INDIANAPOLIS — This one stings.
Colorado State did not trail once in the first 30 minutes against Michigan on Thursday.
Early on it even looked like the Rams might run the Wolverines off the floor, as they were able to build up a first-half lead of 15 points with just over 5 minutes left until the break.
Unfortunately, for Ram Nation, instead of stepping on their throat and putting away the Wolverines for good, CSU allowed the Big 10 squad to hang around.
By halftime CSU’s lead was down to just 7 points. And 5 minutes into the second half it was clear that the Green & Gold were in trouble.
Over the final 20 minutes of play on Thursday, Michigan out-scored CSU by 19 points, holding the Rams to just 29 percent from the floor in the process. The jump shots that fell for CSU out of the gate just didn’t seem to fall late. And ultimately the Rams were bullied down the stretch by a team with much more size, as Michigan pulled away for a 75-63 victory in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s a tough way to lose,” head coach Niko Medved said postgame. “I thought the game was in the balance and we had our chances here (today), and you know, give a lot of credit to Michigan. They were the better team, clearly, in the second half.”
Medved continued, explaining that while it can be a confidence boost to knock down a couple of outside jump shots early, sometimes it can also be a curse, because instead of being the aggressor you then start to settle for more jumpers.
“We have been good in the paint all year, and we obviously were not able to do that. I don’t think we responded great when Michigan really turned up their pressure in the second half.”
As Medved referenced, the Rams pretty much got worked in the post in this one. Led by a true 7-footer in Hunter Dickinson, the Wolverines more than doubled up the Rams in points scored in the paint (34 vs. 16). Michigan held a significant advantage on the glass as well, recording 11 more in the win.
Michigan shot 54 percent from the floor and 29 percent from 3-point range. After going 0-of-7 from beyond the arc in the first half, though, the Wolverines went 4-of-7 from deep over the final 20 minutes. That was a huge difference. But it wasn’t like they came out and beat the Rams by sinking 10 threes. It was more about the timing of those made shots — half of them came after blown layups by CSU on the other end — and the sequences proved to play a big factor in the final outcome.
“We missed a lot of shots in the paint,” Medved said. Some of that is (due to) their length, there is no question. Some of that is rushing… When you play high-level teams and you miss a shot in the rack zone and the other team gets the rebound, they are going to hurt you in transition. Those were huge plays. There were a lot of swings that way where we didn’t deliver and they came back and did.”
Obviously coming up short in the first game of March Madness is going to be a wound that takes a minute to heal, especially after being able to see that the Rams genuinely did have the talent to be able to beat the Wolverines. But as gut wrenching as the loss is, and as much as it hurts, it doesn’t define this team. It doesn’t change what they accomplished either.
The Rams were a special group this season, and they accomplished multiple feats that just a few short years ago would have seemed like fantasies for this program. Winning 25 games, finishing the regular season in the top 25, securing the highest bid in school history, these are all things that the fans can’t take for granted. Let alone the individual greatness of David Roddy, who treated Ram supporters to one of the most impressive seasons by any CSU hoopster ever.
It’s easy to get caught up in the emotion of the moment with this type of stuff, but even more so after losing. That’s why it’s important to take a step back and look at the season as a whole.
“I told the guys after, they should be disappointed,” Medved said. “We came here to win. We’re happy to be here but we weren’t just happy to be here. We wanted to win and we believed we can win. At the same time, the guys that have followed the program and all the work they have put in and continuing to take the next step; this team accomplished a ton this year. The fans and energy around the program and the success that we’ve had has just been unbelievable.”
“And the goal is: Can we take another one? That’s what this group has always done — and we’re just going to have to learn from this experience like we do all the time — to grow, get better and improve in the off-season,” Medved continued.
“But I like groups that want to keep taking steps forward. That’s what life is. You learn from it and move on. This will sting and it should. These guys came here and had an opportunity to win and we didn’t get the job done.”
