Colorado State University Athletics
Thursday, December 8
Boulder, CO
7:00 PM
Colorado State
6-4,0-0Mountain West
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at
93
Colorado
5-5,0-2Pac-12
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Colorado St.
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65
Colorado
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55
93
Rams Concerned, But Not Panicked After Second Consecutive Loss
12/8/2022 9:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Colorado takes control in second half
BOULDER, Colo. – Spurts.
They were there, both good and bad in the first half. Colorado State would get a little room, then it was gone. Then they were playing catchup.
Be it giving up too many boards to Colorado on the offensive glass or turning the ball over with too much regularity, the first half was a game of contrasts for the Rams at the CU Events Center on Thursday night.
Spurts a team can counter. The second half was anything but, however.
Down 38-30 at the break due to their own ebbs and flows, the opening four minutes of the second half looked like another run the Rams (6-4) were going to have to withstand, but the reality was it turned into a second-half trend in a 93-65 defeat in the first meeting between the two teams since 2019.
"There's not a ton to say on our part. That was as big of a good-old fashioned whatever whooping that you can take," CSU coach Niko Medved said. "We weren't able to get anything done tonight that we emphasized."
The loss was the second straight for CSU, both to in-state teams, and the most lopsided of the season.
Colorado blocked the first two CSU looks of the half – both inside – and countered with 6-of-9 shooting to open, including 3-of-4 from deep. The final dagger of the 15-6 edge in the run was when KJ Simpson missed a dunk, grabbed the rebound and stepped to the corner to hit a 3.
The Buffs controlled the paint in every way, outproducing CSU inside 54-24, controlling the glass 42-23 – including 13 offensive boards which led to 18 second-chance points – and blocking five shots.
Inside was an edge the Rams knew they'd have to balance out, but they weren't able to as Medved felt the physicality wore down his team.
"That was the whole game plan," Medved said. "We didn't counter anything, but I thought it started with three consecutive turnovers. We just gave it to them, dunk, dunk, dunk and that really got them going. And for whatever reason, they had 50 points in the paint tonight. In the first half, a lot of it was off our turnovers. We just gave in to it. We gave in to the game, and that's really what's disappointing here."
Some of it was strong work by the Buffs, but there were defensive lapses that led to some rather easy buckets for the hosts. And some of it was the turnovers, the catastrophic kind which, as Medved put it, led to big crowd-inducing baskets.
The defensive effort, which has been lacking the past two games, is cause for concern, but not panic.
"We've just got to be tougher on the defensive end," Isaiah Stevens said. "Too many easy layups, dunks, runouts … We gotta take care of the basketball. A lot of that is on me as the point guard; I had way too many turnovers tonight.
"You don't want it to become a trend. Definitely don't want to panic, either. Kinda like coach was saying, you've got to take it for what it is, look at the film, take the coaching. We have to improve, and I think we will. And we've done it in years past."
Simpson and forward Tristin Da Silva spearheaded everything the Buffs did in the game, finding points inside and out, finishing with 27 and 15 respectively. Simpson had nine at the break, but went off in the second half, scoring 18 points in the final 20 minutes. If he found space, he drove. If he was left open, he gunned, dropping a couple of deep 3s. He shot 6-of-10 in the second half, 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Nique Clifford would join them in double figures, scoring 13, as would Luke O'Brien with 10.
After shooting better than 50 percent most of the first half, the Rams cooled down the stretch, then considerably in the second half, finishing at 42.3 percent and struggling from deep (9-of-21). Only guards Stevens and his backup, freshman Taviontae Jackson were consistent threats.
Stevens, in his third game back, led the team with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting and making a trio of 3s. Jackson's first stint off the bench provided the team an immediate spark, scoring seven quick and driving the lane without fear, taking on the length the Buffs had inside. He finished with 10 points.
Medved said the youngster's play was one of the few bright spots. But for the Rams to move in the right direction, the defensive end needs to turn around. In the past two losses, the opponent has shot 52 percent in the second half.
"To say I'm not concerned, you can't go out there and lose a game like this and say you're not concerned," Medved said. "That would be pretty crazy to do that. When you go out there and lose a game the way we did, yeah, you're concerned; you should be concerned. I hope everybody is. The good news is, 10 games in, we've got a lot of basketball left to play here still, so let's not write the story yet."
