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Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, January 26
Fort Collins, Colo.
2 p.m. MT
Colorado State
8-12, 3-4MW
74
vs
65
Fresno State
14-5, 5-2MW
1
2
F
Fresno State
30
35
65
Colorado State
33
41
74
Rams knock off Fresno State, 74-65
1/26/2019 6:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CSU takes control at the start of the second half and holds off the late-charging Bulldogs for the win
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Colorado State grabbed the lead early in the game from visiting Fresno State and withstood a late rally from the second-place team in the Mountain West to earn a 74-65 victory Saturday afternoon in Moby Arena. With the win, the Rams improved to 8-12 on the season and 3-4 in MW play, while the Bulldogs fell to 14-5 and 5-2 in league action.
Fresno State opened the contest on a 6-0 run on back-to-back three pointers, but the Rams responded with a 12-0 run of their own to take a lead they would never relinquish. Freshman guard Kendle Moore and redshirt-senior J.D. Paige got things going early by connecting on four of their next six shots from beyond the arc, combining for 20 of the Rams' first 21 points. CSU led by as many as seven in the opening period but an 11-7 Bulldog run cut the CSU lead down to three at the break, 33-30.
Stellar defense and team play set the tone in the second half, where the Rams held the Bulldogs scoreless through the first five minutes of the second stanza, allowing the CSU to gain control of the game with a 46-30 lead. Redshirt-Junior Nico Carvacho kept the momentum in the Rams favor slamming home a fast break opportunity to make it 60-45 with 8:40 left. The Bulldogs wouldn't go away, battling back with a 15-5 surge that made it 65-60 CSU with just under three minutes to play. However, the Rams salted it away with solid foul shooting in the final two minutes, combining to make their last seven attempts from the charity stripe.
On the game, CSU outshot Fresno State by almost 10 percent, as the Rams were 45.1 percent (23-of-51) from the floor, including 10-of-20 from the three-point arc, while the Bulldogs were just 35.9 percent (23-of-64) from the floor and just 8-of-30 from beyond the three-point line. Colorado State also held the slight advantage in the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Bulldogs 40-39.
Led by Paige's 17 points, the Rams had four players score in double figures with Moore adding 16, Edwards tallying 12 and redshirt-junior Kris Martin totaling 11. Carvacho led the team in rebounding with 14, while Martin added five assists and four steals. Fresno State was led by Deshon Taylor with 24 points.
STAT OF THE GAME
The Rams got out and ran the floor effectively, outscoring the Bulldogs 20-4 in fast-break points.
IN THEIR WORDS
Head Coach Niko Medved
His thoughts on overall game
"What a great win by our guys. That's a terrific team and obviously, what happened to us the other day at Nevada, just shows a lot of resolve to bounce back. I thought our half-court defense was the best it has been all year. I thought our guys were really connected. They made them work for everything. You look at a kid like Kendle Moore who really got his you-know-what handed to him in Nevada and played poorly, but I think it shows a lot about who he is to come back and play the way he did. (Fresno State guard) Deshon Taylor got after him a little bit but he wasn't affected today. A really good defense by our guys and it started out in that end."
NOTES
Fresno State opened the contest on a 6-0 run on back-to-back three pointers, but the Rams responded with a 12-0 run of their own to take a lead they would never relinquish. Freshman guard Kendle Moore and redshirt-senior J.D. Paige got things going early by connecting on four of their next six shots from beyond the arc, combining for 20 of the Rams' first 21 points. CSU led by as many as seven in the opening period but an 11-7 Bulldog run cut the CSU lead down to three at the break, 33-30.
Stellar defense and team play set the tone in the second half, where the Rams held the Bulldogs scoreless through the first five minutes of the second stanza, allowing the CSU to gain control of the game with a 46-30 lead. Redshirt-Junior Nico Carvacho kept the momentum in the Rams favor slamming home a fast break opportunity to make it 60-45 with 8:40 left. The Bulldogs wouldn't go away, battling back with a 15-5 surge that made it 65-60 CSU with just under three minutes to play. However, the Rams salted it away with solid foul shooting in the final two minutes, combining to make their last seven attempts from the charity stripe.
On the game, CSU outshot Fresno State by almost 10 percent, as the Rams were 45.1 percent (23-of-51) from the floor, including 10-of-20 from the three-point arc, while the Bulldogs were just 35.9 percent (23-of-64) from the floor and just 8-of-30 from beyond the three-point line. Colorado State also held the slight advantage in the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Bulldogs 40-39.
Led by Paige's 17 points, the Rams had four players score in double figures with Moore adding 16, Edwards tallying 12 and redshirt-junior Kris Martin totaling 11. Carvacho led the team in rebounding with 14, while Martin added five assists and four steals. Fresno State was led by Deshon Taylor with 24 points.
STAT OF THE GAME
The Rams got out and ran the floor effectively, outscoring the Bulldogs 20-4 in fast-break points.
IN THEIR WORDS
Head Coach Niko Medved
His thoughts on overall game
"What a great win by our guys. That's a terrific team and obviously, what happened to us the other day at Nevada, just shows a lot of resolve to bounce back. I thought our half-court defense was the best it has been all year. I thought our guys were really connected. They made them work for everything. You look at a kid like Kendle Moore who really got his you-know-what handed to him in Nevada and played poorly, but I think it shows a lot about who he is to come back and play the way he did. (Fresno State guard) Deshon Taylor got after him a little bit but he wasn't affected today. A really good defense by our guys and it started out in that end."
NOTES
- CSU tied the all-time record against Fresno State at 18 each, but the Ram are now 14-3 all-time against Fresno State at home
- Carvacho moved up to fourth on the CSU all-time rebounding list with his performance, now at 785 rebounds.
- Carvacho has led team in rebounding for 16 consecutive games and 19 out of 20 this season
- Guards Moore and Edwards each recorded career-high rebounding totals with seven each
- Sophomore Logan Ryan recorded a career-high two blocks in the contest
- Martin recorded a career-best four steals in the game
UP NEXT
- The Rams will play their second straight home game when they host Boise State, Tue., Jan. 29 at 7 p.m.
- The contest between will be broadcast on AT&T SportsNet, with Jenny Cavnar handling play-by-play, Sed Bonner the analyst and Taylor McGregor on the sidelines.
- The game will air across the Colorado State Sports Network (along with online at CSURams.com), with Brian Roth and Adam Nigon on the call.
- CSU Sports Network broadcasts can be also accessed on mobile devices through the TuneIn app (free on all Apple, Android, Windows, Blackberry and Amazon Kindle devices) – once downloaded, search "Colorado St. Rams Sports Network" in the app for the games and coaches' show broadcasts.
Team Stats
FS
CSU
FG%
.359
.451
3FG%
.267
.500
FT%
.611
.563
RB
39
40
TO
12
13
STL
8
9
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
16
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F/C
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
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Colorado State Basketball (M): Ali Farokhmanesh Post-Game (Cal Poly)
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