FORT COLLINS, CO. — No arena? No problem.
For the second time this week Colorado State took down San Jose State at the Ability 360 Sport & Fitness Center in Phoenix, AZ. Highlighted by a hot offensive start, the Rams jumped out to a double-digit lead by halftime (14) and never looked back. After taking down the Spartans 88-61 on Saturday, CSU men’s basketball (10-2, 7-1) continues to produce its hottest start against league opponents in school history
“We came down here today and did what we needed to do to get a convincing win,” head coach Niko Medved said postgame. “Maybe not as convincing as the other day but you’ve gotta give San Jose State credit.”
Led by Isaiah Stevens, who started 6-of-6 from the floor, including a trio of threes, CSU’s halfcourt offense was particularly impressive against the Spartans. Whether it was the sophomore point guard or anyone else on the roster, the Rams unselfishly shared the rock, working it around the perimeter to find the best available look. As a result of the ball movement, the Rams were consistently able to get open jump shots from deep or find cutters attacking the rim, and quite simply it was just too much for SJSU to contain.
“That’s when we’re our best,” Medved said. “I thought that was really, really good to see.”
As a team CSU shot 51 percent from the floor and 35 percent from 3-point territory. They finished with 17 more total rebounds than the “home team” and edged out the Spartans in points in the paint as well (40 vs. 28).
Individually, Stevens finished as one of CSU’s leading scorers with 16 points. What really stood out, though, was the fact that four of Niko Medved’s five starters on Saturday finished the game with at least 10 points — again a product of the high quality ball movement. Adam Thistlewood came up clutch with 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Kendle Moore and James Moors recorded 15 points and 14 points, respectively. And coming off of the bench, Dischon Thomas was able to pitch in with 9 points, 4 rebounds to boot.
With so many different people contributing, CSU was able to take care of the lowly Spartans relatively easily. Despite being the road team the Rams trailed for all of 46 seconds between the two games this week and genuinely dominated from start to finish. Of course the real test is still upcoming with CSU heading to Logan, UT. for a two-game series against the conference-leading Aggies of Utah State.
“Now that we’re in conference every game is big for us,” Thistlewood said. “We just have to push through.”
Next Up: A pair of games against the league-leading Aggies.
