Men's Basketball Preview: CSU vs. Wyoming

Jan. 24, 2006

Game #19: Colorado State (12-6, 1-4) vs. Wyoming (10-8, 3-2)
January 25, 2006  7:05 p.m. MST
Fort Collins, Colo.  Moby Arena (8,745)

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THE MATCHUP
The Colorado State men's basketball team returns to Moby Arena in search of its 10th-straight home win dating back to last season. The Rams (12-6, 1-4 MWC) suffered back-to-back road losses last week against UNLV (68-57) and TCU (85-72) but are a perfect 8-0 at home this year including a win in their only league home game against Utah, 84-78. Jason Smith is CSU's leading scorer with 16.6 points per game and also boasts a team-best 7.1 rebounds per contest. Michael Harrison averages 11.9 points per game and Sean Morris is hitting for 10.6 per night to round out the trio of players averaging in double figures.

ABOUT WYOMING
The Cowboys will bring a 10-8 overall record into Moby Arena Wednesday night following an 80-67 setback at BYU on Jan. 18. Wyoming holds a record of 3-2 in Mountain West play and features the top shot-blocker in the nation in Justin Williams who averages 5.7 blocks per game. Williams is also the Cowboys' top rebounder with 179 caroms on the year while Steve Leven leads the team with a scoring average of 13.3 points per game. Wyoming is just 1-4 in road games this season with its lone road win coming in a 68-64 win over TCU on Jan. 7.

MOBY UNDER LAYER
Colorado State holds a 58-22 overall record in home games during Dale Layer's five seasons.

Season Games Record
2005-06 8 8-0
2004-05 15 11-4
2003-04 12 8-4
2002-03 18 14-4
2001-02 14 7-7
2000-01 13 10-3
Totals 80 58-22 (.725)

ALL-TIME MOBY RECORD
Colorado State holds an all-time record of 414-159 (.723) in Moby Arena.

LOOKING FOR 10 IN A ROW AT HOME
Colorado State will be looking for its 10th-straight home win in a row dating back to an 81-79 loss to UNLV in Moby Arena on Feb. 21, 2005. Since 1902, CSU has won 10 in a row at home only 10 times including seven 10-game winning streaks in Moby Arena.

THE RAMS IN JANUARY
The Rams hold a 15-24 record in the month of January during Dale Layer's tenure as head coach. The Rams were 1-6 in January last season and are 1-4 this year.

SINCE 1902
Colorado State is in the school's 102nd season of intercollegiate competition in 2005-06. Colorado State has a cumulative record of 1,037-1,060 in 2,097 previous games dating back to 1902.

ON WEDNESDAYS
The Rams hold a 4-10 record in Wednesday games during the Dale Layer era. CSU is 2-3 in Wednesday matchups in 2005-06 including wins over North Dakota State and UCCS and losses to Kansas State, San Diego State and UNLV.

CLOSING IN ON 250
Head Coach Dale Layer is closing in on career victory number 250. Heading intoSaturday's game at New Mexico, Layer holds a 249-171 career mark including an 82-84 record at Colorado State.

BORDER WAR DURING THE WEEK?
When playing in Moby Arena, the Colorado State vs. Wyoming rivalry is usually played on a Saturday. This year will mark the first time since Tuesday, Jan. 8, 1991 that the meeting in Fort Collins is not played on a Saturday.

BLOCK PARTY
Colorado State ranks seventh in the nation in blocked shots per game averaging 6.61 blocks every time out. The Rams boast three of the top five shot blockers in the Mountain West in Michael Harrison (2nd), Jason Smith (3rd) and Stuart Creason (4th). Harrison (21st) and Smith (44th) each rank among national leaders in the category. Twice this year, against Auburn and Pepperdine, CSU posted a school record 12 blocked shots.

THE CENTURY MARK
Colorado State has not allowed an opponent to score 100 points in a game in 147-straight regular-season contests. The last team to put up triple figures on the Rams was Colorado on Dec. 23, 2000 in Boulder. The last time CSU allowed 100 points in Moby Arena was Feb. 21, 1980 against Brigham Young, a span that stretches 376 regular season home games.

MOUNTAIN WEST ROAD GAMES
Dale Layer holds a 5-35 road record against Mountain West opponents since taking over the CSU program in 2000. CSU has a 19-game road losing streak in Mountain West play dating back to a 66-65 win at Utah on March 6, 2003.

