Rams To Play in Cayman Islands Classic, Open WIth New Mexico State

2019-20 Colorado State Men's Basketball
Game #6 - Colorado State (3-2) vs. New Mexico State (2-3)
Nov. 25, 2019 • 9 a.m. MT • John Gray Gymnasium (2,000) - George Town, Grand Cayman

Video: FloHoops.com (Subscription Required)
Radio: Colorado State Sports Network (Play-by-Play: Brian Roth / Color Analyst: Adam Nigon)
Flagship: KARS 102.9 FM (Fort Collins) / Affiliates: KDCO 104.7 FM (Denver), KMTS 99.1 FM (Glenwood Springs), KMTS 96.7 FM (West Glenwood Springs), KRDO 105.5 FM (Colorado Springs), KKVT 100.7 FM (Grand Junction), KMTS/KKVT 99.5/100.3 FM (Rifle), KKVT 97.1 FM (Delta), KKVT 98.1 FM (Montrose), KRFD 100.1 FM (Sterling), KNEC 100.9 FM (Yuma), KNAB 1140 AM (Burlington), KLMR 920 AM (Lamar) / TuneIn App
Live Stats: Cayman Islands Classic
Complete Game Notes: Colorado State / New Mexico State

Opening Tip
• The Rams open the 2019 Cayman Islands Classic against New Mexico State on Nov. 25 at 9 a.m. MT, with the game will be streamed on FloHoops.com, which is subscription based.
• Live audio is available on the Colorado State Sports Network, including Power 102.9 FM (flagship). Brian Roth is on the play-by-play for the Rams, with Adam Nigon handling the analysis. Audio is also available via CSURams.com and the TuneIn App on all smart phones and mobile devices.
• The game will also have live stats on CaymanIslandsClassic.com

The Leaders
• Colorado State Head Coach Niko Medved (Minnesota, '97) is in his second season at CSU as head coach with a 13-22 mark and has a 92-109 overall record is in his seventh season as a head coach.
• New Mexico State Head Coach Chris Jans (Loras, '91) is in his third season at New Mexico State with a 60-14 record and fourth as a head coach overall with an 81-26 mark.

A Quick Look at New Mexico State
• Returning four starters and nine letterwinners from last season's 30-5 squad that won the Western Athletic Conference with a 15-1 mark, the Aggiess were picked to again win the WAC in the league's preseason poll.
• Guard Terrell Brown is the leading returner, having averaged 11.3 points per game last season. This year, guard Trevelin Queen is pacing the Aggies in minutes, points, rebounds, three pointers, blocks, three-point percentage and free throw percentage.

History Versus New Mexico State
• The two teams have met eight times in history, with the Aggies having a slight 5-3 advantage, though this will be the first time the two teams have met on a neutral floor.
• NM State has taken the last two meetings, including an 88-68 win in Fort Collins last season
• CSU leader Niko Medved has only faced NM State once as a head coach and that was last year's matchup in Moby Arena. Overall, he is 1-1 in his career against WAC foes.
NEW MEXICO STATE - 5-3
Home: 4-1 / Away: 1-2
    Date              Loc.       W/L      Score           Att.
** 1/24/1966       Home       W       109-70
    12/9/1966       Home       W       63-55
# 11/30/1968       Away        L       89-95
% 11/30/2013      Home       W       85-83        3693
    12/27/2014      Away      W-ot      58-57        5589
    11/13/2016       Home       W        64-61        2264
    11/22/2017       Away        L        76-89        3883
    12/30/2018     Home        L        68-88         3218
** First game at CSU Audtiorium/Moby Arena
# Pan American Center Dedication Tournament. (Las Cruces, N.M.)
% Colorado State Challenge (Fort Collins, Colo.)

CSU vs. Western Athletic Conference
School                     Overall Home Away Neut
Cal State Bakersfield      1-1            1-1            -               -
Chicago State              1-0        1-0        -          -
New Mexico State       5-3       4-1       1-2         -
Seattle                        3-5       3-1      0-4        -
UT Rio Grande Valley 6-0       4-0      2-0        -
Totals                        16-9     13-3     3-6        -

