Colorado State University Athletics
Rams Face BYU In Key MWC Matchup
1/19/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2007
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GAME NO. 18
COLORADO STATE (13-4/3-2)
vs. BYU (13-5/3-1)
Saturday, Jan. 20, 2007 | Fort Collins, Colo. | Moby Arena (8,745) | 3:35 p.m. MT | The Mtn.
THE MATCHUP
Colorado State will be looking for its best-ever Mountain West Conference start when they host the BYU Cougars Saturday afternoon in Moby Arena (Colorado State Sports Network/The Mtn.). Following their win Wednesday over TCU, the Rams have matched their 2002-03 start of 3-2 in league play and will be looking to go 4-2 for the first time since the conference was formed in 1999-00. Ram center Stuart Creason notched his fourth career double-double in CSU's win over the Horned Frogs garnering 14 points and 10 rebounds in the game. Creason currently ranks second in the league shooting 65.7 percent from the floor while ranking ninth in the conference with 6.1 rebounds per game.
ABOUT BYU
The Cougars will come into Saturday night's game with a 13-5 overall record and a mark of 3-1 in conference play. BYU has won eight of its last nine games with its only loss coming at UNLV on Jan. 13. Senior forward Keena Young paces the team with 16.4 points per game while center Trent Plaisted is second on the team in scoring with 11.4 points per contest and has a team-high seven rebounds per game. BYU's offense will present a challenge for the Rams as they come in as the league's highest scoring team averaging 78 points per night.
SINCE 1902
Colorado State is in the school's 103rd season of intercollegiate competition in 2006-07. CSU has a cumulative record of 1,054-1,073 in 2,127 previous games dating back to 1902.
ALL-TIME MOBY RECORD
Colorado State holds an all-time record of 422-166 (.718) in Moby Arena.
MOBY UNDER LAYER
Colorado State holds a 66-28 overall record in home games during Dale Layer's six seasons.
Season Games Record
2006-07 8 7-1
2005-06 15 9-6
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 95 66-29 (.695)
THE RAMS IN JANUARY
Colorado State holds a 18-28 record in the month of January under head coach Dale Layer. CSU has finished 1-6 in January in each of its last two seasons but currently holds a 3-2 mark this year.
ON SATURDAYS
The Rams are 39-44 in games played on Saturday during coach Dale Layer's tenure at Colorado State. CSU is currently 5-1 on Saturdays in 2006-07 with wins over Montana State Northern, Kansas State, Colorado, Chattanooga and New Mexico and a loss to San Diego State.
CLOSING IN ON 100
Dale Layer currently holds a 99-97 overall record since taking over at Colorado State in 2000-01 season, leaving him just one win away from his 100th career victory at CSU. Layer would join Jim Williams (352) and Stew Morrill (121) as the only CSU coaches to record 100 wins at the school.
1,000/500 MAN
CSU forward Jason Smith has scored 1,059 points and has 541 rebounds in his career at Colorado State. He is only the sixth player in school history and first since Brian Greene, who played from 2000-03 (1,259 points, 669 rebounds) to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds. The other four are Pat Durham, 1986-898 (1,980, 851); Bill Green, 1961-63 (1,682, 726); Rich Strong (1983-86 (1,555, 805).
NOTING THE TCU GAME
- CSU had a season high 11 blocks. The last time CSU had that many blocks was when CSU tied the school record with 12 vs. Wyoming on 2/25/06.
- Stuart Creason's six blocks is the most by a Ram this year.
- Stephan Gilling recorded a career-high six rebounds.
- Stuart Creason scored his 500th career point in the game.
- CSU's 39 free throw attempts and 44 rebounds tie season highs.
- CSU's 18 field goals made and 41 field goal attempts are season lows.
- TCU's 48 percent free throw percentage is a season low for a Ram opponent.
- TCU tied season lows for CSU opponents with two three-pointers made and a .125 three-point percentage.
LOOKING AHEAD
Colorado State will travel to Laramie, Wyo., to face the Wyoming Cowboys Wednesday at 7 p.m.
PLAYER TIDBITS & TRENDS
#3 Xavier Kilby
• Kilby has gathered 16 rebounds in his last four games.
