Game notes: CSU travels to face No. 18/17 BYU

Jan. 14, 2010

Game 17:  Colorado State at BYU
Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010 | 4 p.m. MT | Provo, Utah | Marriott Center (22,700)

Television
Network: The Mtn.
Play-by-Play: Dan Gutowsky
Color Analyst: Andy Toolson
Channel: Comcast (411), DirecTV (616)

Radio
Network: Colorado State Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Jerry Schemmel
Flagship: KLZ (560 AM)

Online
Live Statistics: CSURams.com
Streaming Audio: CSURams.com/allaccess
Streaming Video: None

Up next
The Colorado State men’s basketball team continues Mountain West Conference action, traveling to Provo, Utah, to face off against the nationally ranked BYU Cougars. 

The Rams (11-5) and Cougars (17-1) are tied atop the Mountain West standings with 2-0 conference records entering Saturday afternoon’s tilt at the Marriott Center (22,700). 

The game will be televised live on The Mtn. beginning at 4 p.m., with Dan Gutowsky (play-by-play) and Andy Toolson (color analyst) bringing fans all the action from courtside.   

Colorado State is riding a three-game winning streak, including the team’s conference opener at Wyoming (83-73) on Jan. 6, and the team’s MWC home opener against Air Force (70-48) on Jan. 9.  The Rams have won eight of their last 10 games. 

BYU has lost just once in 2009-10 and is coming off of a 67-49 road victory against Air Force on Wednesday.  The team has been one of the most dominant home teams in the country in recent years, and is riding a 15-game win streak at the Marriott Center, including a 9-0 mark this season. 

Fans can listen to the game on the Colorado State Sports Network. Jerry Schemmel will call all the action courtside. The game will be carried on flagship KLZ (560 AM) in Denver and on KCOL (600 AM), locally. Rams fans worldwide can listen to the action live streaming audio on CSURams.com/allaccess.

Live statistics are available by clicking the “GameTracker” logo on the men’s basketball “Schedule/Results” page on CSURams.com. 

Looking ahead
The Rams’ contest at BYU on Saturday starts a three-game stretch in which the Rams will face three MWC foes who have been ranked in the national polls this season.  Wednesday’s opponent, UNLV, is currently receiving votes in both polls.  The Rams host the Runnin’ Rebels at 4 p.m. MT at Moby Arena.
 
About BYU
The No. 18/17 Cougars entered the 2009-10 season as three-time defending MWC champions and the overwhelming preseason favorites to win the league.  The Cougars have gone a stretch of 12 games without a loss entering Saturday’s matchup. It marks the team’s longest winning streak since the 1992-93 season. Their 17-1 overall record also ties the best record in school history through 18 games (tying the 1987-88 team). The Cougars have wins over Nebraska, Arizona and UNLV, with their only loss coming at Utah State on Dec. 3.

Head Coach Dave Rose is in his fifth year at the helm of BYU, his first head coaching job. Rose has led the Cougars to an outstanding 114-35 record during his time in Provo. His squad is well-balanced with three seniors, three juniors, four sophomores and three freshmen.

The Cougars lead the conference with 83.6 points per game and are led by four players who average double figures: junior Jimmer Fredette (19.9 points), junior Jackson Emery (13.2), freshman Tyler Haws (11.6) and Tavernari (10.1), who shared MWC Player of the Week honors last week with CSU’s Andy Ogide. Fredette’s point average is among the nation’s best, ranking 17th entering play this week. 

In a win over Air Force on Wednesday, Emery posted 21 points. He hit five three-pointers, the fourth time he has hit at least five treys in a game this season. The 6-3 guard shoots 45.1 percent (46-of-102) from three-point range, which ranks 27th nationally.

BYU shoots 50.9 percent (fourth nationally) as a team, and has eight players shooting better than 50 percent, including Emery, Haws and sophomore Noah Hartsock, who leads the team at 61.2 percent from the field.

The Cougars also lead the nation in team free-throw shooting (78.6 percent) and rank sixth nationally in scoring margin (+20.9 ppg.). 

Series vs. BYU
The Rams have struggled against the Cougars, especially on the road. CSU is 45-80 all-time against BYU, and just 10-54 in Provo.

Rams’ Head Coach Tim Miles is 0-5 against the Cougars.  As a team, the BYU is riding a nine-game home win streak over the Rams. The last time a CSU team defeated BYU at the Marriott Center was in 1998, a 55-44 decision.

Rams vs. ranked opponents
Colorado State enters Saturday’s game against BYU looking for its first victory over a ranked team since March 11, 2004, an upset over No. 25 Air Force at the Mountain West Conference tournament at Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo.  Since that game, the Rams have lost seven consecutive games against nationally ranked foes.   

