Game notes: Rams, Cowboys renew rivalry in MWC opener

Jan. 5, 2010

Game 15:  Colorado State at Wyoming
Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010 | 6 p.m. MT | Laramie, Wyo. | Arena Auditorium (15,000)

Television
Network: The Mtn.
Play-by-Play: Mike Evans
Color Analyst: Larry Mangino
Channel: Comcast (411), DirecTV (616)

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

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

Up next
The Colorado State men’s basketball team opens the 2010 Mountain West Conference season against “Border War” rival Wyoming.  The Rams and the Cowboys, who have met more than 200 times, will renew the rivalry Wednesday evening at UW’s Arena Auditorium.  The game is slated to begin at 6 p.m. MT and will air live on The Mtn. 

Colorado State (9-5) and is off to the team’s best start under third-year Head Coach Tim Miles.  Miles and the Rams are coming off of a 93-71 home victory over Yale on New Year’s Eve, and are 7-3 in their last 10 contests since beginning the year 2-2. 

Wyoming enters the game with an overall record of 7-7, coming off of a 123-71 home victory over Adams State College. 

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 WyomingAthletics.com. 

About Wyoming
Head Coach Heath Schroyer has guided the Cowboys to a 38-39 record in three seasons at Wyoming. Schroyer has not lost to the Rams in regular-season action, and is 2-0 vs. CSU at the Arena Auditorium. Wyoming is coming off of a 123-71 trouncing of Adams State on Saturday. Overall, the Cowboys are 7-7 on the season. They have played 10 of their first 14 games at home, and have traveled outside of Wyoming and Colorado just twice (Tennessee and Northern Iowa). Wyoming is 6-4 at home this season.

Wyoming has just one senior, Ryan Dermody, a native of Loveland, Colo., and uses a young lineup including three freshmen and seven sophomores. Leading the Cowboys is sophomore Afam Muojeke with 17.6 points a contest. Also in double figures are sophomore A.J. Davis (13.2 points) and junior Djibril Thiam (10.9). Sophomore Adam Waddell averages 9.8 points a game and leads the team with 5.5 rebounds. Thiam is one of four international players on Wyoming’s roster.

Last time vs. Wyoming
Senior Willis Gardner put up a last-second attempt to tie the game, but the ball rattled out of the basket, sending Wyoming home with an 82-79 victory. The loss secured the Rams into 8th place in the MWC heading into the 2009 conference tournament. Two free-throws by Wyoming’s Afam Muojeke put Wyoming up three points (80-77) with 20.2 seconds left before Gardner answered right back with a layup and foul with 13.3 seconds to go. Gardner would miss the free throw and the Rams were forced to foul Wyoming’s Brandon Ewing. The senior guard knocked down both attempts with 8.1 seconds left to give the Cowboys an 82-79 lead. The Rams had to go the length of the court and Gardner’s three-point shot would not fall.

Four Rams players scored in double figures: Andy Ogide, 19 points; Andre McFarland, 16; Marcus Walker, 15; Gardner, 15.

Current Rams vs. Wyoming
The Rams are 1-4 against the Cowboys under Tim Miles, with the lone win coming in the opening round of the 2008 MWC Championship Tournament. CSU, the No. 9 seed, upset No. 8 Wyoming, 68-63, giving Miles his first win over a conference opponent. In that game, Andre McFarland, then a freshman, led all teammates with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting. The forward shot 4-of-6 from three-point range. Also tallying double figures was classmate Adam Nigon, who scored 10 points. McFarland and Nigon have played in all five contests against Wyoming over the past two seasons.

McFarland is averaging 10.6 points per contest against the Cowboys, while in two games, junior Andy Ogide has tallied 32 points. In his only game against Wyoming, Jesse Carr totaled a career-high 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting.

