Rams Open Mountain West Play Against San Diego State Dec. 4

2019-20 Colorado State Men's Basketball
Game #10 - Colorado State (6-3, 0-0) vs. San Diego State (8-0, 0-0)
Dec. 4, 2019 • 7 p.m. MT • Moby Arena (8,083) - Fort Collins, Colo.

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Video: Stadium
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: Colorado State
Complete Game Notes: Colorado State / San Diego State

Opening Tip
• The Rams open Mountain West Conference play at home when they host San Diego State on Wed., Dec. 4 at 7 p.m.
• The game will be broadcast on Stadium, with Ari Wolfe, Doug Gottlieb and Dani Klupenger on the broadcast.
• Live audio will be available 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.
• The game will also have live stats on CSURams.com

The Leaders
• Colorado State Head Coach Niko Medved (Minnesota, '97) is in his second season at CSU as head coach with an 18-23 mark and has a 97-1110 overall record is in his seventh season as a head coach.
• San Diego State Head Coach Brian Dutcher (Minnesota, '82) is in his third season at San Diego State and as a head coach overall with a 51-24 record.

A Quick Look at San Diego State
• Returning two starters and seven letterwinners from last season's 21-13 squad that finished fourth in the Mountain West with an 11-7 mark, the Aztecs were picked to finish second in the league's preseason poll.
• Junior transfer guard Malachi Flynn was named the MW Preseason Newcomer of the Year and is living up to the billing, as he leads in minutes, points, assists and steals. Nathan Mensah is pacing SDSU in rebounds and blocks, as the Aztecs beat Iowa, 83-73, to win the Las Vegas Invitational and remain unbeaten.

History Versus San Diego State
• The two teams have been in a battle over history, with SDSU holding a slight 43-41 lead in games played, including 39-38 in conference action in both the WAC and MW.
• Last year, the Aztecs took the only meeting between the two schools, winning in Fort Collins, 71-60.
• CSU leader Niko Medved has an 0-1 record against SDSU as a head coach and 7-13 against Mountain West teams overall in his six-plus years.

SAN DIEGO STATE - 41-43
Conference: 38-39
(Home: 26-13 / Away: 13-26 / Neutral: 2-4)
(complete list on page 14)

Medved vs. Mountain West Conference
School                     Overall     H         A         N
Air Force                     2-0       1-0       1-0         -
Boise State                  1-2        0-1       1-0       0-1
Fresno State                1-1        1-0       0-1         -
Nevada                       0-2       0-1       0-1         -
New Mexico                1-1        1-0       0-1         -
San Diego State          0-1        0-1        -          -
San Jose State            1-0         -        1-0         -
UNLV                          0-2       0-1       0-1         -
Utah State                  0-2       0-1       0-1         -
Wyoming                     1-2        1-0      0-2        -
Totals                        7-13      4-5      3-7      0-1

Mountain West Record
• Colorado State - a charter member of the Mountain West - is now 130-180 (.419) in regular-season action against MW foes since the formation of the league in 1999-2000.
CSU vs. Mountain West Conference
School                  Overall     Home      Away    Neut.
Air Force                 80-33       43-11       33-18      4-4
Boise State               11-13         8-4         2-8        1-1
Fresno State             18-18        14-3        2-13       2-2
Nevada                    9-14          5-4         4-9        0-1
New Mexico             47-78       34-26      12-50      1-2
San Diego State        41-43       26-13       13-26      2-4
San Jose State          18-0          8-0         8-0       2-0
UNLV                     16-40        11-16        5-23       0-1
Utah State               39-56       28-19       11-35      0-2
Wyoming                94-136      52-56      39-76     3-4
Totals                   373-431    229-152   129-258   15-21

Mountain West Openers
• Since the formation of the Mountain West Conference in 1999-2000, the CSU men's basketball team is just 5-15 in Mountain West openers regardless of whether the opener is at home or on the road (4-7 at home, 1-8 on the road).

Improvement Always
• Head coach Niko Medved has had extensive success wherever he has coached, both as a head and an assistant.
• As an assistant coach, he helped turn around the CSU program to improving its win totals from his first year in each successive year, ending in four straight postseason appearances.
• He continued that trend at Furman and Drake, improving both programs' win totals from the previous year in each of his five seasons as a head coach, finishing his last three years in postseason play.
• In his first year at CSU in 2018-19, he continued that trend, surpassing the previous season's win totals at CSU, both overall and in Mountain West play.
• This season, the Rams already have six non-conference wins, surpassing last year's total of five, with four games to play.

