Colorado State University Athletics
Wednesday, November 13
Fort Collins, Colo.
7 p.m. MT
Colorado State
2-1,0-0Mountain West
80
vs
65
Omaha
2-2,0-0Summit League
1
2
F
Omaha
33
32
65
Colorado St.
35
45
80
Rams Building Faith in Themselves in Early Going
11/13/2019 10:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Carvacho, Thistlewood pave way to win over Omaha
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Three games. That's all.
Really, it's too soon to pin an identity on the Colorado State men's basketball team, not with all the moving pieces. But there are aspects of the game they are learning to have faith in already.
Chief among them is themselves.
Coach Niko Medved wasn't panicked when the 3s weren't falling for Adam Thistlewood the first two games. Nico Carvacho took the Alfred E. Neuman approach (What, me worry?) about his first-half shooting woes.
While the big man was struggling, Thistlewood was keeping the Rams afloat in the first half with four trifectas, and when it all came together out of the gates in the second half, the Rams ran out to an 80-65 victory over Omaha at Moby Arena on Wednesday evening.
Carvacho, just 2-for-8 from the field in the first 20 minutes, didn't need a hype man to get it turned around the final stanza.
"Honestly, I wasn't even frustrated in the first half," the senior said. "Those are shots I can make, I make every single day in practice, in games. I knew they just weren't falling, but I knew I had to come out and be aggressive in the second half. Everybody was positive – keep on shooting it, keep on doing it – all my coaches, all my teammates, so they gave me confidence to keep on going."
He lit a fire coming out of the gates, hitting early, each of his first three buckets met with a flexed reaction. Hitting the shots which rimmed out in the first half, he helped the Rams set a blistering pace out of the break.
By the time the night was finished, he finished one rebound shy of his third 20-20 game, closing at 21 points and 19 rebounds, his 37th career double-double. He also tied for the team lead with five assists.
"Honestly, I heard I was gypped one. I'm not going to lie, I heard that," he quipped. "To be honest, it doesn't really matter as long as we got the win. I didn't even know I was one away, I was just out there trying to grab as many rebounds, score as many points and give us a win."
Thistlewood kept moving forward himself. He didn't get as many looks from deep as in the first half, but he matched a career-best with five triples, setting a career standard with his 19 points, while also pulling down seven rebounds.
None of which was what he first considered when pondering his outing.
"Dude, I took two charges tonight. I don't ever do that," he said. "I was just having fun out there and playing my game, and shots were falling and the ball was coming to me on the boards."
Just like with Carvacho's first half, Medved wasn't worried. There are certain givens in his mind, and Carvacho in the paint and Thistlewood behind the arc are near the top of the list.
As he noted, things don't just change. Carvacho missed all summer, and Thistlewood didn't lose his stroke from one season to the next.
Have faith.
"He's a key guy. You look at him, and he hadn't been making a lot of 3s," Medved said. "But it's like I told him today, I mean, here's the one thing I know: This is a kid that's proved he's going to make shots at this level; he's a good shooter. He didn't all the sudden become a guy who's not going to make shots. He just needed to go out and relax and go out there and keep shooting. It was just a matter of time."
When the Rams built up a 16-point lead, they didn't fold when the Mavericks cut it down to 10. They might have relaxed, but they all felt they regrouped in a way a new blend of talent can build off of down the line. Kendle Moore contributed 16 points, Isaiah Stevens 11 for CSU.
Medved knew they had to be a better team defensively, and holding Omaha to just 35.4 percent from the field was a good sign. For Thistlewood, he sees it becoming a strength, at least in the half court.
"I think just for the first three games our half-court defense has been really solid," he said. "Our offense, I think it's always going to be there, especially with the in-and-out game with Nico. Those are the biggest two I see."
Medved had one, too – a willingness to work. Three games in or 30, that alone is enough to give a coach a reason to believe.
Really, it's too soon to pin an identity on the Colorado State men's basketball team, not with all the moving pieces. But there are aspects of the game they are learning to have faith in already.
Chief among them is themselves.
Coach Niko Medved wasn't panicked when the 3s weren't falling for Adam Thistlewood the first two games. Nico Carvacho took the Alfred E. Neuman approach (What, me worry?) about his first-half shooting woes.
While the big man was struggling, Thistlewood was keeping the Rams afloat in the first half with four trifectas, and when it all came together out of the gates in the second half, the Rams ran out to an 80-65 victory over Omaha at Moby Arena on Wednesday evening.
Carvacho, just 2-for-8 from the field in the first 20 minutes, didn't need a hype man to get it turned around the final stanza.
"Honestly, I wasn't even frustrated in the first half," the senior said. "Those are shots I can make, I make every single day in practice, in games. I knew they just weren't falling, but I knew I had to come out and be aggressive in the second half. Everybody was positive – keep on shooting it, keep on doing it – all my coaches, all my teammates, so they gave me confidence to keep on going."
He lit a fire coming out of the gates, hitting early, each of his first three buckets met with a flexed reaction. Hitting the shots which rimmed out in the first half, he helped the Rams set a blistering pace out of the break.
By the time the night was finished, he finished one rebound shy of his third 20-20 game, closing at 21 points and 19 rebounds, his 37th career double-double. He also tied for the team lead with five assists.
"Honestly, I heard I was gypped one. I'm not going to lie, I heard that," he quipped. "To be honest, it doesn't really matter as long as we got the win. I didn't even know I was one away, I was just out there trying to grab as many rebounds, score as many points and give us a win."
Thistlewood kept moving forward himself. He didn't get as many looks from deep as in the first half, but he matched a career-best with five triples, setting a career standard with his 19 points, while also pulling down seven rebounds.
None of which was what he first considered when pondering his outing.
"Dude, I took two charges tonight. I don't ever do that," he said. "I was just having fun out there and playing my game, and shots were falling and the ball was coming to me on the boards."
Just like with Carvacho's first half, Medved wasn't worried. There are certain givens in his mind, and Carvacho in the paint and Thistlewood behind the arc are near the top of the list.
As he noted, things don't just change. Carvacho missed all summer, and Thistlewood didn't lose his stroke from one season to the next.
Have faith.
"He's a key guy. You look at him, and he hadn't been making a lot of 3s," Medved said. "But it's like I told him today, I mean, here's the one thing I know: This is a kid that's proved he's going to make shots at this level; he's a good shooter. He didn't all the sudden become a guy who's not going to make shots. He just needed to go out and relax and go out there and keep shooting. It was just a matter of time."
When the Rams built up a 16-point lead, they didn't fold when the Mavericks cut it down to 10. They might have relaxed, but they all felt they regrouped in a way a new blend of talent can build off of down the line. Kendle Moore contributed 16 points, Isaiah Stevens 11 for CSU.
Medved knew they had to be a better team defensively, and holding Omaha to just 35.4 percent from the field was a good sign. For Thistlewood, he sees it becoming a strength, at least in the half court.
"I think just for the first three games our half-court defense has been really solid," he said. "Our offense, I think it's always going to be there, especially with the in-and-out game with Nico. Those are the biggest two I see."
Medved had one, too – a willingness to work. Three games in or 30, that alone is enough to give a coach a reason to believe.
Team Stats
UNO
CSU
FG%
.354
.475
3FG%
.407
.455
FT%
.889
.632
RB
37
43
TO
11
9
STL
2
4
Game Leaders
Pts
21
FGM
10
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
19
FGM
5
3FGM
5
FTM
4
Pts
16
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
5
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F/C
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
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