SOLID FROM THE BENCH
Colorado State's bench has outscored its opponent's bench in 14 of its last 15 games. CSU's bench has accounted for 30 or more points in six of the team's last seven games.

ON TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN WEST
Colorado State currently leads the Mountain West Conference in scoring offense this season. The Rams are averaging 76.3 points per game on the year.

SMITH PLAYING TIME
Jason Smith has not played in more than 30 minutes in a game since Dec. 22 when the Rams defeated Hawaii. In his last seven games, he has averaged 22.9 minutes per game after netting 29 minutes per game in his first 11 contests of the year.

SADDLED EARLY
Jason Smith has been saddled with early foul trouble in each of the Rams' five conference games this year. Against San Diego State and UNLV, Smith had two fouls within the first 2:07 of the ball game and versus New Mexico and Utah he had two fouls in the first 12 minutes.

SLOW STARTS
In CSU's four conference losses, the Rams have been outscored 64-43 in the first eight minutes of the games.

MOBY THREES
Colorado State has hit 60-of-134 three-pointers (.448) in Moby Arena this year. In contrast, the Rams are 52-of-165 (.315) from behind the arc away from home.

BITTEN BY THE INJURY BUG
Injuries continue to haunt Colorado State. Already in 2005-06, four players have missed a game due to injury or illness (Ronnie Aguilar-18, C.J. Clark-8, Freddy Robinson-6, Stuart Creason-3). In Dale Layer's six seasons as head coach, CSU players have missed a total of 205 games due to injury or illness. That figure averages out to be 1.2 players missed per game and 34.2 games per season.

POWERFUL IN THE PAINT
Colorado State has been outscored in the paint just twice this season. Colorado outscored the Rams 44-18 down low while Auburn edged the Rams in points in the paint 40-38. On average, CSU outscores its opponent by 5.7 points per game in the paint.

PLAYER TIDBITS
Jason Smith -
 Sophomore forward Jason Smith has gathered six or more rebounds in 12 of his last 19 games and has scored in double figures in 19 of his last 20 games.  Ranks 44th in the nation in blocked shots per game (2.0 bpg).  Ranks 3rd in the Mountain West in scoring (16.6 ppg), 4th in rebounding (7.1 rpg), 10th in field goal percnetage (.522), 8th in free throw percentage (.762) and 3rd in blocked shots (1.94 bpg)  Ranks 8th in on the school's list in blocked shots (71) and ranks 9th in career field goal percentage (.537).

Micheal Morris -
 Senior guard Micheal Morris is 5th on the school's career list with 126 blocked shots.  Ranks 6th in career assists at CSU with 351 in his career.  Has led CSU in assists 50 times in his career.

Sean Morris -
 Sophomore guard Sean Morris hit a school-record nine three-pointers for the second time in his career against Colorado. In the game, Morris posted a career-best 34 points.  Ranks 7th in the Mountain West in three-point field goal percentage (.364) and ranks 7th in three-point field goals made per game (2.00).  Ranks 8th in career three-point field goal percentage (.405) at CSU.

Michael Harrison -
 Junior forward Michael Harrison ranks 2nd in the Mountain West in field goal percentage (.623) and 2nd in blocked shots with 2.39 per game.  Ranks 21st in the nation in blocks per game (2.4 bpg) and 19th in field goal percentage (.623).  Has had four or more rebounds in 15 of 18 games this year.  Ranks 1st in career field goal percentage (.623) at CSU.

Cory Lewis -
 Junior guard Cory Lewis ranks 2nd in the MWC in assists (4.00 apg), 7th in free throw percentage (.768), 9th in steals (1.41 spg) and 4th in assist/turnover ratio (1.39).

Stuart Creason -
 Sophomore center Stuart Creason ranks 4th in blocked shots (1.33 bpg).  Recorded his 2nd career double-double versus Arkansas Tech (16 points, 11 rebounds).  Ranks 7th in the CSU record books in career field goal percentage (.545).

NOTING THE TCU GAME
 CSU hit 1-of-8 field goals in the final 4:16 of the game.  CSU shot a season-high 64 times in the game including 26 three-pointers, the most of the season.  TCU attempted 36 free throws, the most by a Colorado State opponent this season.

