Colorado State needed a get right game on Sunday. After a couple of disappointing showings in local rivalry matchups, the Rams needed to get back on track before they ultimately go out on the road for a couple of challenging games to conclude the non-conference slate.
CSU started slow against Peru State. After initially going down 9-2, the Rams trailed for roughly the first 8 minutes of action before the offense started to click. Once the offense got rolling for the Rams though they were pretty much able to do whatever they wanted on that end of the floor.
Defensively it took longer for CSU to find a groove. In the first half the Rams had a lot of sloppy defensive rotations and gave the Bobcats way too many uncontested jump shots, and to their credit they took advantage by going 11-of-16 from deep to keep pace with the home team.
At halftime CSU only led 53-47 despite having really impressive offensive numbers. The Rams shot 71% from the floor and recorded assists on 15 of their 20 field goals over the first 20 minutes. But because they were not locked in on the defensive side, Peru State was able to hang around and make the home fans sweat it out a little bit.
Fortunately for the Ram faithful, whatever Niko Medved said to the guys in the locker room seemed to work, because they came out of the break and played with the same pace offensively but with way more intensity on the defensive end.
Over the final 20 minutes of play CSU outscored the visiting Bobcats 62-25 to cruise to a 115-72 victory. 115 points is the third-most points ever scored by the Rams in a single game. It surpassed CSU’s previous season-high by 27 points.
Of the 115 points scored, 24 were from Isaiah Stevens. The senior point guard had a bounceback performance with a team-high 24 points, 10 assists and zero turnovers in 28 minutes on the floor.
Stevens was not the only Ram that responded well after a tough night in Boulder though. John Tonje hit all five of his attempts from beyond the arc (7-of-8 overall) to finish with 19 points. Patrick Cartier and James Moors combined for 24 points in the front court. And coming off of the bench Isaiah Rivera had 12 points as well.
As far as the team stats go, CSU held a significant advantage in points scored in the paint (+40) — which is exactly what should have happened — but was an encouraging sign nevertheless after getting worked down low in consecutive games.
The Rams also had a better showing on the glass (+11), got great production from the bench (47 points), and had a season-high 35 assists as a team.
Going up against an NAIA program, CSU should always be expected to handle their business, so we don’t want to get too over reactionary and declare that all of the problems that have plagued them of late are suddenly solved. However, while this may have been the expected result, it was still a great way for the Rams to hit the reset button and find some confidence coming off of a couple of tough games.
Following Sunday’s home victory, CSU concludes the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 6-1 home record. The Rams are 16-1 at Moby Arena against non-league opponents over the last two years.
Next up: Saint Mary’s on Dec. 18.