Colorado State finishes the week with a home date against Peru State on Sunday at Moby Arena, then takes a week off with finals taking place the following week.
They were there, both good and bad in the first half. Colorado State would get a little room, then it was gone. Then they were playing catchup.
Be it giving up too many boards to Colorado on the offensive glass or turning the ball over with too much regularity, the first half was a game of contrasts for the Rams at the CU Events Center on Thursday night.
Spurts a team can counter. The second half was anything but, however.
Down 38-30 at the break due to their own ebbs and flows, the opening four minutes of the second half looked like another run the Rams (6-4) were going to have to withstand, but the reality was it turned into a second-half trend in a 93-65 defeat in the first meeting between the two teams since 2019.
"There's not a ton to say on our part. That was as big of a good-old fashioned whatever whooping that you can take," CSU coach Niko Medved said. "We weren't able to get anything done tonight that we emphasized."
The loss was the second straight for CSU, both to in-state teams, and the most lopsided of the season.
Colorado blocked the first two CSU looks of the half – both inside – and countered with 6-of-9 shooting to open, including 3-of-4 from deep. The final dagger of the 15-6 edge in the run was when KJ Simpson missed a dunk, grabbed the rebound and stepped to the corner to hit a 3.
The Buffs controlled the paint in every way, outproducing CSU inside 54-24, controlling the glass 42-23 – including 13 offensive boards which led to 18 second-chance points – and blocking five shots.
Inside was an edge the Rams knew they'd have to balance out, but they weren't able to as Medved felt the physicality wore down his team.
"That was the whole game plan," Medved said. "We didn't counter anything, but I thought it started with three consecutive turnovers. We just gave it to them, dunk, dunk, dunk and that really got them going. And for whatever reason, they had 50 points in the paint tonight. In the first half, a lot of it was off our turnovers. We just gave in to it. We gave in to the game, and that's really what's disappointing here."
Some of it was strong work by the Buffs, but there were defensive lapses that led to some rather easy buckets for the hosts. And some of it was the turnovers, the catastrophic kind which, as Medved put it, led to big crowd-inducing baskets.
The defensive effort, which has been lacking the past two games, is cause for concern, but not panic.
"We've just got to be tougher on the defensive end," Isaiah Stevens said. "Too many easy layups, dunks, runouts … We gotta take care of the basketball. A lot of that is on me as the point guard; I had way too many turnovers tonight.
"You don't want it to become a trend. Definitely don't want to panic, either. Kinda like coach was saying, you've got to take it for what it is, look at the film, take the coaching. We have to improve, and I think we will. And we've done it in years past."
Simpson and forward Tristin Da Silva spearheaded everything the Buffs did in the game, finding points inside and out, finishing with 27 and 15 respectively. Simpson had nine at the break, but went off in the second half, scoring 18 points in the final 20 minutes. If he found space, he drove. If he was left open, he gunned, dropping a couple of deep 3s. He shot 6-of-10 in the second half, 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Nique Clifford would join them in double figures, scoring 13, as would Luke O'Brien with 10.
After shooting better than 50 percent most of the first half, the Rams cooled down the stretch, then considerably in the second half, finishing at 42.3 percent and struggling from deep (9-of-21). Only guards Stevens and his backup, freshman Taviontae Jackson were consistent threats.
Stevens, in his third game back, led the team with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting and making a trio of 3s. Jackson's first stint off the bench provided the team an immediate spark, scoring seven quick and driving the lane without fear, taking on the length the Buffs had inside. He finished with 10 points.
Medved said the youngster's play was one of the few bright spots. But for the Rams to move in the right direction, the defensive end needs to turn around. In the past two losses, the opponent has shot 52 percent in the second half.
"To say I'm not concerned, you can't go out there and lose a game like this and say you're not concerned," Medved said. "That would be pretty crazy to do that. When you go out there and lose a game the way we did, yeah, you're concerned; you should be concerned. I hope everybody is. The good news is, 10 games in, we've got a lot of basketball left to play here still, so let's not write the story yet."
Colorado State finishes the week with a home date against Peru State on Sunday at Moby Arena, then takes a week off with finals taking place the following week.
Team Stats
CSU
CU
FG%
.423
.567
3FG%
.429
.385
FT%
.706
.636
RB
23
42
TO
13
8
STL
6
9
Game Leaders
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballColorado 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