Colorado State University Athletics
Rams' Late Run Falls Short
2/11/2020 10:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Stevens scores 19 in loss to Utah State
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Almost there.
Just not quite. Not on its home floor against Utah State. Colorado State made a late run and had the Moby Arena crowd on its feet, but close wasn't enough. Not in a game the Rams never led, not with second place in the Mountain West on the line.
Heck of an effort. An experience to learn and grow. And hope Sam Merrill really graduates this season after his 32-point showing in the Aggies' 75-72 victory.
"I think you go back and you lose a game like this, you have an opportunity to really look at, 'man, look at this, we're right here, we're right there,'" CSU head coach Niko Medved said. "We have to be a little bit smarter, a little bit more alert, stay connected on defense. Maybe a couple of bad shots.
"It's just a couple of plays here or there. You know when you're going to play a game like this, there's not going to be any margin of error."
For most of the game, Colorado State (17-9, 8-5 Mountain West) couldn't pair a quality defensive stand with a strong offensive possession. Or vice versa. When they made a run, Merrill was there to shut it down. Quiet the crowd.
But an 8-0 run in the final minutes had the Rams within a single point. The margin was a single point when Merrill hit a 3-pointer – his sixth of the night – over the outstretched arms of Nico Carvacho at the top of the key.
The final minute, the Rams went nose to nose, but couldn't bloody their guests. An Adam Thistlewood trey with 9.5 seconds remaining narrowed the game to 73-72, but that was the final blow they could strike.
Tuesday's outcome had more to do with the first 38 minutes than the final two. The effort was there, the consistency early was not.
"That was a big part of the game, not getting consistent stops," CSU guard Isaiah Stevens said. "That's something that we've definitely prided ourselves on this season is turning over that new leaf and being able to get stops on a consistent basis. Whenever we were able to, I felt like we made the game extremely competitive. We just have to be more consistent on that end."
Utah State – 20-7, 9-5 MW and now sharing second with Boise State in the conference race -- hit seven of its first eight shots to jump out in front, and it would build up as much as a 12-point lead before four minutes had expired in the second half. But just like the first 20 minutes, the Rams weren't able to string together what they needed.
Shut down Utah State, but fail to score. Make a run, only to have Utah State hit a shot to keep the Rams at bay.
"I thought in the first half offensively, we were really out of character there at times," Medved said. "As we started to settle in and get some stops, I thought we were really in a hurry. In transition and some of our stuff, we were almost trying to make 10-point plays it looked like at times, and it just kind of sped up."
Funny thing about the opening run by Utah State was Merrill wasn't part of the fireworks.
Once he started connecting, he never came out of rhythm. Nothing forced, but at the end he pushed his career total to 2,028 points. To CSU fans, it seems like they've all come against the Rams.
"He's a good player. He can score on all three levels, and he doesn't really need a lot of space," CSU senior Kris Martin said. "They run their offense through him, so he's a tough cover."
Neemias Queta contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds, and that came with him spending a good chunk of the night on the bench in foul trouble. With him out, the Rams weren't able to take advantage, even with four players in double figures. Stevens led the way with 19 as he hit 9-of-12 from the field, while Carvacho was a rebound short of a double-double with 12 points. Thistlewood and Roddy both had 10, and Martin offered a spark with a trio of 3s in the second half.
It got the Rams close, just not a win.
"To win that kind of a game, you've gotta play at a really high level for long periods of time," Medved said. "You're not talking about 10, 15 plays, you're talking about five or six more plays that you just have to, have to make to do it. We gave ourselves a chance there at the end, but it was just too big a hole to dig out of."
Just not quite. Not on its home floor against Utah State. Colorado State made a late run and had the Moby Arena crowd on its feet, but close wasn't enough. Not in a game the Rams never led, not with second place in the Mountain West on the line.
Heck of an effort. An experience to learn and grow. And hope Sam Merrill really graduates this season after his 32-point showing in the Aggies' 75-72 victory.
"I think you go back and you lose a game like this, you have an opportunity to really look at, 'man, look at this, we're right here, we're right there,'" CSU head coach Niko Medved said. "We have to be a little bit smarter, a little bit more alert, stay connected on defense. Maybe a couple of bad shots.
"It's just a couple of plays here or there. You know when you're going to play a game like this, there's not going to be any margin of error."
For most of the game, Colorado State (17-9, 8-5 Mountain West) couldn't pair a quality defensive stand with a strong offensive possession. Or vice versa. When they made a run, Merrill was there to shut it down. Quiet the crowd.
But an 8-0 run in the final minutes had the Rams within a single point. The margin was a single point when Merrill hit a 3-pointer – his sixth of the night – over the outstretched arms of Nico Carvacho at the top of the key.
The final minute, the Rams went nose to nose, but couldn't bloody their guests. An Adam Thistlewood trey with 9.5 seconds remaining narrowed the game to 73-72, but that was the final blow they could strike.
Tuesday's outcome had more to do with the first 38 minutes than the final two. The effort was there, the consistency early was not.
"That was a big part of the game, not getting consistent stops," CSU guard Isaiah Stevens said. "That's something that we've definitely prided ourselves on this season is turning over that new leaf and being able to get stops on a consistent basis. Whenever we were able to, I felt like we made the game extremely competitive. We just have to be more consistent on that end."
Utah State – 20-7, 9-5 MW and now sharing second with Boise State in the conference race -- hit seven of its first eight shots to jump out in front, and it would build up as much as a 12-point lead before four minutes had expired in the second half. But just like the first 20 minutes, the Rams weren't able to string together what they needed.
Shut down Utah State, but fail to score. Make a run, only to have Utah State hit a shot to keep the Rams at bay.
"I thought in the first half offensively, we were really out of character there at times," Medved said. "As we started to settle in and get some stops, I thought we were really in a hurry. In transition and some of our stuff, we were almost trying to make 10-point plays it looked like at times, and it just kind of sped up."
Funny thing about the opening run by Utah State was Merrill wasn't part of the fireworks.
Once he started connecting, he never came out of rhythm. Nothing forced, but at the end he pushed his career total to 2,028 points. To CSU fans, it seems like they've all come against the Rams.
"He's a good player. He can score on all three levels, and he doesn't really need a lot of space," CSU senior Kris Martin said. "They run their offense through him, so he's a tough cover."
Neemias Queta contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds, and that came with him spending a good chunk of the night on the bench in foul trouble. With him out, the Rams weren't able to take advantage, even with four players in double figures. Stevens led the way with 19 as he hit 9-of-12 from the field, while Carvacho was a rebound short of a double-double with 12 points. Thistlewood and Roddy both had 10, and Martin offered a spark with a trio of 3s in the second half.
It got the Rams close, just not a win.
"To win that kind of a game, you've gotta play at a really high level for long periods of time," Medved said. "You're not talking about 10, 15 plays, you're talking about five or six more plays that you just have to, have to make to do it. We gave ourselves a chance there at the end, but it was just too big a hole to dig out of."
Team Stats
USU
CSU
FG%
.500
.517
3FG%
.333
.364
FT%
1.000
.500
RB
33
29
TO
8
10
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Colorado State Basketball (M): Season 1 - Ep. 1
Sunday, August 10
Ramily - CSU Men's Basketball
Tuesday, August 05
Ram Line - Shoot Around with Josh Pascarelli & Darnez Slater (MBB)
Monday, August 04
Behind the White Board - Ken DeWeese
Monday, August 04