FORT COLLINS, Colo. — In front of a packed house at Moby Arena, the Colorado State men’s basketball team made a statement in the 2021-22 season opener with a 109-80 victory over Oral Roberts University.
“It starts with just the electric atmosphere in Moby,” head coach Niko Medved said postgame.
“That’s what we’ve been talking about and the vision since we got here. To see that tonight, you know, manifest in the crowd and the students turning out, people on their feet cheering — I think that obviously, these guys for the first time got a glimpse of what that can be like. And they’ve earned that. They’ve earned that with the way they’ve played and with who they are.”
Medved opted to go with a small ball lineup in this one — a move that paid off well for the home team right off the bat — particularly on the offensive end as CSU came out extremely aggressive and looking to score.
Led by John Tonje, who got the start alongside Kendle Moore, Isaiah Stevens, David Roddy and Adam Thistlewood, the Green & Gold were able to establish an early rhythm with great ball movement and quality shot selection. Tonje benefitted the most, finishing the first half with 18 points. He never slowed down though. In fact, Tonje came out in the second half and absolutely torched the Golden Eagles. When it was all said and done, Tonje had a career-high 31 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the floor.
“I feel like my teammates and coaches gave me confidence today,” Tonje said postgame. ” We went with the smaller approach for defensive reasons, but I feel like things really opened up offensively.”
John Tonje makes a move to the basket during the Rams’ season opener.
We’ve seen Tonje get hot in the past so it’s not as if his phenomenal showing was a shocker. However, what was so impressive was the fact that he was able to get buckets all over the floor. It wasn’t just a case of him getting hot from the corner and draining a couple of threes. He did knock down a couple of open looks along the perimeter but Tonje was also aggressive on the drive and really forced Oral Roberts to either let him go by or foul him. And when he got to the free throw line, he made the most of those chances as well by going 8-of-8 at the charity stripe.
“Yeah, wasn’t that a brilliant coaching move,” Medved joked Tuesday night. “I said it was for defense and he responds with (that). I don’t know if a guy has had 30 in here or how long (it’s been), but you guys watch John. That’s who he is. Last year, whenever he came into the game, he made things happen. And you know what, he may come off the bench next game. And he doesn’t care. That’s just who he is.”
If Tonje can produce like this consistently this season his impact for the Rams can be absolutely massive. You already know what you’re going to get from the established stars on a nightly basis, so if Tonje can really get rolling this year, opposing defenses are going to have a hell of a tough time trying to slow down all of CSU’s weapons. We saw it in live action on Tuesday night with four different individuals finishing the game with double-digit scoring figures. Outside of Tonje, Stevens had 13 points and six assists. Chandler Jacobs (15 points) and Dischon Thomas (16 points and 10 rebounds) were key contributors off the bench too.
Defensively the Rams did a nice job of contesting jump shots and trying to force the Golden Eagles to put the ball on the floor. Preseason All-American, Max Abmas, was able to create some offense for his team with 15 points in the first half, but CSU didn’t allow him to take open looks from deep all night. Prior to injuring his ankle, Moore was actually stellar with his tough defensive assignment. Once he went out, though, the rest of the guards held up pretty well in their own right. Abmas finished the evening with 20 points on just 8-of-22 shooting. It was about as well as one could hope to contain the preseason All-American.
Although it was a great way to open up the 2021-22 campaign, the Rams won’t be able to celebrate for too long. CSU has two more games this week. Arkansas Pine-Bluff comes to town on Friday and Peru State will be in Moby Arena on Sunday. We’ll see if the Green & Gold can keep the fun times rolling.
