Colorado State University Athletics
Saturday, January 6
Logan, UT
7:00 PM
Colorado State
at
Utah State
No. 13 Rams Face First Conference Road Test of Season
1/5/2024 1:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Colorado State heads to Utah State Saturday
FORT COLLINS – Fans of good ball movement and team basketball are in for a treat Saturday evening as No. 13/14 Colorado State heads to Utah State for a 7 pm tip-off. Both teams enter the game 13-1 on the year with a 1-0 Mountain West record and play very similarly.
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Opening Tip
- Colorado State opened Mountain West play with a 76-68 victory over New Mexico inside Moby Arena on Tuesday night.
- CSU had four players finish in double figures scoring in the game led by Patrick Cartier's season-high 21 points.
- Isaiah Stevens will match former teammate Nico Carvacho's mark of 132 games played for the Rams as most in program history on Saturday.
- The Rams continue to be ranked in the polls matching their highest-ever ranking in the AP at No. 13 and are No. 14 for the Coaches Poll. It is a program record sixth straight week ranked.Â
- Head coach Niko Medved is in his sixth year leading Colorado State. He is 105-65 as the Rams' head coach. The win on December 2 against Washington was the 100th for him leading the Green & Gold. Medved is now one of five coaches in the program's history to reach the 100 wins mark.
- Isaiah Stevens returns for his final year of eligibility and the nation is taking notice of the guard. Stevens was named the Mountain West Preseason Player of the Year, Wooden Top 50 Preseason List and one of 20 players named to the Bob Cousy Preseason Watch List.
- He sits in the top 5 for active players in both scoring (3rd) and assists (2nd).
- Stevens has three double-doubles on the year and already reset one of his own records when he posted 14 assists against Wright State. He is averaging 17.4 points, 7.4 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 53.4% from the field and 46.0% behind the arc.
- He became the program's all-time leading scorer against LMU (Dec. 22) when he passed Pat Durham (1985-89) and his 1,980 points.
- Stevens surpassed the 2,000 point mark with his first basket against New Mexico (Jan. 2) and currently sits at 2,017.
- Newcomer Joel Scott continues to be a big presence inside for CSU averaging 12.1 points and 5.9 rebounds.
- Nique Clifford has enjoyed his time in Fort Collins transferring to Colorado State from Colorado. He is shooting an impressive 59.3% from the field including 52.9% from behind the arc on his way to averaging 13.1 points and 6.4 rebounds.
- Clifford recorded his third double-double of the year against New Mexico with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
- Patrick Cartier missed two games for Colorado State, but since returning has not missed a beat. He is averaging 13.5 points on 61.5% shooting.
- Cartier is the lone player in the NCAA shooting 55-45-85 this season with a minimum of five makes a game. He is currently shooting 61.5% overall, 51.4% behind the arc and 85.2% from the charity stripe.
- The Wisconsin native scored a season-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
- CSU is the only program across all of collegiate men's basketball with not two, but three 2,000 point scorers on their roster. The trio is Isaiah Stevens (2,017), Patrick Cartier (2,204) and Joel Scott (2,626).
- Colorado State leads the Mountain West in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.98), assists per game (20.6), effective field goal percentage (60.4%), fastbreak points (16.07), field goal percentage (53.0%), free throw percentage (78.0%) and scoring (84.1).
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Scouting the Aggies
First-year head coach Danny Sprinkle has done a great job with Utah State after returning not a single point from last season's team. Sprinkle came to USU from Montana State.
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The Aggies have a strong offense averaging 81.8 points per game thanks to great ball movement leading to open shots. They are averaging 17.6 assists while shooting 50.5% from the field and 32.1% behind the arc.
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Darius Brown II is the straw that stirs the drink for USU averaging 7.6 assists per game while scoring 10.6 points. Big man Great Osborn leads the team with 18.4 points and 9.1 rebounds as they like to play offensively through the post.
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What's Ahead
Colorado State heads north to take on Boise State Tuesday night at 7 pm to close out the road trip.
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Opening Tip
- Colorado State opened Mountain West play with a 76-68 victory over New Mexico inside Moby Arena on Tuesday night.
- CSU had four players finish in double figures scoring in the game led by Patrick Cartier's season-high 21 points.
- Isaiah Stevens will match former teammate Nico Carvacho's mark of 132 games played for the Rams as most in program history on Saturday.
- The Rams continue to be ranked in the polls matching their highest-ever ranking in the AP at No. 13 and are No. 14 for the Coaches Poll. It is a program record sixth straight week ranked.Â
- Head coach Niko Medved is in his sixth year leading Colorado State. He is 105-65 as the Rams' head coach. The win on December 2 against Washington was the 100th for him leading the Green & Gold. Medved is now one of five coaches in the program's history to reach the 100 wins mark.
- Isaiah Stevens returns for his final year of eligibility and the nation is taking notice of the guard. Stevens was named the Mountain West Preseason Player of the Year, Wooden Top 50 Preseason List and one of 20 players named to the Bob Cousy Preseason Watch List.
- He sits in the top 5 for active players in both scoring (3rd) and assists (2nd).
- Stevens has three double-doubles on the year and already reset one of his own records when he posted 14 assists against Wright State. He is averaging 17.4 points, 7.4 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 53.4% from the field and 46.0% behind the arc.
- He became the program's all-time leading scorer against LMU (Dec. 22) when he passed Pat Durham (1985-89) and his 1,980 points.
- Stevens surpassed the 2,000 point mark with his first basket against New Mexico (Jan. 2) and currently sits at 2,017.
- Newcomer Joel Scott continues to be a big presence inside for CSU averaging 12.1 points and 5.9 rebounds.
- Nique Clifford has enjoyed his time in Fort Collins transferring to Colorado State from Colorado. He is shooting an impressive 59.3% from the field including 52.9% from behind the arc on his way to averaging 13.1 points and 6.4 rebounds.
- Clifford recorded his third double-double of the year against New Mexico with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
- Patrick Cartier missed two games for Colorado State, but since returning has not missed a beat. He is averaging 13.5 points on 61.5% shooting.
- Cartier is the lone player in the NCAA shooting 55-45-85 this season with a minimum of five makes a game. He is currently shooting 61.5% overall, 51.4% behind the arc and 85.2% from the charity stripe.
- The Wisconsin native scored a season-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
- CSU is the only program across all of collegiate men's basketball with not two, but three 2,000 point scorers on their roster. The trio is Isaiah Stevens (2,017), Patrick Cartier (2,204) and Joel Scott (2,626).
- Colorado State leads the Mountain West in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.98), assists per game (20.6), effective field goal percentage (60.4%), fastbreak points (16.07), field goal percentage (53.0%), free throw percentage (78.0%) and scoring (84.1).
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Scouting the Aggies
First-year head coach Danny Sprinkle has done a great job with Utah State after returning not a single point from last season's team. Sprinkle came to USU from Montana State.
Â
The Aggies have a strong offense averaging 81.8 points per game thanks to great ball movement leading to open shots. They are averaging 17.6 assists while shooting 50.5% from the field and 32.1% behind the arc.
Â
Darius Brown II is the straw that stirs the drink for USU averaging 7.6 assists per game while scoring 10.6 points. Big man Great Osborn leads the team with 18.4 points and 9.1 rebounds as they like to play offensively through the post.
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What's Ahead
Colorado State heads north to take on Boise State Tuesday night at 7 pm to close out the road trip.
Players Mentioned
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