What we learned about this young and feisty CSU hoops team in a blowout loss to No. 4 Duke

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Colorado State men’s basketball (1-1) fell to No. 4 Duke Friday night 89-55. While the final score was certainly not what the Ram faithful were hoping for, really, CSU had nothing to lose by playing this game.

Duke is one of the country’s finest basketball institutions, a legitimate contender for a national championship this season and went into the contest as 24-point favorites. The only negative consequence of facing Goliath would be if you bet against the Blue Devils covering — because from CSU’s perspective the game was a positive experience.

First and foremost, if CSU wanted to prepare a lineup full of freshmen and sophomores for the upcoming slate, there’s no better way than baptizing them with fire. After experiencing Cameron Indoor Arena in person, I can confidently state that there’s no venue in the Mountain West that will be even half as intense. Maybe New Mexico when the Lobos are good but even that’s a stretch. Getting this experience in before the Rams break into the really important games should only serve to benefit them down the line, especially when you look at how they handled the moment.

Now, before you jump down my throat, let me first say that while there are moral victories at this level, the reality is that you probably have a better chance of winning the Powerball than a mid-major does of beating Duke on their home floor in November. So if you went into the matchup with a mindset that winning was the only way that the Rams could grow from playing the Blue Devils, I gotta imagine that Friday night was a rough experience.

This trip was never just about winning. Obviously, CSU went in with the mindset that they would compete hard and they did exactly that. But this game was about much more than a single win or loss — it was about helping create the right culture. When building a program up from the ashes like Niko Medved and Co. are attempting to do, everyone has to think about the broader scope.

When CSU was creating their schedule for the 2019-20 season and couldn’t find a suitable home-and-home to agree to, Medved made a decision that most mid-majors would be too scared to do — they were going to take on the biggest and baddest ‘mofo’ on the block. Why? Because Medved knew going to Cameron Indoor was a chance for everyone in the program to experience something truly unforgettable.

Long after the players on this 2019-20 team have graduated and moved on, they will be able to look back and smile about the memories they made. Talking with players, staffers and Medved himself, it was clear that this was an adventure everyone had been looking forward to for months.

Even after the loss, spirits were relatively high. Both Nico Carvacho and Isaiah Stevens said the game was extremely valuable for the squad in postgame interviews. So with all of this in mind, here are a few more takeaways from Friday night’s showdown with the mighty Blue Devils.

3-point shooting needs to improve

The biggest concern for CSU through two games has been their poor shooting. The Rams have really struggled to hit open jump shots and their 3-point shooting as a whole has just been really inconsistent. As it currently stands, the Rams are hitting just 27 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc — something Medved knows the team needs to fix.

“I don’t want to say I’m concerned. I still believe that a lot of guys who have made shots, who have proved that they can, (will make them in the future),” Medved implied.

“I think Isaiah Stevens, a freshman, went 4-from-6 tonight but some of these guys like Adam (Thistlewood) and Kris (Martin), they’ve proved that they can make them, so eventually I’ve gotta believe that we’re going to.”

Medved continued that he feels like the team has gotten good looks from deep, so it’s not a matter of improving shot selection. Regardless, though, Medved said if they can’t make threes, it’ll be really difficult to consistently win.

If there is a silver lining in this all, it’s that aside from inconsistent 3-point shooting, the aforementioned players have really played well in every other phase of the game.

In the Duke game, Thistlewood finished 0-of-3 from 3-point range. However, the sophomore forward from Golden, Colo., hit 2-of-4 against the University of Denver and has not yet forced up a bad shot from deep and has a jump shot that’s smooth as butter, so if he keeps letting them fly, eventually they will start to fall. More importantly, Thistlewood has looked like a much-improved rebounder and a more aggressive defender.

And while Martin has not yet found his stroke from deep either, he has found other ways to score. The 6-foot-4 senior guard is shooting 45 percent from the field and has looked really smooth in the mid-range. If he can continue to do well there, get to the rim and play consistent defense, the 3-point shooting will come with time.

Freshmen are ready for the moment

There was quite a bit of intrigue surrounding CSU’s freshmen coming into the 2019-20 season and they have not disappointed. After a solid debut in the home opener, David Roddy and Isaiah Stevens really stood out again on Friday night.

As mentioned above, Stevens was CSU’s best 3-point shooter and led the team with 34 minutes played. Roddy on the other hand had multiple plays where his athleticism and instinct really flashed, including one sequence where he out-rebounded two Duke players and proceeded to take the ball coast to coast, beat a defender with a crossover and then got to the rim.

As the season progresses, these two are only going to get more comfortable on the floor. But the fact that they led the team in scoring with 12 points apiece in their first road game of the season, against the No. 4 team in the country, was definitely encouraging to see. Even more encouraging, though, was their tenacity on both ends in a blowout loss.

“I always compete,” Stevens said postgame. “Regardless of the score, regardless of what the outcome may be, I’m going to always play hard and give it 110 percent when I’m out there on the floor.”

Throughout the fall we’ve heard all about how the youngsters are all mature beyond their years. But while it’s one thing for the coaches to say this in the beginning of the season, it’s another for the freshmen to actually go out and shine in one of the harshest environments in all of college basketball. No matter how this season ends up finishing, the future is very bright in Moby Arena with this duo, Dischon Thomas and John Tonje, all just in their first season in the program.

The Rams will return to their home floor against Nebraska-Omaha on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m., before facing Loyola-Marymount on the road Saturday night.