Colorado State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Preview: CSU at Utah
2/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 13, 2006
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Game #24: Colorado State (12-11, 1-9) at Utah (12-10, 5-6)
February 15, 2006 • 7:00 p.m. MST
Salt Lake City, Utah • Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,000)
THE MATCHUP
Colorado State travels to Salt Lake City to face off with the University of Utah Wednesday night. The Rams defeated the Utes 84-78 in Moby Arena on Jan. 14 in a game that represents CSU's lone win Mountain West play this year. CSU has suffered seven consecutive losses after an 80-78 loss to New Mexico in Fort Collins last Wednesday. In the game, juniors Freddy Robinson and Michael Harrison each netted 15 points hitting a combined 11-of-13 from the field. Jason Smith continues to lead the Rams scoring 17 points per game to go with a team-high 7.2 rebounds per night.
ABOUT UTAH
Utah holds an overall record of 12-10 while sporting a 5-6 conference mark after wins in four of their last five games. The Utes earned an impressive 67-65 win over league-leading San Diego State on the road Saturday night and hold a 9-3 record at home this season. Johnnie Bryant has led Utah in scoring in his last three games and is now hitting for 12.5 points per game. Bryant Markson leads Utah in scoring with 14.1 points per game while freshman Luke Nevill scores 10.2 points per night to go with a team high 6.1 rebounding average.
MOBY UNDER LAYER
Colorado State holds a 58-26 overall record in home games during Dale Layer's six seasons.
Season Games Record
2005-06 12 8-4
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 84 58-26 (.690)
ALL-TIME MOBY RECORD
Colorado State holds an all-time record of 414-163 (.718) in Moby Arena.
THE RAMS IN FEBRUARY
The Rams hold an 8-32 record in the month of February during Dale Layer's tenure as head coach. The Rams have a 3-21 record in February in their last three-plus seasons.
SINCE 1902
Colorado State is in the school's 102nd season of intercollegiate competition in 2005-06. Colorado State has a cumulative record of 1,037-1,065 in 2,102 previous games dating back to 1902.
ON WEDNESDAYS
The Rams hold a 4-13 record in Wednesday games during the Dale Layer era. CSU is 2-6 in Wednesday matchups in 2005-06 including wins over North Dakota State and UCCS and losses to Kansas State, San Diego State, UNLV, Wyoming, Air Force and New Mexico.
CLOSING IN ON 250
Head Coach Dale Layer is closing in on career victory number 250. Heading into Wednesday's game against New Mexico, Layer holds a 249-176 career mark including an 82-89 record at Colorado State.
BLOCK PARTY
Colorado State ranks 12th in the nation in blocked shots per game averaging 6.22 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 ranks 36th in the nation in rejections and 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 152-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 380 regular season home games.
MOUNTAIN WEST ROAD GAMES
Dale Layer holds a 5-36 road record against Mountain West opponents since taking over the CSU program in 2000. CSU has a 20-game road losing streak in Mountain West play dating back to a 66-65 win at Utah on March 6, 2003.
MOBY THREES
Colorado State has hit 86-of-192 three-pointers (.448) in Moby Arena this year. In contrast, the Rams are 56-of-181 (.309) from behind the arc away from home.
POINTS IN THE PAINT
Colorado State has been outscored in the paint just four times this season with two of those five games coming against Mountain West opponents: Wyoming (40-22), and Air Force (24-12).
LEAGUE DEFENSE
After holding opponents to a .379 field goal percentage in non-conference games, CSU has allowed league opponents to shoot at a .502 clip after 10 MWC games. MWC foes are scoring 79.1 points per game on the Rams compared to a 67.0 points per game average in non-conference play.
CHARITY IMPROVEMENT
Colorado State hit 216-of-318 (.679) from the free throw line in non-conference play but has improved its numbers in Mountain West contests making 162-of-206 (.786) from the stripe.