Series vs. Wyoming
The Border War versus Wyoming is one of the Rams’ oldest and most fierce rivals. Dating all the way back to 1910, the Rams have faced off against the Cowboys 209 times, more than 50 games more than any other opponent. Since the initial meeting, the two teams have met at least once each season, except for 1922-23 season. Wyoming has the upper hand overall, leading the series 128-81. The Cowboys are also riding a two-game win streak against the Rams and hold a 75-35 series advantage in games played in Laramie. During a stretch from 1924 through 1953, the Rams lost 63 of 65 meetings, including 35 in a row. Since then, however, the series has been much more competitive with the Rams winning 52 percent (61-57) of the games.

Something to build on
Colorado State has posted it’s best non-conference record in three seasons under Head Coach Tim Miles.   The Rams, 9-5, matched their win total from the entire 2008-09 season, and bested their 2007-08 mark by one victory less than halfway through this season. CSU enters play at Wyoming on Wednesday in search of its first 10-win season since the 2006-07 campaign. 

Perry returns
Senior G Harvey Perry returned to the lineup against Yale on Dec. 31, after serving a nine game suspension due to his academic performance.  Head Coach Tim Miles made the decision to suspend Perry prior to the Rams’ game vs. Mayville State on Nov. 24.  Perry played just five minutes against the Bulldogs in his return to the hardwood, tallying two points and two rebounds in the Rams’ victory. 

Handle with care
Colorado State is 6-1 this season when recording fewer turnovers than its opponents.  The lone blemish for the Rams came at UCLA on Dec. 22.  The team forced the Bruins into 19 turnovers, while committing just 11 of its own.  However, UCLA was able to post the come-from-behind 75-63 victory. 

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.
  
Rams on the road
With the Rams’ 73-50 loss at Fresno State, CSU fell to 0-5 on the season on the road.  CSU’s last non-conference road win was a 74-58 victory over host Hawaii on Dec. 27, 2008, in the Rainbow Classic.  This season, the Rams have lost at Oregon (68-55) in the BTI Tip-off tournament championship on Nov. 15, at Indiana State (65-60) in the MWC/MVC challenge on Nov. 20, at Northern Colorado (70-63) on Dec. 1, at UCLA (75-63) on Dec. 22, and at Fresno State on Dec. 28. 

CSU’s last road victory against an MWC foe came last season at Air Force, a 71-66 triumph, on Feb. 21, 2009.  The Rams’ will try and stop the skid Wednesday in the team’s MWC opener against rival Wyoming at the Arena Auditorium.   

Carr back on track
Sophomore G Jesse Carr, sidelined since last February with a hip injury, saw his first action of the 2009-10 season on Dec. 20 against Northern Arizona.  Carr, who missed the final six games of 2008-09 and the first 10 games this season, started quickly, assisting a Travis Busch basket just seconds after being inserted into the Rams’ lineup at the 5:32 mark of the first half.  Carr played 8 minutes in the contest, recording one assist, one rebound and tallying two points on 2-for-4 shooting from the free-throw line.  He also saw 9 minutes of action at UCLA, and posted his best scoring game of the season with eight points, including a pair of three-pointers at Fresno State on Dec. 28. 

Nigon heating up
Junior Adam Nigon entered the season averaging 2.87 points per contest through two seasons. This year, the guard is averaging 8.1 points, and has already eclipsed his point total from all of last season. Nigon is shooting 41 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. 

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. 

McFarland back in action
Sidelined by back stiffness, junior Andre McFarland missed four straight games for the Rams after playing in every game of his career at CSU to that point.  McFarland missed victories over CU (77-62), Montana (62-61) and Northern Arizona (64-56), and was unable to go in the Rams’ loss at UCLA (75-63).  McFarland returned to the court for the Rams at Fresno State, tallying three points and one rebound in 12 minutes of action. 

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 36.6 percent from long range, which ranks third in the league behind BYU (.429) and New Mexico (.388). 

