What we learned in CSU's opening-night victory over the DU Pioneers

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Colorado State men’s basketball started the season with a 74-63 victory over the University of Denver Tuesday night. Although the Rams did not cover the 13-point spread, it was a fairly complete showing from CSU on both ends of the floor.

“The biggest thing is we found a way to win here today,” head coach Niko Medved said postgame. “We knew it would be a competitive game — DU would come in here and play hard. I thought our guys earned victory.”

In the win over the Pioneers, nine players saw the floor but it was the veterans that led the way as four Rams finished the night with double-digit scoring figures. Senior guard Kris Martin had a game-high 18 points on 54 percent shooting from the field. Adam Thistlewood had 15 points and was CSU’s leader at the charity stripe (9-of-10). Nico Carvacho recorded his first double-double of the year with 10 points and 11 rebounds. And finally, Hyron Edwards Jr. scored 10 points and dished out three assists in roughly 23 minutes on the floor as well.

Here are a few takeaways from the win.

Rams have room to improve on offense

There’s no reason to panic but the offense was shaky Tuesday night. Nearly everyone that played for the Rams recorded at least one turnover — CSU had 14 in the game — and the team really struggled to knock down open jump shots as a whole, which was also a theme in the exhibition.

In the first half alone, CSU missed 10 attempts from beyond the arc and only shot 36 percent from the field. When it was all said and done, CSU finished 7-of-23 from 3-point range (30 percent) and 23-of-50 from the field (46 percent). The final numbers were not all that bad but as Medved pointed out postgame, there’s still much room for growth.

For starters, there were a few times where the Rams got bogged down in the half court offense. Someone would get passed the basketball and not know where to go with it next, and this allowed the Pioneers to react accordingly. Honestly, though, with so much roster turnover from a season ago, it’s not surprising at all that these guys are still learning how to play together. As the weeks progress, this squad should only get more comfortable together, which will hopefully lead to more consistent execution.

If the shooting woes continue for an extended period of time or the offense struggles to execute longterm, then the tone of the conversation will change. But for now, it’s just something for the Ram faithful to keep their eyes on.

Defensive effort was solid

While it wasn’t a perfect showing on the defensive side, the effort was consistent, and that’s a positive sign.

Last season, when things would go south on the offensive end, it typically resulted in a relaxed effort on the other side. It did not necessarily mean that CSU would quit playing defense altogether but there would be a visible dip in hustle and effort. That was not the case against the Pioneers.

CSU held DU in check for the majority of the contest and generally made sure their looks from the field were contested.

“I hate to even compare to last year but we’re a little clunky on offense right now,” Medved said. “Last year that would have effected our defensive intensity and I thought, today, we did not let frustration on offense effect us from playing hard on that end. I thought we kept playing hard on that end — and even though we have a long ways to go, to me that’s growth.”

Depth is a strength

For the first time in a long time, CSU will be able to play nine or more guys on any given night. After having to basically live and die by the starters last season, depth will be a big strength for the Rams in 2019-20.

Medved played 11 guys in the exhibition against Western Colorado over the weekend and nine guys in CSU’s win over the Pioneers Tuesday night. What’s encouraging, though, is that everyone that saw the floor against DU will legitimately be able to contribute for the Rams this season, including the four freshmen. The veterans carried a heavy load in Game 1 but what we saw from David Roddy, Isaiah Stevens, Dischon Thomas and John Tonje was an indication that these first-year players are ready for the moment.

Roddy was all effort and had flashes on both ends of the floor. The big man from Minnesota did not have a ton of points or anything like that but he looked comfortable and did not try to force anything that was not there. Along with Hyron Edwards, Roddy was a big part of the second unit creating an offensive spark throughout the game.

Stevens ran the point and looked comfortable leading the offense. Much like Roddy, the moment did not like it phased him at all. And both Thomas and Tonje were able to pick up some crucial early-season minutes too.

Following the game, Medved talked about trying to find the right balance in the rotation and whether he expects the Rams to be able to evenly spread out minutes and get quality production from all the different people that regularly see the floor.

“I hope so,” Medved said. “There will be times where it’s different guys on different nights, and I think that’s a good thing for us too. I’m excited about this group — we’ve got a long ways to go — but if they just keep up what they’re doing doing every day in practice and grow, they’re going to get better. Our schedule in the non-conference is going to challenge us, without question.”

Now that the Rams have a home victory under their belt, they will hit the road for a difficult matchup with the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“We’ll just do what we do,” Medved said. “We’ll come in tomorrow and watch film on this game and we’ll try to figure out what we can learn from it. Then we usually start with our opponent’s personell so we’ll probably start talking about Duke. And as soon as we walk out of the film room tomorrow, the DU game is over and we’ll turn all of our attention to Duke.”