It was a Jekyll and Hyde type performance from Colorado State Tuesday night.
CSU led San Diego State by double digits for the majority of the first half and went into the break up 14 after starting red-hot from deep.
The Rams hit seven threes on 50 percent shooting. The great thing was that they out-scored the Aztecs in the paint, too. For the first 20 minutes it really seemed like the Green & Gold were poised to sweep the class of the Mountain West.
The second half was unfortunately a different story. With Jaedon LeDee back on the floor after sitting 13 minutes in the first half with foul trouble, SDSU bullied CSU for the remainder of the way.
LeDee scored 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the second half alone and the Rams had absolutely no answers for him. As a team CSU totaled just 11 points on 3-of-25 shooting down the stretch. And seemingly just as quickly as the Rams were able to build up a double-digit lead, it turned into a double-digit loss (71-55).
While the outcome is not surprising — the Rams have just four wins at Viejas Arena since the inception of the Mountain West — the way the game played out makes the result tougher to stomach. With a chance to sweep a team coming off of a National Championship appearance, and to give themselves a shot to control their own destiny in the league title race, CSU pretty much got punked.
After giving up the initial lead, the Rams still had plenty of time to make a run of their own and make things interesting. SDSU took the lead about halfway through the final period, so there was still roughly 25 percent of the game to play. If the Aztecs were the bullies in this film, though, the Rams were the kids that get swirlies and give up their lunch money.
SDSU finished the game on a 19-1 run over the final 9 minutes, holding the Rams to 1-of-19 shooting to close it out. It was total domination on both ends of the floor. And frankly, by the time it was done, it was tough to even remember that CSU comfortably controlled the matchup for three of four halves this season.
Leading the way for the Aztecs, LeDee scored a game-high 27 points in just 26 minutes. He finished 10-of-14 from the floor and genuinely looked unstoppable at times.
It did not help CSU’s cause that Joel Scott fouled out in just 17 minutes of action or that Rashaan Mbemba did the same in only 11. But on a night where his team needed him to be a star, LeDee really stepped up and strengthened his case to be the Mountain West Player of the Year.
CSU’s stars shined in the Orange Out win over the Aztecs at Moby Arena a few weeks back. SDSU’s stars returned the favor in this one.
So what do we even take away from this?
On one hand, you could look at this game and say although the process was unexpected, the final result wasn’t. SDSU is one of the toughest places to steal a win in the country and even really good teams can get their ass kicked there.
At the same time, though, even if losing by 10+ was a very realistic outcome, it doesn’t feel like you can categorize this performance as ordinary. It was not as traumatic as the collapse in Laramie but it was definitely a loss that sets off alarms. The Rams got taken to the deep end of the pool and held underwater while the Aztecs laughed to the point of snot running down their noses.
I don’t think panicking is appropriate in this situation. Prior to Tuesday night, CSU was coming off of its best four-game stretch of league play. But this definitely needs to be a moment of reflection for the Rams.
How are you going to respond as a team when a physically imposing star like LeDee gets it rolling? How are you going to punch back when a big bully decides to get in your way? We all remember how the Michigan game played out in the NCAA Tournament two years ago. Watching the second half in Viejas, it was like deja-vu.
CSU is rarely going to be the side that physically overwhelms an opponent — at least not in the same way that SDSU or Boise State does — but the Rams have to be a hell of a lot tougher than they were in this one.
This group has plenty of skill and experience. But if you want to be a team that makes any type of substantial run in the postseason, you also have to be able to get gritty and win the ugly ones. If the other side starts throwing punches, you better have a counter. Otherwise you’re gonna end up with a bruised ego and a black eye.
This was a tough one. So are the next two, though. And the two after that. The Rams better regroup for a big one against Utah State on Saturday afternoon.
