Colorado State University Athletics
The Dish: Ice-Cold Shooting Dooms Rams
12/13/2019 9:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – With an earthquake hitting 9.1 on the Richter scale, one is looking at total destruction.
At 9.1 percent from behind the 3-point line -- especially on 22 attempts -- the effect is pretty much the same for a basketball team.
Colorado State's men's basketball team spent most of the night looking for a shot to fall. The first 20 minutes against in-state rival Colorado were especially rough for the hosts at Moby Arena, shooting just 17.9 percent overall, missing all 10 attempts from deep and scoring just 12 points.
It was a big reason why the Rams lost 56-48 to No. 24, their lowest scoring output since 43 points against San Diego State in 2013.
Here's the kicker: There are nights when teams don't shoot well. It happens. Often, they'll go to bed that night, kicking themselves, knowing nobody in their right mind would have taken that shot. It wasn't good. It was forced. Nowhere near a clean look.
Isaiah Stevens, he won't have the issue. Neither will Adam Thistlewood.
"Not at all. I felt like I had me some pretty good looks," Stevens said. "They just didn't all fall for me tonight. That's just how it goes sometimes. I know I'm going to get back in the gym and continue to work on my game and continue to move on the next shot."
Yes, Friday was that night. As poor as the Rams shot outside, it wasn't much better inside in the first half. Nico Carvacho struggled to a 4-of-13 performance, oddly enough on a night when the Rams whipped the Buffs inside by a 30-6 margin. When the Rams ran, they did so with success.
When they made their run in the second half, a point where they completely erased the 27-12 halftime deficit, they were literally breaking out. David Roddy looked like a former high school quarterback with a perfect deep feed to a streaking Kendle Moore for a layup. Then Carvacho had a deep dish to Stevens.
The Rams were in business, tied at 39 off a Roddy basket with 7:18 remaining as the Moby crowd of 6,629 was in full voice throttle. After the game, Medved was all about the crowd, as well as the fight in his team.
But it came back to all the missed shots. The Rams hit just 2-of-12 behind the arc in the final 20 minutes. Again, no regrets over the shots or who took them. Nope, just the misses. And even on a bad night, you can't second guess the preparation.
"That's what separates the good from the great shooters is you just have to worry about the next shot," Thistlewood said. "You can't worry about what just happened."
Once again, it was gone. The missed shots came back in vogue at the worst of times, making just 2-of-13 from the field to close the game.
They were good looks, up until desperation mode. They had to foul and hope on defense, then rush some things on offense.
"We just could not get a shot to fall," CSU coach Niko Medved said. "Man, it was incredible."
A starter couldn't get on a sustained run, and neither could somebody off the bench. That area is what carried Colorado through. Defensively, the Rams played a game they can live with just about every night out of the locker room. They forced 21 turnovers and kept Colorado from running as it shot just 37.8 percent.
None of the Buffs' big guns went off. Not Tyler Bey, not McKinley Wright, not D'Shawn Schwartz. But Shane Gatling did, scoring 20 in a reserve role, with Lucas Siewert pitching in 12.
"It's hard. I thought the game was right there for the taking," Medved said. "We got a little bit of momentum that way, but it's basketball, it's life and the one thing you can never do … I tell our guys, you've got to keep fighting, you've got to keep battling no matter what."
Stevens was the only Ram in double digits, thanks to hitting a trio of free throws near the end of the game.
They won't regret the shots, just the misses. They'll regret taking a good shot at a ranked team, missing that mark, too.
A big earthquake only strikes about once every 50 years. Medved is hoping the odds are the same for his shooters this season. For him, once was enough.
At 9.1 percent from behind the 3-point line -- especially on 22 attempts -- the effect is pretty much the same for a basketball team.
Colorado State's men's basketball team spent most of the night looking for a shot to fall. The first 20 minutes against in-state rival Colorado were especially rough for the hosts at Moby Arena, shooting just 17.9 percent overall, missing all 10 attempts from deep and scoring just 12 points.
It was a big reason why the Rams lost 56-48 to No. 24, their lowest scoring output since 43 points against San Diego State in 2013.
Here's the kicker: There are nights when teams don't shoot well. It happens. Often, they'll go to bed that night, kicking themselves, knowing nobody in their right mind would have taken that shot. It wasn't good. It was forced. Nowhere near a clean look.
Isaiah Stevens, he won't have the issue. Neither will Adam Thistlewood.
"Not at all. I felt like I had me some pretty good looks," Stevens said. "They just didn't all fall for me tonight. That's just how it goes sometimes. I know I'm going to get back in the gym and continue to work on my game and continue to move on the next shot."
Yes, Friday was that night. As poor as the Rams shot outside, it wasn't much better inside in the first half. Nico Carvacho struggled to a 4-of-13 performance, oddly enough on a night when the Rams whipped the Buffs inside by a 30-6 margin. When the Rams ran, they did so with success.
When they made their run in the second half, a point where they completely erased the 27-12 halftime deficit, they were literally breaking out. David Roddy looked like a former high school quarterback with a perfect deep feed to a streaking Kendle Moore for a layup. Then Carvacho had a deep dish to Stevens.
The Rams were in business, tied at 39 off a Roddy basket with 7:18 remaining as the Moby crowd of 6,629 was in full voice throttle. After the game, Medved was all about the crowd, as well as the fight in his team.
But it came back to all the missed shots. The Rams hit just 2-of-12 behind the arc in the final 20 minutes. Again, no regrets over the shots or who took them. Nope, just the misses. And even on a bad night, you can't second guess the preparation.
"That's what separates the good from the great shooters is you just have to worry about the next shot," Thistlewood said. "You can't worry about what just happened."
Once again, it was gone. The missed shots came back in vogue at the worst of times, making just 2-of-13 from the field to close the game.
They were good looks, up until desperation mode. They had to foul and hope on defense, then rush some things on offense.
"We just could not get a shot to fall," CSU coach Niko Medved said. "Man, it was incredible."
A starter couldn't get on a sustained run, and neither could somebody off the bench. That area is what carried Colorado through. Defensively, the Rams played a game they can live with just about every night out of the locker room. They forced 21 turnovers and kept Colorado from running as it shot just 37.8 percent.
None of the Buffs' big guns went off. Not Tyler Bey, not McKinley Wright, not D'Shawn Schwartz. But Shane Gatling did, scoring 20 in a reserve role, with Lucas Siewert pitching in 12.
"It's hard. I thought the game was right there for the taking," Medved said. "We got a little bit of momentum that way, but it's basketball, it's life and the one thing you can never do … I tell our guys, you've got to keep fighting, you've got to keep battling no matter what."
Stevens was the only Ram in double digits, thanks to hitting a trio of free throws near the end of the game.
They won't regret the shots, just the misses. They'll regret taking a good shot at a ranked team, missing that mark, too.
A big earthquake only strikes about once every 50 years. Medved is hoping the odds are the same for his shooters this season. For him, once was enough.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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