#4 Cory Lewis
• Lewis has had an assist in 46 of 47 games in his career including 41 multi-assist games.
• Lewis has recorded an assist in 45 straight games.
• Has recorded multiple assists in 21 consecutive games.
• Has led CSU in assists 36 times in his career.
• Has played 30 or more minutes in 31 of 47 career games at CSU.
• Is 12-of-23 (.522) from three-point range in his last five games.
• Needs just four points to reach 500 in his career.
#5 Tyler Smith
• Has been in double figures scoring in nine of 16 games with CSU.
• Has hit a three-pointer in 13 of his past 14 games.
• Has played 30 or more minutes in 10 of 16 games.
• Has 14 assists in his last three games.
#12 Tim Denson
• Denson has recorded an assist in all 17 games this year.
• Has multiple rebounds in 14 straight games after getting no rebounds in his first three contests.
#14 Jason Smith
• Scored in double figures in 55 of 74 career games.
• Has had four or more rebounds in 35 straight games.
• Has had six or more rebounds in 25 of his last 30 games.
• Has had an assist in 34 of his last 38 games.
• Has started in 48 consecutive games.
#30 Stuart Creason
• Creason has posted four or more rebounds in each game this season.
• Has multiple blocks in 12 of his last 14 games.
• Has made a free throw in 11 straight games.
#33 Stephan Gilling
• Has hit a three-pointer in 40 of 48 games and has had multiple three-pointers in 28 games.
• Currently is currently 7th all-time in 3-point field goal percentage (.427) at CSU.
THE MAGIC NUMBER IS 70
Over the past three seasons, Colorado State is 7-19 when scoring less than 70 points in a game. In contrast the Rams are 33-16 when hitting 70 and 17-5 when reaching the 80-point plateau.
MWC STARTS
In the eighth year of the Mountain West Conference, CSU has matched its best MWC start with a 3-2 record. CSU also began 3-2 in 2003. CSU has never started 4-2 in MWC play and hs been 3-3 three times (2001, 2003 and 2004).
SEEING DOUBLE
Jason Smith's 28-point, 11-rebound performance versus New Mexico marked the 14th time in his career he has double-doubles in scoring and rebounding. The junior now ranks sixth in all-time double-doubles in school history. Following is a list of the top double-dippers at CSU:
1. Mike Childress (1969-71) - 33
2. Bob Rule (1965-67) - 19
3. Pat Durham (1986-89) - 18
4. Sonny Bustion (1963-65) - 17
5. Gary Rhoades (1970-73) - 16
6. Jason Smith (2004-07) - 14
7. Rick Fisher (1970-71) - 12
8. Rich Strong (1982-86) - 11
TELEVISION STARS
Colorado State will play on television more times this season than they ever have in the history of the program. Fans will be able to catch the Rams at least 19 times on television this season. CSU will play on the mtn. 15 times and on CSTV and Fox Sports Net twice.
HOME VS. ROAD
Colorado State is currently shooting 140-of-190 (.737) from the free throw line at home while hitting just 146-of-218 (.670) charity shots on the road. CSU also commits 19.4 turnovers per game away from home and only 16.4 per game in Moby Arena.
FOES UNDER 40
Colorado State is 7-1 when holding an opponent to less than 40 percent shooting from the floor including:
Date Game FG-A Pct.
Nov. 15 Rice 17-49 .347
Nov. 18 Montana State Northern 21-54 .389
Nov. 20 Boise State 19-52 .365
Dec. 6 Northern Colorado 20-53 .377
Dec. 9 Colorado 21-60 .350
Dec. 29 Alabama State 20-54 .370
Dec. 30 Chattanooga 22-64 .344
Jan. 17 TCU 20-58 .345
RAMS PLUS 50
Colorado State is 8-1 when shooting better than 50 percent from the floor this year including:
Date Game FG-A Pct.
