The Dish: Rams Come Up Big in Key Moments

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Looks don't matter in March.

Wins do, and that's what Colorado State produced in Thursday's quarterfinal round of the Mountain West Tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center against Fresno State. The 72-62 victory wasn't the prettiest of the season from the Rams, but it was simply gorgeous from a couple of perspectives.

For one, it snapped a four-game losing streak at the tournament for the program. More importantly, it means coach Niko Medved's third-seeded bunch has a date late Friday night at 10 p.m. vs. No. 2 Utah State on the heels of his 50^th career victory as the Rams' mentor.

"That's what you have to do this time of the year," Medved said. "All of these games are going to be battles. Teams aren't going to go away, and basketball is a game of runs. Look around the country right now what's going on. You've just got to fight for 40 minutes, and that's what this team has done all year is they've shown a lot of poise in tough situations, and the same thing happened tonight.

"They made their run, then we kind of regrouped and we came out and guys made some big-time plays. That's' what you have to do this time of the year."

The Rams were effective, even if they were not elegant in beating Fresno State for the third time this year. Not until late were they able to put the Bulldogs away, and the process of getting there produced some dicey moments.

CSU led by as much as 11 with 13:55 remaining in the game, and with the Bulldogs' most effective player – Deon Stroud -- on the bench with his 15 points and four fouls with 16:01 remaining, the opportunity seemed plumb to add a dagger.

Despite Stroud getting cold for 11 minutes, Orlando Robinson heated up a bit, coming on in the second half to finish with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and it was his conversion of a three-point play with 6:43 remaining which cut the Rams' lead to 58-57. A dunk by Adam Thistlewood and a jumper from David Roddy built the lead back up to five, and Colorado State kept Fresno State at arm's length the remainder of the evening.

"It's just the next play mentality," Roddy said. "We knew the score was close, so we just really wanted to focus on the defensive end because offense will take care of itself. It was great for Adam to get that dunk, and it was definitely a good morale boost for the bench as well, to get those guys into it and get our defensive mentality up."

What they did defensively was play gritty. James Moors played Robinson physical in the paint all night, as Robinson started the game 1-of-7 from the floor, finishing just 6-of-17. Roddy and Thistlewood held their own in the paint with seven rebounds each, though Fresno State was able to convert nine offensive rebounds into 10 second-chance points.

What developed was balanced scoring from the team. Isiah Stevens scored 16 points to lead CSU, while Kendle Moore and Roddy produced 15 each; Thistlewood contributed 10 as the Rams shot 52 percent and kept turnovers to a minimum (10).

The quickness of both Stevens and Moore made a difference, as both were able to drive the lane for layups to get crucial baskets throughout the contest.

"Those guys are big-time players and really seized the moment," Medved said. "They were able to drive and get in the lane and have some real key finishes. Obviously we're a terrific 3-point shooting team, and teams really, really press up on us because they don't want to give us open 3s. Those guys use their ability to penetrate and get in the lane. Tonight, they weren't bringing as much help and challenging those guys to finish, and tonight those guys were able to finish, and that was huge for us."

Roddy did almost half of his damage from the line, getting seven from the charity stripe. When the game was close late, they were able to get him isolated inside in the closing minutes.

It wasn't that they were doing anything new, he said, just that it was coming open.

"I think it was just getting it through the flow of the offense," Roddy said. "Our flow and our playing free looks like a set, but it's just motion offense. Whenever we read, that's just based off what the defense is doing. If I have an open chance to get the ball in the post, they're going to try to feed me the ball. It wasn't anything too different, it was just getting it in the flow of the offense and being strong with the ball."

Stevens said the idea was to go out and play to play great. To empty the tank.

That doesn't mean a game will be a blowout. Even though CSU had handled Fresno State with ease, those two games came at home early in the year and times have changed. Fresno State had changed.

So that meant leaning on what they have all year – staying in the moment.

And delivering.

"Absolutely. One thing we talked about a lot coming into this is how ever since Coach Medved got here, we failed to win our first game in the tournament, and that's something that left a really bad taste in our mouths and especially Kendle and Adam, who have been here even longer than us," Stevens said. "We just wanted to turn that around and go out there and play on the edge.

"That's one of the mottos we've brought into the postseason. Just go out there and put our best foot forward and leave it all out on the floor."

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