FORT COLLINS, Colo. — One day at a time. That’s how Colorado State men’s basketball continues to approach things, despite currently being on one of the most exciting runs of the last half decade.
In all the highs and lows of a college basketball season, it’s easy for the players, particularly the young ones, to lose focus or get complacent. That’s why Niko Medved and his staff have consistently preached to the guys that they can’t get swept away by the good or the bad — and they can’t start to count their eggs before they hatch.
Even going into last week’s two game homestand, which was without a doubt, the most important stretch of basketball at Moby Arena since the 2016-17 season, Medved and the staff never emphasized what was at stake.
After losing a tough game at Utah State, the Rams started the week tied for fourth place in the Mountain West but had a chance to drastically improve their position with Nevada and UNLV coming to town.
“We never have talked about that with our team. I’ve never talked about the standings one time. I never will,” Medved said. “It sounds like a cliche but it really is — it’s the next game mentality. They’re all difficult. Just look around college basketball.”
Medved’s approach is clearly working for his young group of players. As of Monday, Feb. 3, CSU (16-8, 7-4) and Boise State (15-8, 7-4) are tied for second in the MW, and the Rams have won eight of 10 overall.
What’s more, the Rams are coming off of two of their best offensive performances this season and have now scored 80 or more points eight times since Dec. 1. So far this year, the Rams are a perfect 10-0 when they score at least 80 points, which makes sense because CSU is only allowing 71.2 points per game on average.
With the rotation locked down and the squad clicking on both ends of the floor, there is a legitimate argument that along with SDSU and Utah State, CSU is now a top-three team in the MW. Considering seven of CSU’s core players are underclassmen, though, the most encouraging thing is that this run will not be a fluke — the Rams are back.
So, without further ado, here is a rundown of everything you may have missed last week and an updated look at the league moving forward.
Nevada (92-91)
CSU handed the University of Nevada a heartbreaking loss last Wednesday. In the 92-91 victory for the Rams, the Wolf Pack led for 24 minutes and made 14 3’s, including a go-ahead bucket from deep with just 5.3 seconds to go. What they didn’t do, though, was trap Isaiah Stevens in the backcourt on the final possession — and as a result, that stone-cold assassin made UNR pay.
Like everyone else watching, I was in complete disbelief of what I witnessed. My inner dialogue was probably something like: “Holy s***. Did I just watch an 18-year-old drive the length of the floor, shake a senior and sink the game-winner?”
OH MY GOD pic.twitter.com/FFLZhuM98P
— Justin Michael (@JustinTMichael) January 30, 2020
But that’s the thing about this group, they never stop fighting. Even when Jalen Harris threw what appeared to be the final knockout blow, Stevens managed to spit some blood and come back with a haymaker that we’ll never forget.
“What an unbelieve college basketball game,” Medved said. “When I shook coach (Steve) Alford’s hand at the end of the game, he said the same thing. It was just guys making plays.”
“I mean Jalen Harris was just unreal tonight,” Medved continued. “You know our guys have just kinda done what they’ve done all year. We just continue to stick with it (and) we fight for 40 minutes.”
UNLV (95-77)
On the heels of the “Isaiah Stevens game”, the Rams had an even bigger game on Saturday against the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, who entered the contest with sole possession of second place.
In the 18 point victory over UNLV, CSU trailed 33-25 with just under four minutes to go in the first half.
“I thought our guys showed a lot of poise,” Medved said. “Even though we were down early, I didn’t feel like we were playing that poorly. We were getting to the free-throw line. We just didn’t get a couple of really good looks to fall and we needed to stay with it.”
After Medved called a timeout with 3:39 remaining, Kendle Moore and Stevens were each able to knock down a 3 to cut UNLV’s lead to a single possession with 3:01 to play in the first half (33-31). From that point on, the shots started to consistently fall for CSU and by halftime, the Rams had completely flipped the momentum of the game.
“We came out and bang, we made two huge shots,” Medved said. “We ended on a 16-3 run and we just never really looked back from there.”
