DENVER — Kendle Moore entered Saturday night’s game at Utah State averaging just 5.5 points per game. With Colorado State possessing more talent than ever, the senior guard has predominantly had to take a back seat on the offensive end but has done so with grace. Playing in a hostile environment against the Aggies, with a potential Quad 1 win on the line though, Moore came out and played lights out for the Green & Gold in a 66-55 victory over Utah State.
Moore hit five threes to finish with a season-high 23 points. What’s more, 18 of those points came in the second half, when the game was still very much on the line. After the Aggies were able to battle back and erase a 6-point halftime deficit, and even took the lead a couple of times in the first 10 minutes of the final half, Moore sunk back-to-back 3-pointers from the corner, then made a layup for an 8-0 solo run to put the Rams up two possessions (45-41). From there CSU never surrendered the lead again, so when CSU needed Moore the most, the veteran Ram was really able to step up and help lead his squad to victory as if it had been his role all year long.
When it was all said and done, Moore finished 9-of-13 from the floor in a really nice outing (69 percent). He also was second on the squad in total rebounds (6), recorded a crucial steal late and led CSU in plus-minus at +14 in his 31 minutes of action.
Along with a breakout performance from Moore, David Roddy recorded his second consecutive double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Utah State did a really good job of providing help defensively against the junior but he still managed to make five of his nine field goal attempts. It was Roddy that assisted Moore on both of his threes to give CSU the lead as well.
Isaiah Stevens was CSU’s third-leading scorer with 11 points on 40 percent shooting (4-of-10). The Aggies defended him pretty well too though. And on four different instances they were able to disrupt Stevens enough to force a turnover. As a team the Rams gave the ball away 15 times which resulted in 16 points the other way. While there were a lot of things to like about the Rams’ performance in this one, the turnovers were not one. If the Rams had protected possessions even just a little bit better, particularly early on, CSU likely would have gone into halftime with a double-digit lead. Fortunately it didn’t end up costing them in the end.
It might not have been the prettiest win overall — offense was hard to come by for both teams — but the Rams do deserve immense praise for holding a league opponent to just 55 points in their own building with yet another stellar defensive outing as a unit. CSU held USU to just 41 percent from the floor and 28 percent from deep. The Rams also owned the glass, finishing with a 43-26 advantage in total rebounds.
It’s not the first time that this has been said this season but offense rarely travels at this stage of the conference slate. Teams are locked in defensively and whether it’s contending for a title, positioning for conference tournament seeding, or just a hungry group looking to play spoilers, there’s typically quite a bit at stake. Not to mention that the physicality goes up a few notches in late February. For CSU to go out on the road, dominate the glass, and keep an experienced team like the Aggies below 60 points on Senior Night was really an impressive feat.
CSU will look to win on its own Senior Night on Saturday, March 5, when the league-leading Boise State Broncos come to town. Because the Rams won this weekend there is still a chance for CSU to win the regular season conference title with a home win over Boise State. However, they will need the Broncos to lose to Nevada first, and Wyoming would have to drop another game too.
The silver lining of the situation is while winning the conference would be really cool, after securing another Q1 win at Utah State, CSU’s metrics are going to look phenomenal come Selection Sunday. A couple of more wins would definitely help improve CSU’s seeding but the Rams will be going dancing for the first time since 2013.
The fun is just getting started.