Last season vs. BYU
The dropped a pair of contests to the Cougars in 2009, falling 86-60 at home and 94-60 at the Marriott Center.  In the game in Provo, the Cougars shot nearly 65 percent from the floor, and five Cougars scored in double figures.

Current Rams vs. BYU
Juniors Andre McFarland and Andy Ogide have had the most success of any Rams’ players in their careers against BYU.  McFarland has averaged 6.7 points a contest in five games, including 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting (3-of-3 from beyond the arc) during his freshman season when the Rams hosted the Cougars. In two games last season against BYU, Ogide totaled 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Perfect in the MWC
Two games into the 2010 MWC schedule, the Rams and the Cougars are tied atop the standings. The 2-0 start to conference play marks the first time since the 2002-03 season for the Rams. The Rams have never started out the conference schedule 3-0 since the inception of the MWC. 

Wire-to-wire
Colorado State is riding a three-game winning streak into Saturday’s game at BYU.  More impressive than the three-game streak alone, the Rams have won each contest, a 93-71 home win over Yale, an 83-73 road win at Wyoming, and a 70-48 home victory over Air Force, without ever trailing in the games. 

Ogide named MWC CO-Player of the Week
Colorado State’s Andy Ogide was selected as the Mountain West Conference Co-Player of the Week on Jan. 10.  He shared the honor with BYU’s Jonathan Tavernari. 

Ogide, a 6-9 forward from Marrieta, Ga., led Colorado State to its first 2-0 start in conference play since 2003 with wins at Wyoming (83-73) and at home vs. Air Force (70-48).

Against Wyoming, he scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed a game-high-tying six rebounds. He also collected a career-high three steals and dished out two assists, while shooting 9-of-16 from the floor in 27 minutes vs. the Cowboys.

Against Air Force, Ogide was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field in scoring a game-best 13 points. He also tallied five rebounds and three assists in 22 minutes of action. For the week, Ogide averaged 17.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per contest. He shot 65 percent from the field (13-for-20) and 81.8 percent from the charity stripe (9-of-11).

It marked the first-career weekly honor for Ogide an the first for a Rams’ player since Nov. 19, 2007 (Stuart Creason and New Mexico’s J.R. Giddens). 

Rams in conference openers
Colorado State’s 83-73 victory at Wyoming on Jan. 6 marked just the second time that CSU has opened its MWC schedule with a victory.  The last time was the 2002-03 season, also CSU’s last appearance in the NCAA tournament.  That season the Rams began their MWC schedule with back-to-back home victories over New Mexico (74-58) and Air Force (51-49).  The Rams finished that season with a 5-9 overall record in the MWC but capped the season with a memorable run to the MWC championship and a first-round matchup with the Duke Blue Devils in the Salt Lake City Regional of the NCAA tourney.  Since the formation of the MWC in the 1999-2000 season, the Rams are now 2-9 in conference openers.  

Scoring for the Rams
Freshman G Dorian Green, junior F Andy Ogide and junior F Travis Franklin rank 1-2-3 for the Rams in terms of scoring through 16 games this season. Green has scored in double figures in 11 of his first 16 collegiate contests as a true freshman, while Franklin has reached double-figure scoring in nine of his last 11 games.  Ogide has led CSU in scoring in five games this season, including the last two games at Wyoming (22 points) and vs. Air Force (13 points).  Entering Saturday’s game vs. Air Force, only CSU and TCU have three players ranked in the top 14 in the MWC in terms of scoring.  

Putting it on the line
Following the Rams’ 70-48 victory over rival Air Force last Saturday, CSU improved to 10-0 this season when attempting more free throws than their opponents.  This season, the Rams rank third in the MWC averaging 27.3 free-throw attempts per game, just behind Wyoming (30.1), whom CSU held to 20 attempts on Wednesday, and New Mexico (28.3), which is receiving votes in both national polls. 

However, the Rams are currently just sixth in the league with a free-throw percentage of 69.1 percent.  Saturday’s opponent, BYU, leads the nation in that category, connecting at a 78.6 percent clip. 
 
Against the state of Colorado
Not only is CSU perfect at home this season, but Miles’ squad has been impressive at home against Division I teams from the state of Colorado. CSU is riding a five-game home winning streak against Colorado programs, and is 6-2 overall at Moby Arena against intrastate rivals. The streak began early last season with an 85-74 win over Northern Colorado, followed up by a 67-56 win vs. Air Force. This season, Miles’ squad put up a 64-59 win against Denver and a 77-62 triumph over rival Colorado.  Most recently, the Rams defeated Air Force, 70-48, at Moby Arena on Jan. 9. 

Defending the Fort
Following last Saturday’s home win over in-state rival Air Force, the Rams are 8-0 at Moby Arena to start the season.  CSU won just six home games all last season, and just three the season before.

