Colorado State University Athletics
Game notes: Rams host Grizzlies to open 2011-12 season
11/10/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 10, 2011
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Colorado State vs. Montana | Game 1 |
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| CSU RETURNING STATISTICAL LEADERS | UM RETURNING STATISTICAL LEADERS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Opening tip
• The Colorado State men's basketball program opens its 108th season of competition on Friday evening, playing host to the University of Montana Grizzlies.
• Friday's contest is slated to tip at 7 p.m. MT at Moby Arena.
About Montana
• Montana enters the 2011-12 season coming off of a successful 21-11 campaign in 2010-11.
• The Grizzlies finished second in the Big Sky Conference and competed in the 2011 College Basketball Invitational where they lost in the opening round at home against Duquesne, 76-87.
• The Grizzlies return four starters and eight letterwinners from last season and are led by junior guard Will Cherry and senior center Derek Selvig. The duo ranked 2-3, respectively, in scoring for the Griz last season.
• Cherry earned first-team all-Big Sky accolades, averaging 14.1 points, while recording team-leading totals with 129 assists and 79 steals.
• Selvig earned an all-Big Sky honorable mention nod, averaging 10.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game while blocking a team-best 20 shots.
• Wayne Tinkle is in his sixth season as the head coach at his alma mater where he has posted a 91-64 mark.
• Tinkle enters this season fifth on the school's all-time wins chart, just six victories behind former CSU and current Utah State head coach Stew Morrill, who ranks fourth on that list.
Series vs. the Grizzlies
• Colorado State is 18-13 all-time against the Grizzlies.
• Playing in front of the home crowd, the Rams are 13-3 all-time against Montana.
• The Griz hold a 10-5 advantage in games played in Missoula.
A win over the Grizzlies...
• Would mark the fourth straight season-opening victory for the CSU men's basketball team dating back to a 75-39 loss at Montana in Tim Miles' first game as CSU head coach.
• Would give the Rams a 19-13 advantage in the all-time series vs. Montana, including a 14-3 mark in games played in Fort Collins.
• Would push the Rams' regular-season home winning streak to two games, dating back to a 78-65 victory over the Utah Runnin' Utes last March.
Rams in season openers
• Colorado State is 79-28 (.738) all-time in regular-season openers dating back to the programs first game, a 64-15 victory over Northern Colorado, in 1901-02.
• Under Head Coach Tim Miles, the Rams are 3-1 in season openers, having won three straight, over Arkansas-Pine Bluff (82-51 on Nov. 13, 2010), vs. UC Davis (91-73 on Nov. 13, 2009) and against Montana (85-55 on Nov. 14, 2008).
• The lone season-opening loss under Miles came at Montana, a 75-39 setback in Miles' first game as a CSU head coach.
Rams in home openers
• Colorado State is 82-25 (.766) all-time in regular-season home openers dating back to the programs first game, a 64-15 victory over Northern Colorado, in 1901-02.
• Under Head Coach Tim Miles, the Rams are 4-0 in home openers, having recorded victories over Arkansas-Pine Bluff (82-51 on Nov. 13, 2010), Mayville State (79-42 on Nov. 24, 2009), Montana (85-55 on Nov. 14, 2008) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (73-48 on Nov. 28, 2007), Miles' first home game as Rams head coach.
• Colorado State enters Friday's contest vs. Montana riding a 30-game winning streak in home openers. The Rams' last home-opening loss was a 79-64 setback vs. Oklahoma State on Dec. 8, 1980. That game marked the home coaching debut of Tony McAndrews, and was the first home game in Fort Collins after the retirement of legendary head coach Jim "J.J." Williams at the end of the 1979-80 season.
Looking ahead
• Colorado State heads to Palo Alto, Calif., for the regional rounds of the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off at Stanford's Maples Pavilion, Monday and Tuesday.
• The Rams open the tournament on Monday night against Conference USA foe, SMU. Tipoff between the Rams and the Mustangs is set for 6 p.m. MT.
• The seventh-seeded Rams would then face either future Mountain West member Fresno State, or host and third-seeded Stanford the following night at either 6 p.m. or 9 p.m. MT.
• CSU's second-round matchup, regardless of time, will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
• It marks the Rams' third appearance in the NIT Season Tip-Off event. The Rams previously played in the event in 1991 and 2006, posting a 1-3 record all-time in the tournament.
• In the 1991 NIT Season Tip-Off, the Rams opened with a victory at Boise State (W, 80-67) before falling at No. 23 Georgia Tech (L, 84-67) two days later.
• The Rams finished 0-2 in the 2006 event in Spokane, Wash., losing in overtime, 87-82, to Baylor and dropping a 70-61 decision to Rice.
Marquee matchups
• Colorado State's 2011-12 schedule features at least seven contests against teams receiving votes in the preseason national rankings.
• The Rams' first scheduled contest against a team receiving preseason attention comes Dec. 7 when the Rams travel to Durham, N.C., to take on a perennial power, No. 6/6 Duke, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
• CSU's conference slate features six tilts against MW teams receiving votes in the national preseason polls, with two matchups each against New Mexico (RV/RV), San Diego State (RV/--) and UNLV (RV/RV).
• The Rams could also draw matchups against No. 5/5 Syracuse or George Mason (RV/RV) in the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off in late November.
Strength of schedule
• Colorado State's 2011-12 non-conference slate ranks as one of the strongest in program history.
• The Rams' non-conference opponents (excluding potential tournament matchups in subsequent rounds of the NIT Season Tip-Off and Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational) averaged more than 21 wins during the 2010-11 season.
• The Rams' non-conference slate features 30-game winner and Sweet 16 participant Duke (32-5 in 2010-11), as well as seven 20-game winners - Montana (21-11), SMU (20-15), Southern Miss (22-10), Colorado (24-14), Northern Iowa (20-14), UTEP (25-10) and Northern Colorado (21-11) - and 19-game winners Texas Southern (19-13) and Nebraska-Omaha (19-9).
• The Rams' non-conference slate features only one definite matchup against a team with a losing record in 2010-11, as DU finished 13-17 last season.