Moby Arena Home Court Advantage
• CSU has a record of 556-236 (.703) record all-time at Moby Arena.
• The Rams had finished at least .500 in each of the last nine years prior to last season. This dated back to the 2008-09 season when the program was 6-9, prior to 2018-19's 8-9 mark.
• Current head coach Niko Medved was part of a coaching staff at CSU that posted two of the top records in program history at home, as the 2012-13 team set the best mark at 16-1 with the 2011-12 team going 14-1. Overall as an assistant at CSU, he was part of a team that went 97-97 overall and 59-30 in Moby Arena and improved their overall record in each successive season.

National Rankings (Team/Players)
(through Dec. 1, 2019)
Team (Top 70 of 350 Division I teams)
Free Throws Attempted                           208           7th
Free Throws Made                                 142           17th
3-Pt Field Goal Percentage                      37.9        48th
Field Goal Percentage                            47.7         53rd

Players (top 100 nationally)
Nico Carvacho
Free Throw Attempts                              62            3rd
Defensive Rebounds Per Game                7.67        20th
Double-Doubles                                    3            34th
Rebounds Per Game                              9.7          37th
Free Throws Made                                 35           47th

Carvacho Growing On the Floor
• Redshirt-senior center Nico Carvacho showed his increased comfort level on the floor, growing extensively since his freshman year.
• In 2017-18, he averaged 11.1 points and 12.3 rebounds in Mountain West play, leading by a wide margin in rebounding for league games only (next was 9.6 per game).
• For his play in '17-18, Carvacho was named Honorable Mention All-Mountain West by both the league's coaches and media members in two separate votes.
• Last season, Carvacho was effective, recording double-doubles in a school-record 22 games and averaged a team-high 16.1 points and a nation-leading 12.9 rebounds per game while shooting a league-best 59.2 percent from the floor (31st in NCAA).
• In 2018-19, he led CSU in rebounding in 29 of 32 games including 22 straight before Feb. 23's contest against Wyoming when he was limited to 20 minutes due to fouls.
• 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 1037 (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 361 and in CSU career defensive rebounds with 676 (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.
• For his play against Omaha and in the three contests in Grand Cayman as CSU went 3-1 combined, Carvacho was named to the Cayman Islands Classic All-Tournament Team. He posted a pair of double-doubles and averaged 14.8 points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists in those games.

Martin Stepping Up His Role
• Redshirt-senior Kris Martin has emerged as one of the leaders this season.
• He started last 16 of 27 games played in 2018-19, averaging 9.2 points (fourth for the Rams), 3.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 29.5 minutes a game
• 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 9.2 points per game while playing 28.2 minutes a contest, fifth on the team. He is shooting 37.5 percent from the field and 68.4 from the charity stripe while also adding 4.1 rebounds and 1.9 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 a solid game 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.
• Moore was solid in the thrilling win over Loyola Chicago Nov. 26, as he had a game-high 15 points, including 6-of-9 FG and 3-5 from the arc.
• Thistlewood was a standout against Washington State Nov. 27, as he had a game high and career-high 20 points on 6-of-9 FG, including tying a career-high with five three-pointers and chipped in four rebounds.
• Thistlewood is now third on the team at 11.2 points and second at 4.7 rebounds per game, while Moore is sixth at 7.2 points a contest and leads in steals with 14.

Newcomers With Early Impact
• Head coach Niko Medved has played four freshmen in eight of the nine contests so far, with three playing in all nine.
• Guard Isaiah Stevens has started all nine games and tied for game-high honors with forward David Roddy with 12 points at #4 Duke, Nov. 8.
• Roddy also added six rebounds and a steal in his 21 minutes of action.
• Dischon Thomas and John Tonje have both played at least eight contests and contributed off the bench.
• 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.
• Roddy scored in double figures in all three games in Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands Classic, averaging 11.0 points per game on 50.0 percent shooting from the field.
• Against Utah Valley Dec. 1, two other newcomers made a major contribution. Thomas scored a game-high 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor and hitting all four free throws while adding six rebounds. Sophomore P.J. Byrd come off the bench and tallied eight points in 10 minutes in his first action of the season.
• Stevens is currently second on the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game, shooting 51.9 percent from the floor, 45.5 from the arc and a team-best 88.9 percent from the free throw line. He has reached at least 10 points in seven of the nine games so far and had at least four assists in six of them.
• Roddy is fifth at 8.9 points per game and third at 4.6 rebounds a contest, as the freshman has scored in double figures in the last five games and six total contests this season.

Looking Ahead
• The Rams head on the road for their second game in this early Mountain West Conference action, playing at Boise State on Sat., Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. This will be the fourth time in the last five years that CSU's opening conference road game is in Boise.
• The game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network along with the audio on 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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