Colorado State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Preview - Purdue
12/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Matchup...Colorado State will search for its first road victory of the season when they travel to West Lafayette, Ind. to take on Purdue in a noon ET showdown. The game marks a rematch of last year?s ?Miracle in Moby? that saw CSU?s Micheal Morris hit two three-pointers in the final seven seconds to propel the Rams to a 71-69 win in Moby Arena. This year, the Rams are winners of their last two games but have dropped their last 10 away from Moby Arena dating back to Dec. 22, 2003. Senior F Matt Willams continues to pace the CSU scoring attack with 15 points per night while leading the Rams in rebounding with 6.9 per game.
About Purdue: Purdue holds a 1-5 record following a 66-48 setback to Oklahoma on Wednesday night. Brandon McKnight (15.3), Carl Landry (15.2) and Matt Kiefer (12.5) all average over 12 points for the Boilermakers with Landry heading up the work on the glass with 8.8 boards per game. Gene Keady, in his 24th year at Purdue, has compiled more than 500 victories and has won more than 67 percent of his games with the Boilermakers.
CSU Basketball Ticket Information: Tickets to all home games are available by calling 1-800-491-RAMS or online at CSURAMS.com, or at any King Soopers or City Market grocery store location throughout the state of Colorado.
Rams In December: Colorado State is 19-11 during coach Dale Layer?s tenure in games played in December.
Home Cookin?: CSU has won its last six games in Moby Arena dating back to last season?s home finale against New Mexico and the first three games of 2004-05. Colorado State?s most recent home loss came on Feb. 16, 2004, a 79-73 decision against BYU.
More at Home: The Rams are shooting over 53 percent from the field at Moby Arena and, in contrast, are hitting at a 43 percent clip on the road. At the free throw line, CSU is hitting 70.8 percent of its shots at home and 57.4 percent away from home.
Moby Under Layer: Colorado State enters Saturday night?s game with a 42-18 overall record in home games during Dale Layer?s five seasons.
Season Games Record
2004-05 5 5-0
2003-04 12 8-4
2002-03 18 14-4
2001-02 14 7-7
2000-01 13 10-3
Totals 62 44-18 (.710)
Moby Nonconference Record: The Rams are 30-4 (88.2 percent) in home nonconference games under Dale Layer. Colorado State has won six nonconference home games in a row dating back to a Dec. 10, 2003 loss to Colorado in Moby Arena. The year-by-year nonconference breakdown includes:
Season Record Loss(es)
2004-05 5-0 --
2003-04 4-1 Colorado
2002-03 10-0 --
2001-02 4-2 Colorado,
Arkansas-Little Rock
2000-01 7-1 Creighton
Totals 30-4
Since 1902: Colorado State is in the school?s 104th season of intercollegiate competition in 2004-05. Colorado State has a cumulative record of 1,018-1,037 in 2,055 previous games dating back to 1902.
The Miracle In Moby: Moby Arena opened in 1966. One of the most memorable games in arena history took place a day before a new year arrived in 2004 against Purdue University. Colorado State led by as many as 13 points before falling behind in the second half, setting the stage for the ?Miracle In Moby.? Trailing by four points with seven seconds to play, G Micheal Morris hit a three-pointer to draw the Rams within a point. F Matt Williams deflected the ensuing inbounds pass, Morris caught it in midair atop the arc and threw in a shot at the buzzer for an improbable 71-69 win over the 21st-ranked Boilermakers.
CSU vs. the Big Ten: Colorado State has a cumulative 7-15 record against current members of the Big Ten, including a 1-13 road record. The lone road win against a Big Ten Conference opponent came against Iowa, 61-56 in 1963-64.
Layer vs. the Big Ten: Colorado State coach Dale Layer is 2-1 against Big Ten Conference members. The Rams defeated two opponents in Fort Collins: Michigan in 2001-02 in overtime, and Purdue a season ago. The loss by the Rams came in 2002-03 at Purdue.
First On T.V.: Colorado State's game Saturday at Purdue is the first of 15 times the Rams will appear on regional or national television in 2004-05. The listing of televised games is located on page five.
Finals Week: Following Saturday's game at Purdue, students at Colorado State undergo fall semester final examinations beginning Monday, Dec. 13, concluding Dec. 17. Practice plans are pending.