MY GOD! Going into the half CSU leads 41-36 pic.twitter.com/7qjwgDCnqH
— Jessica Kay Mendoza (@JessicaKayTV) February 1, 2020
Stevens named MW Player of the Week
The league announced on Monday that Isaiah Stevens was named the Mountain West Basketball Player of the week. In CSU’s two victories last week, Stevens averaged 16.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists while shooting 68 percent from the field and 75 percent from beyond the arc.
The numbers are impressive alone but they don’t demonstrate just how clutch Stevens was last week. The freshman from Allen, Texas, hit the game-winner against the Wolf Pack, just seconds after Jalen Harris silenced Moby with a go-ahead 3-pointer from the parking lot.
Before that, though, he had to sink a crucial free throw with 10 seconds left to extend CSU’s lead to 90-88. After missing the first free throw, I cannot emphasize enough just how difficult it is to contain your composure and make the second.
Obviously, Harris still ended up going down the floor and making a phenomenal play. But if Stevens would have missed both of those free throws, instead of getting a high percentage look for the win on the final possession, the Rams likely would have been playing for the tie or trying to win with a contested 3 from deep. Stevens making that second free throw completely changed the context of the final 10 seconds.
In the win over UNLV, Stevens was equally as impressive. After coming out and turning the ball over multiple times early, Stevens was able to settle into the flow of the game and really kill the Runnin’ Rebels from deep.
Stevens paced the Rams with 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and really opened up the floor by draining all five of his 3-point attempts. He wasn’t just a one-trick pony either — the first-year starter grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists as well.
Stevens ranks 14th in the league in scoring at 13.4 points per game. He also ranks third in the Mountain West at 4.33 assists per game.
The race for No. 2
As we have talked about frequently on the podcast throughout the season, with the Mountain West likely being viewed as a one-bid league in 2020, the reality is that if anyone besides San Diego State wants to make the NCAA Tournament, they’re going to have to make some noise in Las Vegas this March.
In order to best position themselves to do so, avoiding a first-round game on Day one of the men’s slate is going to be crucial. It’s hard enough to make a run when you have to play three days in a row — a fourth can be backbreaking.
If CSU wants to avoid the dreaded Wednesday game, Medved’s squad must finish in the top five of the league. Ideally, they’d even finish in the top three, which would allow them to face nobody higher than a No. 6 seed on Thursday and also miss the four-five matchup.
As things currently stand, Boise State (7-4), CSU (7-4), UNLV (6-4), Nevada (6-5) and Utah State (6-5) are the teams that will have the best chance to round out the top three behind the mighty Aztecs.
Here are the key games remaining for CSU’s contending MW foes.
Boise State: at Utah State (Feb. 8) | vs. Air Force (Feb. 11) | at UNLV (Feb. 26)
UNLV: at Utah State (Feb. 5) | vs. Nevada (Feb. 12) | vs. CSU (Feb. 18) | vs. Boise State (Feb. 26)
Utah State: vs. Boise State (Feb. 8) | at CSU (Feb. 11) | at Fresno State (Feb. 15)
Up Next: Fresno State
On a short turnaround, CSU men’s basketball will hit the road for a deceptively tough game at Fresno State.
The Rams handled the Bulldogs well in their first matchup but as Medved pointed out after the UNLV win, they can’t focus on the results from two weeks ago. “Every game is different,” Medved said.
Since falling to the Rams 86-68 on Jan. 22, Fresno State has gone 2-1 with wins over Air Force on the road and New Mexico at home. One of the things that Medved has noticed about the Bulldogs recently is that Nate Grimes seems to have found his stroke from the 3-point arc.
“That’s a little bit of a game-changer,” Medved said.
Grimes knocked down 4-of-8 3’s in Fresno State’s loss to the Rams and is shooting 38 percent from beyond the arc in league games so he’s definitely someone the Rams will have to lockdown. In the Bulldogs’ most recent victories, Grimes shot a combined 62.5 percent from 3-point land (5-of-8).
CSU and Fresno State will tip off at 7:00 p.m. MT for a Tuesday night showdown on CBS Sportsnet. So far this season, the Rams are 0-1 in their only game on CBSSN — CSU lost to CU back in mid-December.
The Ram faithful will be hoping that the poor showing against the Buffs was simply a bad omen from playing on Friday the 13th, and that this time around will go much smoother.
