortable as CSU’s sixth man in the rotation.

With Edwards on the floor, the offense seemed to open up and play faster — when someone pulled down a rebound, they immediately looked to get it to the senior guard, who would get the group to attack in transition rather than set up in the half court.  This allowed the Rams to create open looks and attack the Pioneers before they could set up their defense. Of course when DU’s defense was able to get back, it was no problem either  — Edwards would simply regroup near the top of the key and try to move the ball for a quality look or run a ball screen through one of the big men.

“I thought he did a really nice job there of starting to attack and getting down hill,” Medved said. “He just looked a little bit more comfortable doing that. He got fouled a bunch, got into the lane, kinda got aggressive and played really hard on the defensive end.”

Although the statistic is fairly flawed, Edwards finished +19 in the win, demonstrating just how valuable his presence on the floor was. In total,, Edwards played 19:33, made 4-of-6 attempts from the field.

Medved will need Edwards and the rest of the veterans to continue to play a big role for the Rams. After a couple of down seasons for the program, these are the players that will need to show up on a nightly basis if they want to turn things around for one final run at the NCAA Tournament.