FOES UNDER 40
Colorado State 8-1 when holding an opponent to less than 40 percent shooting from the floor including the following games:

Date Game FG-A Pct.
Nov. 18 Northern Colorado (W) 20-65 .308
Nov. 23 North Dakota State (W) 18-58 .310
Nov. 26 Denver (W) 17-50 .340
Nov. 28 Auburn (W) 26-70 .371
Dec. 3 IUPUI (W) 21-56 .375
Dec. 7 Kansas State (L) 20-56 .357
Dec. 10 Pepperdine (W) 19-65 .292
Dec. 22 Hawai'i (W) 18-52 .346
Dec. 30 Arkansas Tech (W) 23-64 .359

RAMS PLUS 50
Colorado State is 7-0 when shooting better than 50 percent from the floor. Those games include:

Date Game FG-A Pct.
Nov. 21 Colorado (W) 26-50 .520
Nov. 28 Auburn (W) 25-50 .500
Dec. 3 IUPUI (W) 25-44 .568
Dec. 20 Western Michigan (W) 33-54 .611
Dec. 28 UCCS (W) 37-56 .661
Dec. 30 Arkansas Tech (W) 31-57 .544
Jan. 14 Utah (W) 32-50 .640

MORE ON TELEVISION
The Colorado State Rams will appear on national or regional television at least five times in the 2005-06 season. These dates include:

Date Opponent Network
Nov. 21 Colorado Fox Sports Net
Nov. 26 vs. Denver Fox Sports Net
Dec. 7 at Kansas State Fox Sports Midwest
Feb. 18 UNLV ESPN+Plus
Feb. 25 at Wyoming ESPN2

CONSECUTIVE FREE THROWS
Following is a list of consecutive free throws made by current Colorado State players along with their all-time longest streak at CSU:

Player Current All-Time
Micheal Morris 18 20
Jason Smith 9 17
Sean Morris 2 16
Cory Lewis 0 12
Stuart Creason 7 10
Freddy Robinson 6 7
Stephan Gilling 0 6
Michael Harrison 2 6
Andrew Patterson 5 5
Ryan Brown 1 4
C.J. Clark 2 2
Chris Harris 0 2

THE MAGIC NUMBER IS 70
Over the past two seasons, Colorado State is 2-13 when scoring less than 70 points in a game. In contrast the Rams are 21-9 when hitting 70 and 11-2 when reaching the 80-point plateau.

SHOOTING COMPARISON
Coming into conference play, Colorado State opponents had held the upper hand in shooting percentage just once (Colorado) in 13 games. After four contests of Mountain West play, CSU opponents have outshot the Rams in four times resulting in four Ram losses.

NEW ADDITIONS
Colorado State had three players sign National Letters of Intent during November's early signing period including one Junior College Transfer and two high school standouts:

Alton Robinson, 6-6, 200, F, Hattiesburg, Miss., Pearl River Community College
Alton Robinson is an all-region and all-conference performer at Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, Mississippi. He averaged 15 points and 7 rebounds per game as a freshman at PRCC and was selected as a preseason JuCo All-American. In his 2005-06 season opening game against Mississippi Delta on Nov. 3, he scored 32 points. He has been selected as the 65th-best junior college player in the country by JucoJunction and was named the third-best small forward in the nation by Lindy's.

"Alton is a mature, explosive player," said CSU head coach Dale Layer. "He can play three different positions and will bring toughness, rebounding and basketball savvy to the team. He can be an offensive force for us."

Jarrel Smith, 6-7, 185, F, Encino, Calif., Birmingham High School
Jarrel Smith was the third-leading scorer in the Los Angeles area in 2004-05 after averaging 24 points and six rebounds per game at Birmingham High School. He was an All-American honorable mention nominee last season.

"Jarrel is an explosive scorer who can put up points in several different ways," commented Layer. "He can shoot the three or he can drive around you and score. He's very long and very athletic."

Jake Nielson, 6-1, 170, G, Aurora, Colo., Grandview High School
Jake Nielson was an all-state honorable mention at Grandview High School in 2005 after averaging 14 points, five rebounds and five assists per game.

"Jake is the second best senior in the state. He's smart, skilled and unselfish and will have a great career at the point."

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.

LIVE STATS
Live statistics for all Colorado State home games may be obtained by going to CSURams.com and going to the men's basketball schedule/results page. Live statistics tracked through College Sports Online's Game tracker.

SOLID DOWN THE STRETCH
Colorado State has hit 95-of-120 (.792) free throws in the final five minutes of games this year led by Micheal Morris who is hitting at a .938 (15-of-16) clip.

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