Nov. 18 Montana State Northern 32-58 .552
Nov. 29 Denver 29-55 .527
Dec. 2 Kansas State 27-51 .529
Dec. 18 North Dakota State 26-52 .500
Dec. 29 Alabama State 25-47 .532
Dec. 30 Chattanooga 25-50 .500
Jan. 3 Air Force 30-55 .545
Jan. 6 New Mexico 31-49 .633
Jan. 9 Utah 22-42 .524
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
Cory Lewis 3 20
Jason Smith 0 19
Stuart Creason 2 11
Freddy Robinson 0 11
Tim Denson 1 9
Stephan Gilling 0 6
Tyler Smith 3 5
Xavier Kilby 5 5
Jordan Surratt 0 1
QUICK STARTS ARE IMPORTANT
Colorado State has won 11-straight games when leading at the half dating back to Mar. 4, 2006 when CSU led Air Force at the break 31-26 before losing 63-59.
QUICK STARTS PART II
Colorado State is currently 9-0 this season when leading at the first media timeout. In fact, the team leading at the media timeout usually wins the game. Only three times this year (vs. Colorado, vs. Denver and vs. TCU) has the team trailing at the first break won the game. CSU is 0-2 this season when tied at the first media timeout.
KEEP THOSE FANS AT HOME
Colorado State is currently 1-4 when the attendance is over 6,300 fans and 12-0 when the attendance falls below 6,300. CSU's only win in front of a big crowd this year came at New Mexico, in front of 12,788 fans.
SMITH NAMED MWC CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Colorado State junior Jason Smith and TCU junior Brent Hackett were named the Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Co-Players of the Week. This is the second weekly award for Smith this season and the third of his career, while Hackett garners his first career player of the week accolade.
Smith, a 7-0 center from Kersey, Colo., led the Rams to a 1-1 record during the first week of conference play. In a home loss to Air Force (75-81), Smith scored a team-high 19 points (on 9-of-11 shooting) and grabbed a game-best 10 rebounds. He also blocked two shots, dished out five assists and tallied a steal vs. the Falcons. Smith followed with a career-high 28 point and 11 rebound performance in a road win at New Mexico (88-79), as the Rams won for only the fourth time in 39 years at The Pit. Smith shot 11-for-15 from the field vs. the Lobos, while also collecting three assists, two blocks and one steal. He also surpassed the 1,000 point mark for his career vs. the Lobos. For the week, Smith averaged 23.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 blocked shots per game, while shooting 76.9 percent (20-for-26) from the field.
CSU BASKETBALL ADDS THREE
Colorado State head coach Dale Layer today announced that three players have signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball at Colorado State.
Jesse Woodard (6-1, 190, Guard, Compton, Calif./Centennial HS)
Jesse Woodard was ranked as a top 30 player in the nation and was a top five West Coast point guard at Centennial High School in Compton, Calif. He averaged 10 points, four rebounds and seven assists for Centennial HS and helped his team reach the sectional finals as a junior. He competed for the Compton Magic AAU team and was a three-time all-star at the renowned Adidas All-Star camps. Woodard chose CSU over Iowa State, Virginia Tech, Utah and UNLV.
Shane Edwards (6-7, 190, Forward, Gilbert, Ariz./Northeastern JC)
Shane Edwards averaged eight points and five rebounds in his freshman season at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo. Currently, Edwards is averaging better than 20 points, 10 rebounds per game for the Plainsmen after helping the team to a 30-4 overall record and a top 20 ranking in 2005-06. The athletic 6-7 forward was widely regarded as one of the best high school athletes to come out of the State of Arizona, sporting a wing span of 7-feet, one-inch. Edwards played at Mountain Pointe High School before coming to NJC.
Omar Leary (5-10, 170, Guard, Portland, Ore./Northeastern JC)
Leary, a 5-10, 170 point guard, averaged 10 points, four assists and two steals per game for Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo., as a freshman in 2005-06. The Portland, Ore., native was regarded as one of the top 10 players to come out of Oregon as an all-city and all-state selection for Lincoln High School in Portland. He is regarded as one of the best point guards in the western U.S. coming out of NJC after helping the Plainsmen to a 30-4 record as the team's starting point guard in 2005-06.
THE GREEN MACHINE
Following a vote by the student body at Colorado State, the CSU student section will be referred to as "The Green Machine" in all 2006-07 home basketball contests.
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.