HARRISON NATIONALLY RANKED
Through games on February 6, junior forward Michael Harrison ranks36th in the nation with 2.2 blocks per game.
BATTLE OF TOP SHOOTERS
Wednesday's game will feature the top two shooters, in terms of percentage, in the Mountain West Conference. Utah's Chris Jackson (.753) leads the league in field goal percentage while CSU's Michael Harrison (.626) ranks second.
RAM TOP PERFORMANCES
Several of CSU's top single game performances also rank and the best in the Mountain West Conference in 2005-06. Out of 14 statistical categories, eight Rams hold the top single game performance this year.
Players Category Stat Opponent Date
Sean Morris Scoring 34 vs. Colorado 11/21/05
Michael Harrison FG Made 11 vs. Western Michigan 12/20/05
Michael Harrison FG Percentage .917 vs. Western Michigan 12/20/05
Sean Morris 3FG Made 9 vs. Colorado 11/21/05
Sean Morris 3FG Attempted 16 vs. Colorado 11/21/05
Jason Smith FT Made 12 at New Mexico 1/7/06
Jason Smith FT Percentage 1.000 at New Mexico 1/7/06
Cory Lewis Assists 9 vs. Iowa State 12/23/05
PLAYER TIDBITS
#1 Sean Morris
• Morris is 31-of-34 (.912) from the free throw line in his last 17 games.
• Missed his first game since being sidelined with a foot injury at the beginning of his freshman year on Wednesday versus New Mexico due to illness. Morris had played in 42 consecutive games prior to Wednesday.
• Hit for 34 points including a school-record nine three-pointers against Colorado. The 34-point game is the highest individual point total by anyone in the Mountain West this season.
• Scored once in the first six games of his career but has since scored in 36 consecutive games.
#4 Cory Lewis
• Lewis has had an assist in 21 of 22 games this season including 19 multi-assist games on the year.
• Has hit 21-of-23 (.913) free throws in his last six games.
#13 Freddy Robinson
• Scored a season-high 15 points versus New Mexico. It was his highest-scoring game since he scored 19 versus the Lobos on Mar. 6, 2004.
• Has gathered 16 rebounds in his last three games including a career-high eight versus San Diego State.
#14 Jason Smith
• Has scored in double figures in 21 of 23 games this season and in 34 of 49 games in his collegiate career.
• Has had six or more rebounds in 16 of 23 games and in five consecutive games.
#21 Andrew Patterson
• Patterson is 7-of-13 (.538) from three-point range in his last nine games.
• Has not missed a free throw since Dec. 30 versus Arkansas Tech.
#30 Stuart Creason
• Creason is 8-of-10 (.800) from the field in his last four games.
#32 Micheal Morris
• Heading into Wednesday's game against Utah, Morris has not committed a turnover in three games.
#33 Stephan Gilling
• Gilling has hit 13-of-29 three-pointers (.448) in his last five games.
• Has hit a three-pointer in 19 of 23 games including his last six contests. In 14 games he has had multiple three-point field goals.
#55 Michael Harrison
• After starting the season 27-of-65 (.415) from the free throw line, Harrison has hit 10 of his last 13 (.769) in his last four games.
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 7-3 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
Jan. 28 BYU (L) 28-48 .583
Feb. 4 San Diego State (L) 30-57 .526
Feb. 8 New Mexico (L) 27-47 .574
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 1 20
Jason Smith 2 19
Sean Morris 4 16
Cory Lewis 18 18
Stuart Creason 1 11
Freddy Robinson 10 10
Michael Harrison 0 7
Stephan Gilling 0 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 2-15 when scoring less than 70 points in a game. In contrast the Rams are 21-12 when hitting 70 and 11-4 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 10 contests of Mountain West play, CSU opponents have outshot the Rams seven times resulting in seven Ram losses.
CSU BASKETBALL TICKET INFORMATION vTickets 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 120-of-149 (.805) 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.