Balanced rebounding attack
Despite only having four 10-plus rebounding efforts this season, the Rams have three players ranked in the top 14 in the MWC in rebounding average: Ogide (5.9), eighth; Franklin (5.4), 12th; and Hornung (5.3), 14th.  As a team, Colorado State ranks fifth in the MWC pulling down 36.6 boards per game.  The Rams’ are outrebounding opponents by 5.3 per game, the third-highest rebounding margin in the league (SDSU, +8.1; BYU, +6.6). 

Scoring for the Rams
Freshman G Dorian Green, junior F Travis Franklin, and junior F Andy Ogide rank 1-2-3 for the Rams in terms of scoring through 14 games this season. Green has scored in double figures in 10 of his first 14 collegiate contests as a true freshman, while Franklin has reached double-figure scoring in seven of his last nine games.  Ogide has led CSU in scoring in three games this season, including at UCLA on Dec. 22.  Entering Wednesday’s game vs. Wyoming, only CSU and TCU have three players ranked in the top 17 in the MWC in terms of scoring.  

Green means go
Entering Wednesday’s contest vs. Wyoming, freshman G Dorian Green has led Colorado State in scoring in five of the last 11 contests, tallying 18 points at Indiana State, pouring in 17 more vs. Mayville State, adding 13 at Northern Colorado, scoring 18 vs. Montana, and tallying 14 at Fresno State.  He also added 17 points, second on the team, against San Francisco, nine points in the Rams’ victory over DU, a season-best 21 to help the Rams dispatch arch rival Colorado, and an 18-point effort against NAU.  Through 14 games this season, Green is the only player to pace the Rams in scoring in back-to-back contests.  He currently leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.7 points per game.  That ranks eighth overall in the MWC and first among freshmen.   

Busch back for the Rams
Senior F Travis Busch, returning from an ACL injury that sidelined the Minnesota transfer for the first seven games of his career at CSU, saw his first action in a Rams uniform on Dec. 5 vs. DU.  Busch scored seven points and recorded one rebound and one assist in 19 minutes of action.

Del Bene debuts
Junior G Johnny Del Bene, a junior college addition from San Diego Mesa College, saw his first action in a Rams uniform on Nov. 24 vs. Mayville State.  Del Bene played 6 minutes, connecting on his only shot, and ensuring that every Ram who saw action in the game tallied points. 

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.

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 13.7 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 5.3 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 13 of CSU’s first 14 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 second on the team in scoring (11.9 points per game), while leading the team in offensive rebounds (37), and free-throw attempts (106).  He entered the week ranking in the MWC in a number of categories, including 16th in scoring, 12th in rebounding and seventh in offensive rebounding (2.7 per game).

Turn up the “D”
Colorado State ranks fourth in the Mountain West Conference in scoring defense entering Wednesday’s game vs. Wyoming.  The Rams are holding opponents to just 63.6 points per game through 14 games.  Colorado State also ranks third in the league in holding opponents to just 31.4 rebounds per game.  Overall, CSU has the highest defensive rebounding percentage in the league, pulling down the rebound 72.6 percent of the time.

Finding his stroke
Junior G Adam Nigon, who entered the 2009-10 season with 11 career three-pointers in two seasons as a Ram, nearly doubled his career numbers in the opening weekend of the season at the BTI Tip-off tournament.  Nigon was impressive for the Rams, connecting on 6-of-13 (.462) attempts from beyond the arc. Nigon’s six three-pointers matched the output from his entire sophomore campaign, and bested his freshman mark by one.  Entering Wednesday’s game vs. Wyoming, Nigon is shooting 39.7 percent (23-for-58) from long range.

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. 

Next on the schedule
The Rams continue Mountain West Conference action, hosting the Air Force Falcons on Saturday night at Moby Arena.  Tip off between the Rams and the Falcons is set for 7 p.m.  The game will be televised live on The Mtn., Comcast Channel 411 and DirecTV Channel 616, with Mike Evans (play-by-play) and Andrea Lloyd (color) calling all the action from courtside.

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