Recap: Rams roll over USC Upstate 89-61, get back to winning ways

While there may be some problems with the 2015-16 Colorado State Rams men’s basketball team, they didn’t show on Monday night in the 89-61 win over USC Upstate.

The Rams were money from downtown in their gold jerseys all night long, and they took a 19-6 lead over the Spartans early on four straight 3-pointers made by J.D. Paige and Prentiss Nixon. USC Upstate hung in there, battling tough inside to lead the rebounding margin 20-14 at halftime. But the Rams shot much hotter than they did in the loss to Kansas State Saturday, making 50 percent from the field before intermission to lead the game 41-31 at the break.

In the second half, it was much more of the same from Colorado State; while the Spartans pulled to within seven points, Antwan Scott nailed four straight 3-pointers and Paige made one, too. That 3-point frenzy pushed CSU ahead 21 points with 13 minutes to go, their biggest lead to that point. The Rams would never relent. In fact, they led by as much as 31 and eventually won 89-61.

STARS OF THE GAME

Antwan Scott scored 20 on 7-10 shooting including 4-5 from beyond the arc. He added eight rebounds and two assists despite not starting the second half.

Prentiss Nixon, who started the second half for Scott, finished with 16 points, a new career-high for the freshman. Nixon went 5-6 from the floor, 4-4 from downtown and added five assists with two rebounds.

PLAY OF THE GAME

With the Rams up 29, John Gillon found J.D. Paige with a sweet no-look pass that turned into a dunk. It was a display of teamwork for the two and CSU.

TURNING POINT

Scott’s four straight 3-pointers early in the second half turned the game around from a dogfight to a blowout. Sharp-shooting “Smooth” Scott was on fire Monday night at Moby Arena.

BY THE NUMBERS

Colorado State out-scored USC Upstate 30-16 in the paint, although the rebounding battle was exactly even at 31-31.

USC upstate turned the ball over 14 times compared to 4 for the Rams.

43 points off the bench for Colorado State was a season high.

The Rams shot much better on the day than they did this weekend in Kansas; CSU went 29-53 from the floor (55 percent). They also made 11-21 (52 percent) of their 3-point attempts, which is sensational, even for this team.

CSU enjoyed great team basketball with 20 team assists.

Toby Van Ry scored his first bucket of his college career, a dunk.

Official Attendance: 2,658

QUOTE OF THE GAME

“We’ve got a mindset change,” head coach Larry Eustachy said after the game. “My huge statement has been, ‘In order to change this performace, we have to change our attitude. We have to make a commitment to what we do.’ And, we almost held a team to under 60 if they hadn’t called that technical.”

LASTING IMPACT

For Colorado State, this was a much-needed win and blowout. The Rams had dropped five of their last six games before this one; the victory gets them back to the winning ways. It was another great game for Nixon and Scott, respectively, as the team learns how to carry the scoring load without leading scorer Gian Clavell.

WHAT’S NEXT

Next up for 7-5 Colorado State is another home game, this time against Regis University, on Tuesday, Dec. 29 with a 3 p.m. MT tip-off due to the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl being on the same day.