Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Minnesota
Minnesota defense stifles Rams
12/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Golden Gophers of Minnesota got a career night from Blake Hoffarber, who hit a career-high six three-pointers on his way to 21 points, as they put Colorado State out in the cold with a 91-74 victory Saturday night. Willis Gardner led the Rams with 19 points as CSU dropped its fourth straight road contest.
CSU (5-4) outscored Minnesota by six points in the second half. Learning to never give up even in a game that seemed out of reach , the Rams reduced a 23-point halftime deficit to 17 in the second half. The Rams shot 58.1 percent in the second half compared to the Gophers' 52.9. CSU also rebounded well but had 11 fewer shots as a result of turnovers.
Head Coach Tim Miles still found a way to take a positive out of the loss. "I commend our players, not one guy laid down," Miles said. "Sometimes when a young team gets down in front of 12,000 people here, they give. They didn't, they continued to focus on the next play. I am really proud of the effort of these guys.
"We are going to get better. We didn't let the scoreboard get us down. They let the scoreboard beat them in Montana but they didn't let it happen tonight."
One of the key play makers for CSU was Gardner who led the team with 19 points. Despite a nagging shoulder issue, he was 3-of-5 in the second half with two three-pointers and a pair of free throws. His stability combined with the play of Marcus Walker made the difference in the second half. Walker finished with 18 points and a team-high six assists.
CSU tied a season-high with 17 turnovers, nine of which came in the first half. The Rams shot well throughout the game and led in three-point percentage at 47.1 percent. The stifling defense from the Golden Gophers was the difference as they had 11 steals and 18 points off turnovers.
Adding another impressive performance for Minnesota was Dan Coleman, who scored 22 points, including his 1,000th career point, and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
Also in double-figures for the Rams was Andre McFarland with 10 points, while Stuart Creason paced CSU on the boards with 11.
Colorado State plays the middle game of a three-game road swing at North Dakota State at noon MST next Saturday. The Bison were Miles' team for six years before he left Fargo for CSU this spring.
