March Madness: Can CSU make a Mountain West tournament run?

With the Mountain West tournament set, March Madness is officially in full swing, and the conference might be more wide open than people realize.

After going 16-15 overall, and 8-10 in-conference, the Rams secured the No. 6 seed in this year’s Vegas showdown. After winning 27 games last season, and missing out on the big dance, it is a weird thought to consider the Rams might have a chance to redeem themselves in 2016.

Tiel Daniels still has confidence in his team.  “If you look at a lot of our games, it came down to us not executing us,” Daniels said. “Not rebounding at crucial times, or us turning the ball over. We know we can play with anyone in this league. We know that we’ve proven it. It’s just costly mistakes down the stretch, cost us the game. The league is wide open. Everyone still has a shot.” Daniels said following Saturday’s  87-73 victory over Air Force. 

Colorado State is a better basketball team than the record indicates. Multiple times this season, CSU had a lead late in the second half, and was not able to secure the victory. The Rams live and die at the three-point line, and when they are hot, they are the best jump shooting team in the conference.

The problem is when the Rams are not feeling it, they tend to try and shoot themselves out of the slump, instead of getting to the basket and finding other ways to score. The Rams only put up 22 points in the first half against Air Force.

Early in the second half, Emmanuel Omogbo scored 11 straight points for the Rams, eight of which were layups under the hoop. CSU found a way to score inside and out, and went on to put up 65 points in the second half.

If CSU can get some offensive rhythm going in the tournament, and mix in a heavy dose of points in the paint, like they did in the second half against Air Force Saturday, they have a very favorable road to the Championship game this Saturday afternoon.

The Rams open the tournament against the No. 11 seed San Jose State Spartans. SJSU is one of the lower teams of the league, finishing the season with a lowly (9-21) record. Colorado State has already beaten the Spartans twice this season, winning 85-84 in overtime Jan. 9, and 74-66 Jan. 27.

If CSU defeats San Jose State Wednesday, their next opponent would be the three-seed Boise State Broncos. The Rams lost 84-80 in a close contest at Boise Jan. 2. More recently, CSU defeated Boise in a controversial double-overtime thriller Feb 10.

With .8 seconds remaining in the first overtime, Boise State inbounded the ball, and James Webb III banked in what appeared to a game winning three-point shot. However when the officials reviewed the play, they determined that the clock operator did not start the clock in-time. The officials waved off the basket, determining the shot would not have been off before the buzzer.

CSU opened the second overtime on a 9-0 run, and never looked back, defeating Boise State 97-93. The call was questioned around the country, but Larry Eustacy believes the correct call was made.

 “I knew when it banked and then the clock went off, it had to take longer than .8 seconds, but I thought we lost, that’s the bottom line.” Eustachy said following the game. 

The call was a tough one, and in any situation where the officials make a judgement call, one party is going to be upset.

“It took a lot of courage to figure out the right call, and clearly when he caught it, to when he got it off, took 1.3 seconds.” Eustachy said. 

CSU and Boise State have said some great matchups over the past few seasons, and the Broncos would be no easy task for the Rams. However, Boise is definitely beatable. CSU has been able to put up big points in both matchups this season, and if they very well could do it a third time.

After Boise State, CSU would play either Air Force, UNLV, or Fresno State for a chance to get in the Mountain West Championship game. CSU split the season series with UNLV, but defeated Air Force in both matchups this season.

The Rams lost their only game against Fresno State last Wednesday, (03/02). In the 87-73 Fresno State victory, the Rams committed 14 turnovers, and shot 58 percent from the free throw line.  If CSU were to get another shot at the Bulldogs, they would need to play a much more complete game.

Obviously there is a lot of basketball to be played, and the Rams need to take things one game at a time, starting with Wednesday’s matchup with San Jose State. This season has not gone the way the Rams had hoped it would, but with the way CSU can put up points on any given night, they are very much a threat in this tournament.

The conference tournament gives everyone a clean slate, with the same chances at advancing to the 2016 NCAA tournament. This one of the most exciting stretches of the season, when crazy things can happen.

“If you look at Jim Valvano when he won the National Championship. He had to win the (ACC) tournament, to go to the (NCAA) tournament)”, Eustacy said, referring to the 1983 North Carolina State championship team, following Saturday’s victory.

“The first game was a fluke. They luckily banked one in or something, and they went on to win the National Championship.”

One team Larry Eustachy would like to get another shot at, would be the Wyoming Cowboys, who defeated the Rams twice this season. “We hope we get to play Wyoming again, get another crack at them.” Eustachy said.

 The only way the Rams can get another shot at the Cowboys, would be in the championship game, but hey who knows, it is March after all.