Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
TCU
Men's basketball recap: Rams steamroll Frogs
1/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2011
Final Stats |
Photo Gallery 
By Nic Hallisey
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo.--The Colorado State men's basketball team played one of its best halves of the season Saturday night at Moby Arena, opening up its game against TCU shooting 72.4 percent in the first half, and leading 46-35.
But the Horned Frogs (10-9, 1-3 MWC) switched to a zone defense in the second half, and made the Rams work for victory, using a 10-4 run to the start the second stanza and cutting the lead down to five, 50-45. The Rams (12-5, 2-1 MWC) responded, though, using a 12-7 run over the next 6 minutes, 22 seconds, to regain a solid lead that would stay in double digits for the remainder of the game, ultimately winning 79-69.
In the opening half, the Rams forced four steals on the Frogs' first nine possessions, and had a nine-point lead, 17-8, with 14:30 remaining in the half. The 11-point halftime lead was punctuated with a long three-pointer by sophomore Wes Eikmeier at the buzzer.
"We made shots right away, and you always gain energy from that," Head Coach Tim Miles said.
Colorado State led in nearly every statistical category, including field-goal percentage (60.4-46.3 percent), three-point shooting (33.3-29.4 percent), steals (10-6), blocks (2-1) and assists (22-11). Colorado State was even in rebounds (31-31) and the Rams (11) committed fewer turnovers than the Frogs (15).
"We are more balanced," senior Travis Franklin said. "We have shooters that spread out the floor and penetrators and low-post threats. "We're giving teams a different look this year, and it's really working for the best right now."
The Rams had four players score in double figures, led by senior forwards Andy Ogide and Franklin. Ogide picked up his fifth double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 boards. His third rebound of the game was his 500th rebound as a Ram. The Rams are now 5-0 this season when Ogide records a double-double. Franklin scored 14 points on the night, including 11 in the first half. He also connected on his 300th free throw as a Ram on the game's first point.
"We just wanted to get it inside like we were doing at the beginning of the season," Ogide said. "We kind of got away from it a little bit, and I think we did a good job of finding the open areas and getting deep-post catches."
Led down low by Ogide and Franklin, the Rams outscored the Frogs in the paint 40-28. It was Franklin's second time in double figures in the past six games after averaging 17.3 points through the first 11 contests of the season.
Also in double figures were sophomores Dorian Green and Jesse Carr. The two guards combined for 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting.
"Coming off the bench has been a little hard to get used to," Carr said, "but I talked to Coach Miles and I think I just need to go out and play. I've been really tentative. I feel like I am getting back into it; I just have to be aggressive."
Eikmeier finished with nine points and five assists, while sophomore Greg Smith came off the bench and was also a major factor, scoring seven points and collecting five assists and three steals.
TCU's only lead came in the opening minute, 2-1. The Frogs had three players in double figures, led by Amric Field's 19 points.
"Our guys don't get too jumpy; they persevere," Miles said. "Every time TCU made a run I thought we handled it pretty well."\
Ogide agreed.
"We never broke down," he said. "We stayed together and came out and played hard. When you do stuff like that, you win games like this."
The win is the Rams' third consecutive against TCU at Moby Arena, and gives the team momentum entering Wednesday's road game at UNLV. Tip is set for 8:30 p.m. MT, and will be broadcast live on The Mtn.
