Colorado State University Athletics
The Dish: Stevens Continues Torrid Pace of Play
12/1/2021 10:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Guard pairs 12 assists without a turnover
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – After the first four made baskets of the night, Colorado State had yet to dish out an assist.
By the end of Wednesday's 86-55 blowout of Little Rock at Moby Arena, the Rams had a season best, getting 24 on the final 29 field goals of the game. Their best prior was 23 in a win over Creighton.
Sharing is caring, and Isaiah Stevens obviously has a big heart.
He finished with 12 assists on the night to match his 12 points, his second double-double of the season and the fifth of his career. The junior floor general entered the night third best in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio among players with at least 30 assists at 4.70, and it only became more impressive as he took care of the ball perfectly.
"Man, I'm not really too concerned with that right now," Stevens said. "Definitely something great to be a part of, something that I really focused on this offseason was just taking care of the ball better, making better reads. I definitely want to keep it as much as possible and not give it to the other team, so I'm definitely pleased with that."
So is his coach, Niko Medved, who said he could talk all night about his guard when it was his turn behind the microphone. He's seen him grow from the true freshman point guard who ran the show, to one who is unquestionably the floor general.
It's all been a process, and as well as Stevens has played, he's always trying to improve. There's no better way to get in your coach's good graces than accepting coaching and being diligent when work happens behind the scenes.
The turnaround has been remarkable. He was basically 2-to-1 as a freshman, less than that as a sophomore. Now he's better than 5-to-1 eight unbeaten games into the season.
"We've done a great job this year taking care of the ball. You look at it, we're among the leaders in the country taking care of the basketball, and I think that starts with Isaiah," Medved said as the Rams rank 13th nationally at 9.6 per night entering the game, then finishing with nine. "What I love about him, he's a guy who knew coming into this year if he was going to take his game to the next level, one of the biggest things for him was taking care of the ball. At times last year he turned the ball over too much, tried to do too much. It's one thing to say that, but for him to be intentional and buy into that, not only buy into it, but do it at an elite level … and I also think his defense is also really, really improved. Again, he's playing the position at a high level, so us taking care of the ball better really starts with him."
They took care of it, and took it away. They finished with 13 steals, the most in a game since 2013 against New Mexico State. It led to instant offense, and even running the floor clean, they looked for each other. On one trip, Stevens fed Tonje for a kinda dunk. Another soon after led to an alley-oop monster throw down by Tonje.
There was rarely a basket in the final 30 minutes of the game where one Ram was not feeding another.
"It's everything. People running to the spaces, we're all together," guard Kendle Moore said. "This offseason we preached about taking care of the ball and one more pass and stuff like that, and I feel we especially did that in the second half."
Stevens and David Roddy both had 12 points to lead the team, with Moore contributing 11 and Tonje 10. But three other Rams had eight points, another seven as 10 scored in the contest.
They way Little Rock played the Rams, they were always convinced a better shot was just a pass away, leading to a 58.6 percent shooting night. That, Stevens feels, is the team at its most complete.
"I would definitely say so. We definitely preach space and patience and keeping the ball moving, and I feel like we really showed that tonight," he said. "Everybody gets a piece of the pie when we play like that, so it makes the game really fun."
The last time the Rams had 24 assists in a game was back in 2018 against Wyoming, and it required two overtimes in a loss. Before that, 2015 in a win over UNLV.
It won't happen every night. It may not happen Saturday night when Saint Mary's comes to town. Certain opponents will dictate a more one-on-one game, and the Rams can do that, too. But if there is an open man to find, they'll likely take the pass and feed it clean.
More likely than not, Stevens is bound to be that guy.
"We were able to distribute shots around and again, I loved the way we moved the ball," Medved said. "What can you say about Isaiah Stevens? I mean, just a phenomenal performance. I don't have it in front of me, but I think I just heard out there on the radio, I think his last few games he's at 37 assists and two turnovers. That is ridiculous. I know he's among the leaders in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio, after tonight, if he's right there with the best, I'd love to see who is doing it better than him."
