Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
9-0
Colorado
5-3
Men's basketball recap: Rams drop Buffs, remain unbeaten
12/10/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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By Grant Larson
Athletics Communications
BOULDER, Colo. - The Colorado State men's basketball team knocked off the rival Colorado Buffaloes, 62-60 on Wednesday night. It was the CSU's first win in Boulder since 2006, and pushed the Rams' program-record start to 9-0. With the loss, CU fell to 5-3 on the season.
"The thing I like about this win is... that the team showed a lot of character coming out against a (NCAA) tournament-caliber team," Rams head coach Larry Eustachy said after the game. "It's just a really cool win."
Senior forward J.J. Avila led the way for the Rams with 19 points, four rebounds, two blocks and five steals. His five steals marked a season-high, one short of his career-high. Sophomore guard John Gillon was second on the team in scoring, finishing with nine points.
"Yeah, we're 9-0, but it's still just the start of our season," Avila said of the Rams record-breaking start. "We still have practice tomorrow, we're gonna work hard and keep getting better. That was our first true road game and we got the win. Onto the next one."
The Buffs got out to a very fast start, jumping out to a 12-5 lead just five minutes into the game. The Rams answered right back tying the game at 17 just four minutes later. The rest of the half was back-and-forth the entire way, with neither team gaining more than a five-point advantage. The Buffs went into the half with a 32-30 lead, after shooting a perfect 4-4 from behind the arc in the opening stanza.
The Rams opened the second-half on a 6-0 run, but Colorado answered with a 6-0 run of their own. Junior guard Gian Clavell hit a three-pointer with 12:56 remaining, and the Rams never trailed the rest of the game. It came down to a couple pressure free throws, but a key defensive-board for senior guard Daniel Bejarano, of the missed free-throw by Xavier Johnson with 2.2 seconds remaining, would finally seal the victory for the Rams.
The Buffs were able to win the rebounding battle 40-26. It was the first time all season the Rams haven't controlled the glass, and only the 13th time in 76 games under head coach Larry Eustachy. The win marked just the second under Eustachy in those 13 games.
The Rams defense was impressive all night long, holding John R. Wooden Award Top-50 Watch List honoree, junior forward Josh Scott, to just two points on 0-for-7 shooting from the floor. His two points came from the charity stripe with 6 minutes remaining in the game. It was only the third time in his CU career that Scott was held without a field goal, and the lowest point total in his last 31 games.
The Rams return home to take on Arkansas-Fort Smith on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Moby Arena. The game can be streamed online via the Mountain West Network at CSURams.com/videos and TheMW.com. The Radio broadcast will also be available across the CSU Radio Network, including flagship 105.5 FM ESPN.
