Colorado State University Athletics
Friday, November 10
Fort Collins, CO
7:00 PM
Colorado State
105
vs
77
Wright State
Rams Post Record-breaking Assist Numbers in Wright State Rout
11/10/2023 10:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Early defensive woes defeated again; Rams score triple digits
The Rams share a love for sharing the love.
A career night offensively for Isaiah Stevens in a game where it wasn't necessarily needed. On the other end, early struggles were overcome again.
Stevens reset his and the Colorado State men's basketball record with 14 assists and went nearly perfect from the field, going 9-of-10, only missing one of his four 3-point attempts on the way to scoring a team-leading 22 points.
"He makes the game easy when he's getting (14) assists, breaking records," new teammate Nique Clifford said. "He's so unselfish and he can score as well. So he's a threat on both sides of the ball. It's really fun."
The Rams posted 37 assists on 42 made baskets, surpassing the program record of 35 set last season against Peru State, on the way to a 105-77 win over Wright State.
It's an impressive dynamic, which is a result of some quick meshing between a large group of incoming transfers. One which the fifth-year Stevens has helped build, crediting the work put in during the offseason as soon as everyone arrived in Fort Collins.
"I think it starts in practice," Stevens said. "We have a great open line of communication between all of us from top to bottom. We understand what it means to play Ram basketball here. We share it, we allow multiple guys to play aggressively without restrictions and then sometimes, we just kind of get the ball rolling and it can be really hard to stop."
While the ball moved nicely in the first half for the Rams, the heaviest thing weighing on head coach Niko Medved's mind wasn't the fact Stevens had 12 assists in the first 20 minutes alone.
Instead, it was the two Raiders, Trey Calvin and Tanner Holden, who combined for 33 of Wright State's 42 first half points. For the most part, the two were hitting tough shots which on a different night may not have struck nylon.
However, Medved found the cause to be his team's struggle to get a hand to the ball while contesting shots — something much improved in the final 20 minutes.
"What a great performance in the second half," Medved said. "I thought for a stretch there, we played as good as it could be played. At halftime, the number I was concerned about, we only had five deflections in the first half. We just weren't active enough on defense. They made some contested shots, but I thought we really just let them be comfortable and that was really disappointing."
To begin the second half, the Rams had a handful of passes and shots broken up, including a steal by Joel Scott which he turned into a tough layup with a foul, converting on the three-point play.
As for the two Raiders stars, CSU was able to limit what both were able to produce in the second half. The two combined for just 20 points in the frame, holding Holden to only three.
All great ways to gain some momentum.
"I personally thought we had to be better," Stevens said. "It wasn't anything scheme-related, it was just, 'can we stop one or two guys from having their way?' I think it started in the first five possessions of the first half, we had some deflections, some runouts, an and-one. From there, it kind of changes the tempo of the game, changes the look of the game and we were able to put our foot on the gas."
What Medved saw in the second half was a pretty good example of the exact sort of basketball he wants his team to play. The Rams outscored the Raiders 28-7 off of turnovers; 28-3 on fastbreak points. Five Rams — Stevens, Scott, Clifford, Joe Palmer and Patrick Cartier — scored at least 10 points.
While perhaps unrealistic to be able to replicate for an entire season, the fact some of the team's best basketball has been put on display in the second game of the season is very encouraging.
"It's as good as when I've been around, and you know that's how we want to play," Medved said. "I think when the ball has energy and the guys are sharing it, it's fun, it's contagious and obviously shots need to go in, too. We were able to get out in transition, too, and create some easy looks for us."
"I love it, I think it's one of the things we sell in recruiting, that this is the way we play and we want guys to buy into that. I think they know that coming in and obviously it helps having a guy like Isaiah Stevens and even a guy like Jalen Lake, who's been here and understands it. Right away when these guys got here in the summer, it was an emphasis of our program. I think it's gelled well early that way, we've got to keep it going, though."
The Rams' next game will be their first on the road at Northern Colorado Tuesday at 6 p.m.
A career night offensively for Isaiah Stevens in a game where it wasn't necessarily needed. On the other end, early struggles were overcome again.
Stevens reset his and the Colorado State men's basketball record with 14 assists and went nearly perfect from the field, going 9-of-10, only missing one of his four 3-point attempts on the way to scoring a team-leading 22 points.
"He makes the game easy when he's getting (14) assists, breaking records," new teammate Nique Clifford said. "He's so unselfish and he can score as well. So he's a threat on both sides of the ball. It's really fun."
The Rams posted 37 assists on 42 made baskets, surpassing the program record of 35 set last season against Peru State, on the way to a 105-77 win over Wright State.
It's an impressive dynamic, which is a result of some quick meshing between a large group of incoming transfers. One which the fifth-year Stevens has helped build, crediting the work put in during the offseason as soon as everyone arrived in Fort Collins.
"I think it starts in practice," Stevens said. "We have a great open line of communication between all of us from top to bottom. We understand what it means to play Ram basketball here. We share it, we allow multiple guys to play aggressively without restrictions and then sometimes, we just kind of get the ball rolling and it can be really hard to stop."
While the ball moved nicely in the first half for the Rams, the heaviest thing weighing on head coach Niko Medved's mind wasn't the fact Stevens had 12 assists in the first 20 minutes alone.
Instead, it was the two Raiders, Trey Calvin and Tanner Holden, who combined for 33 of Wright State's 42 first half points. For the most part, the two were hitting tough shots which on a different night may not have struck nylon.
However, Medved found the cause to be his team's struggle to get a hand to the ball while contesting shots — something much improved in the final 20 minutes.
"What a great performance in the second half," Medved said. "I thought for a stretch there, we played as good as it could be played. At halftime, the number I was concerned about, we only had five deflections in the first half. We just weren't active enough on defense. They made some contested shots, but I thought we really just let them be comfortable and that was really disappointing."
To begin the second half, the Rams had a handful of passes and shots broken up, including a steal by Joel Scott which he turned into a tough layup with a foul, converting on the three-point play.
As for the two Raiders stars, CSU was able to limit what both were able to produce in the second half. The two combined for just 20 points in the frame, holding Holden to only three.
All great ways to gain some momentum.
"I personally thought we had to be better," Stevens said. "It wasn't anything scheme-related, it was just, 'can we stop one or two guys from having their way?' I think it started in the first five possessions of the first half, we had some deflections, some runouts, an and-one. From there, it kind of changes the tempo of the game, changes the look of the game and we were able to put our foot on the gas."
What Medved saw in the second half was a pretty good example of the exact sort of basketball he wants his team to play. The Rams outscored the Raiders 28-7 off of turnovers; 28-3 on fastbreak points. Five Rams — Stevens, Scott, Clifford, Joe Palmer and Patrick Cartier — scored at least 10 points.
While perhaps unrealistic to be able to replicate for an entire season, the fact some of the team's best basketball has been put on display in the second game of the season is very encouraging.
"It's as good as when I've been around, and you know that's how we want to play," Medved said. "I think when the ball has energy and the guys are sharing it, it's fun, it's contagious and obviously shots need to go in, too. We were able to get out in transition, too, and create some easy looks for us."
"I love it, I think it's one of the things we sell in recruiting, that this is the way we play and we want guys to buy into that. I think they know that coming in and obviously it helps having a guy like Isaiah Stevens and even a guy like Jalen Lake, who's been here and understands it. Right away when these guys got here in the summer, it was an emphasis of our program. I think it's gelled well early that way, we've got to keep it going, though."
The Rams' next game will be their first on the road at Northern Colorado Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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