FORT COLLINS, Colo. — As the legendary Stephen A. Smith often says, Isaiah Stevens is a bad man, y’all.
Coming off of a game in which he hit the game winner, Stevens was phenomenal again in Saturday’s 95-77 victory over UNLV. The first-year starter paced the Rams in scoring with 21 points on an efficient 7-of-8 from the field and added five rebounds, five assists in a team-high 33 minutes of action.
Where Stevens really killed the Rebels was from beyond the arc. No. 4 knocked down all five of his 3’s in the victory, with dang near all of them touching nothing but net. As a team, the Rams hit 65 percent of their 3-point attempts (11-of-17) in what was a solid performance from the perimeter.
Following the game, Stevens talked about how the Rebels’ aggressive defense gave him some trouble early. In the opening minutes, Stevens turned the ball over multiple times after driving into unfavorable situations, which he said were examples of him trying to do a little bit too much.
“(The coaches) always tell me to start the game aggressive and just try to put pressure on the defense, and everything will just open up in front of me,” Stevens said. “I felt like in the first half, I tried to make some plays that weren’t necessarily there — I tried to force a few things.”
Once he was able to get in a rhythm, though, the freshman from Allen, TX., made smart decisions with the basketball and consistently made the most of his scoring opportunities. At the end of the first half, Stevens even managed to throw out another Sports Center worthy moment when he sunk a buzzer-beating 3 to put the Rams up 5 at the break (41-36).
“The fans, when they really get going, I feel like they’re a difference maker,” Stevens said. “Being able to hit a shot like that — it really gave them a little bit more energy, especially going into the second half. And I felt that they played a key piece in our runs, and for our momentum down the stretch.”
“It was a huge play. It was just a huge momentum play,” Niko Medved added postgame. “We were really on a run at that point and made some shots — and then he stepped up.”
Stevens stepping up has been a theme for the Rams in 2019-20. The young guard has often been the player that CSU leans on the most in important situations, and for the most part, he’s been up for the task.
Since going for 7 and 9 in CSU’s losses to San Diego State and Boise State back in December, Stevens has averaged 15 points per game over CSU’s last 13 contests. Over that stretch, the Rams are 10-3 overall and 7-2 against the Mountain West.
What’s been so impressive, though, is not just the fact that Stevens is scoring — it’s the efficient way that he’s doing it. Through the first 24 games of his career, Stevens has shot less than 35 percent in just two games. Stevens (4.3) has also averaged twice as many assists as anyone else on the team, which shows that he’s a baller but understands the value of every possession.
For a player of his age to play with such high basketball IQ is incredibly rare. Paired with an athletic freak like David Roddy, who also plays the game at an extremely high level, it’s easy to understand why the Rams are so much more versatile on offense this season — especially with the massive strides that both Kendle Moore and Adam Thistlewood have taken.
After scoring more than 90 points in each of their home victories this week, the Rams will hope the offense carries over into Tuesday’s road matchup with Fresno State. CSU handled the Bulldogs handily in their first meeting this season but as Medved explained postgame, in the chaotic world of college basketball, what happened the last time around really doesn’t matter all that much.
“Every game is different,” Medved said. “You can’t go and say ‘well this happened two weeks ago’. It’s crazy how it works. It’ll be a completely different set of circumstances and a completely different game.”
With the quick turnaround, Medved and the Rams will begin to prepare for the Bulldogs on Sunday, but tonight, they get to enjoy a hard-fought victory.
“I promise you (that) I will take an evening and enjoy this one,” Medved said with a smile.