Next On Road: Colorado State?s next road game is Dec. 18, when the Rams face Colorado in Boulder. Game time is 7 p.m. Mountain Time.
Road Streak: Colorado State looks to break a 10-game road losing streak in Saturday?s game at Purdue. Colorado State?s last win on the road (excluding neutral site games), came Dec. 22, 2003 at South Florida. F Matt Williams? free throw with less than five seconds to play in the game helped Colorado State to a 66-65 victory in DeLand, Fla.
Taking The Lead: Matt Williams has given the Rams the lead for good in three of their five wins this season. Following is a list of players that gave CSU the lead for good in the 2004-05 season:
Game (Date) Game Scorer Score/Half Time Final Score
Regis (11-20-04) Williams 12-11/1st 9:49 78-49
Northern Colorado (11-22-04) Patterson 50-47/2nd 11:15 76-68
Nebraska-Omaha (11-24-04) M. Morris 40-37/1st 0:00 88-64
Drake (12-4-04) Williams 64-62/2nd 4:24 72-62
Montana State (12-7-04) Williams 6-5/1st 16:33 78-53
Colorado T.V.: The Rams? game with Colorado Dec. 18 will be televised live in the Denver-Fort Collins metro region by Fox Sports Network Rocky Mountain. Drew Goodman calls the play-by-play, Marty Fletcher is the analyst, and Sandy Williams is the sideline reporter.
Tall Timber: Colorado State?s roster in 2004-05 will feature three players (C Matt Nelson, C Stuart Creason, F Jason Smith) who are at least seven feet tall, and another (F Stephen Verwers), who is six-feet, 10-inches tall. The lineup ranks among the tallest in the nation.
Block Party: Colorado State has blocked 27 opponent shots in its last three games including a school record tying 11 against Drake on Dec. 4. This season, the Rams have blocked a total of 49 shots, tops in the Mountain West.
Ahead and Behind: Following is a comparison of the times that CSU has led, trailed and been tied with its opponents:
Opponent Time Leading Time Trailing Time Tied
Regis 34:33 2:45 2:42
Northern Colorado 16:01 21:04 2:55
Nebraska-Omaha 23:06 12:21 4:33
IUPUI 0:00 39:06 0:54
Auburn 25:20 14:47 4:53
Drake 34:28 2:28 3:04
Montana State 36:48 1:11 2:01
Total 170:16 93:42 21:02
Nelson Numbers: C Matt Nelson has scored in double figures in 14 of his last 15 games dating back to last season. Nelson posted his fifth career double-double at IUPUI with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Nelson On Career List: Colorado State C Matt Nelson is 8th in career scoring at Colorado State with 1,276 points. Nelson is the 15th player in school history to score 1,000 or more points in his career, and the 4th (Andy Birley, Brian Greene, John Sivesind) to have played under Rams? coach Dale Layer.
Will Power: F Matt Williams enters Tuesday?s game eighth on the school?s career field goal percentage list. He has made 267-of-509 career field goals, 52.5 percent. Williams has scored in double figures four times in seven games, including a 23-point night against Drake and has tallied five or more rebounds in each game this season.
Will at 20: Senior F Matt Williams posted his fifth career 20-point effort against Drake. In his career, Williams has posted 20-point games against Colorado (26), Nebraska-Omaha (25), Drake (23), San Diego State (21) and Regis (20).
More Will Power: Matt Williams has shot better than 50 percent in five of seven games in the 2004-05 season. He has been above 50 percent from the field 56 times in 97 career games. Williams has also recorded five or more rebounds in every game this year and has surpassed that total 43 times in his career. He had nine rebounds to go along with 23 points in the game against Drake.
20-Point Games: C Matt Nelson (27), F Matt Williams (5), swingman Freddy Robinson (1) and G Micheal Morris (1) have combined for 34 career 20-point scoring games. In 2004-05, F Matt Williams is the only player to score 20 or more points in a game. He has achieved the feat three times: 20 points in the opening game with Regis 25 against Nebraska-Omaha and 23 against Drake.
