RECAP: Colorado State's comeback bid successful in 66-65 win over UNLV

Can you believe this win?

During UNLV’s 23-4 second half run, the Colorado State Rams men’s basketball team looked dead in the water; the Runnin’ Rebels were running away with the game. But, the Rams fought stalwartly, they regrouped and behind freshman J.D. Paige’s seven points in the last 48 seconds of regulation, found a way to win, 66-65.

In the first half, the Rams – who live and die by the 3-pointer – were sitting pretty. Freshman Prentiss Nixon knocked down three and Joe De Ciman made three as CSU canned seven 3-pointers in the first half alone. With Paige’s dunk, CSU took the 26-20 lead. But UNLV ran back to tie the game at 27-27 and at halftime, the Rams led 33-29.

While Colorado State heated up, the Runnin’ Rebels went ice cold. Starting with 4:07 to go in the first half and lasting until 16:44 to go in the second, UNLV was held without a field goal; an astonishing 7:24. That scoring drought helped the Rams push their lead to nine, their largest of the contest, until UNLV went on that incredible 23-4 run to take a 10-point lead with 9:20 to play.

Colorado State started leaning heavily on senior forward Tiel Daniels, who bruised inside and did uncharacteristically well from the free throw line, nailing 4-5. John Gillon made a 3-pointer to cut the lead to five, then Emmanuel Omogbo laid one in before Paige’s display. The freshman made two free throws, hit a jumper, then converted an and-one to give the Rams a two-point lead. UNLV tied the game with seven seconds left when Patrick McCaw hit a jay, but Gillon took off with the ball, going coast-to-coast where he was fouled and made 1-2 from the line for the 66-65 victory.

STAR OF THE GAME

Tiel Daniels earns the star of the game with his 12 points and seven rebounds. It wasn’t just that he scored well, but that he was clutch from the charity stripe, where he’s struggled mightily in the past. And even through he was a bit undersized height-wise against the UNLV trees, his strength allowed Daniels to bully them in the paint.

PLAY OF THE GAME

The play of the game was Gillon’s coast-to-coast drive in which he was fouled. He could’ve taken the ball up court more slowly and found a different shot to take, but it benefitted the Rams that he was so aggressive at that point. His free throw was clutch and won CSU their first Mountain West game of the year.

TURNING POINT

J.D. Paige’s incredible one-man show was the turning point. Colorado State needed a spark from someone late and the freshman came through. His seven points in 48 seconds were tremendous and poignant.

BY THE NUMBERS

Turnovers were a huge factor in this game. UNLV turned the ball over 18 times, which is a season-tying high (Arkansas-Fort Smith, Dec. 9) for Rams opponents and CSU scored 22 off those turnovers. Conversely, the Rams turned it over “only” 12 times for 10 UNLV points. That 12 turnover mark was an improvement compared to the 16 turnovers against Boise State last Saturday in the 84-80 loss.

CSU went 7-13 from beyond the arc in the first half and only 1-9 from downtown in the second half.

All nine players who saw action scored, showing off CSU’s depth.

Attendance: 3,431

QUOTE OF THE GAME

“Win, just that we have to win, that was all I was thinking,” Paige on his last-minute scoring run.

LASTING IMPACT

With this win, Colorado State improves to 9-6 on the season and 1-1 in the Mountain West. It was an important win against one of the better conference opponents because the Rams didn’t want to start the season 0-2 in their league. The other lasting impact is this game represents J.D. Paige’s breakout performance.

Finally, this could be the momentum swing the Rams needed on this roller coaster of a season. We’ll see.

WHAT’S NEXT

Colorado State (9-6, 1-1 MW) faces San Jose State (5-10, 0-3 MW) on Saturday with a 3 p.m. MT tip-off.