By the end of Wednesday's 86-55 blowout of Little Rock at Moby Arena, the Rams had a season best, getting 24 on the final 29 field goals of the game. Their best prior was 23 in a win over Creighton.
Sharing is caring, and Isaiah Stevens obviously has a big heart.
He finished with 12 assists on the night to match his 12 points, his second double-double of the season and the fifth of his career. The junior floor general entered the night third best in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio among players with at least 30 assists at 4.70, and it only became more impressive as he took care of the ball perfectly.
"Man, I'm not really too concerned with that right now," Stevens said. "Definitely something great to be a part of, something that I really focused on this offseason was just taking care of the ball better, making better reads. I definitely want to keep it as much as possible and not give it to the other team, so I'm definitely pleased with that."
So is his coach, Niko Medved, who said he could talk all night about his guard when it was his turn behind the microphone. He's seen him grow from the true freshman point guard who ran the show, to one who is unquestionably the floor general.
It's all been a process, and as well as Stevens has played, he's always trying to improve. There's no better way to get in your coach's good graces than accepting coaching and being diligent when work happens behind the scenes.
The turnaround has been remarkable. He was basically 2-to-1 as a freshman, less than that as a sophomore. Now he's better than 5-to-1 eight unbeaten games into the season.
"We've done a great job this year taking care of the ball. You look at it, we're among the leaders in the country taking care of the basketball, and I think that starts with Isaiah," Medved said as the Rams rank 13th nationally at 9.6 per night entering the game, then finishing with nine. "What I love about him, he's a guy who knew coming into this year if he was going to take his game to the next level, one of the biggest things for him was taking care of the ball. At times last year he turned the ball over too much, tried to do too much. It's one thing to say that, but for him to be intentional and buy into that, not only buy into it, but do it at an elite level … and I also think his defense is also really, really improved. Again, he's playing the position at a high level, so us taking care of the ball better really starts with him."
They took care of it, and took it away. They finished with 13 steals, the most in a game since 2013 against New Mexico State. It led to instant offense, and even running the floor clean, they looked for each other. On one trip, Stevens fed Tonje for a kinda dunk. Another soon after led to an alley-oop monster throw down by Tonje.
There was rarely a basket in the final 30 minutes of the game where one Ram was not feeding another.
"It's everything. People running to the spaces, we're all together," guard Kendle Moore said. "This offseason we preached about taking care of the ball and one more pass and stuff like that, and I feel we especially did that in the second half."
Stevens and David Roddy both had 12 points to lead the team, with Moore contributing 11 and Tonje 10. But three other Rams had eight points, another seven as 10 scored in the contest.
They way Little Rock played the Rams, they were always convinced a better shot was just a pass away, leading to a 58.6 percent shooting night. That, Stevens feels, is the team at its most complete.
"I would definitely say so. We definitely preach space and patience and keeping the ball moving, and I feel like we really showed that tonight," he said. "Everybody gets a piece of the pie when we play like that, so it makes the game really fun."
The last time the Rams had 24 assists in a game was back in 2018 against Wyoming, and it required two overtimes in a loss. Before that, 2015 in a win over UNLV.
It won't happen every night. It may not happen Saturday night when Saint Mary's comes to town. Certain opponents will dictate a more one-on-one game, and the Rams can do that, too. But if there is an open man to find, they'll likely take the pass and feed it clean.
More likely than not, Stevens is bound to be that guy.
"We were able to distribute shots around and again, I loved the way we moved the ball," Medved said. "What can you say about Isaiah Stevens? I mean, just a phenomenal performance. I don't have it in front of me, but I think I just heard out there on the radio, I think his last few games he's at 37 assists and two turnovers. That is ridiculous. I know he's among the leaders in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio, after tonight, if he's right there with the best, I'd love to see who is doing it better than him."
Players Mentioned
Friday, June 05
Saturday, March 07
Saturday, March 07
Friday, March 06