Big Crease: Redshirt freshman C Stuart Creason has made his presence felt in his first year of competition for the Rams. Creason, a seven-footer from Coppell, Tex., has started in four of the team?s first seven games. At IUPUI he scored a career-most 10 points, then came back at Auburn to surpass that total in the first half with 12 points. He finished the game at Auburn with 17 points, making all seven of his field goals and three free throws, plus adding a career-most 10 rebounds.
The Boat: Sophomore G Dwight Boatner leads the team in assists with 21 and has been the team?s top player in that category in each of the past five games. Boatner, who is averaging 6.7 points per game, closed the 2003-04 season with a flurry. Boatner scored in double figures eight of the team?s final 11 games and sparked the Rams? 60-48 win over nationally-ranked Air Force - the MWC regular-season champion - by scoring 11 points.
Rak Rack: G Jon Rakiecki is among the Mountain West?s top guards. So far in 2004-05, he has hit 12-of-32 three-pointers, 37 percent, and scored a season-most 13 points at Auburn. The senior is the Mountain West?s leader in assist/turnover ratio making 4.33 assists for every turnover.
P.T.: Sophomore F Phillip Thomasson, along with teammate F Matt Williams, are the only two players on the team who have started all seven games. Thomasson is averaging 4.9 points per game, and is second behind Williams with a 4.7 per-game rebounding average. He currently leads the team in field goal accuracy, having made 12-of-17 shots from the floor, 70 percent.
Morris Magic: Michael Morris, whose younger brother Sean is a freshman member of the team, is seventh on the school?s career list with 92 blocked shots. He has led the team in blocked shots in each of the past two seasons. Twenty-two times in 64 career games, Morris has dished out five or more assists in a game. Morris is the only Ram to post a three-point field goal in each of his first seven games this year.
Verwers Word: C Stephen Verwers made his presence felt in his third start of the year with a career-high 11-rebound performance against Montana State on Dec. 7. In that game, Verwers also posted a season-best six points.
At Home: Colorado State finished the 2003-04 season with a 9-4 home record and began its 2004-05 season with a 5-0 mark.
On the Road: Colorado State was 3-10 on the road a year ago, winning games at Drake, Stetson and South Florida. In 2004-05 the Rams have started 0-2 on the road.
In Moby: Colorado State won nine of 13 home games in 2004 and averaged 4,877 fans per game, a 25-percent increase from 2003 when the team averaged 3,917 fans per game. It is the highest per-game average since 1998.
Smith?s Scoring: Freshman F Jason Smith scored a career-most 14 points, making 6-of-10 field goals and a pair of free throws, and had a career-most seven rebounds in the game at Auburn. Smith, from nearby Kersey, Colo., has scored in double figures four times in seven games and is fourth on the team with a 8.9 per game scoring average. He has made 61 percent of his field goals, and also averages 3.7 rebounds per game.
Rams On Boards: Colorado State has outrebounded five of seven opponents in 2004-05. The Rams are 3-2 when collecting more boards than their opposition.
Balanced Scoring: Colorado State has had five players score in double figures in each of its last two ball games.
Plus 80: Colorado State is 29-2 all-time under Dale Layer in games the Rams scored 80 or more points in a game.
Center Scoring: C Matt Nelson ranks third in school history in career scoring by a center:
Career Scoring By A Center
1. Bill Green, 1961-63 1,682
2. Rich Strong, 1983-86 1,555
3. Matt Nelson, 2002-04 1,276
Rebound Margins: Colorado State is 1-0 when holding a double-digit rebound margin over an opponent this year, including: Date Game Reb-Foe Margin Nov. 24 vs. Neb.-Omaha 38-26 +12
Foes Under 40: Colorado State is 4-1 this season when holding an opponent to less than 40 percent shooting from the floor including the following games:
Date Game FG-A Pct.
Nov. 20 Regis (W) 17-49 .347
Nov. 24 Neb.-Omaha (W) 17-48 .354
Nov. 30 at Auburn (L) 29-78 .382
Dec. 4 Drake (W) 21-59 .356
Dec. 7 Montana State (W) 21-60 .350
Rams Plus 50: Colorado State has shot above 50 percent from the floor in four games this season. The Rams hold a record of 4-0 when eclipsing the 50 percent mark including:
Date Game FG-A Pct.
