Antwan Scott had “it” on Saturday in Fort Collins, but even his career-best game couldn’t push the Colorado State Rams men’s basketball to a win, as Utah State stole the game 96-92.
In the first half, Scott ran off 10 points – knocking down two 3-pointers with two crossover drives – and his Rams led 18-17 early. Utah State found offensive firepower behind their guard Chris Smith, who scored 13 early and helped an 8-2 run which gave the Aggies the 30-23 lead with six minutes until half. Then, Jalen Moore got in on the action, scoring from all over the floor as he pushed Utah State’s lead to nine, at 43-34. Scott hit another 3-pointer and Fred Richardson made a jumper at the buzzer to bring the game to 45-39 Aggies at half.
Utah State pushed that lead to 10 within the first minute of the second half, but that evaporated with a quickness thanks to the hot shooting of Scott. He was on fire all afternoon, pushing his game-high to 25 points five minutes into the 2nd half, tying the game up at 54-54.
Then Lew Evans nailed back-to-back 3-pointers as part of a 19-6 Aggies run which put them up by a game-high 11 points. The Rams, at that point, lost all of their momentum which brought them back to a tied game, making it a struggle for the home team the rest of the way.
Antwan Scott didn’t just score, he drove the lane and kicked it out to John Gillon for a corner 3-pointer to bring the Rams within 5 points mid-way through the half. Again, Utah State pushed back by canning a 3 of their own – this one by Moore – and the lead was nine, 87-78 with 3:35 to play.
Somehow, someway, the Rams came back to within three points when Scott kept canning baskets. With under a minute to play he nailed a 3-pointer and then stole the ball on the Aggies inbounds pass. Tiel Daniels dunked it home and CSU trailed by one. After two successful Utah State free throws, the Rams were down three with 11.3 to go.
STAR OF THE GAME
Antwan Scott had some kind of game Saturday afternoon at Moby. He was on fire from all over the court, inside, outside; it didn’t matter where he shot from, it went in. Scott scored 35 points, tying a career high and it was the most he’s ever produced for the green and gold. The senior shot 10-16 from the field (a stellar 62.5 percent) including 8-11 from downtown. He also added eight rebounds with six assists.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Shane Rector missed a free throw with eight seconds to play. He grabbed his own rebound, though, and was able to push the Aggies ahead by four with only seven seconds to play. It was the dagger in the Rams’ heart.
TURNING POINT
The turning point came early in the second half when the Rams erased a 10-point defect to tie the game up at 54-54. That momentum they gained died off quickly, though, as they lost in the end.
BY THE NUMBERS
Both teams were superb from downtown on Saturday night, making a combined 13-29 in the first half. But, then they cooled off, finishing the game combined 28-63 (44.4 percent).
Colorado State was out-scored on the bench 41-7; it wasn’t even a contest.
Attendance: 3,752
QUOTE OF THE GAME
“At the end of the day, it was about defense…we were horrible on defense. We played defense in spurts, but we don’t come out with that mentality,” Antwan Scott said.
LASTING IMPACT
This was the Rams second straight home conference loss as they can’t find a way to play defense. They must do just that, play defense for long periods of time, to win. They fell to 10-8, 2-3 MW with the loss.
WHAT’S NEXT
Next up for the Rams is a road game at Air Force (10-7, 1-3 MW) on Wednesday, Jan 20. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT. The game will be televised on ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain.