Through the years, however, Moby Arena has been a tough environment for opposing teams. CSU has won 70 percent (437-188) of its games at Moby Arena. Since the 2002-03 season, the Rams have had several winning streaks to start their home season: 2002-03, 13 consecutive; 2004-05, 9; 2005-06, 8; and 2006-07, 6.

Handle with care
The Rams committed a season-low nine turnovers against Air Force on Jan. 9.  The team averages 15.3 turnovers a game and is 7-1 on the season when turning the ball over fewer times than its opponent. The lone blemish for the Rams came at UCLA (Dec. 22).  CSU forced the Bruins into 19 turnovers, while committing just 11.  However, UCLA was able to post the come-from-behind 75-63 victory. 

Defense to offense
Over the last three games, all victories, Colorado State has scored 65 point off of opponents’ turnovers.  During that stretch, CSU is forcing opponents into more than 15 turnovers per game. 

McFarland climbing the three-point charts
For his career at Colorado State, McFarland has hit 117 three-pointers, just three shy of cracking the program’s top-10 list.  David Turcotte (1984-88) currently holds the 10th spot with 120 career three-pointers.  McFarland’s career three-point percentage of .429 currently ties him for seventh, with Stephan Gilling (2006-07), in the Rams’ record book.

Hot start
The Rams began the 2009-10 season with a record of 7-3 through 10 games.  It marked the best start for CSU through 10 games since the 2006-07 season (8-2). 

Rams on the road
Colorado State’s 83-73 victory at Wyoming on Jan. 6 marked the Rams’ first road victory of the season.  It snapped a six-game road losing streak overall.  CSU’s previous road victory came Feb. 21, 2009, a 71-66 triumph over Air Force at Clune Arena.  The Rams will try to make it two-in-a-row at BYU’s Marriott Center on Saturday, but will face a BYU team that has won 15 straight home games. 

Nigon heating up
Junior Adam Nigon entered the season averaging 2.87 points per contest through two seasons. This year, the guard is averaging 8.5 points, and has already eclipsed his point total from all of last season. Nigon is shooting 40 percent from the floor and 39 percent from three-point range. During a five-game stretch from Nov. 29 to Dec. 12, Nigon averaged 11.6 points, including a career-high 17 against Montana, helping the Rams to a 4-1 record during that stretch.   

Entering Saturday’s contest at BYU, Nigon has scored in double figures in three of his last five games and has hit multiple three-pointers in three consecutive games for the first time in his career as a Ram. 

Seeing double
Junior F Travis Franklin recorded his second career double-double performance in the Rams’ victory over rival Colorado (Dec. 10).  Franklin tallied 22 points, his second 20-point effort of the season, and capped off the double-double performance with 10 rebounds to help CSU to the 77-62 victory.  Franklin shot 7-for-9 from the field and 8-for-10 from the free-throw line, while adding a block and two steals against the Buffs.  Franklin also recorded a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) nine days earlier in the Rams’ 70-63 loss at Northern Colorado (Dec.1).  

Seeing double, part two
Freshman F Greg Smith recorded his first career double-double on Dec. 20 in the Rams’ victory over Northern Arizona.  Smith, playing in just the seventh game of his career at CSU, tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds to help the Rams to the 64-56 victory. 

Starting lineups
Tim Miles used four different starting lineups in five games, between Dec. 1 and Dec. 20.  The Rams posted a 4-1 record in those contests.  Overall on the season, Miles has used five different lineups, with guards Dorian Green and Adam Nigon the only players to have started all 15 games entering Saturday’s game vs. Air Force.  More info on CSU’s starting lineups is available at the bottom of Page 8 of this release.    

500 and counting
Forward Andy Ogide garnered MWC player-of-the-week honors last week, but the final points scored in the win against Air Force, a jumper with 3:05 remaining to put the Rams up by 11, was also his 500th of his career in a Rams uniform. The junior did it in 46 games, and will have one year of eligibility remaining at CSU to try to become the 18th player in CSU history to record 1,000 points. 

Classmate Andre McFarland is also on pace to reach 1,000 points for his career and is the Rams’ active career scoring leader with 616 points in 75 games at CSU.  

Draining the three
Colorado State ranks among the top schools in the Mountain West in terms of three-point shooting percentage.  The Rams are shooting 36.8 percent from long range, which ranks third in the league behind nationally ranked BYU (.420) and New Mexico (.377), which is receiving votes in both national polls.   

Balanced rebounding attack
Despite only having four 10-plus rebounding efforts this season, the Rams have three players - Andy Ogide, Travis Franklin and Pierce Hornung - ranked in the top 11 in the MWC in rebounding average: Ogide (5.8), seventh; and Franklin and Hornung (5.4), tied for 11th.  As a team, Colorado State ranks tied for fourth in the MWC pulling down 36.6 boards per game.  The Rams’ are outrebounding opponents by 5.4 per game, the third-highest rebounding margin in the league (SDSU, +8.4; BYU, +6.9). 