Nov. 20 Regis (W) 26-46 .565
Nov. 24 Neb.-Omaha (W) 27-48 .563
Dec. 4 Drake (W) 24-41 .585
Dec. 7 Montana State (W) 25-46 .543
More on Television:The Colorado State Rams will appear on national or regional television 15 times in the 2004-05 season. These dates include:
Date Opponent Network
Dec. 11 at Purdue ESPN+Plus
Dec. 18 at Colorado Fox Sports Net
Dec. 30 vs. Denver Fox Sports Net
Jan. 8 at Air Force ESPN+Plus
Jan. 15 vs. BYU ESPN+Plus
Jan. 17 vs. Utah Fox Sports Net
Jan. 24 at San Diego State ESPN
Jan. 29 at Wyoming ESPN+Plus
Feb. 5 vs. New Mexico Fox Sports Net
Feb. 7 vs. Air Force ESPN
Feb. 12 at Utah KJZZ
Feb. 14 at BYU SportsWest
Feb. 21 vs. UNLV Fox Sports Net
Feb. 21 vs. UNLV ESPN+Plus
Feb. 26 vs. Wyoming Fox Sports Net
Rams Blow Out Montana State:
Colorado State University used a pair of 9-0 first half runs to break the game open and defeated Montana State University, 78-53, in Moby Arena Tuesday night.
The win is Colorado State?s second in a row and runs the team?s record to 5-2 entering a Saturday game at Purdue. Montana State falls to 1-5.
?We got great effort from our perimeter players early,? said Rams? coach Dale Layer. ?They collapsed all over our posts.?
Layer also praised his team?s defense, which held MST to just 35 percent shooting from the field, and the Rams? rebounding. Colorado State held a 37-28 edge on the boards.
vTuesday, Colorado State erased a one-point, 5-4 deficit three minutes into the game with a 9-0 spurt. Four different players scored for the Rams, who took the lead for good with 16 minutes, 34 seconds remaining in the half on a pair of free throws by Matt Williams. Baskets by Stephen Verwers, Micheal Morris, and Dwight Boatner over the next one minute, 30 seconds pushed the lead to 13-7. MSU would come no closer than three points the rest of the way.
After MSU closed to three, 20-17, the Rams outscored the Bobcats 28-7 the rest of the half.
A 9-0 run over the final three minutes of the half gave the Rams a 48-28 intermission lead. Colorado State widened the lead to as many as 29 points before settling for the 25-point final margin.
Five players, led by guard Andrew Patterson?s 12 points, scored in double figures. Verwers, starting for the second game in a row, had a career-most and game-best 11 rebounds.
Montana State had three players finish in double figures led by Casey Durham?s 11 points.
Rams Sign Four: Colorado State signed three players to national letters of intent, including:
C.J. Clark, a 6-7, 200-pound forward from Houston, Tex. (Cypress Springs HS), was a first team all-district selection averaging 13 points, six rebounds and six assists per game for Cypress Springs High School in 2003-04. Clark was a high honorable mention pick by Street & Smith?s and was selected as the 211th recruit in the nation by Hoopscoop.
Stephan Gilling, a 6-3, 185-pound guard from Chino Hills, Calif. (Ayala HS), was a first team all-league selection and team MVP for Ayala High School. As a junior, he averaged 13.5 points, five rebounds and three assists per game and his seven consecutive three-point field goals in a half during the year. He was rated as an honorable mention selection by Street & Smith?s and was the 288th recruit in the nation by Hoopscoop. He was ranked as on of the top ten shooters on the West Coast by Insiders.com.
Michael Harrison, a 6-10, 200-pound forward from Aurora, Colo. (Northeastern JC), averaged 12 points and nine rebounds as a freshman at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo. Harrison shot over 56 percent from the field and had the ninth-best single season rebound total in NJC?s history and is considered a preseason Junior College All-American by Street & Smith?s and is the seventh-ranked Junior College player in the nation by Hoopscoop. At Aurora Central High School, he averaged 22 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots per game and was a second team all-state pick as a senior.
Corey Lewis, a 6-0, 180-pound point guard from Lafayette, La. (Dodge City CC), is averaging 13 points, five assists and four rebounds per game at Dodge City Community College. Lindy?s basketball magazine ranks Lewis as the sixth-best point guard in the country.
