Colorado State University Athletics
Game notes: CSU closes home hoops schedule against Utah
3/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 1, 2011
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Colorado State vs. Utah | Game 29 |
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| CSU STATISTICAL LEADERS | UU STATISTICAL LEADERS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Rams, look to snap a season-long three-game losing skid - and keep the program's NCAA tournamen hopes alive - Wednesday night when CSU hosts the Utah Runnin' Utes in the team's regular-season home finale. The Utes will come to Moby Arena for the final time as members of the MWC, as they will depart for the Pac-12 after the season. Tipoff is set for 7:15 p.m. MT and the game will be broadcast live on CBS College Sports.
About Utah
The Utes are riding a three-game winning streak after dropping five consecutive midway through MWC action. Overall, Utah is 13-15 on the season (6-6 MWC), and 4-10 away from the Huntsman Center. Utah's six conference wins have come over Wyoming, TCU and New Mexico. Juniors Will Clyburn and Josh Watkins account for nearly half (47.2 percent) of the Utes' offensive production, scoring 17.9 and 14.2 points per game, respectively. Those figures rank second and seventh in scoring in the MWC. Watkins leads the team in assists (3.2 per game), while Clyburn is the team-leader in rebounds (8.1 per game; third in MWC), steals (32) and three-point shooting (40.6 percent; fifth in MWC).Utah ranks fourth in the conference in free-throw shooting (69.2 percent), and leads the conference in blocked shots. In the most recent meeting between the two schools, the Utes blocked six CSU shots, led by four blocks from junior David Foster. Foster leads the conference with 3.1 blocks per game. The Utes, led by Head Coach Jim Boylen, have just one senior, Jay Watkins, who has been out since early January with a back injury, but have five juniors on their roster, including Clyburn, Foster and Josh Watkins.
Series vs. the Utes
The rivalry between the Utes and Rams extends back to the 1930s, when the two teams met for the first time. In all, the Rams have played the Utes 145 times, second most among conference mates only to Wyoming. The Utes have a commanding edge in the series (100-45, including 40-27 in Fort Collins), but the Rams have the momentum. CSU holds a three-game winning streak over Utah after sweeping the season series last year and beating them earlier this season at the Huntsman Center. With a win, the Rams can claim four consecutive over the Utes for the first time since they won five straight between 1988-90.
Andy Ogide has had great success against the Utes, averaging 17.2 points and 7.8 rebounds in five career games. In each of those contests he has scored in double figures, led by a career-high 28 in the last meeting. As a freshman, Dorian Green put up a combined 18 points and eight rebounds in two games, led by 13 in his first meeting against the Utes. Also with impressive performances have been Travis Franklin, who has scored in double digits three times, Greg Smith, who has scored 31 points in three career games, and Jesse Carr, who scored 11 points and pulled down three rebounds in his first meeting against the Utes. Senior Adam Nigon scored 11 points and collected five steals in last month's matchup in Salt Lake City.
A win over the Utes...
• Would mark CSU's 19th victory of the season. The squad would become the eighth team in program history to reach the mark, and first since the 2002-03 team went 19-14 and made the program's last trip to the NCAA tourney.
• Would give the Rams a program-record nine Mountain West Conference wins, eclipsing the mark set by Ritchie McKay and the 1999-2000 squad that went 8-6 in the inaugural MWC season.
• Would give the Rams their fourth consecutive win over Utah for the first time since 1988-90
• Would be CSU's ninth home win of the season, finishing the year 9-4 at Moby Arena. Looking ahead
CSU travels toNo. 9/9 San Diego State Saturday for its final regular-season game on the year. The Rams look to avenge their last-second loss earlier in the season when D.J. Gay hit a jumper with 1.3 seconds remaining to send the Moby faithful away in heartbreaking defeat. The game will be played at 8 p.m. MT.