Carvacho Growing On the Floor
• Redshirt-senior center Nico Carvacho showed his increased comfort level on the floor, growing extensively the last two seasons.
• At UNLV Jan. 2, Carvacho set a new career best with 28 points and added 20 rebounds for his second 20-20 game of the year and school-record third of his career.
• Carvacho also was named First Team All-Mountain West and All-Defensive Team by the league's media, in 2018-19.
• In addition, Carvacho was honored on the US Basketball Writers Association All-District squad last season.
• Carvacho started the 2018-19 season No. 20 on the CSU career rebounding chart. With his 12 rebounds against San Diego State Feb. 12, he became the all-time leading rebounder at CSU. He now has a Mountain-West record 1001 (tops in NCAA among current active players), passing previous leader Pat Durham (1985-89) at 851.
• Carvacho also is first in CSU offensive rebounds with 346 and in CSU career defensive rebounds with 655 (since tracking of the two categories began).
• He is now the leader in Mountain West-only double-doubles with 25, passing San Diego State's Kawhi Leonard (2009-11) and Nevada's Jordan Caroline. His 37 career double-doubles are fourth in the league's history (tied for second among current active NCAA Division I players).
• Carvacho became the 29th CSU player in history to reach the 1,000 point mark in his career, accomplishing that feat in the opening round of the 2019 MW Championship.
• With his five rebounds against Arkansas State Nov. 20, he became the first player in league history with 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.
• He was also named to the preseason watch list for the 2020 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced. Last year, he was a finalist as one of final 10 players from which the top center in men's college basketball will be recognized.
• Carvacho was named to the Preseason All-MW team entering this season by the league's media representatives.

Martin Stepping Up His Role
• Redshirt-senior Kris Martin is expected to be one of the leaders this season.
• He led CSU with 21 points at Colorado, Dec. 1.
• Martin recorded his first CSU career double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds against Utah State, March 5.
• The guard led CSU in its opening win over Denver, Nov. 5, scoring a team-high 18 points and adding five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
• The senior currently is fourth for CSU at 10.6 points per game while playing 29.2 minutes a contest, third on the team. He is shooting 37.7 percent from the field and 66.7 from the charity stripe while also adding 4.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists a game.

Moving On Up
• Sophomores Kendle Moore and Adam Thistlewood are going to be looked at to help lead this team as two of the four returning starters.
• Thistlewood was fifth on last year's team at 8.9 points per game and Moore is sixth at 8.8 points per game. Thistlewood scored in double figures in 16 contests, with Moore with 11 10+ point games.
• Thistlewood scored in double figures in each of the last six games and ranked third in the MW in three-point field goal percentage in conference games.
• Moore and Thistlewood each shot 78 percent or better from the charity stripe.

This season
• Thistlewood and Moore both had their best games of the young season in the win over Omaha, Nov. 13.
• Thistlewood was 5-for-11 on field goals, including 5-for-8 from the three-point arc, and hit all four free throws for a career-high 19 points. He also added seven rebounds, two off his career best earlier this year against Denver.
• Moore tallied a season-best 16 points, including five triples against the Mavericks.
• Thistlewood is now third on the team at 10.8 points and second at 5.6 rebounds per game, while Moore is fifth at 7.6 points a contest.

Newcomers With Early Impact
• Head coach Niko Medved has played four freshmen each in the first two contests.
• Guard Isaiah Stevens has started four games and tied for game-high honors with forward David Roddy with 12 points at #4 Duke, Nov. 8.
• Dischon Thomas and John Tonje have both played in the first two contests and contributed off the bench.
• Roddy also added six rebounds and a steal in his 21 minutes of action.
• Stevens followed it up with against Omaha, Nov. 13, tallying 11 points and a team season-high five assists in the win and at Loyola Marymount, Nov. 16, with a game-high 21 points, five rebounds and five assists in the come-from-behind win.
• Stevens and Roddy both had a presence against Arkansas State Nov. 20. Stevens then had 11 points, six rebounds and a team season-high eight assists while Roddy had a personal-best 14 points with three blocks.
• Stevens is currently second on the team in scoring at 12.4 points per game, shooting 51.3 percent from the floor, 47.4 from the arc and a team-best 92.9 percent from the free throw line.

Coors Light Coaches Show Is Back
• The Coors Light Basketball Head Coaches Show returns to Lucky Joe's Sidewalk Saloon in Old Town Fort Collins this year. Join men's head coach Niko Medved and women's head coach Ryun Williams starting at 6 p.m. on the Mondays listed below (other than the first and last shows) to hear their thoughts on the previous week and look forward to upcoming action.
• December: 2, 9 & 16
• January: 6, 13, 20 & 27
• February: 10 & 20 (Thur.)

Looking Ahead
• The Rams return home to host Utah Valley on Sun., Dec. 2 at 2:30 p.m.
• The game will be broadcast on Mountain West Network along with the Colorado State Sports Radio 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.

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