Rams vs. non-conference foes
After completing this season’s non-conference schedule with a win against Yale on Dec. 31, CSU has posted a record of 96-56 (.632) against non-MWC opponents since the formation of the Mountain West Conference in 1999.

Green means go
Entering Saturday’s contest at BYU, freshman G Dorian Green, the Rams leading scorer at 13.5 points per game, has reached double-digits scoring in a team-leading 11 games this season.  His scoring average ranks eighth overall in the MWC and first among freshmen.

BYU freshman Tyler Haws (11.6 ppg.) and SDSU’s Kawhi Leonard (11.2 ppg.) rank 16th and 17th, respectively, in the MWC in scoring, and are the only other freshmen to appear in the top 20.      

Runnin’ Rams?
Colorado State ran out of the gates, and ran opponent UC Davis out of the gym, in the team’s 91-73 season-opening victory over the Aggies, marking the first time since Jan. 20, 2007 the team has eclipsed 90 points. Since then, CSU has scored 91 points in a double-overtime win against San Francisco and most recently 93 against Yale. The last time CSU scored 90 or more points in three games came in the 2004-05 season.

The 83 points tallied by the Rams in their victory at Wyoming on Jan. 6 marks CSU’s highest scoring output against an MWC opponent.  The previous high was 82 points scored in a heart-breaking 83-82 loss vs. San Diego State on Jan. 29, 2008. 
 
Freshmen strong in debuts
Freshmen Dorian Green and Pierce Hornung impressed in their first weekend of action at the BTI Tip-off tournament (Nov. 13-15).  Green started all three games for the Rams at point guard and wasted no time making his mark, with 16 points, six rebounds, and five assists in the Rams’ opening game vs. UC Davis.  He earned all-tourney honors after averaging 12 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. 

Hornung looked sharp, pulling down two rebounds, and recording four assists and three steals in 23 minutes in his first collegiate game against the Aggies.  He added a pair of blocks in the Rams’ win over Winston-Salem State, and closed the weekend with six rebounds, two assists and one steal against the Oregon Ducks. 

Greg Smith, who saw his first action in the Rams’ fifth game of the season, was also impressive in his debut performance, filling up the stat sheet with 10 points, six rebounds three steals, two assists and two blocks. 

The trio looks to make an assault on the CSU freshman records throughout the season.  Entering this week Green is averaging a team-leading 13.5 points per game, which would rank third all-time among freshmen at CSU, behind former players Eddie Hughes (15.4 ppg.) and Matt Nelson (14.0 ppg.).  Hornung’s rebounding average of 5.4 per contest also would rank second among freshmen at CSU, just behind Rich Strong, who averaged 6.3 rebounds per game during his freshman year in 1983.
 
If I can be frank
Junior F Travis Franklin has started 15 of CSU’s first 16 contests; he came off the bench against DU (Dec. 5).  Franklin has left his mark at both ends of the court for the Rams. The Baton Rouge, La., native ranks second on the team in rebounding (5.4 rebounds per game) is third on the team in scoring (11.8 points per game), while leading the team in offensive rebounds (38), and free-throw attempts (124).  He enters Saturday’s game at BYU ranking in the MWC in a number of categories, including 14th in scoring, tied for 11th in rebounding and seventh in offensive rebounding (2.4 per game).

Turn up the “D”
Colorado State ranks fourth in the Mountain West Conference in scoring defense entering Saturday’s game at BYU.  The Rams are holding opponents to just 63.2 points per game through 16 games.  Colorado State also ranks third in the league in holding opponents to just 31.1 rebounds per game.  Overall, CSU is tied for the highest defensive rebounding percentage in the league with New Mexico, pulling down the rebound 71.8 percent of the time.

Entering Saturday’s matchup, BYU ranks just ahead of the Rams in terms of scoring defense allowing opponents to score 62.8 points per game.  They rank second in terms of rebounding defense, allowing opponents 30.9 per game.

Cleared for takeoff
After announcing Nov. 13 his plans to red shirt freshman Greg Smith for the 2009-10 season, Head Coach Tim Miles removed that distinction from Smith prior to the Rams’ home opener vs. Mayville State.  Smith, a 6-6 forward from Ralston (Neb.) High School, went on to make his debut against the Comets, finishing with 10 points, six rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks in 16 minutes of action for the Rams. 

In the red
Head Coach Tim Miles announced Nov. 13 his plans to red shirt freshman C Trevor Williams.  Williams, a 7-0 center from Denver (Colo.) Lutheran High School, will benefit from a year of additional work with Miles and his staff, before hitting the court for the Rams in 2010-11.

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