Rams gain valuable experience in a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Duke

DURHAM, N.C. — Nothing to lose.

Colorado State men’s basketball (1-1) knew that leaving Cameron Indoor Arena with a victory would be a tall task. Listed as 24-point underdogs coming in, it basically would have taken a perfect performance to top No. 4 Duke (2-0).

With that in mind, head coach Niko Medved had a different mindset for his team in this game — simply give it everything they had and leave it all out on the floor. This isn’t to say that Medved did not believe in his guys — that’s definitely not the case — but the veteran hoops coach was well aware that he was walking into the lion’s den Friday night. And when you’re dealing with a dangerous predator like a lion, the best you can hope for is to not get mauled.

“We’ve got such a young team. I think it took a lot of courage for us to come out here and to play this game in Duke’s home opener like this,” Medved said. “We hung in there and I think there are some things for us to build on.”

For much of the first half, it appeared like the Rams might be able to survive the fight with only a couple of bumps and bruises. CSU hung tough with the Blue Devils and despite struggling with Duke’s full-court press, up until about the 2:00 mark of the opening period, the Rams were legitimately within striking distance.

“Coach K has got that team playing so hard,” Medved said. “I mean that’s what Duke always does and obviously we weren’t able to get into any sort of offense whatsoever.”

Nico Carvacho, who finished with 11 points and 9 rebounds in 28 minutes on the floor, matched his coach’s sentiment. According to the third-year starter, it’s one thing to prepare for Duke’s defensive intensity in practice but it’s a completely different animal to experience it in person.

“You can see it on film, you can have the scout team do it — but until you do it here at Cameron Indoor Arena with Trey Jones and all of them doing it— it’s a little different,” Carvacho said.

A big reason why CSU was able to keep things tight early, even in spite of their poor shooting, was the consistent effort on the defensive end. CSU did a nice job of pressuring Duke’s ball handlers and not allowing the talented team in blue to get too many open looks. Unfortunately, though, the length and athleticism eventually took its toll as Duke was able to close out the first half with a 10-0 run and ultimately took a 16-point lead into the break. From there, Duke never slowed down, and simply proved to be too much for the visiting Rams to slow down. And in the end, Mike Krzyzewski’s top 5 team was able to pull away with an 89-55 victory.

While critics will claim that a blowout loss on the road has no value, Medved and the Rams disagree.

“I thought our young guys got a ton of experience out there today,” Medved said. This is such a great environment… I’ve got all these freshmen and young guys that come out here in their first game on the road in college basketball, and it’s like ‘welcome to the big-time, guys’. I made that decision to put them in this environment and I don’t regret that one bit.”

Once again, Carvacho was in synch with Medved, and explained that it was bucket list trip for everyone on the team.

“It was valuable for everybody, even me. I’ve never played in something like this — I’m a redshirt senior and I’ve been here five years — nothing like this,” Carvacho said. “I think it was a really cool experience for all of us.”

While the memories are neat, Carvacho believes the Rams gained much more than just photos to post on Instagram and stories to pass down to their future kids. The Mountain West’s all-time leading rebounder also said that the game was a chance for he and his teammates to grow. Obviously, the final score was not ideal, but the big man from Frisco, TX., believes that playing in such an intense environment will benefit them down the line.

“The only negative thing would be if we don’t grow from it,” Carvacho said before referencing how young the team is. “As long as we go to the film room when we get back and get better.”

Following Friday’s loss to Duke, CSU will return to action at Moby Arena on Wednesday when Nebraska-Omaha comes to down. After experiencing one of the nation’s most intense environments, the matchup will be much more manageable for the Rams.